News 2005
Ensuring the Quality and Reliability of Land and Atmosphere Essential Climate Variables: The EU-25 Contribution, Krakow, Poland
15.12-16.12.2005
The Global Vegetation Monitoring (GVM) unit of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) of the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) organized a workshop on benchmarking the tools required to generate terrestrial and atmospheric Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) identified in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) Implementation Plan, and on assessing the accuracy and reliability of the products currently available or proposed in this context.
The purpose of this workshop is to review the state of the art in benchmarking the models and tools used to generate the required products, and to quality control these products through a variety of methods, including ensuring the internal consistency of the approaches, the compatibility of products generated from different sensors, and comparisons with independent estimates by other methods, including direct field (in situ) measurements. The workshop will showcase existing projects and achievements in this domain and seek the involvement of scientists from EU New Member States.
Expert of ReSAC presented a poster on Integration of EO Data and LCCS to monitor and assess land cover changes.
The workshop's agenda is available here.
Integration of the New EU Member Countries into the GMES Programme, Warsaw, Poland
12.12-14.12.2005
Eurisy, in collaboration with the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the European Commission, ESA, CNES, and DLR, is organizing a conference on the “Integration of the new EU Member Countries into the GMES Programme” on December 12-14 2005 in Warsaw.
The GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) programme is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency. It aims at providing essential information for policy- and decision-makers and for European citizens, based on operational, integrated Space Earth Observations and in-situ data. The possible applications are numerous: land, ocean and atmosphere use and change monitoring, risk management and early warning, climate and weather forecast, to name just a few. GMES is now in the implementation phase and it should deliver its first operational Service Elements in 2008.
The New Member States were already involved in the programme before their accession to the EU, but a gap remains when compared to the readiness of the EU-15. The capacity of those countries, in applying Earth Observation is substantial; their full involvement in the programme would be beneficial for both the NMS and GMES. The Eurisy Conference aims at being a major step in reaching this goal.
To close the conference, a series of round table will be organised in collaboration with ESPI (European Space Policy Institute). These round tables will serve as a preparation to the GRAZ Conference, organised within the framework of the Austrian EU Presidency. This round table will address the issue of the GMES market in Europe and its regions, and in particular the role of public entities.
Experts of ReSAC will present a poster on GMES Related Activities in Bulgaria.
The agenda of the conference is available here.
Second International Conference "Earth from Space - The Most Effective Solutions", Moscow, Russia
30.11-04.12.2005
The leading Russian companies in the field of Earth Observation - ScanEx, Sovzond JSC and Transparent World NGO organize the 2nd International Conference “Earth from Space – the Most Effective Solutions”.
The emphasis will be placed upon the discussion of efficiently operating systems and practical applications based on the Earth observation imagery.
The conference will focus on the tasks requiring a multifaceted approach. In particular, it will highlight applications of satellite imagery for decision-making in managing territories and large industrial plants, and for permanent on-line monitoring of industrial objects, their infrastructure and their impact on the environment.
Expert of ReSAC will present a report on Application of Earth Observation and GIS technologies for Strengthening the Agricultural Sector in Bulgaria.
| The agenda of the conference could be downloaded here. |  |
11th Conference on Control with Remote Sensing of Area-Based Subsidies, Kraków, Poland
23-25.11.2005
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the Polish Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA) are pleased to announce that the 11th European Conference on Control with Remote Sensing of area-based subsidies will take place on 23 -25 November, 2005 at the Sheraton Kraków Hotel in Kraków, Poland. The event will welcome up to 300 participants from the EU25, the 4 Candidate Countries and from the Western Balkan States.
Through presentations in plenary and parallel sessions, discussions, poster sessions, and SW demonstrations the conference will, apart from giving an overall review of the 2005 CwRS Campaign, address the most important technical issues and challenges, such as:
- the implementation of the CAP Reform and the adaptation of the CwRS methodology
- Remote Sensing Controls of GAECs (Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions) and cross compliance
- the progress in the IACS GIS implementation
- new sensors and image handling
- image acquisition optimization
- parcel measurement and GPS.
Experts of ReSAC and LPRIT Directorate, MAF, will participate with an oral presentation "Status of the Implementation of the Land Parcel Identification System in Bulgaria" and two poster presentations - "Processing of VHR data from QuickBird for the purposes of the LPIS in Bulgaria" and "Improvement of the Rapid Field Visits for the CwRS through Voice Technology" (the last poster is prepared with the participation of the New Bulgarian Technologies AD).
