The halfway point for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was marked in 2023, as set forth in the 2030 Agenda. Geospatial technologies have proven indispensable in assessing and tracking fundamental components of each of the 17 SDGs, including climatological and ecological trends, and changes and humanitarian crises and socio-economic impacts. However, gaps remain in the capacity for geospatial and related digital technologies, like AI, to provide a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the complex and multi-factorial challenges delineated in the SDGs. Lack of progress toward these goals, and the immense implementation challenges that remain, call for inclusive and holistic approaches, coupled with transformative uses of digital technologies. This paper reviews transdisciplinary, holistic, and participatory approaches to address gaps in ethics and diversity in geospatial and related technologies and to meet the pressing need for bottom-up, community-driven initiatives. Small-scale, community-based initiatives are known to have a systemic and aggregate effect toward macro-economic and global environmental goals. Cybernetic systems thinking approaches are the conceptual framework investigated in this study, as these approaches suggest that a decentralized, polycentric system—for example, each community acting as one node in a larger, global system—has the resilience and capacity to create and sustain positive change, even if it is counter to top-down decisions and mechanisms. Thus, this paper will discuss how holistic systems thinking—societal, political, environmental, and economic choices considered in an interrelated context—may be central to building true resilience to climate change and creating sustainable development pathways. Traditional and Indigenous knowledge (IK) systems around the world hold holistic awareness of human-ecological interactions—practicable, reciprocal relationships developed over time as a cultural approach. This cultural holistic approach is also known as Systemic Literacy, which considers how systems function beyond “mechanical” aspects and include political, philosophical, psychological, emotional, relational, anthropological, and ecological dimensions. When Indigenous-led, these dimensions can be unified into participatory, community-centered conservation practices that support long-term human and environmental well-being. There is a growing recognition of the criticality of Indigenous leadership in sustainability practices, as well as that partnerships with Indigenous peoples and weaving knowledge systems, as a missing link to approaching global ecological crises. This review investigates the inequality in technological systems—the “digital divide” that further inhibits participation by communities and groups that retain knowledge of “place” and may offer the most transformative solutions. Following the review and synthesis, this study presents cybernetics as a bridge of understanding to Indigenous systems thinking. As non-Indigenous scholars, we hope that this study serves to foster informed, productive, and respectful dialogues so that the strength of diverse knowledges might offer whole-systems approaches to decision making that tackle wicked problems. Lastly, we discuss use cases of community-based processes and co-developed geospatial technologies, along with ethical considerations, as avenues toward enhancing equity and making advances in democratizing and decolonizing technology.

This study examines the influence of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on Jamaica’s rainfall patterns, leveraging CHIRPS data from 1981 to 2021 in 370 locations. Our analysis reveals a distinct ENSO imprint on rainfall, with La Niña phases showing a consistently higher probability of exceeding various rainfall thresholds compared to El Niño. Notably, La Niña increases the likelihood of heavier rainfall, particularly in the wet seasons, with probabilities of exceeding 200 mm reaching up to 50% during wet season II. Spatially, the probability of total monthly rainfall (TMR) during La Niña is elevated in the northeastern regions, suggesting regional vulnerability to excess rainfall. Additionally, during El Niño, the correlation between TMR and the maximum air temperature (Tmax) is significantly stronger, indicating a positive and more pronounced relationship between higher temperatures and rainfall, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.39 to 0.80. Wind speed and evapotranspiration show a negligible influence on TMR during both ENSO phases, maintaining stable correlation patterns with only slight variations. The results of this study underscore the necessity for differentiated regional strategies in water resource management and disaster preparedness, tailored to the unique climatic characteristics imposed by ENSO variability. These insights contribute to a refined understanding of climate impacts, essential for enhancing resilience and adaptive capacity in Jamaica and other small island developing states.

