Remote sensing crucial for dev sector challenges: Economists

The addition of remote sensing technology is crucial in solving some problems faced in the development sector, where open-source data is vital for democratising development research, economists said on Friday (23 February).

"Some local development problems, such as the extent of wetland loss and deforestation, can be traced more efficiently through the use of remote sensing data," eminent economist Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said during the virtual keynote session of the 7th Sanem Annual Economists' Conference 2024.

The South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (Sanem) organised the three-day event to be held 23-25 February.

Professor Wahiduddin said, "We are trying to protect the Sundarbans area, but there has been an increase in luminosity due to highly contested power capacities being built in those areas. We can trace how the Sundarbans is shrinking by observing the increase in the lighted area around it."

The keynote speech titled "Econometrics from the Sky: How Remote Sensing Data Can Help Democratise Development Research" was delivered by Professor Jean-Louis Arcand, president of the Global Development Network, at the event.

He highlighted Nighttime Lights (NTL) as one of the various forms of remote sensing data.

"If you lack funding for household surveys, consider evaluating using NTL. It is simply a great outcome indicator for interventions aimed at boosting economic activity," said Professor Arcand, who is also a Canadian economist and professor of economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.

"It is particularly useful in inaccessible areas like war-torn Gaza these days. NTL also works for impact evaluation, providing a granular look at big-picture macro theories and policy issues such as conflict," he added.

Professor Arcand delved into the importance of NTL in conflict-prone areas by remarking that most of Gaza City has already gone dark, but NTL maps show areas lighting up where people are returning.

As Earth's population continues to grow, remote sensing data provide a view from space of human behaviours, whether it is altering the landscape through deforestation and urbanisation or affecting air quality through increases in pollutants, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Remote sensing of nighttime light (NTL) emissions offers a unique perspective for investigating some of these human behaviours.

Dr Selim Raihan, professor at the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, and executive director of Sanem, was the moderator at the session.

The theme of the 7th Sanem Annual Economists' Conference (SAEC) 2024 is "New Frontiers in Development and Emerging Dynamics."