The agenda of the conference is available here.
Workshop Building Capacity in Inventory of Land Cover/Land Use by Remote Sensing PROJECT FAO-TCP/MOL/2903 (A), Kishinev, Moldova
15-16.11.2005
Final Workshop of the Project “Building capacity in inventory of land cover/land use by remote sensing” FAO TCP/MOL/2903 was held in Kishinev, Moldova.
The general objective of the project is an increased agricultural production by provision of essential data at medium scale for land redistribution and agricultural planning process suitable to the local conditions.
The immediate objectives of the project are:
- To provide the Ministry of Agriculture with an objective and accurate database on the present land cover of the whole country including detailed land cover/land use maps and also larger scale information for areas of particular agricultural interest.
- To strengthen the capacity of the remote sensing group of SALRC staff to apply internationally recognized methodologies on land cover/land use mapping by satellite remote sensing and GIS technologies.
- To transfer the know-how and practical applications of high resolution optical remote sensing, GIS-based methodologies and LCCS to the staff assigned to project through formal and on-the-job training.
Expert of ReSAC participated with a report "Land cover mapping in Bulgaria, experiences and on-going activities".
| The agenda of the workshop could be downloaded here. | |
Eurimage International Meeting 2005, Rome, Italy
20-21.10.2005
The Eurimage International Meeting took place in Rome from 20 – 21 October with more than 130 delegates and a wide range of interesting presentations from Industry professionals and data providers.
Since 1989, Eurimage has provided global satellite digital and photographic data, both directly to end customers and through a network of more than 150 expert Application Providers world-wide. Products include visible and infrared optical data and radar, offering a variety of mission and sensor types to meet the widest range of user needs. Institutional clients include the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the European Union Satellite Centre and other UN and international organizations.
Eurimage is a Finmeccanica Company. Shareholders are Telespazio (Italy), and Astrium (Germany).
As Eurimage Application Provider, ReSAC participated with a report on Multiple Purpose Use of QuickBird Data in Bulgaria.
| The agenda of the meeting could be downloaded here. |  |
Enlargement and Integration Workshop Earth Observation for Sustainable Forest Management, Sielnica (Zvolen), Slovakia
19-20.10.2005
The workshop on ‘Earth Observation for Sustainable Forest Management’ (IES-W16) targets new satellite based methodologies for forest resource inventory and forest cover change monitoring at different geographical scales, including the detection and monitoring of logging activities.
Methodologies of advanced remote sensing applied by researchers of the NMS and CC were discussed and promoted during the workshop. The workshop was organised by Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability Ispra, Italy and Forest Research Institute Zvolen, Slovakia.
The objectives of the workshop are:
- to learn about methods on forest mapping and monitoring at global and continental scales,
- to become familiar with methods applied for the monitoring of logging at regional and local scales,
- to present RS applications for forest monitoring and sustainable forest management carried out in the NMS and CC,
- to provide information on the EU FLEGT Action Plan,
- to obtain a brief overview on JRC activities related to RS and forest monitoring in Europe.
In the frame of the workshop head of ReSAC presented a report on "Application of Earth Observation and GIS Technologies for Strengthening the Forest Sector in Bulgaria".
| The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here. | |
Membership in European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC
29.09.2005
On 27 Sep 2005 on a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of EARSC in Paris ReSAC was accepted to be an Observer Member of the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC. EARSC is a non-profit-making organisation that is devoted to promoting the European remote sensing industry and activities. In these times of intensified European integration and co-operation, the role of EARSC is becoming increasingly vital and the Association maintains close links with key European Institutions, European Space Agency and National Space Agencies, providing a key unified voice on wide European issues.
The Observer Members of EARSC could be companies from countries associated to European programs but not eligible for full membership. Any active representative organization, institution or association party in the field of Earth observation and not engaged in commercial or profit-making activities such as Public/Governmental Bodies, International Organisation, International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Private Non-Profit Organisation/Foundation, Network/Association/Aggregation of Intermediaries (profit or nonprofit), Business Association, Universities, other with interest in Earth Observation.
Peer Review of Paying Agencies PEER 20223, Sofia, Bulgaria
27-30.09.2005
The Peer Review is organised in co-operation with DG AGRI in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Bulgaria. In the review participated experts from DG AGRI EU, Paying Agencies from Germany, Denmark and Netherland, EU Delegation in Sofia, MAF and State Fund Agriculture, ReSAC.
