News

The new collaboration betwee GEO and Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers GEO Member agencies and research organizations from developing countries access to cloud services to help with the hosting, processing and analysis of big data about the Earth to inform decisions for sustainable development.

Eligible government agencies and research institutions can apply for AWS credits that will enable them to build Earth observations applications that support environmental and development goals, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Recipients of cloud credits through this initiative will also receive support from the GEO community and AWS experts to refine and implement their projects for the best possible results.

AWS and GEO first announced their collaboration in 2017 to support the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) open data platform.

Facilitating the use of data for development

National governments around the world are considering ways to respond to environmental challenges, ranging from food insecurity and water resources management, to planning sustainable and secure cities. Earth observations, using satellite imagery and in situ monitoring mechanisms, offer a way to measure, report and take action in these areas.

GEO has been supporting more than 100 UN Member States for the last decade, and offers all countries the opportunity to benefit from its community’s collective knowledge, expertise and skills to develop national Earth observations programmes.

Applications are welcome for non-commercial projects that address the GEO Work Programme, and in particular GEO’s three engagement priorities: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement for Climate and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Use of Earth observation data from any open, free and fully accessible source is strongly encouraged in the proposed project. To discover and access free and open data, proponents are invited to use the GEOSS Portal. The GEO Secretariat will facilitate access to analysis-ready data from the Copernicus and Landsat programmes for proposals wishing to make use of this data

Criteria for applications can be found here. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2019.

Cloud services help countries host, process and analyse big Earth data to inform better decisions and policies

An example of a multinational Earth observation project taking advantage of AWS Cloud credits is the Africa Regional Data Cube.

This recently-launched tool builds on technology developed in Australia, enabling five countries in Africa to inspect changes to any geographic area over the past 35 years. AWS has provided cloud credits for this project for three years to help the countries see the value in the tool and prototype long-term solutions.

As in Australia, the technology is expected to become a key piece of public data infrastructure that provides users with an analysis platform for satellite imagery to address key development challenges, including food security, disaster risk management, coastal erosion and urban expansion. This project is being coordinated through the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), Strathmore University and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) with support from GEO.

Philip Thigo, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in Kenya stated:

“With a focus on supporting countries to deliver on national government policy mandates through Earth observations, GEO helps highlight and explain the value and usefulness of Earth observations for research, policy and decision making. This multi-year contribution from Amazon will fast track the awareness and understanding.”

The FLEX Organising Committee invites you to register for participation and to submit a paper to the 2019 International Network on Remote Sensing of Terrestrial and Aquatic Fluorescence Workshop: fluorescence2019.org  

The Paper Submission deadline is 15 November 2018.

The main objectives of the Workshop are:

• Inform the community recent developments and the status of the FLEX mission.
• Review latest achievement in FLEX data processing, fluorescence and biophysical parameter retrievals, and information exploitation.
• Promote synergistic data analysis involving FLEX and Sentinel-3 mission data.
• Bring together remote sensing communities focusing on aquatic and terrestrial systems, including data providers, experts and users.
• Consolidate the link between fluorescence and carbon balance, carbon cycle studies, agriculture, forestry, food security and crop production
• Promote new application fields of fluorescence remote sensing including plant phenotyping, water cycle and aquatic research.
• Provide updates on recent modeling activities coupling remote sensing signals and ecosystem processes.
• Plan future activities in the field of vegetation and aquatic remote sensing by exploiting new observational capabilities provided by FLEX and Sentinel-3.
• Consolidation of results and contributions for ESA’s LPS 2019

FLEX 2019 will take place at the Davos Congress in Davos Switzerland, from the 5th to the 8th of March 2019.

Available freshwater resources are emerging as a limiting factor not only in quantity, but also in quality, for human development and ecological stability.  We are pleased to announce that a DRAFT IOCCG Report on “Earth Observations in Support of Global Water Quality Monitoring“, edited by S. Greb, A. Dekker and C. Binding, is now available for preview on the IOCCG webpage (low resolution) produced by an IOCCG working group aiming to build stronger linkages between water resources management end users and data providers, to fully realize current and future EO products.  The Working Group was chaired by A. Dekker, P. DIGiacomo and S. Greb,

The final report will be published within the next few months and will be printed by the State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, China, which is gratefully acknowledged. Hardcopies of the report can be requested at:  http://ioccg.org/request-hardcopy-ioccg-report-17/.  The number of printed copies will depend upon requests received, so please submit your requests as soon as possible.

Note:  Hardcopies of IOCCG Reports 15 (Phytoplankton Functional Types from Space, 2014) and 16 (Ocean Colour Remote Sensing in Polar Seas, 2015) are currently being printed by NOAA and should be mailed within the next few weeks.

The GEOAquawatch_GloboLakes_2018_Final_Workshop_Programme_vers_3.0  was just released for the upcoming Water Quality Information for the Benefit of Society Joint GEO AquaWatch and GloboLakes Workshop, August 28-31, 2018 at The University of Stirling, Scotland, UK.  View the campus map.   We look forward to seeing you at this meeting, or check back for information on joining us remotely for select sessions.