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G20 calls for GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative (GEO-GLAM)
 First proposed by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and various research centers in G20 countries, the Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative was launched at the Paris meeting of G20 Agriculture Ministers in June 2011. The initiative forms part of the G20 Action Plan on Food Price Volatility, which also includes the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS) initiative led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The G20 Ministerial Declaration that launched the Action Plan states that the GEO GLAM initiative “will strengthen global agricultural monitoring by improving the use of remote sensing tools for crop production projections and weather forecasting”. By providing coordinated Earth observations from satellites and validating them using in situ measurements, the initiative will deliver reliable, accurate, timely and sustained crop monitoring information and yield forecasts.
The initiative will be coordinated by the GEO Secretariat in Geneva and will build on GEO’s agricultural community of practice (CoP). Established in 2007, this global network now has over 300 members, including such key organizations and programs as the FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System, the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, the USAID Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the Institute for Remote Sensing Applications of the China Academy of Sciences (Crop Watch), the European Commission’s JRC/MARS unit, and Agri-Food Canada, to name just a few.
The G20 Action Plan explicitly recommends that the G20 proposals on AMIS and GEO GLAM be linked together and coordinated. GEO fully agrees that the FAO-led AMIS initiative should be a direct beneficiary of – if not the key stakeholder in – GEO GLAM activities.
GEO hosted a planning meeting in Geneva on 22-23 September in order to develop an implementation plan with the GEO GLAM core partners. The participants consisted of 33 experts from 13 G20 members (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States) and four international organizations (CEOS, FAO, GEO, and WMO).
The meeting agreed on the importance of the initiative and the need to develop a detailed GEO-GLAM action plan. A progress report will be distributed to the G20 Agriculture national representatives in advance of the G20 Presidential Summit in November. GEO-GLAM will also be presented at regional and international events to create a larger awareness of the initiative among decision and policy makers. The initiative is also described in a Plenary document and will be presented to delegates at the GEO-VIII Plenary meeting in Istanbul in November.
Global Digital Elevation Model upgrade
US and Japan release upgraded Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM)
 The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) have produced a significantly improved version of the most complete digital topographic map of Earth. The two partners are jointly contributing the data for the ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model to GEOSS.
Version 2 of the ASTER GDEM was created from images collected by the Japanese Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. Stereo-pair images are produced by merging two slightly offset two-dimensional images to create the three-dimensional effect of depth. The first version of the map was released by NASA and METI in June 2009.
Version 2 adds 260,000 additional stereo-pair images to improve coverage. It features improved spatial resolution, increased horizontal and vertical accuracy, more realistic coverage over water bodies and the ability to identify lakes as small as 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) in diameter. The map is available online to users everywhere at no cost.
The ASTER data cover 99 percent of Earth's landmass and span from 83 degrees north latitude to 83 degrees south. Each elevation measurement point in the data is 98 feet (30 meters) apart.
For more information see the NASA press release or read a recent news clipping. Data users can download the ASTER global digital elevation model from the USGS or ERSDAC websites.
GEO Supersites and Natural Laboratories address eastern Turkey earthquake
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| Detail of COSMO-SkyMed (CSK) unwrapped interferogram (InSAR) map of displacements in the radar line-of-sight. Click the map to view the complete image and access additional information. |
The GEO Supersite for Van, Turkey, is contributing to the scientific understanding of the Magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Turkey on 23 October. In particular, scientists are focusing on how the event changed the earthquake potential for neighboring faults.
Seismic data and SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) imagery are assisting the geohazards global community, whose work on this earthquake is being coordinated by the Tubitak Marmara Research Centre, to better understand the causes and impact of the earthquake. Fortunately, SAR data from the Italian Space Agency's Cosmo SkyMED were available just five days after the earthquake in the framework of the European Commission's SAFER FP7 Project. These images, together with critical Cosmo’s pre-seismic imagery, made it possible to develop a series of interferograms and displacement maps that confirmed the preliminary analysis that thrust faulting caused the event. They also helped field teams to identify the surface rupture.
Further details about the nature of the earthquake are expected shortly from the European Space Agency’s Envisat satellite. The German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) TerraSAR-X satellite will capture the relaxation effects of the Earth's crust in the weeks to months following the quake.
