An Overview of the Applications of Earth Observation Satellite Data: Impacts and Future Trends

As satellite observation technology develops and the number of Earth observation (EO) satellites increases, satellite observations have become essential to developments in the understanding of the Earth and its environment. However, the current impacts to the remote sensing community of different EO satellite data and possible future trends of EO satellite data applications have not been systematically examined. In this paper, we review the impacts of and future trends in the use of EO satellite data based on an analysis of data from 15 EO satellites whose data are widely used. Articles that reference EO satellite missions included in the Web of Science core collection for 2020 were analyzed using scientometric analysis and meta-analysis. We found the following: (1) the number of publications and citations referencing EO satellites is increasing exponentially; however, the number of articles referencing AVHRR, SPOT, and TerraSAR is tending to decrease; (2) papers related to EO satellites are concentrated in a small number of journals: 43.79% of the articles that were reviewed were published in only 13 journals; and (3) remote sensing impact factor (RSIF), a new impact index, was constructed to measure the impacts of EO satellites and to predict future trends in applications of their data. Landsat, Sentinel, MODIS, Gaofen, and WorldView were found to be the most significant current EO satellite missions and MODIS data to have the widest range of applications. Over the next five years (2021-2025), it is expected that Sentinel will become the satellite mission with the greatest influence.

Automated summary

This paper reviews the impacts and future trends in the use of Earth observation (EO) satellite data based on an analysis of 15 widely used EO satellites. The results show an exponential increase in the number of publications and citations referencing EO satellites, but a decrease in the number of articles referencing specific satellites. The majority of papers related to EO satellites are published in a small number of journals. The authors constructed a remote sensing impact factor (RSIF) to measure the impacts of EO satellites and predict future trends in their data applications. Landsat, Sentinel, MODIS, Gaofen, and WorldView are identified as the most significant current EO satellite missions, with MODIS data having the widest range of applications. Sentinel is expected to have the greatest influence in the next five years.