AARSE: New

FREE EARTH OBSERVATION DATA FOR AFRICA
CSIR Satellite Applications Centre has committed to delivering remote sensing data from the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite (CBERS) programme at no cost to all African countries 5° south of the equator. This follows a decision announced at the GEO Summit in Cape Town by the CBERS programme to supply images free to their neighboring countries. And falls in line with the adoption of policies within Brazil and China to distribute CBERS images free to all within respective countries. Dubbed the 'special project' of the incoming CEOS chair, availability of CBERS images to African countries has been made possible through the willingness of partners China through CRESDA and Brazil through INPE to waive fees for the downlink system as well as the access fee. This leaves the CSIR free to disseminate country coverage to all the African countries that fall within its footprint. These include: Angola; Botswana; DRC; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Zambia; and Zimbabwe.(April 2008)
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THE ISPRS SAMUEL GAMBLE AWARD TO TWO PROMINENT AARSE EXECUTIVES
The ISPRS Council has selected two Prominent AARSE Council Members:

as the recipients of the Samuel Gamble Award for their significant contribution to development of professional activities at national and international level. The award will be presented at the ISPRS Congress to be held in Beijing from 3rd to 11th July. With this nomination, the number of ISPRS awards conferred to the Executive Council of AARSE has risen to four. Past ISPRS award to AARSE officers include: the Samuel Gamble Award in 2000 for Dr. A. Abiodun, Nigeria, and the Schermerhorn Award in 2000 for Dr. Tsehaie Woldai.

The Samuel Gamble Award, sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Geomatics, is presented to up to three individuals who have contributed significantly to the development, organization or professional activities of photogrammetry and/or remote sensing, at the national or international level. The award consists of a certificate issued by the Canadian Institute of Surveying and Mapping. (April 5, 2008)

AARSE OFFICIALLY APPOINTED AS A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE WORKING GROUP OF THE GEOINFORMATION SUB-COMMITTEE OF UN-ECA CODI
During the 5th session of the Committee on Development Information (CODI), UN Economic Commission for Africa from 29th April to 4th May in Addis Ababa, AARSE was officially appointed as a member of the Executive Working Group of the Geoinformation sub-committee of CODI. CODI itself was restructured to become Committee on Development Information, Science and Technology (CODIST) in line with the recent restructuring of ECA. By this appointment, AARSE will be expected to play visible role in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s Geoinformation activities in Africa. (5 May, 2007)

EGYPTIAN SATELLITE WITH RS DEVICES TO BE LAUNCHED
Tuesday, April 17, 2007: The Egyptian satellite Sat 1 was successfully launched Tuesday from an air base in Kazakhstan. The satellite was in orbit at 09:02 (07:02 GMT) and works properly. Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Hani Hilal said the satellite is the first of a series of satellites planned. Egyptsat-1 is the country's first satellite devoted to scientific research and photography to support development in the fields of construction, cultivation and fighting desertification.

The Egyptian satellite is one of the 14 foreign satellites carried in one rocket launched by the Russian Federal Space Agency in the day, which also included a satellite from Saudi Arabia. Egyptsat-1, carries two remote sensing devices -- an infrared one and a multi- spectrum one, according to MENA. Before Egyptsat-1, Egypt has launched a number of satellites, including Nilesat 101 launched in 1998 and Nilesat 102 in 2000, for nonscientific purposes. These satellites are now delivering more than 150 digital TV channels as well as radio and multimedia services to North Africa and the Middle East, from Morocco to the Gulf region. (April 22, 2007)

SPACE COOPERATION WITH RUSSIA HAILED
The agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki to cooperate in a space development programme was appreciated recently as a step to give a vital momentum to the country's space initiatives. Bart Cilliers, CEO of SunSpace and Information Systems, said, "The agreement between the two countries will facilitate liaison for the launch of locally manufactured satellites." The South African government announced last October that 26 million rand was to be spent on the development of Sumbandilasat.

Sumbandilasat is scheduled to be launched from a submarine near Murmansk. The collaboration with Russia will pay way for further dedicated satellite missions. (Peoples Daily Online. http://english.people.com.cn April 2007)

NIGERIA TO LAUNCH SECOND EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE
Nigeria has started work on the design and construction of its second Earth observation satellite billed for launch in 2008. Director General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NSRDA), Prof. Robert Boroffice said said the satellite known as NigeriaSat- 2 would be an improvement on NigeriaSat-1, which is a medium resolution Earth observation satellite. He said his agency was considering suitable payloads for the NigeriaSat-2 spacecraft, adding that a 2.5m panchromatic camera, 5m multispectral camera in five bands and a 32m multispectral camera in three channels would be used to ensure high resolution. When launched in 2008 NigeriaSat-2 would provide a wide range of applications in the areas of infrastructure, water resources management, agricultural land use, population estimation, health hazard monitoring and disaster mitigation and management. NigeriaSat-1, which was launched in 2003 from Plesetsk, Russia, into 686km polar orbit has been capturing high quality images using six cameras on board the Satellite. NigeriaSat- 1 has been configured in Disaster Monitoring Constellation with other satellites from Algeria, China, Turkey and Britain. (November 2006)

NIGERIASAT-1
The Nigerian Federal executive Council at its meeting of May 2001 approved the National Space Policy and Programme. The vision of the policy is to make Nigeria build indigenous competence in developing, designing and building appropriate hardware and software in space technology as an essential tool for its socio-economic development and enhancement of the quality of life of its people. Nigeria signed the contract for the building of the NigeriaSat-1 with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), of the United Kingdom on the 7th of November 2000. (by: Dr. J.O. Akinyede, Mr. F.D. Chizea and Dr. Tsehaie Woldai)

AARSE HAS A NEW LOGO
As of January 2006 (fourteen years after its creation), the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE) has a new logo, which represents its mandate. The new logo which was designed by Mr. Stefan Kienberger, was chosen from among five other artistic representation by him. Over 40 members of the Association participated in the selection of this logo. Mr. Stefan Kienberger is scientific staff of Z_GIS Centre for Geoinformatics at Salzburg University and a dedicated supporter of AARSE.

UNITED NATIONS AWARD FOR DISASTER REDUCTION:
The United Nations Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) has launched the nomination process for the 2004 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction. The award was established in 1986 by the initiative of the Nippon Foundation. As in previous years, the award presents in recognition of outstanding experts and organizations that have contributed significantly to the development of innovative practices in disaster reduction. The deadline for the submission of nominations is the 15 August, 2004. Nomination booklets and forms in English, French, Spanish, and Russian can be downloaded from the ISDR homepage (http://www.unisdr.org). For more information on the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction, please refer to http://www.unisdr.org/eng/sasakawa/sk-about-eng.htm

THE AFRICAN JOURNAL OF GEOINFORMATION (AJG):
The African Journal of Geoinformation (AJG) is the new official Journal of the African Association of Remote Sensing of the Environment (AARSE). The final calls for the maiden issue will be soon out (see MaidenIssueAJG.pdf).

START YOUNG SCIENTISTS AWARDS:
START supports region specific programs and activities through fellowships, training workshops, and training and research institutes to increase the number of scientists in developing countries. The overarching aim is to contribute to research on global change in areas of the world where such access to resources and networks are scarce. It is expected that the research outcomes will further contribute to region and country specific issues of sustainable development. Furthermore, the capacity building efforts foster and maintain collaborative relationships between professors, fellows, doctoral students and other professionals working in the field of environmental science and policy. START frequently announces opportunities for grants and awards pertaining to the various programs. These opportunities are posted and updated on the home page. For more information, see http://www.start.org/Program/program.html.

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