health, agriculture, energy, weather, climate and other sectors will
benefit
28 November 2006
Bonn, Germany - At an international conference today in Bonn, the Group on
Earth Observations (GEO) introduced a vital new capability called GEONETCast.
"Once fully operational this service will put a vast range of essential
environmental data at the fingertips of decision makers and many others around
the globe who might not otherwise have timely access to this information. With
a 24/7 data stream GEONETCast will provide the critical information required to
protect lives and more effectively manage a world of resources," said Professor
Jose Achache, Director of the GEO Secretariat.
With contributions from many nations and organisations, GEONETCast is a
co-operative effort being organised by the European Organisation for the
Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the United States (US),
China and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). "GEONETCast is a
milestone in the exciting and growing Global Earth Observation System of
Systems (GEOSS). As an interconnected global network of near real time regional
dissemination systems, GEONETCast will link environmental data providers and
users across the globe," said Dr Lars Prahm, EUMETSAT Director-General.
The GEO is providing an international framework in which participating
governments and organisations will co-operatively implement GEOSS. With support
from 66 countries the European Commission and 43 international organisations,
GEO is leading a worldwide effort to design a "system of systems" that just as
the planet, will work in an integrated fashion. Working with and building upon
existing national, regional and international systems, GEOSS will yield a broad
range of basic societal benefits including the reduction of loss of life and
property from tsunamis, hurricanes and other natural disasters; improved water
resource and energy management and improved understanding of environmental
factors significant to public health. As a global network GEONETCast will
support the wide range of societal benefits and be one of the key data
dissemination systems within GEOSS.
While data will be shared among regions as useful, each regional system will
be focused on a specific sector of the globe, and the primary responsibility
for development, management and operation of GEONETCast within each region will
reside with a GEO partner in that region.
Through GEONETCast data about diseases, agriculture, biodiversity, natural
disasters, air and water quality, ocean conditions, ecosystems and much more
will be broadcast in free or low cost, near real time, user-friendly formats.
"GEONETCast will help us take the pulse of the planet. This global service will
provide steady access to data needed to better understand the links between the
environment and important sectors such as public health. Integrating
environmental data with data about disease vectors, pollutants, rainfall and
sea surface temperature, for instance can help in predicting, mitigating and
even preventing health threats before they become a crisis," said retired Navy
Vice Admiral Conrad C Lautenbacher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and
Atmosphere and Administrator, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). Lautenbacher is GEO co-chair for the US.
During the GEO conference in Bonn a presentation showed how the Department
of Agriculture in South Africa receives data that precisely measures vegetation
activity across the country. Gathered by satellites and broadcast by GEONETCast
24x7, the information helps policy makers decide how to manage water and other
scarce resources, predict food shortages and forecast the likelihood of severe
disease outbreaks. South African GEO co-chair, Dr Phil Mjwara, who is the
Director-General of the country's Department of Science and Technology said,
"Connection to a global earth observation network is crucial for Africa because
it allows for faster policy responses and decision making. In South Africa the
application of this now internationally accessible data has enabled us to
better monitor our rainfall patterns amongst other things, which greatly
enhances our efforts in drought and malaria relief."
Dr Guoguang Zheng, Deputy Administrator, China Meteorological Administration
and GEO co-Chair for China said that, "GEONETCast is creating a new opportunity
especially for developing countries to easily access data important to social
benefit areas for free or at low cost and in near real time. We are sure that
more and more countries and organisations will make great contributions to
building GEOSS and GEONETCast in the coming years."
Dr Staneie, GEO co-Chair from the European Commission added that, "In
Europe, we are extremely pleased with this flagship example of global
co-operation in the GEO framework. It has enormous potential for the
implementation of European policies in the domain of the environment, climate
and sustainable development. We are also proud that the system is based on an
existing European system run by EUMETSAT to broadcast weather and environmental
data."
For more information contact:
Kristin Klose
South Africa
Director: Communication
Department of Science and Technology
Cell: 082 902 9503
E-mail: kristin.klose@dst.gov.za
Madelyn Appelbaum
Tel: + 1 202 482 4858
E-mail: Madelyn.appelbaum@noaa.gov
Peter Colohan
Tel: + 41 22 730 8209
E-mail: PColohan@geosec.org
For further details visit: http://www.earthobservations.org/geonetcast
NB:
Television stations, networks and channels around the world that subscribe to
the Reuters Television World News Service are invited to downlink a 10-minute
video news release, B-Roll, animation and sound bite feed on Wednesday, 29
November 2006 at 04h05 to 04h15 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This transmission
will simultaneously feed all Reuters recipients in Africa, Asia, Australia,
Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America and the Caribbean.
All television stations, networks and channels in the US (regardless of
whether they subscribe to Reuters World News Service or not) have the option of
down linking the video news release at 01h30 to 01h45 Eastern Time (ET) on 29
November and again on 30 November according to the following co-ordinates:
Satellite IA5; C-Band; Transponder 23; Downlink Frequency 4160 Vertical, Audio
6.2/6.8.
Issued by: Department of Science and Technology
28 November 2006
Source: SAPA
