Prof. Dr. Thomas Esch is a DLR Senior Scientist, group leader and project manager at the Earth Observation Center (EIC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. He is also an honorary professor at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences (HFT), Faculty of Geomatics, Computer Science and Mathematics. As head of the “Smart Cities and Spatial Development” research group, Prof. Dr. Esch has been dedicated to the automated extraction of information (High Performance Processing and Data Analytics) from extensive and heterogeneous satellite and geodata (Big Earth Data) for around 15 years. The resulting geoinformation products are used in research, planning, the private sector and politics, where they are used for the implementation of indicator-based environmental monitoring, evidence-based decision support and as a basis for dialogue in the context of global change.