Currently, disasters occurring in Korea are characterized by unpredictability and complexity. Due to these features, property damage and human casualties are increasing. Since the initial response process of these disasters is directly related to the scale and the spread of damage, optimal decision- making is essential, and information of the site must be obtained through timely applicable sensors. However, it is difficult to make appropriate decisions because indiscriminate information is collected rather than necessary information in the currently operated Disaster and Safety Situation Office. In order to improve the current situation, this study proposed a framework that quickly collects various disaster image information, extracts information required to support decision-making, and utilizes it. To this end, a web-based display system and a smartphone application were proposed. Data were collected close to real time, and various analysis results were shared. Moreover, the capability of supporting decision- making was reviewed based on images of actual disaster sites acquired through CCTV, smartphones, and UAVs. In addition to the reviewed capability, it is expected that effective disaster management can be contributed if institutional mitigation of the acquisition and sharing of disaster-related data can be achieved together.

Recently, the number of natural and environmental disasters is rapidly increasing due to extreme weather caused by climate change, and the scale of economic losses and damage to human life is increasing accordingly. In addition, with urbanization and industrialization, the characteristics and scale of extreme weather appearance are becoming more complex and large in different ways from the past, and need for remote sensing and artificial intelligence technology for responding and managing global environmental disasters. This special issue investigates environmental disaster observation and management research using remote sensing and artificial intelligence technology, and introduces the results of disaster-related studies such as drought, flood, air pollution, and marine pollution, etc. in South Korea performed by the i-SEED (School of Integrated Science for Sustainable Earth and Environmental Disaster at Pukyong National University). In this special issue, we expect that the results can contribute to the development of monitoring and management technologies that may prevent environmental disasters and reduce damage in advance.

Microplastics have arisen as a worldwide environmental concern, becoming ubiquitous in all marine compartments, and various researches on monitoring marine microplastics are being actively conducted worldwide. Recently, application of a remote detection technology that enables large-scale real-time observation to marine plastic monitoring has been conducted overseas. However, in South Korea, there is little information linking remote detection to marine microplastics and some field studies have demonstrated remote detection of medium- and large-sized marine plastics. This study introduces research cases with remote detection of marine plastics in South Korea and overseas, investigates potential feasibility of using the remote detection technology to marine microplastic monitoring, and suggests some future works to monitor marine microplastics with the remote detection.

Due to recent severe climate change, abnormal weather phenomena, and other factors, the frequency and magnitude of natural disasters are increasing. The need for disaster management using artificial satellites is growing, especially during large-scale disasters due to time and economic constraints. In this study, we have summarized the current status of next-generation medium-sized satellites and microsatellites in operation and under development, as well as trends in satellite imagery analysis techniques using a large volume of satellite imagery driven by the advancement of the space industry. Furthermore, by utilizing satellite imagery, particularly focusing on recent major disasters such as floods, landslides, droughts, and wildfires, we have confirmed how satellite imagery can be employed for damage analysis, thereby establishing its potential for disaster management. Through this study, we have presented satellite development and operational statuses, recent trends in satellite imagery analysis technology, and proposed disaster response strategies that utilize various types of satellite imagery. It was observed that during the stages of disaster progression, the utilization of satellite imagery is more prominent in the response and recovery stages than in the prevention and preparedness stages. In the future, with the availability of diverse imagery, we plan to research the fusion of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and deep learning, and their applicability for effective disaster management.