The Full Picture

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Developing operational satellite data products for community

benefits

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

(INCOIS), in an effort to support the communities of small trawler

owners, has been generating Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories,

which use satellite-based sea surface temperature and chlorophyll

maps to identify features such as upwelling, eddies, fronts, and mean-

ders. The coincidence of frontal zone positions of chlorophyll and

SST gradients indicate coupling of biological and physical processes

and potential fish aggregation sites. These identified features are used

to generate PFZ maps and PFZ text that give those with access to

GPS systems information on latitude, longitude and depth of PFZs.

Considering that the majority of users are traditional fishers, infor-

mation on angle, direction and distance from landing centres/light

houses are also provided. PFZ advisories are prepared in many

languages and disseminated through a variety of media formats.

Results show that PFZ advisories have reduced search times between

30 to 70 per cent, improving the benefit to cost ratio from about 1.3

to over 2.0. Twenty-seven per cent of trawler owners (about 27,000)

use the facility. Future plans include integration of currents to increase

the validity of the forecast and closer liaison with the Department of

Fisheries to monitor the effect of increased catches on fish stocks.

Training in the use of operational satellite products

In September 2003, Nigeria successfully launched NigeriaSat-1. This

marked an important step in using satellite remote sensing for coastal

management in the country, and of utilizing space-acquired infor-

mation for management and research. The critical mass of capacity

to maximise benefits from NigeriaSat-1 has suffered severe attrition

through lowered funding support, resulting in a shift away from this

field. Against this background the National Space Research and

Development Agency (NASRDA) and the Institute of Ecology and

Environmental Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, signed a

memorandum of understanding for capacity building in remote

sensing and GIS in 2006.

Many ‘train-the-trainer’ initiatives have been conducted to catalyze

a large home-grown manpower development programme in the country,

culminating in the commencement of a series of regular regional capac-

ity building workshops. The first such, held in collaboration with the

Source: CICESE Wave Group

The use of such devices marks an important step in using satellite remote

sensing for coastal management, and of utilizing space-acquired information

for management and research

The Satellite Oceanography course

African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology

Education and supported by UN Office for Outer Space

Affairs, was on Capacity Building on Use of Landsat Data

Sets for Sustainable Management in Africa. The govern-

ment’s programme to use space-acquired information is

supported by a self-driven effort in this regard.

Nurturing a world-class training course

Scientists from the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y

de Educacion Superior de Ensenada (CICESE) recog-

nized that directing the capacity to train students from

developing nations in satellite and in situ data analysis

and applications leads to wider and better use of Earth

observation data sets. As a result they established a

successful satellite oceanography course that has run

every second year since 1998. Internationally recognized

faculty and researchers have participated in this course

each time it was offered. The satellite oceanography

course has been mainly supported by the European Space

Agency (ESA), while some financial aid has also been

received from other international and national offices.

CICESE will host the sixth edition of a three-week inten-

sive course in satellite oceanography in August 2008.

Through the course, students and young profession-

als learn to utilize satellite data for applications relevant

for ocean monitoring. The course is now highly regarded

and its strong foundations, based on lecturers of the

highest academic standards, are widely appreciated. One

could argue that it provides an example for capacity

building strategy that international agencies could

follow for other areas in Latin America and the

Caribbean. However, it is important to remember that

few institutions in the developing world have a suffi-

cient number of experts to delve as deeply as the

CICESE satellite oceanography course, which covers

practically all ocean observation and sensor types.

The way to sustainability

The capacity-development process promises to be a

lengthily one, but done correctly it could be our only

chance to achieve true sustainability. Many examples

show that in spite of poor resources, determination at

the policy-makers level can always drive the agenda. In

these cases, capacity-development is self-driven and

sustainable. However, the question of poor infrastruc-

ture remains. It is in this area that sponsors can make

the greatest contributions in collaboration with recipi-

ent countries.

It is clear that there are two primary phases that

emerge in sustainable capacity-development. The first

is in establishing firm foundations in marine sciences

and the competencies to address national priorities.

Once these are established scientists from the develop-

ing world are in a better position to create the products

that their governments need. It will be at this time when

they can collaborate as peers in regional implementa-

tion of global programmes. Only then will GEOSS

become a globally shared and globally beneficial

Observational System of Systems.

OCIETAL

ENEFIT

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COSYSTEMS