In addition, the various satellite data will have a crucial role in helping field teams to design new in-situ networks to better understand the earthquake and estimate future seismic risks. In particular, the COSMO products have been provided to field teams mapping the surface ruptures and to the seismologists revising their location estimates.
Third GEOSS African Water Cycle Symposium
The Symposium held in Libreville, Gabon, from 27 to 29 February, focused on the economic impact of satellite teledetection on water resource management and the green economy. GEO Secretariat Director José Achache discussed the event with CNBC Africa. |
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Minister Nihat Ergün at GEO-VIII
Opening remarks by H.E. Nihat Ergun, Minister of Science, Industry and Technology of Turkey. Click the image to download the full speech. |
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5th GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium
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The 5th GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium was held from 2 to 4 April 2012 in Tokyo at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan).  The Symposium, co-organized with GEO Japan and with the support of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), addressed the theme of “GEO Initiatives towards Green Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region,” particularly in the fields of Water, Biodiversity, Forests, Ocean and Agriculture.
Central to this theme was discussion on how GEOSS can contribute to the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). A “Tokyo Statement” was adopted to support the Rio+20 conference objectives.
Read full report here
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 GEOSS at Rio+20
Ensuring full and open access to the data and information available through GEOSS can make a vital contribution to the goals of the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
GEO will raise awareness of GEOSS with an exhibition booth hosted at the Japan Pavilion in Athletes Park as well as through a number of seminars and panel discussions. For more information on these events and activities, please see GEO’s Rio+20 brochure
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ASI contributes COSMO-SkyMed data to GEO Geohazard Supersites
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The Italian Space Agency will make COSMO-SkyMed data available on Hawaii through the GEO Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories Initiative. The COSMO-SkyMed data will contribute to build complete and compelling data sets on the Hawaii Supersites and will create a unique potential in the scientific field of volcanology.
A recently-completed research by JPL / NASA using Interferometric SAR from Cosmo-SkyMed data demonstrated its unprecedented ability to detect surface change over time, as well as its ability to provide additional insights into the dynamics of Hawaiian volcanism. (e.g., the March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption at Kilauea).
The pictures show differential synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferograms from ascending (left) and descending (right); each color cycle represents approximately 1.5 cm of relative surface displacement in the radar line of sight direction.
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The Italian Space Agency will make COSMO-SkyMed data available on Hawaii through the GEO Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories Initiative. The COSMO-SkyMed data will contribute to build complete and compelling data sets on the Hawaii Supersites and will create a unique potential in the scientific field of volcanology.
A recently-completed research by JPL / NASA using Interferometric SAR from Cosmo-SkyMed data demonstrated its unprecedented ability to detect surface change over time, as well as its ability to provide additional insights into the dynamics of Hawaiian volcanism. (e.g., the March 2011 Kamoamoa fissure eruption at Kilauea).
The pictures show differential synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferograms from ascending (left) and descending (right); each color cycle represents approximately 1.5 cm of relative surface displacement in the radar line of sight direction.
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Worldwide disaster management further strengthened by the International Charter
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The International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ is further strengthening its contribution to disaster management worldwide.
 Building on a decade of success in making satellite data available to users for disaster response, the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters is now opening its doors even wider. Following a formal request from the GEO Secretariat, the Charter Members have adopted the principle of Universal Access. Any national disaster management authority will be able to submit requests to the Charter for emergency response. Proper procedures will naturally have to be followed, but the affected country will not have to be a Charter member.
GEO has been collaborating with the Charter since 2009 with a focus on disaster management users in GEO Member States. This collaboration concentrated on user awareness and methods to improve broader access to the Charter. For example, both the GEO Secretariat and GEO Principals have participated in the formal user- consultation events conducted in more than fifteen countries in Africa.
National disaster management authorities expressing an interest in participating in the Charter will be required to carry out a registration process to ensure conditions are properly met.
Steps and applicable conditions are explained in the Universal Access Information Brochure available together with a Registration form.
GEO commends the Charter for taking this important step because universal access is an excellent example of the added value that working with GEO can bring to global initiatives.