Introduction Raman spectroscopy for planetary rover-based exploration has become a primary tool to investigate in situ geological materials. With the support of the Canadian Space Agency and their Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP), a Lunar Raman spectrometer (LunaR [1]) is being developed jointly between the University of Winnipeg, York University and MPB Communications. This instrument is intended to be installed onboard an exploration rover and acquired Raman spectroscopy of the lunar regolith in sunlit and permanently-shadowed regions. Calibration targets are needed in the context of this instrument, each typical of lunar mineralogical endmembers and consistent with the composition of the surface. We thus analysed in Raman spectroscopy a set of 46 samples, consisting of plagioclases, olivines, pyroxenes, oxides and basalts, and the lunar highland breccia meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 12593 [2]. In this analysis, we investigate the composition of the meteorite NWA 12593 using Raman signatures detected for our reference samples.Measurement protocols and spectral modelling Raman spectroscopy was performed in the laboratory using a B&W Tek iRaman Raman spectrometer with a 532 nm excitation laser and covering the spectral range from 175 to 4000 cm-1 with a spectral resolution of about 4cm-1. The size of the laser spot is 1mm, and the area viewed for the measurements covers a spot of 85µm on the sample. The integration time ranges from 500 to 65000 ms per spectrum, and for each sample we average between 1 to 250 spectra. These values are optimized for each sample before the scientific measurement to ensure a signal-to-noise ratio high enough to enable spectroscopic investigation and to avoid saturation of the detector when measuring high intensity peaks. The data are dark corrected during the measurement by the instrument software. Raman spectra are acquired for three spots of each sample.To accommodate the large amount of data to analyse, we developed a spectral deconvolution package in Python called Python Raman Analyzer (PyRANA). This package works with commands sent by the operator and allows the cleaning (i.e. detection and removal of hot pixels) and spectral modelling of the data. The continuum can be set as linear or as a 2nd order polynomial on a local scale. Several profiles are available to model the Raman peaks, such as Cauchy (symmetric and asymmetric), Gaussian (symmetric and asymmetric) and Breit-Wigner-Fano (BWF [3]). The spectral modelling allows the separation of blended features, too close from each other to be fully resolved, and thus the precise determination of the various band parameters. PyRANA, and all spectra presented in this analysis are available in free access in the SALSA database [4] (http://salsa.uwinnipeg.ca) Figure 1 presents the resulting modeling of a group of peaks detected on the Raman spectrum of the orthopyroxene sample PYX042.We used PyRANA on all samples and the lunar meteorite. All detected peaks are deconvoluted and used as indicators of the composition of the samples.Raman spectroscopy of the lunar meteorite Raman spectroscopy was performed on 11 various areas of the lunar meteorite, on some inclusions and the dark matrix. Figure 2 shows the location of the observed spots during the Raman measurement, and Figure 3 shows the associated spectra.Most of expected Raman signatures are difficult to detected in the raw spectra because of the strong fluorescence (seen here as the increase of the intensity with increasing Raman shift). Beside the capacity to deconvolute the Raman peaks, PyRANA allows the removal of the continuum from the data to better isolate the Raman peaks. It can be seen on the previous figure that we detected several Raman peaks for each location on the meteorite. We now compare the position of the Raman peaks detected on the meteorite with the various signatures resulting from the investigations of the reference surfaces presented above.We observe on the previous figure that the Raman signatures detected on the meteorites matched those resulting from the analysis of the reference samples. All studied spots are composed of pyroxenes and plagioclase, spots 7 to 11 also show clear signatures of olivine. Though the work presented here results only in qualitative analysis, the Raman spectroscopy coupled with spectral deconvolution allows a determination of the mineralogical composition of lunar samples [5].Conclusion We used pure single mineral samples of known compositions consistent with the composition of the lunar surface for the development of LunaR. The Raman spectroscopy analysis coupled with the spectral deconvolution with PyRANA allowed us to generate a Raman peak data base to be used in the future as references for the compositional investigation of lunar materials. We then determined the composition of the matrix and several inclusions of a lunar meteorite using the reference data previously acquired.Acknowledgments We acknowledge the support provided by the Canadian Space Agency through their Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP). This study is also being supported with funding from NSERC, UWinnipeg, CFI, and MRIF. This research has made use of community-developed core Python packages for astronomy and scientific computing including Scipy [6, 7], Numpy [8] and Matplotlib [9].References [1] Cloutis et al., 52nd LPSC, 2021, 1473. [2] Gattacceca et al. Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 2020, 55, 1146–1150. [3] Eklund & Subbaswamy, Physical Review B, 1979, 20, 5157–5161. [4] Manigand et al., Canadian Lunar Workshop, 2021. [5] Potin et al., in prep. [6] Jones et al., 2001. [7] Virtanen et al., Nature Methods, 2020, 17, 261–272. [8] van der Walt et al. Computing in Science and Engineering, 2011, 13, 22–30. [9] Hunter et al. Computing in Science and Engineering, 2007, 9, 90–95.

