National Digital Infrastructure: Clustering Open-Source Solutions for Sovereign Monitoring of the Environment

Article Article scientifique Article National Digital Infrastructure: Clustering Open-Source Solutions for Sovereign Monitoring of the Environment eng 2026-03-10 author Planque Carole 420708 Services communs de l'Institut des sciences de l'environnement (ISECO) author Lucas Richard 0000-0003-3010-3302 author Clewley Dan author Chognard Sébastien 0009-0009-3062-4029 420995 Services communs de l'Institut des sciences de l'environnement (ISECO) author Giuliani Gregory 0000-0002-1825-8865 94488 Services communs de l'Institut des sciences de l'environnement (ISECO) author Chatenoux Bruno 0000-0001-9947-2945 92551 Services communs de l'Institut des sciences de l'environnement (ISECO) author Bunting Pete 0000-0002-7435-0148 author Sanders Abigail author Punalekar Suvarna M. 0000-0001-7534-4957 author Knowles Henry author Sykes Helena author Guest Paul author Horton Claire 847 10.3390/rs18060847 2072-4292 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/18/6/847 <p>The UN General Assembly (2015) emphasizes sustainable pathways to enhance resilience for people and nature, with future development driven by data and evidence. Sustainable development frameworks (e.g., the UN 2030 Agenda and the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement) highlight the importance of data and evidence in assessment and decision-making that respects national policies and priorities. Global advances in Earth observation (EO) data provision and digital solutions that increase efficiencies, timeliness, and affordability are making major contributions. However, many existing platforms rely on externally hosted cloud infrastructures and generic global classifications of environments that may not align with domestic statutory definitions, limiting national control over data governance, methodological standards, and regulatory reporting. These constraints have raised growing concerns regarding data and technological sovereignty for countries seeking authoritative, policy-ready environmental information. Using Wales (United Kingdom; UK) as an exemplar, this study showcases the design and implementation of a flexible, sovereign National Digital Infrastructure (NDI) that uses the Open Data Cube (ODC) to apply Living Earth, a novel and customizable approach for EO-focused environmental monitoring. Outputs are time series of land cover and habitat maps and change products, including post-event (e.g., fire, flood) management, which address key policy requirements and support land and water resource management (from freshwater to marine environments), while ensuring public dissemination. Major advantages include the sharing of consistent datasets across governments and partner organizations, minimizing duplication of effort, improving transparency, traceability, and reproducibility, fostering collaboration between diverse stakeholders and communities, promoting inclusivity in environmental management decision-making, and supporting sustainable outcomes.</p> Digital infrastructure Earth Observations Open Data Cube Living Earth Sovereignty Monitoring Reporting Open-source Transparency Dewey 333.7-333.9 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Sêr Cymru II 80761-AU-108 Welsh Government 13847 Swiss National Science Foundation DynamicLand - a Dynamic & Quantitative Land Environmental Description System 221323 CH 18 Institut des sciences de l'environnement 0DB false 673 Envirospace Lab 938 ISE Pôle Sciences 970b71ee-b344-4440-bc52-c9af263975d0 Living Earth Lab 941 ISE Pôle Informatique environnementale 1057 TIGERS 859 Global Resource Information Database (GRID) Remote sensing 18 6 1b20245b-e217-405e-ac3d-ef1192c26f58 Article (Published version) Public remotesensing-18-00847.pdf 8356402 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 33d35d55a7e6b0b187f54e8a356d98a55a0cd1c2436a904f0be0af61a367d9f3 openAccess Centres et instituts / Institut des sciences de l'environnement

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

National Digital Infrastructure: Clustering Open-Source Solutions for Sovereign Monitoring of the Environment	Remote sensing			2026	21	125

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Chognard, Sébastien