Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Co-Chairs Achilleas Mitsos and Rob Adam welcomed representatives from developing countries to Brussels on 15 October 2004, for an international ‘EO Partnership Conference’. The aim was to bring new collaborators into the process of creating a ‘Global Earth Observation System of Systems’ (GEOSS).

The GEO was created at the first Earth Observation (EO) Summit in Washington in July 2003, with the primary goal of developing a Ten-Year Implementation Plan for creating the GEOSS. That plan is now set to be adopted at the Third Earth Observation Summit in Brussels in February 2005, one of the highlights of the upcoming ‘Earth & Space Week’.

The aim of the EO Partnership Conference was to inform delegates from 54 countries about opportunities to participate in major international Earth Observation initiatives, including under the EU’s Sixth RTD Framework Programme.

Achilleas Mitsos is Director-General for Research at the European Commission and one of four GEO Co-Chairs. Speaking at the Conference, he said, “Observing and understanding the Earth system more completely will expand worldwide capacity to achieve sustainable development. Fully participating developing countries will take part in observation activities and will be able to access to results of relevance to the nine areas of the future Implementation Plan.”

Areas of the Implementation Plan of particular interest to developing countries are those linked to the environment and sustainable development strategy defined in Johannesburg in 2002. They include:

  • Reducing loss of life and property from natural and human-induced disasters;
  • Understanding environmental factors affecting human health;
  • Improving management of energy resources;
  • Understanding climate change;
  • Improving water resource management;
  • Supporting sustainable agriculture and combating desertification.

Another driving force for the GEO initiative, explained Mitsos, is climate change, again closely linked to most of the nine GEO areas. “The EU countries,” he said, “committed themselves in the Kyoto protocol to reducing their collective emissions of greenhouse gases by 8% from 2008-2012, against 1990 levels. The EU is now discussing the post-Kyoto the period from 2012-2025. The next EU Council, in spring 2005, will also address this issue. We believe the GEO can help define this strategy.”

GEO Co-Chair Rob Adam said, “Earth Observations include all satellite, airborne, terrestrial or water-based observations of geophysical parameters, from precipitation levels to soil moisture to the salinity of the oceans, all of which inform us on the well-being of our planet. EO, therefore, plays a critical part in providing data and information for informed decision-making.”

Building capacity in developing countries

Patricio Bernal is Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, Executive Secretary of the IOC and Co-chair of the GEO Subgroup on International Co-operation. He outlined GEO issues for International Co-operation. Quoting the GEO Framework Document, he referred to the Ten-Year GEOSS Implementation Plan, saying, “The plan will facilitate best practices in both current and new sustainable capacity-building efforts, particularly in developing countries.” This is to include research, education, training, institutional networks, communication, and outreach.

“Capacity building,” said Bernal, “is, therefore, an urgent need, and a requisite for success. Capacity building in support of GEOSS must target a spectrum of different groups, from the general public, to scientists, to managers, to decision makers. Our aim is to move individual nations from mere awareness to a position where they can take action to improve their own EO capacity.”

Weather world

For developing countries, meteorological reports can be of vital importance. Modern meteorology integrates a wealth of surface and subsurface observations, on land and at sea, with air-based and space-based observations – the so-called ‘World Weather Watch’. Access to state-of-the-art weather information can allow authorities in developing countries to better plan basic activities, such as agriculture, humanitarian aid and crisis monitoring.

Yinka Adebayo, Senior Strategic Planning Officer for the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva, Switzerland, explained that, in today’s world, EO data are a necessity for understanding weather and climate variability. The WMO is involved in a number of activities aimed at natural disaster mitigation through better severe weather events forecasting and management. The WMO’s Global Telecommunication System now allows open and free online exchange of observation data around the world.

Wenjian Zhang of the Department of Observation and Telecommunication of the China Meteorological Administration presented his country’s perspective on weather monitoring, forecasting and warning, describing a number of recent advances in Chinese EO.

“In China, the whole of society has benefited greatly from Earth Observation,” he said. “A comprehensive Earth Observation system is now essential. Observing systems – ground-based, airborne and space-based – should be integrated, from conception, into an overall system, serving multiple purposes, not only national but also global. By continuing to improve, we are in a position to better serve both the public and the industrial community, keeping our people safe and our national economies strong.”

Strengthening ties

By hosting events such as the EO Partnership Conference, the GEO is hoping to bring new collaborators into the global EO process.

European partners are already working on EO initiatives with many non-EU countries and organisations. For example, MedGOOS (Mediterranean Global Ocean Observing System) is assisting participating states in the development and implementation of an operational, harmonised ocean observing and forecasting system in the Mediterranean region. This includes upgrading national marine meteorological infrastructures.

Speaking at the Partnership Conference, Amir Ibrahim of the High Institute of Marine Research at Tishreen University in Lattaki, described the Syrian experience as a member of ‘MAMA’, the first MedGOOS project. MAMA is the ‘Mediterranean network to Assess and upgrade Monitoring and forecasting Activity’ in the region. “MAMA serves as an example for the GEO,” said Ibrahim. “It has successfully prepared the regional platform for the implementation of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) in the Mediterranean, which will lead to the sustainable development of our marine resources. Syria has both benefited from and contributed to MAMA through its achievements as part of the network.”

Africa up to speed

Cheick Oumar Gologo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) reported on the ‘PUMA Task Team’, set up in 1996 to facilitate the transition of all 53 African National MeteorologicalServices (NMS) to technologies and data provided by the European Weather Satellite ‘Meteosat Second Generation’ (MSG).

“The PUMA Project,” he said, “through MSG, will provide much better and more timely information for early warning of natural disasters, improved food security, better health management, more efficient water and energy use and safer transport. In addition, environmental monitoring will be strengthened. Both desertification and climate change effects will be tracked with ever-greater precision.”

Now, the ‘African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development’ (AMESD) initiative, led by the African Regional Economic Communities, is aiming to bring more relevant data, information and analysis, including data from remote-sensing and information and communication technologies, to all African stakeholders – from policy makers to the private sector, to the average citizen, in a more timely and efficient way.

“The AMESD will interact with similar initiatives and will be the African interface of the EU initiative on Global Monitoring for the Environment and Security (GMES),” said Gologo. “It will be initiated through a number of regional/continental thematic projects, for which priorities will first have to be identified.”

Successful meeting

Other speakers included G. Srinivasan of the India Meteorological Department/DST, Alexander Klepikov of Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, Flávio Luizão of Brazil’s National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), and Pierre Valette, Acting Director for Research on Environment at the European Commission.

Conference organisers say the event brought together a number of potential GEOSS contributors and allowed for an open exchange of ideas on how to include less advanced EO partners. “The main thing is that we bring these smaller but important players on board,” says GEO Co-Chair Achilleas Mitsos, “so that we can maximise the benefits of EO to the largest possible community.”

The next formal GEO meeting will take place on 29-30 November 2004 in Ottawa, Canada. “Every GEO member country is invited to participate,” said Mitsos, “and there is still time for new countries to join. Ottawa will be a very important meeting. On the table are the details of the GEO ten-year Implementation Plan.”