In the frame of the review ReSAC and Directorate LPRIT (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) experts presented a report on "Establishment of LPIS - image acquisition, financial resources, training, linking of farmers to blocks".
Workshop on Understanding and modeling the Black Sea Ecosystem in Support of Marine Conventions and Environmental Policies Infra 20765
22-23.09.2005
The aim of this workshop is to gather expertise from different areas of Black Sea oceanography in an attempt to provide scientific support to decision makers and stakeholders. The principal idea is to enhance the scientific interdisciplinary collaboration between Black Sea countries and to maintain/establish the link to the policy makers. Unlike the other well monitored European Seas like Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Baltic Sea, observations in the Black Sea region are limited mostly to a national level and the exchange of information between institutions, either scientific or political, is not optimal. Thus the Workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss recent results from the ongoing research in the fields of Black Sea physics/chemistry/biology and how to reflect the Black Sea specifics in the marine conventions. The development of indicators which assess the ecosystem status will be a special focus for the discussions.
In the frame of the workshop ReSAC expert will present a report on "Application of Earth Observation Data for Monitoring of the Black Sea Ecosystem".
| The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here | |
Workshop on the Implementation of the Bulgarian LPIS, JRC, Ispra, Italy
05-06.09.2005
This workshop was organized by the AGRIFISH Unit, in the frame of its support to Candidate countries for the implementation and control of the CAP (MARS PAC action of the JRC 6th Frame work program).
The objectives were:
- Тo provide a technical overview on the implementation of the Land parcel Identification System (LPIS) and the IACS GIS (regulation 1782/03);
- Тo discuss the first results of the Bulgarian pilot study on LPIS in Assenovgrad (started in July 2005) using the satellite imagery provided by the JRC and implemented by ReSAC;
- Тo provide recommendations for the implementation of the Bulgarian IACS-GIS.
Workshop on the GMES Activities for Preparation of NewEuser - Networking the Users from Central Eastern Europe - 6 FP Project, Warsaw, Poland
20-21.06.2005
GMES project NewEUser - Networking the users from Central Eastern Europe - a Specific Support Action proposal was accepted by EU FP6 for evaluation. NewEUser will incorporate into GMES Initiative users from New Member States and Candidate Countries, identifying and networking users of similar information needs, convincing them to optimal GMES solutions and supporting their implementation.
NewEUser will integrate the already developed GMES segments in the New Member States (NMS), link this process to the on-going integration in the South Europe and Black Sea region and prepare efficient merging of the established networks with the European GMES structures. Involvement of end-users will be a driving factor in this process. The project will build upon the experience and results of the GMES-Poland project, but will increase by far its international dimension and links to the big GMES IP projects.
The head of ReSAC participated with a report "GMES Related Activities in Bulgaria". ReSAC is a partner in the project proposal among 20 participating institutions.
Delegation of SAFIR Consortium to Participate EU-China Digital Olympic Forum, Beijing, China
20-25.06.2005
SAFIR-eGov workshop will be held as a cluster into the EU-China Digital Olympic Games Public Conference. The meeting is the first dissemination action which will focus on Digital Olympics and Safir to promote of user friendly public information services in Olympic games. The major aspects which will be highlighted are: User friendly interface, any time anywhere to get the information services in the Olympic games based on SAFIR project.
In the frame of the workshop ReSAC expert will present a report on "SAFIR Pilot Project in Bulgaria. SAFIR implementation in Agriculture".
Vth Anniversary International Scientific Conference SGEM 2005, Albena, Bulgaria
13-17.06.2005
From 13th to 17th of June 2005, in Congress Center “Dobrugja”, Albena Resort, the Vth Anniversary International Scientific Conference SGEM 2005 will take place. Scientific sections have been enlarged and now they include other related aspects of science and practice - ecology and environmental protection, geodesy, mine surveying and geology, computer science, high education, European Integration and International relations. During these five conference days, many interesting reports will be presented, by conference exhibition the participants will be able to follow the latest steps of the modern technologies, geological phenomena in the region will be visited.
The abbreviation SGEM unites the main fields, on which contemporary geo-sciences are based on: Surveying – science involving measurements, Geology - science dealing with geology and the world around us, Ecology and Environment – sciences that teach us how to develop our live in harmony with the Nature and the way of conserving it, and Management - science that reveals us the secret of using our erudition in the most wisest way.
