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CONTENTSReport from CEOS Workshop on Developing Country Activties
Activities of CEOS Ad Hoc Working Group on Networks
Second CEOS User Requirements Workshop---This page
FAO Contribution to Developing Countries
Fourth CEOS Ad Hoc Data Policy Meeting
The International Directory Network (IDN)
Report from CEOS Workshop on Developing Country Activities
CEOS Activities in 1994/News Highlights/CEOS Meeting Calendar
Second CEOS User Requirements Workshop
Volker LiebigHead of Division, Earth Observation Utilization
German Space Agency (DARA)
Gunter Schreier
Rapporteur CEOS User Workshop
German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR)
The key objective of CEOS is to coordinate space based Earth observation activities, including global change. The domains of coordination start from the space segment-the satellites and sensors itself- affect further the ground segment-how data is acquired, processed, archived, formatted and distributed and go further to the validation and calibration of the data-making data content comparable and reliable.
- Another focus of CEOS is to increase the awareness, that the activities
of the CEOS members shall be driven by user requirements and data needs.
Therefore, CEOS is working of the assessment, how well space programmes
will meet user requirements. The CEOS affiliates and observers play an
important role in this analysis.
To perform the analysis, CEOS has initiated User Workshops, a forum, where users - represented primarily by the global environmental research and operational monitoring organizations, affiliated to CEOS and CEOS members and observers, meet to discuss whether data needs and data availability can be matched. CEOS so far has organized two User Workshops. After an initial affiliates meeting in Geneva (March 22-23, 1993), the first User Workshop was conducted by STA/NASDA on May 27th, 1993 in Tokyo, Japan. Endorsed by the CEOS Plenary, the attendees concentrated to support the compliation of a CEOS Dossier (Volume C), named "The Relevance of Satellite Missions to Global Environmental Programmes". The first version of this dossier is available.
The Second User Requirements Workshop was hosted by the German Space Agency (DARA) from May 30-31, 1994 in Bonn, Germany.
More than 30 participants from the CEOS affiliates, observers and members attended the Workshop. The presentations and discussions were initially focussed on the review of user needs by major global environmental programmes such as International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) or World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) as well as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). It was observed, that the specific requirements of the global atmospheric and meteorological observation and research programmes are well represented in CEOS. Their requirements will be forwarded for compilation into the next version of CEOS Dossier C.
It was noted, that the current dossier needs constant updates and improvement in details as priorities of measureables or a statement of minimum measurement accuracy.
The second theme of the User Requirements Workshop was the consideration of regional requirements. This topic was introduced by presentations of CEOS members on the status of programmes and user requirements for their particular high resolution sensors and by examples of regional user assessment studies (e.g. Canadian resource management study, European requirements for environmental purposes).
The discussion on regional requirements brought everyone to the attention, that a clear definition of the term "regional" is missing. For example, high resolution observation of the tropical forest could well be a sample for a global observation of the ecosystem, whereas typical environmental sensors such as AVHRR could also serve regional needs. However, it was recognized that the current global environmental user requirements compilation does not reflect the entire user community and CEOS should decide how much it should be concerned with regional applications. A corresponding recommendation will be forwarded to the Plenary. The mechanism, how to access regional user requirements need to be established and will be subject of a following User Workshop, if approved by the Plenary.
The third topic of the User Requirements Workshop was the distribution and availability of the CEOS Dossier. Based on the recommendation from the Plenary, two options - besides standard paper print versions - were presented. Already in operation is the CEOS InfoSys, an online information system established by ESA-ESRIN in Frascati, Italy. InfoSys can be accessed via World Wide Web, Gopher, Hyper-G, Telnet, rlogin and DECNET/SPAN.
The other electronic version of the CEOS Dossier Vol. C will be published on PC diskette, supported by a simple programme, which allows easy navigation and information retrieval within the document.
The second CEOS User Requirements Workshop concluded with the common understanding of all participants, that the CEOS' affiliates requirements on remote sensing information are a substantial input for the exploitation of on-going and the definition of future remote sensing systems. Therefore, the active dialogue between the space agencies and the international user groups forms an important part on the CEOS agenda and the future activities of CEOS.
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