Cities and towns are the original producers of many of the global environmental problems related to waste disposal, air and water pollution. There is a rapidly growing need for technologies that will enable monitoring of the world's natural resources and urban assets, and managing exposure to natural and man-made risks. The Group on Earth Observation calls for strengthening the cooperation and coordination among global observing systems and research programs. The book introduces this important international collaborative effort, reviews the current state of global urban remote sensing, and expands on future directions in the field.

"... Global Urban Monitoring and Assessment through Earth Observations gives a good overview of urban remote sensing in a global context. The reader learns about various application fields for EO, the potentional of modern EO data and map products as well as selected advanced analysis techniques. The book therefore covers a full range of aspects." -International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, January 2016