The presence of extensive clay minerals in the ancient Noachian terrains of Mars is often used to invoke past climatic conditions that were warmer and supported surface-stable liquid water. These clay-rich regions are also heavily cratered, leading to the possibility of a causal relationship. The aim of this study is to better understand the impact excavation and generation of clays and whether there are any mineralogical or geochemical indicators that could differentiate between these two origins, both on Earth and, by analogy, Mars. Here, we present a detailed field and laboratory investigation of the composition, texture, and setting of clay minerals in impactites at the well-preserved Ries impact structure, Germany. Authigenic impactite (syn- and post-impact) clay minerals in impact melt-bearing breccia deposits are compared with sedimentary-derived clay mineral-bearing units preserved from the time of the impact event. Our findings indicate: (1) impact-generated deposits comprise compositionally diverse, Al-dominant smectitic clay minerals that could have formed without appreciable exogenous volatiles through a combination of autometamorphism, hydrothermal alteration, and devitrification; and (2) the pre-impact sedimentary clay mineral assemblages were similar in composition to those in the impact-generated deposits such that only detailed, successive laboratory treatments and analyses could discern the two sample types. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover mission is presently investigating its first science campaign and has identified secondary alteration products, including possible clay minerals. Our study suggests that the rover may explore impact-generated clay minerals in situ, though their provenance might only be determined from analysis of the returned samples in Earth laboratories.

The Caribbean region is highly vulnerable to multiple hazards. Resultant impacts may be derived from single or multiple cascading risks caused by hydrological-meteorological, seismic, geologic, or anthropological triggers, disturbances, or events. Studies suggest that event records and data related to hazards, risk, damage, and loss are limited in this region. National Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) planning and response require data of sufficient quantity and quality to generate actionable information, statistical inferences, and insights to guide continual policy improvements for effective DRR, national preparedness, and response in both time and space. To address this knowledge gap, we review the current state of knowledge, data, models, and tools, identifying potential opportunities, capacity needs, and long-term benefits for integrating Earth Observation (EO) understanding, data, models, and tools to further enhance and strengthen the national DRR framework using two common disasters in Jamaica: floods and landslides. This review serves as an analysis of the current state of DRR management and assess future opportunities. Equally, to illustrate and guide other United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) priority countries in the Pacific region, known as Small Island Developing States (SIDS), to grapple with threats of multiple and compounding hazards in the face of increasing frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events, and climate change impact.

Perseverance's Mastcam-Z instrument provides high-resolution stereo and multispectral images with a unique combination of spatial resolution, spatial coverage, and wavelength coverage along the rover's traverse in Jezero crater, Mars. Images reveal rocks consistent with an igneous (including volcanic and/or volcaniclastic) and/or impactite origin and limited aqueous alteration, including polygonally fractured rocks with weathered coatings; massive boulder-forming bedrock consisting of mafic silicates, ferric oxides, and/or iron-bearing alteration minerals; and coarsely layered outcrops dominated by olivine. Pyroxene dominates the iron-bearing mineralogy in the finegrained regolith, while olivine dominates the coarse-grained regolith. Solar and atmospheric imaging observations show significant intra- and intersol variations in dust optical depth and water ice clouds, as well as unique examples of boundary layer vortex action from both natural (dust devil) and Ingenuity helicopter-induced dust lifting. High-resolution stereo imaging also provides geologic context for rover operations, other instrument observations, and sample selection, characterization, and confirmation.

The LunaR concept study investigated the scientific value, feasibility, and deployment options for a Raman spectrometer on future lunar landed missions. It consists of a breadboard instrument that covers the 150–4000 cm−1 wavelength range with a resolution of ∼6 cm−1; Raman scattering is induced by a 532 nm continuous wave laser. The current conceptual design envisions the Raman spectrometer performing a downward-looking, 90-point one-dimensional across-track scan (±45°off nadir) of the lunar surface with the instrument mounted on the underside of a rover. A downward-looking context camera would provide information on the physical nature of targets interrogated by the Raman spectrometer and localization of the Raman spectra. Our laboratory investigations indicate that Raman spectroscopy is applicable to addressing a wide range of lunar surface exploration goals related to geology, in situ resource identification, and condensed volatile detection in diverse geological terrains, including permanently shadowed regions. Testing of a breadboard and commercial instrument on lunar samples and analogues indicates that a complete spectral scan of a target of interest can be completed in ∼90 min, permitting its use on even short-duration lunar landed missions. All of the major minerals present on the Moon can be detected, and in many cases their compositions can be quantified or constrained.