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Successful GEO-IX Plenary in Brazil
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 Brazil, through the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has hosted the GEO-IX Plenary in the city of Foz do Iguacu, from 22 to 23 November 2012. Presentations and Statements given during GEO-IX are posted on the GEO-IX meeting web page
The highlights of the 2012 GEOSS implementation can be downloaded here
GEO-IX Side Events:
Several side events were organized during the week of 19-24 November in Brazil. The European Commission held a three day event - details can be found on this page.
Enhancements to the GEOSS infrastructure and benefits for agriculture, disaster management, health, energy and water were demonstrated by the Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP-5). More info can be found here
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IRENA launches the Global Atlas for Solar and Wind
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 The Global Atlas is the largest ever initiative undertaken to assess renewable energy potential on a global scale. The initiative is coordinated by IRENA, and involves 39 countries. It provides high-quality resource maps from leading technical institutes worldwide, and simplified models for evaluating technical potential.
The system is entirely decentralized. Each country joining the Atlas may contribute datasets to the initiative through its national institute. The data layers and the web-services are hosted remotely, on the geo-servers of the project partners.
The Global Atlas is listed in the GEO Work Plan as an infrastructure key activity in the EN-01-C1 task-sheet: "Tools and Information for the Resource Assessment, Monitoring and Forecasting of Energy Sources". The success of the Global Atlas has benefit from GEOSS recommendations on interoperability and the respect of international standards (OGC/ISO). You can read the full article here
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GEO addresses Earth Observations and Environmental Change at ISRSE35
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 Co-organized by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the 35th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE-35) was held in Beijing from 22 to 26 April, 2013.
ISRSE35 was hosted by the newly established Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI), China.
GEO Secretariat Director, Barbara J. Ryan gave the opening talk titled “GEO - Building a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)”. The meeting attracted more than one thousand scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs from many Earth Observation communities, all over the word.
GEO was involved in the meeting with three workshops, and 7 technical sessions, mainly GEO Agriculture (GEOGLAM), Disasters, Ecosystems, Forests (GFOI), Water, Infrastructure, EO Capacity Building and Resource Mobilization.
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GEO challenge grant
The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has contributed $5,000 to help defray expenses of worthy applicants from economically disadvantaged nations in Africa to attend the combined AfricaGIS 2013 and GSDI 14 conference and training workshops before and after the conference. GEO would like to invite, encourage and challenge additional geospatial organizations and agencies from across the globe to make additional contributions. Check out grant / conference details here
Providing water in areas with unsustainable usage
Fresh water is a fundamental requirement for humanity's well-being. However, more than one billion people today are without safe drinking water. Water for the World, a program to bring fresh water to those who do not have it, is supported by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the IEEE Foundation. The program is part of IEEE's collaboration with Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Our goal is to make progress using existing and innovative technologies that are easy to implement and scalable across a broad spectrum of the global population. Download full article here
GEO European Project's Workshop
The European Commission has concluded the 7th GEO European Projects Workshop (GEPW-7). The workshop took place in the Casa de la Convalescencia conference facility in Barcelona, on 15 and 16 April, and was hosted by CREAF (Centre for Ecological Research and Forestry Applications) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, through the European project GeoViQua.
GEPW-7 has continued and extended the effort to develop the collaboration between the GEO initiative and the European Commission projects on Earth Observation, funded through the Framework Programme of Community Research.
Draft agenda • Workshop website
New Landsat Earth-monitoring satellite launched
On the 11th of February, a new Earth observation satellite was lauched as part of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The satellite circles the planet in less than 2 hours, relaying images with a moderate-resolution of 15 to 100 meters.
The images, which are distributed at no charge, are a unique resource for global change research and applications in the areas of agriculture, forestry and natural disasters management. Details can be found on the USGS and NASA websites
The economic value of EO data
Whether it is remotely sensed, in-situ, ocean-based, or surface-based; earth observation (EO) data is essential for making informed public policy decisions in many areas involving societal benefits like climate variability and change, energy management, agriculture, biodiversity, human health and epidemiology, weather forecasting and water management. The economic value of EO data is in its utility...
Read full article as published in Geospatial World, January 2013.
Paper on Essential Biodiversity Variables
Reducing the rate of biodiversity loss and averting dangerous biodiversity change are international goals. However, there is no global, harmonized observation system for delivering regular, timely data on biodiversity change. Partners from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) are developing - and seeking consensus around - Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) that could form the basis of monitoring programs worldwide. Read Full Paper and consult the GEO BON EBVs page here.
