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GEO News (Issue #8, 28 April 2010)
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IMPLEMENTING GEOSS
  Coordination and funding key to improved data reanalysis
  Included in the GEO Work Plan since 2005, the reanalysis of Earth observation data makes an essential contribution to virtually all societal benefit areas. The world’s major reanalysis projects, based in Europe, Japan and the US, are taking historical observations of the atmosphere, oceans and land, with all of their inconsistencies and irregularities, and reanalyzing them using today’s state-of-the-art weather and climate models. Continued...
   
  Building capacity for operational oceanography
  The GEO project “Building capacity for operational oceanography,” which is subtask CB-09-03d under the Capacity Building overarching task, aims to facilitate the sharing and use of ocean data and knowledge by stimulating global cooperation on operational oceanography, especially between developed and developing countries. Continued...
   
  The GCI co-evolves with community portals
  GEO is establishing the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI) to ensure that the systems contributed voluntarily by governments and organizations to GEOSS become truly interoperable. This GEOSS-wide GCI is being developed at the same time as a growing number of focused “community portals”. Continued...
   
  GEO applauds JAXA data on Haiti, Chile earthquakes
  The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has provided essential ALOS/PALSAR satellite data to international scientists whose analyses support the emergency teams responding to the major earthquakes in Haiti, on 12 January, and Chile, on 27 February. Continued...
   
  An invitation to the GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP-3)
  As reported in the February issue of GEO News, the Call for Participation (CFP) in the GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot, Phase 3 (AIP-3), is now open. To date, 34 responses representing over 100 organizations have been received. Interested readers are invited to participate by visiting the AIP CFP website. Continued...
   
  Fire Monitoring Task team sets priorities and next steps
  The team that is implementing GEO Task DI-09-03b on Implementation of a Fire Warning System at Global Level recently participated in the Global Observations of Forest Cover (GOFC) Fire Monitoring Workshop has identified priorities and next steps for GEO’s work on the growing challenge of fire-related disasters. Continued...
   
  GEO's Chile Event Supersite website on-line
  The GEO community responded to the 27 February earthquake off the coast of Chile by providing Earth observation data and information products via the Chile Event Supersite website. The site contains interferograms, shake and coherence maps, current and archived satellite images, and much more.
   
GEO UPDATE
  Executive Committee guides Ministerial preparations
  The Executive Committee held its 18th meeting on 22-23 March in Geneva. The agenda focused on preparations for the 5 November Beijing Ministerial Summit. The Committee held lengthy discussions on this issue and provided detailed guidance to the 2010 Ministerial Task Force (see next article.) Continued...
   
  Ministerial Task Force advances declaration, agenda, showcases
  The GEO 2010 Ministerial Task Force, with guidance from the Executive Committee, has made good progress in recent weeks on preparing all aspects of next November’s Beijing Ministerial Summit. Continued...
   
  4th GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium focuses on climate and biodiversity
  The 4th GEOSS Asia-Pacific Symposium was held in Bali, Indonesia, from 10 to 12 March. Organized by the GEO Secretariat with the support of the governments of Indonesia and Japan, the Symposium welcomed approximately 220 participants from 26 countries. The theme of the symposium was "Towards a Global Earth Observation System of Systems that supports the societal benefit areas of climate and biodiversity". Continued...
   
  STC addresses tasks, resource gaps and roadmap
  The 13th meeting of the GEO Science and Technology Committee (STC) was hosted by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) at their headquarters in Ankara on 24-26 March. Continued...
   
  UIC reviews support to Communities of Practice
  The 14th meeting of the User Interface Committee was held on 2-4 March at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in Reading, UK. Continued...
   
  ADC sets strategies for the next five years
  The 12th meeting of the Architecture and Data Committee (ADC) was held during the week of 3 March in Buenos Aires at the invitation of Argentina’s National Commission for Space Activities (CONAE). The participants focused in particular on the review of long-term strategies for architecture definition and data management. Continued...
   
  GEO BON develops its detailed implementation plan
  The GEO Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) held its Detailed Implementation Plan Meeting at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, near Monterey, California, USA, from 22 to 25 February 2010. The purpose of the meeting was to bring together the eight Topical Working Groups that are developing GEO BON’s Detailed Implementation Plan, to further develop the plan and to encourage interaction amongst the Working Groups to create a more coordinated GEO BON. Continued...
   
  Coastal Zone CoP seeks to strengthen observations in Africa
  The Second Regional Workshop in the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice (CZCP) Workshop Series took place in Cotonou, Benin, in February. The workshop brought together over 100 representatives of international organizations, members of several national agencies, and individual researchers engaged in research in Africa from several countries within Africa, Europe and the US. Continued...
   
ANNOUNCEMENTS
  GEO to hold Work Plan Symposium in Pretoria on 17-19 May
  The GEO Work Plan Symposium will take place immediately prior to the co-located Committee meetings and bring together Task Leads (including Points of Contact) and contributors to the Work Plan Tasks. The Symposium is an opportunity to foster coordination across and within Overarching Tasks, exchange information, develop synergies across the Work Plan, deliver practical actions and proposals to build on this cross-fertilization, identify achievements that could be presented at the Beijing Ministerial Exhibition, and prepare the 2011 Work Plan Update. For more information, visit www.earthobservations.org/meetings.shtml.
   
  ISRSE announces 34th International Symposium in Sydney in April 2011
  Entitled “The GEOSS Era: Towards Operational Environmental Monitoring”, the 34th International Symposium for Remote Sensing of the Environment (ISRSE) will provide a forum for programmatic discussions on remote sensing components of GEOSS. Abstract submission for the symposium is now open. For more information, visit www.isrse34.org.
   
  Cyberseminar on remote sensing for population-environment research
  The Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) Cyberseminar will run from 10-21 May. Co-sponsored by GEO and the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, the Cyberseminar aims to identify the past use of remote sensing data products in population-environment research, to explore challenges of remote sensing data integration, and to begin to think about the specifications of future remote sensing data products that would meet the needs of the research community. For more information, visit the PERN website.
   
  Global Agricultural Monitoring community plans two workshops
  To accelerate the implementation of the global agricultural monitoring system of systems and address the increasing crisis of the global food security, the GEO Global Agricultural Monitoring Community of Practice will organize a workshop in Hong Kong, China, in September, and another in Brussels, Belgium in October. For more information, visit the Hong Kong workshop website or contact the GEO Secretariat.
   
  WCRP prepares Open Science Conference
  The World Climate Research Programme will host a major international Open Science Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA in October 2011. The conference will bring together major disciplines and leaders of the Earth system research community to identify opportunities for advancing scientific understanding and prediction of climate variability and change from seasons to centuries, and from the regional to the global levels. Details are available on the conference website.
   
  GEO BON reaches out to Convention on Biological Diversity
  The GEO Biodiversity Observation Network is organizing a side event on Thursday, 13 May, at 13h15, at the meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA-14) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. The event will inform the CBD community about the work and relevance of GEO BON. Continued...
   
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Latest News 

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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