Global change involves complex and far-reaching variations in the Earth’s systems, and satellite observations have been widely used in global change studies. Over the past five decades, Earth observation has developed into a comprehensive system that can conduct dynamic monitoring of the land, the oceans and the atmosphere at the local, regional and even global scale. At the same time, although a large number of Earth observation satellites have been launched, very few of them are used in global change studies. The lack of scientific satellite programs greatly hinders research on global change.

This book proposes using a series of global change scientific satellites to establish a scientific observation grid for global environmental change monitoring from space, and offers the first comprehensive review of lunar-based Earth observation. These scientific satellites could provide not only basic datasets but also scientific support in facilitating advances in international global change research.