The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has published “Satellite Earth Observation: A Compendium of Capabilities and Applications for Development”. Released in July 2026, the technical report looks at how satellite Earth observation (EO) can provide environmental information for development operations in Asia and the Pacific.
The report first reviews the EO landscape, from satellite operators and data processing to Copernicus, market trends and methods to assess EO benefits. It then presents use cases from ADB operations in six areas: land cover mapping, disaster risk management, climate resilience, coastal zone management, forest monitoring and greenhouse gas monitoring.
Antonio Garcia Zaballos. Director, ADB’s Digital Sector Office
In the foreword, Antonio Garcia Zaballos, Director of ADB’s Digital Sector Office, says he hopes the report will help development practitioners in ADB and its developing member countries “better understand and apply satellite EO technologies”.
ADB is a partner of ESA’s Global Development Assistance (GDA) programme. The report was co-authored by Paolo Manunta of ADB’s Digital Sector Office and Stephen Coulson, formerly of ESA. From 2015, Stephen Coulson managed ESA activities with international development banks, which led to the launch of GDA in 2020. The report follows ADB’s 2023 publication on EO services in Indonesia, which was produced in collaboration with GDA.
From GDA activities to ADB operations
The publication features GDA case studies. In disaster risk management, it shows GDA maps of building stability and of buildings in flood risk zones in Jakarta, Indonesia. In coastal zone management, it uses GDA Climate Resilience maps of wave conditions and coastline change along the Black Sea coast of Georgia. It also presents the ongoing GDA Climate Resilience activity, which builds on ESA’s earlier Earth Observation for Sustainable Development (EO4SD) initiative.
The report cites two further GDA publications: a 2022 study on the wider economic benefits of satellite EO in developing countries and a 2024 news item on ESA and ADB steps towards adopting EO for Asia-Pacific development.
The report is free to download from the ADB website.
For questions reach out to ADB author Paolo Manunta pmanunta@adb.org
Paolo Manunta
Paolo Manunta specializes in earth observation, online geographic information systems, and spatial data infrastructure. He joined ADB in 2017 as a secondee from the European Space Agency, and became staff in 2022 to continue his projects, deploying a wide range of applications for disaster reduction, climate change mitigation, AI for land use, and coastal planning. To ensure financial sustainability in ADB developing member countries, he promotes ADB digital solutions in collaboration with partners from Europe and Asia and the Pacific.
