Evaluating the wilderness status of long-distance trails in the United States - Exploring the potential of SDGSAT-1 glimmer imager data

Abstract

Long-distance hiking trails worldwide serve as vital ‘threads’ connecting vast wilderness areas, offering unique opportunities to evaluate progress toward the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, their extensive lengths pose challenges for data collection, limiting their potential use in sustainable development research. Remote sensing technologies, such as high-spatial-resolution and color glimmer imager data from SDGSAT-1, hold promise in addressing these challenges. This study focuses on seven prominent U.S. long-distance trails: the Appalachian Trail, Arizona National Scenic Trail, Buckeye Trail, Hayduke Trail, Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Pacific Northwest Trail, along with 20 km buffer zones surrounding each trail. By integrating glimmer and population data, we introduce a method to quantify human populations within these wilderness areas. Anthropogenic indicators, including population density, land use, grazing intensity, and transportation networks, are used to develop a wilderness evaluation methodology, employing an enhanced human footprint index. Our findings offer a comparative assessment of the wilderness conditions across the selected trails, providing insights into varying levels of human impact and identifying areas where conservation efforts are most urgently needed.