The Full Picture

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GEOSS: a platform for sharing

information and expertise for sustainable

management of natural resources

Driss Elhadani, Director, the Royal Centre for Remote Sensing

opulation growth and subsequent socio-economic develop-

ment create tremendous pressures on natural and

environmental resources. On the other hand, decision makers

are aware of a need to manage these resources in a sustainable and

environmentally sensitive manner. Geoinformation, particularly

Earth observation data, has demonstrated to be a powerful tool for

addressing national sustainable development issues. Earth obser-

vation resources are used to produce comprehensive and

operational information and therefore contribute to enhance deci-

sion-making processes.

Since it creation in 1989, the Royal Centre for Remote Sensing (CRTS)

has prioritized three strategic actions. Firstly, to promote and develop the

exploitation and the use of space technologies, notably remote sensing

in development projects. Secondly, to ensure all users accessibility to

Earth observation data and other geo-space information. Thirdly, to rein-

force national capacity building and knowledge dissemination though

an integrated training program, and to support to research

and development activities.

Using these axes, a wide range of operational projects

were developed to answer ministerial department needs in

several fields. These applications include water resources

management, forestry monitoring, city and urban growth,

agriculture and drought and disaster management. This

paper highlights some of the major and recent applications

related to water resources and forest monitoring and

management.

Integrated system for water resources management

The use of remote sensing data in water related applica-

tion has increased significantly over the last decade. This

is mainly due to the fact that Earth observation images offer

the unique opportunity to attain spatially distributed infor-

mation over large, remote and inaccessible areas. The

integrated management of water resources at national, as

well as river basin scales, is a complex problemwith regard

to its multidisciplinary nature. It requires not only the rele-

vant information, but also models and decision support

systems fitting the needs of the water administrators.

The Souss-Massa region is one of the most important

areas in Morocco for agriculture and tourist activities. The

region contributes more than 50 per cent of Morocco’s agri-

cultural production and is also the second most

economically productive region in the country. The devel-

opment of agricultural activities is creating a huge demand

on water resources, and the recurrent periods of drought

require a proactive approach to manage the available

resources.

CRTS, in cooperation with the water authority in the

region (ABHSM), has developed a decision support system

that provides value added information to the ABHSM for

integrated water management. Cartography of land use

changes, assessment of the development of soils under irri-

gation and mapping of geological lithology and structures

were all used as input data sets for the hydrological models.

New resources were also identified to supply remote

villages with fresh water.

The developed systemwas largely based on the exploita-

tion of Earth observation products such as SPOT, Landsat,

RADARSAT and ERS, combined with modelling processes.

Water resources

Land use map for irrigated soils assessment/Agadir region, Morocco

Source: Royal Centre for Remote Sensing (2007)

GEOSS C

OMPONENTS

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ISSEMINATION

NFORMATION

YSTEMS