The peak-ring of the 66 Ma, similar to 180 km Chicxulub impact structure in the northern Yucatan peninsula and southern Gulf of Mexico was sampled during the International Ocean Discovery Program and International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (IODP-ICDP) Expedition 364 at Site M0077 (21.45 degrees N, 89.95 degrees W). Secondary clay minerals are pervasive throughout the upper peak-ring lithologies as a product of ubiquitous altered glass present throughout the impact melt and melt-bearing breccia sequence. Here we present the first detailed study of the clay mineralogy (microprobe, pXRD, spectral reflectance from 350 to 2500 nm) and isotope geochemistry (delta H-2 and delta O-18) of the <0.2 mu m size-fraction from upper peak-ring lithologies. The clay mineralogy is dominated by smectitic clay minerals, whose composition varies with stratigraphic position. Trioctahedral Mg-Fe smectite (var. saponite) is most common in Units or Subunits 2A, 2C, 3 and 4, while a section of Subunit 2B contains a more dioctahedral, Al-rich smectite. Higher porosity regions of the lower to mid, dioctahedral smectite-dominated intervals have higher delta O-18 (+14.2 to +18.6 parts per thousand) whereas intervals dominated by trioctahedral smectite have lower delta O-18 (+10.4 to +14.1 parts per thousand). The range of smectite delta H-2 (-105 to -87 parts per thousand), in comparison to that of oxygen isotopes, is proportionally much less variable and unrelated to smectite mineralogy. When combined, the oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of the smectitic clay minerals suggest low temperature (similar to 20 to 50 degrees C) formation from meteoric water-dominated fluids. The lower end of this temperature range is below current ambient conditions, which conceivably could suggest smectite formation before much of the overlying sedimentary rocks were deposited (similar to 56 Ma?). Calculated temperatures are generally lower than those associated with impact-generated hydrothermal alteration. Calculated delta O-18 and delta H-2 of meteoric water-dominated fluids associated with low-temperature formation of these clay minerals are lower than known for modern meteoric water in the Yucatan region. The simplest explanation for the source of these ancient fluids is meteoric water-dominated Gulf Coast brines. A more remote possibility is orogenically-driven, long-distance transport of groundwater from highlands to the east via an artesian aquifer formed in part by fractured Mesozoic rocks extending laterally beneath the impact structure.

The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landed on February 18, 2021, and has started ground operations. The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover will touch down on June 10, 2023. Perseverance will be the first-ever Mars sample caching mission-a first step in sample return to Earth. SuperCam and Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) on Perseverance, and Raman Laser Spectrometer (RLS) on Rosalind Franklin, will comprise the first ever in situ planetary mission Raman spectroscopy instruments to identify rocks, minerals, and potential organic biosignatures on Mars' surface. There are many challenges associated when using Raman instruments and the optimization and quantitative analysis of resulting data. To understand how best to overcome them, we performed a comprehensive Raman analysis campaign on CanMars, a Mars sample caching rover analog mission undertaken in Hanksville, Utah, USA, in 2016. The Hanksville region presents many similarities to Oxia Planum's past habitable conditions, including liquid water, flocculent, and elemental compounds (such as clays), catalysts, substrates, and energy/food sources for life. We sampled and conducted a complete band analysis of Raman spectra as mission validation analysis with the RLS ExoMars Simulator or RLS Sim, a breadboard setup representative of the ExoMars RLS instrument. RLS Sim emulates the operational behavior of RLS on the Rosalind Franklin rover. Given the high fidelity of the Mars analog site and the RLS Sim, the results presented here may provide important information useful for guiding in situ analysis and sample triage for caching relevant for the Perseverance and Rosalind Franklin missions. By using the RLS Sim on CanMars samples, our measurements detected oxides, sulfates, nitrates, carbonates, feldspars, and carotenoids, many with a higher degree of sensitivity than past results. Future work with the RLS Sim will aim to continue developing and improving the capability of the RLS system in the future ExoMars mission.

Introduction: The European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is exploring Mars from orbit, while the ESA ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover will explore the Martian surface in the near future. Both missions are equipped with a number of optical spectrometers. On ExoMars TGO these include NOMAD (Nadir and Occultation for Mars Discovery) [1] and ACS (Atmospheric Chemistry Suite) [2]. ExoMars TGO can observe Mars in a number of viewing geometries, including nadir, limb, and solar occultation. The Rosalind Franklin spectrometers include ISEM (Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars) [3], Ma_MISS (Mars Multispectral Imager for Subsurface Studies) [4] and MicrOmega [5]. These instruments have different modes of operation, wavelength coverage, and spectral resolution, some of which are presented in Table 1.