In the frame of the conference ReSAC expert will present a report on "Use of Satellite Images and GIS Technologies for the Effective Management of the Territory of Bulgaria".
| The agenda of the conference could be downloaded | |
Improvement of Information Exchange between Educational Institutions in SEE Region, Godollo, Hungary
01-03.06.2005
FAO workshop on Improvement of Information Exchange between Education Institutions in the SEE Region was hosted in Szent Istvan University, Godollo, Hungary between the 01- 03 June 2005. Main subject of the workshop was the status of the National Web portals - AgroWeb. Presentations of AgroWeb portals on the Internet were given as well as a review of websites and discussion about possible improvement of the content and access was made. Future development of the portals was discussed and specifically development of the education sub portals. Testing the web sites and exchange of experiences was the final session of the workshop.
In the frame of the workshop ReSAC expert was nominated to coordinate the EU Integration section and the future section related to land management of the AgroWeb Bulgaria.
| The agenda of the workshop could be downloaded here | |
Activating e-Community on Land Market related Fields in CEE Countries, Budapest, Hungary
09-10.05.2005
LANDnet Workshop - Activating e-Community on Land Market related Fields in CEE Countries, was held in Budapest, on 9-10 May 2005. The workshop was organized by the Central European Land Knowledge Center (CELKCenter). Related event: PROGIS Conference 2005 - IT in Rural Areas 10th and 11th of May 2005 subsequent to the LANDnet Workshop organized by CELK Center.
The main sessions of the Workshop are the following:
- e-Content, e-Governance strategic objectives, related EU policies with key speakers from the European Commission and FAO
- The needs and the current development stage of e-Governance on Land Management in CEEC and the Caucasus region with Governmental representatives
- Land related e-Governance principles and practices in Western European countries
- LANDnet, IKON, and other e-content service provider companies
- e-Land: Land Management related e-content services with key speakers from GTZ and FAO
In the frame of the session Remote sensing & GIS for Agricultural Information Systems ReSAC expert presented a report on "Implementation of the EU CAP reform in Bulgaria and its impact on the land market in the country. Bulgarian agricultural pilot in the frame of the 6FP project SAFIR". Possible partnership with the Austrian company PROGIS Software AG as well as Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing, Hungary were discussed. In addition, collaboration in the frame of the AgroWeb Network was initiated with FAO-SEUR. The agenda of the workshop is available here.
First Workshop Electronic Government of Territory and Resources, Sofia
26-27.04.2005
Bulgarian-Bavarian workshop on Electronic Government of Territory and Resources was held in Boyana Residence. Representatives were from state administration, Ministry of Regional Development Public Works, National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria, district administration of Sofia, Rousse and Vratsa, Rousse municipalities and experts.
The main issues discussed were:
- Electronic processing of data and e-services based on the register for state/municipal property; Unified data base;
- Building and support of e-register based on paper archive/ Hybrid presentation of scanned information and IT information/ Digital transformation of data/ Transformation of information in digital aspect/ Future development of e-registers and public e-services
- Unified geo-data base/ Electronic register for land/ Geo-information systems/ Advantages of GIS as a tool for sustainable management and monitoring of environment /
- Pilot projects - Region Sofia, Region Ruse, Region Vraza;
ReSAC expert participated in the workshop with a report on projects related to the establishment of geodata infrastructure in Bulgaria - Elaboration of Land Parcel Identification System on a Test Area in Bulgaria, Control with Remote Sensing of Area Based Subsidies in Bulgaria and FP 6 IP - IST - SAFIR Project.
EASTEC FIRE 2005, Haskovo, Bulgaria
20-22.04.2005
Three experts from ReSAC staff have participated in a training course on production of Ortho-imagery from aerial and satellite images, Quality control and LPIS. The training took place in JRC, Ispra, Italy. The training was conducted by the leading JRC experts Simon Kay and Peter Spruyt in remote sensing and GIS. The training was focused on geometric requirements for IACS applications, aerial and satellite images requirements and planning, digital versus analog aerial survey and state-of-the art spaceborne sensors. Practical examples were conducted on VHR orthorectification with different software’s as well as DGPS measurements. A detailed discussion was held on the possible sources for the LPIS creation in Bulgaria. The certificates for successfully accomplished training were obtained.
