Interview Questions

Information Sheet for Participants

Title of research: Translation of Remote Sensing data into Sustainable development Indicators

PhD candidate: Ana Andries

Lead Supervisors: Professor Steve Morse

Co-Supervisors: Professor Richard Murphy, Professor Jim Lynch, Dr Emma Woolliams, Dr John
Fonweban

Section 1. Introduction

I am a PhD student at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, University of Surrey. I gained a
Bachelor’s degree in Environment Geography and two Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development
and, respectively, in Geographical Information Systems (GIS). I have spent several years working as
GIS Quality Control for Rural Payment Agency (RPA) before to start this research.

I am inviting you to take part of this research as you are a specialist either in EO technology or/and
sustainability.

I would like to inform you that the participation is voluntary; choosing not to take part will not
disadvantage you in any way. You should read this information sheet and if you have any questions
please do not hesitate to ask me or any from the research team. Before the interview is undertaken, it
is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what the participation will
involve.

If you decide to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep and will be asked to sign a
consent form. I will then conduct a semi structured interview with you.

The interview will take approximately 60 minutes. We will arrange a venue, a date and a time that is
convenient to you between mid- November and mid- January. The interview will be held face-to-face
(within the UK) or via Skype.

The purpose of the interview is to test the key assumptions taken in creation of the preliminary
Maturity Matrix Framework, which is assessing the potential of EO satellite data to support SDG
Indicators. Your answers and perspective are highly valued to the research, especially on the
validation or/and improvement of the framework designed.

The interview will be audio tape recorded and notes taken by me as the researcher. The tapes and
notes will be stored in a safe place and only the researcher and supervisors have the access to them.
You will not be identified by name or any other person specific details unless you request this.

Later in the research I will produce a final report summarising the main findings, which will be sent to
you. I also plan to present the research findings through publication and conferences for education
purposes only.
Aim of the Research

The main aim of the research is to critically analyse and optimise the potential of applying EO
approaches to support SDG indicators with particular focus on those indicators covering the social
and economic dimensions of sustainable development as there as relatively unexplored in an EO
context.

Data Protection

Any information and data collected during the interview will be strictly confidential and will be held
securely until the phase is finished.

All project data (raw and processed) will be held for at least 6 years and all research data for at least
10 years in accordance with University policy and Data Protection Act.

All information gathered will be held on password- locked computers on the University servers. Hard
files will be safely kept in locked places. No identifiable data will be accessed by anyone rather than
me or supervisors and authorised personal from the University and regularly authorities for
monitoring purposes.

If you have any questions or require more information, please contact me using the following contact
details:

Name: Ana Andries

Email: a.andries@surrey.ac.uk

Phone- +447443577319

Thank you for reading the information sheet and for considering taking part in this research.
 CONSENT FORM FOR PARTICIPANTS IN RESEARCH STUDIES

Please complete this form after you have read the Information sheet.

Title of study: Translation of Remote Sensing data into Sustainable development Indicators

Thank you for considering taking part in this research. The person organising the research must explain the
project the project to you before you agree to take part. If you have any questions arising from the Information
Sheet or explanations already given to you, please ask the researcher before you decide whether to join in. You
will be given a copy of this Consent Form to keep and refer to any time.

By ticking each box you are consenting to this element of study. It will be assumed that un-ticked boxes mean
that you DO NOT CONSENT to that part of the study.

Please tick or initial

1. I confirm that I read and understood the
information sheet dated for the study. I have
had the opportunity to consider and asked
questions which have been answered
satisfactorily.
2. I understand that my participation is
voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at
any time without giving any reason and
without being disadvantaged in any way.
3. I consent to the processing of my personal
information for the purposes explained to me.
I understand that such information will be
handled in accordance with the terms of the
UK Data Protection Act.

4. I understand that my information may be

subject to be accessed/ reviewed by
responsible individuals from the University
of Surrey and/or regulatory authority for
monitoring and audit purposes.

5. Anonymity is optional for this research.

Please select from the following 2 options:

a. I agree to be fully identified

b. I wish to remain anonymous

6. I consent to my interview being audio

recorded

Name of participant Date Signatur e

Name of researcher Date Signatur e

Section 2- Respondent contacts details

Date………………

Name……………..

Email address……..

Section 3- Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Q1. Are you familiar with SDG? If yes, do you use them in your work projects?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Q2. What is your overall impression of the SDGs and its associated target and indicator framework?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Q3. What type of data (e.g. ICT, survey, in-situ, EO, airborne, etc.) do you consider suitable to
support, monitor or/and evaluate SDGs indicators and targets? Which one would you consider the
most reliable, efficient and low cost? What are the barriers using such data?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Section 4- EO data in support of SDG indicators

Q4. What aspects of SDG framework could get support from EO data?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q5. Can you think of any examples from your work where you have used EO data to support SDGs?
How did you achieve it?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q7. Can you think of any barriers/ weaknesses of processing EO data and how these could affect the
SDGs Indicators?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q8. Can you think of any barriers/ weaknesses of EO data availability and how these could affect the
SDGs Indicators?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Q9. If trying to score each indicator with regard to the applicability of EO data then what are the
factors you think should be taken into account?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Section 5- Maturity Matrix Framework (MMF)

Q10. Do you think existing publications are an important factor in determining the viability of using
EO data for an indicator? If so – how important?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q11. Do you distinguish between different types of publication (journal paper, report)?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q12. Do you think one valid and solid approach published can weight more than several approaches
published to support a particular indicator? So, is the number of publications important?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q13. Do you think EO processing methods for optical data can be scalable (see MMF- premise 1.1)
with regard to their worth for supplying data to indicators? If they can then what do you think should
be the ranking?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q14. What score would you give in terms of accuracy to the methods of processing radar data?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q15. What score would you give in terms of accuracy to the methods of processing optical data?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q16. What importance do you see in using high resolution optical imagery in assessing SDGs?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Q17. How do you think we should score the applicability of EO data for indices which have more
than one component (e.g. Indicator 15.5.1: Red List Index)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Q17. Do you think that scalable classification of requirement for non-EO data is a valid premise? If
yes, why?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Section 5. Proxy indicators

Q19. What role do you think proxy indicators – more amenable to population via EO data – can play?

Do you think it is acceptable to replace SDG indicators with proxies if they are more amenable to
population via EO? Why?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Section 6. Roundup

Q20. Do you have any other comments/observations?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Thank you for taking part of this survey. Your answers are very valuable for this research.