The impact melt‐bearing breccias at the Ries impact structure, Germany, host degassing pipes: vertical structures that are inferred to represent conduits along which gases and fluids escaped to the surface, consistent with hydrothermal activity that occurs soon after an impact event. Although the presence of degassing pipes has been recognized within the well‐preserved and long‐studied ejecta deposits at the Ries, a detailed mineralogical study of their alteration mineralogy, as an avenue to elucidate their origins, has not been conducted to date. Through the application of high‐resolution in situ reflectance imaging spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction, this study shows for the first time that the degassing pipe interiors and associated alteration are comprised of hydrated and hydroxylated silicates (i.e., Fe/Mg smectitic clay minerals with chloritic or other hydroxy‐interlayered material) as secondary hydrothermal mineral phases. This study spatially extends the known effects of impact hydrothermal activity into the ejecta deposits, beyond the crater rim. It has been suggested that the degassing pipes at the Ries are analogous to crater‐related pit clusters observed in impact melt‐bearing deposits on Mars, Ceres, and Vesta. The results of this work may inform on the presence of crustal volatiles and their interaction during the impact process on rocky bodies throughout the solar system. The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover may have the opportunity to investigate impact‐related features in situ; if so, this work suggests that such investigations may provide key information on the origin and formation of clay minerals on Mars as well as hold exciting implications for future Mars exploration.

R. Osinski1, M. Bourassa1, C. M. Caudill1, E. A. Cloutis2, P. Christofferson1, P. J. A. Hill 1,3, Z. R. Morse1, J. D. Newman1, E. A. Pilles1, S. L. Simpson1, L. L. Tornabene1, T. Xie1 and the 2019 CanMoon Team. 1Department of Earth Sciences / Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. 2Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. 3Department of Earth and Atmosphere, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada (cmarion3@uwo.ca, gosinski@uwo.ca)

PLANNING AND MONITORING. J. Shah, C. N. Andres, E. A. Pilles, A. Roberts, C. D. Rodriguez SanchezVahamonde, O. Vlachopoulos, W. Yingling, C. L. Marion, G. R. Osinski, E. A. Cloutis, Z. R. Morse, J. D. Newman, C. Caudill. Department of Earth Sciences/Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, United Kingdom, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada. Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada, jshah68@uwo.ca.

AND DECISION MAKING DURING A HIGH FIDELITY REALTIME LUNAR ANALOGUE MISSION. Z. R. Morse, P. J. A. Hill , G. R. Osinski, E. A. Cloutis, C. L. Marion, J. D. Newman, C. M. Caudill, P. A. Christofferson, E. A. Pilles, S. L. Simpson, L. L. Tornabene, T. Xie and the 2019 CanMoon Science Team. Department of Earth Sciences / Institute for Earth and Space Exploration, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. Department of Earth and Atmosphere, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Department of Geography, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. (zmorse@uwo.ca)

Abstract In 2022, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos will launch the ExoMars rover, with the scientific objective to detect evidence of life within the Martian surface via the deployment of a 2 m drill. The ExoMars Pasteur payload contains several imaging and spectroscopic instruments key to this objective: the Panoramic Camera (PanCam), Infrared Spectrometer for ExoMars (ISEM), and Close‐UP Imager (CLUPI). These instruments are able to collect data at a variety of spatial (sub‐mm to decimeter) and spectral (3.3 to 120 nm) resolutions across the 440 to 3,300 nm wavelength range and collectively will form a picture of the geological and morphological characteristics of the surface terrain surrounding the rover. We deployed emulators of this instrument suite at terrestrial analog sites that formed in a range of aqueous environments to test their ability to detect and characterize science targets. We find that the emulator suite is able to effectively detect, characterize, and refine the compositions of multiple targets at working distances spanning from 2 to 18 m. We report on (a) the detection of hydrothermal alteration minerals including Fe‐smectites and gypsum from basaltic substrates, (b) the detection of late‐stage diagenetic gypsum veins embedded in exposures of sedimentary mudstone, (c) multispectral evidence of compositional differences detected from fossiliferous mudstones, and (d) approaches to cross‐referencing multi‐scale and multi‐resolution data. These findings aid in the development of data products and analysis toolkits in advance of the ExoMars rover mission.