EASTEC FIRE 2005, Haskovo, Bulgaria
20-22.04.2005
An international exercise EASTEX FIRE 2005 was organised in Bulgaria from the National Fire and Emergency Service (NFES) together with 8 countries from the region. The initiative is in the frame of Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC)/UN. The ReSAC together with SPOT Image supported the event with GIS and satellite images. Georeferenced Landsat ETM and SPOT 5 image (kindly provided by the SPOT Image for the event) were provided of NFES together with GIS layer for the infrastructure and water network to support the exercise for forest fire simulation. The support of ReSAC to NSFES is a continuation of the ReSAC's work for the introduction of Earth Observation Data and GIS technologies for disaster management.
Presentation of the GMES, Sofia, Bulgaria
20.04.2005
Presentation of the GMES – Global Monitoring of Environment and Security with the special participation of Mr. Banaszkiewicz - Institute of Environment and Security, JRC. The meeting was held in Ministry of Education and Science (MES). The meeting was organised by JRC and MES. GMES is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency, designed to establish a European capacity for the provision and use of operational information for Global Monitoring of Environment and Security. The JRC expert and Bulgarian participants including ReSAC representatives discussed the objectives and structure of the main GMES tools, transfer of the results of the GMES programme to the end users, policy makers, identification of the potential partnerships, link to other national programmes and other related topics.
JRC Info Event for Researchers and Scientists, Sofia, Bulgaria
19.04.2005
The main objective of this event was to present recent achievements and future plans of JRC to researchers and to scientific and technical organisations in Bulgaria.
The intention was to encourage dialogue, identify potential partnerships and pave the way for further scientific collaboration with the JRC. The possibilities for participation of Bulgarian scientists at the specialised workshops and advanced training courses organised by JRC, possibilities for joint research projects, as well as future job opportunities at JRC were also presented. In the "Examples of successful collaboration of JRC with Bulgaria" Session ReSAC presented a report on the results from the "CwRS of the area based agricultural subsidies" Project as well as the first results of the SAFIR Project in which it is participating.
| The report is available here |  |
International Training Seminar, Information Society Technologies Sofia, Bulgaria
05-06.04.2005
ReSAC experts participated on International Training Seminar on “The Project Circle: Technical, Administrative, Financial and Legal Aspects of FP6 Project Preparation and Completion” under the Thematic Priority of Information Society Technologies, FP6 of the EU. The Ministry of Transport and Communications, together with the Information Society and Media Directorate General of the European Commission, organized the seminar. The goal is to increase the capacity of the scientific and research institutes, the universities and companies in the sector of information and telecommunications technologies from the new EU member-states, the candidate countries for accession to the EU, and the rest of the Southeast Europe countries for a more successful participation in the program. The certificates were issued.
| The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here | |
Final Meeting on the Pilot Study on the Control with Remote Sensing of Area Based Subsidies in Bulgaria, Ispra, Italy
10-11.02.2005
ReSAC experts presented the final report on the Pilot study on the Control with Remote Sensing of Area Based Subsidies in Bulgaria in JRC, Ispra. On the meeting participated experts from the IPSC/JRC and representatives of the State Fund Agriculture, MAF, Bulgaria.
The work carried out by ReSAC was considered as outstanding which goes much further than the initial scope and terms of reference of the pilot study focusing on a Control with Remote Sensing exercise. The pilot study was considered also to highly support the implementation of both national LPIS and the control with remote sensing of the agricultural subsidies. In this respect a discussion was held on the LPIS creation and Control Site selection in Bulgaria for which topics additional presentations and reports had been prepared by ReSAC.
The Use of Space Technology: Opportunities and Challenges for South-Eastern Europe and Black Sea Region Workshop, Sofia, Bulgaria
20-21.01.2005
ReSAC experts presented in the Space-based non-transport services and applications Round Table of the workshop the report on the pilot study on control with remote sensing of area based subsidies in Bulgaria. The workshop was organised under the patronage of Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Bulgaria and is supported by the European Commission (EC).
The goal of the Workshop was to provide public authorities, research institutions and service providers and users from the public and private sectors with the opportunity to obtain information ‘right from the source’ and exchange ideas and positions on the current status and future trends in the EU Space policy and the benefits from the wide applications of space technology and the European Space Programmes in particular.
| The workshop's agenda could be downloaded here | |