Successful GEO-IX Plenary in Brazil
Please find presentations and statements on the GEO-IX meeting page
GEO side event at COP18 in Doha
GEO, in cooperation with the European Commission, organized a side Event on "Climate: improving knowledge and addressing societal needs", which took place on the 27 November at the European Union Pavilion at COP18 in Doha. The event provided an overview of the GEO initiatives addressing climate change, covering the observations, research, and insights into the Global Carbon Observation and Analysis System and the Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI). Find the program and presentations on the event web page.
Mobilization of the GEO community to the achievement of the CBD 2020 Aichi Targets
The achievement of the international biodiversity targets (2020 Aichi Targets), requires the mobilization of the entire GEO community, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Executive Secretariat, Dr. Braulio Dias. Dr. Dias expressed to GEO Secretariat Director Ryan, CBD's appreciation for the work that the GEO BON community has done heretofore. At the same time, he highlighted the desire for increased involvement of the entire GEO community, such as those working on Global Land Cover, Agriculture, Oceans, Forests, etc, for achieving the CBD 2020 Aichi Targets. A concept note, articulating this enhanced involvement, was presented to the CBD Conference of the Parties (COP-11) in October. The concept note can be downloaded here
Fourth Evaluation of GEOSS Implementation
The Group on Earth Observations wishes to announce the start of work of the Fourth Evaluation of implementation of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. This evaluation will encompass the Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs) Disasters, Energy and Health. The full announcement can be downloaded here.
CEOS & GEO: a vital partner-ship for Earth observation
The willingness and ability of CEOS to engage in the GEO Work Plan Tasks has been critical to the advances we have made so far in building GEOSS. The impact of CEOS on GEOSS implementation has increased with each new multi-year Work Plan, and this CEOS leadership has been widely recognized throughout the GEO community. At the same time, CEOS has greatly benefited from the establishment of GEO and the political profile and strategic guidance that GEO has brought to Earth observation. Read full article in:
CEOS newsletter No.39,p2
GMES contribution to GEOSS
Representatives from different societal benefit areas, key decision makers and the GEO Secretariat attended the "GMES in Action" Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, 4-5 June to show their support for the European Earth monitoring programme GMES: Global Monitoring for Environment and Security. They agreed on a "Copenhagen Resolution" which states GMES as a major contributor to GEOSS.
An update on the Agriculture SBA
Research Media caught up with the GEO Secretariat recently to discuss the progress being made on the agricultural component of GEOSS. The interview is available here.
Announcing the GEO Carbon Office
The European Commission-funded GEOCARBON project has launched a GEO Carbon Office. The Carbon Offfice will support the GEO Global Carbon Observation and Analysis System by strengthening coordination and engaging more contributors. For more information or to contribute to GEO Task CL-02 on GCOAS, please visit the GEOCARBON website or contact Task PoC Antonio Bombelli.
GEO-VIII Plenary accepts new GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan
The Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) hosted the GEO-VIII Plenary in Istanbul on 16 and 17 November. The Plenary's 380+ participants accepted the new GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan and the new Work Plan management structure. They also welcomed the recent improvements to the GEOSS Common Infrastructure, which now provides access to millions of data sets and information products through the GEO Portal. This includes the GEOSS Data-CORE, a distributed pool of documented datasets with full, open and unrestricted access at no more than the cost of reproduction and distribution. Other important outcomes of the meeting included an assessment and review of the progress made to date on GEOSS implementation, acceptance of the GEO Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Implementation Plan, and the launch of a process for defining the post-2015 phase of GEOSS. The review of the GEO-VIII Meeting Outcomes is available here
G20 Ministers launch GEO agricultural initiative
The agriculture ministers of the G20 countries adopted a ministerial declaration on 23 June in Paris launching a Global Agricultural Geo-Monitoring Initiative.
The aim of this GEO-led international monitoring network is to produce more accurate crop forecast data in order to promote food security. The Declaration is available here.
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![Detail of a map showing the seismicity of the Caribbean from 1990-2006 [Source: USGS]](images/articles/haiti_seismographic_map_detail.jpg)
![Detail of satellite image of Beijing [Source CBERS/INPE]](images/articles/ceos_image_tn.gif)
