UN-SPIDER October 2008 Updates

Tony Lyu of the UN SPIDER Office in Bonn wrote in his circular this evening:
"Please find attached the UN-SPIDER October 2008 Updates. Please forward this UN-SPIDER Updates to colleagues who might benefit from receiving the information...."
"If you would like to subscribe to this list please visit the following website:
http://www.ungiwg.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/unspider
"News included in this UN-SPIDER Updates:
1. UN-SPIDER International Workshop in Bonn/Germany
2. United Nations Activates International Charter for Floods in Yemen
3. Mr. Lorant Czaran Joins UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER as Head of the UN-SPIDER Bonn
Office
4. United Nations Agencies Confirm UNOOSA?s role as Cooperating Body to the International Charter
5. 2005 Kashmir Earthquake: The Role of Information Technology in Relief Activities
6. The Past and Future of Crisis Mapping ? A Personal Account
7. Third COSMO-SkyMed Satellite Launched from California
8. Satellite Data Reveals Extreme Summer Snowmelt in Northern Greenland
9. CALL FOR PAPERS: The International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation ? Special Issue on Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Management
10. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Thematic Session on Disaster Communication Systems
at the India Disaster Management Congress 2009
Conferences and Workshops:
- 9th Plenary Meeting of the United Nations Geographic Information Working Group (UNGIWG) in Vienna, Austria, 5-7 November 2008
- Use of Remote Sensing Techniques for Monitoring Volcanoes and Seismogenic Areas - USEReST 2008 in Naples, Italy, 11-13 November 2008
-International Symposium GeoTunis 2008 ? 3rd Edition? in Tunis, Tunisia, 26-30 November 2008
- Second International Conference on Geoinformation Technology for Natural Disaster Management and Rehabilitation in Bangkok, Thailand, 1-2 December
2008
- Cartography and Geoinformatics for Early Warning and Emergency
Management: Towards Better Solutions- in Prague, Czech Republic, 19-22
January 2009
- L'Outil Spatial au Service de la Gestion des Catastrophes et des Situations d'Urgence en Afrique - Rabat, Morocco, 10-12 November 2008.
____________________________
Tony (Young S.) LYU
Associate Expert
UNOOSA / UN-SPIDER
Hermann-Ehlers-Str. 10
53113 Bonn, Germany
+49 (0)228.815.0678
young.lyu@unoosa.org"
www.unspider.org

ESDIN - European Spatial Data Infrastructure Network

ESDIN, a project supported by the EU eContentplus program is under the leadership of EuroGeographic, which represents 50 National Mapping and Cadastral Agencies from 46 countries across Europe.
Hungarian members of that organisation are the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing (FÖMI) and the Geospatial Service of the Home Defense Force. Both institutions are stakeholders of UN SDI HUCO and members of its Steering Committee.
The ESDIN project partners include besides EuroGeographics the following national institutions and enterprises as consortium members:
Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie in Germany (BKG)
IGN Belgium,
IGN France,
Statens Kartverk in Norway,
The Finnish Geodetic Institute,
Lantmäteriet in Sweden,
Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen in Denmark,
National Land Survey of Finland,
Interactive Instruments,
Bundesamt für Eich — undVermessungswesen (BEV) in Austria,
Universität Münster in Germany,
Geodan Software Development & Technology in Netherlands,
1Spatial in United Kingdom,
National Datacentre University of Edinburgh in United Kingdom,
National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity in Romania,
National Technical University of Athens in Greece,
Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing in Hungary
Helsinki University of Technology in Finland
(As of 30 October 2008, Source: www.esdin.com)

Short report on GMES Kopernikus compiled by HUNAGI for the Ministry of Environment and Water in Budapest

The short report with some recommendations was submitted to MoEW earlier today. 

GSDI Association will be represented at the GEO V Plenary in Bucarest

Prof Bas Kok, President of GSDI Association, Ivan DeLoatch, Director of FGDC at USGS,  Dr. Robert S. Chen, Director of CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network at the Columbia University) and the Hungarian member of the GSDI Board of Directors will represent the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure Association at the Vth Plenary of the GEO on GEOSS.
The event will be hosted by the Romanian Space Research Office in Bucarest, in the House of the Parliament on the week of 17th November.

HUNAGI mentioned UNGIWG-9/NSDI at the EUROGI ExCom Meeting

FAO World Food Day devoted to the Impact of Global Change and Bioenergy Demand held in Budapest

The Secretary General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Prof Dr. Tamás Németh (l) with the Representative of the FAO at the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia Ms. Maria Kadlecikova (r) and the Head of the FAO Subregional Office for Central and Eastern Europe at the event of the World Food Day held in Budapest. Image: HUNAGI Visuals resource, 2008

HUNAGI contribution to the Meeting of the Board of Curators of HUNGIS Foundation

Ministry of Environment and Water - HUNAGI contract signed

28th World Food Day

"Let's remember: food is energy"

World Food Day

World Food Security -

the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.

Venue: Hungarian Agricultural Museum

Date:    16 October 2008

Organised jointly by the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as the Hungarian Scientific Association of Food Industry and the Hungarian Association of Agricultural Science the event will take place in the Vajdahunyad Castle in the City Park of Budapest. Chaired by Dr. Miklós Süth, State Secretary of MoARD, the agenda will discuss the topic "World Food Security - Challenges of the Climate Change and Bioenergy".

A presentation will be delivered discussing the theme from the Hungarian perspective by Secretary General of the Hungarian Academy of Science, whereas the global outlook will be provided by Mrs. Maria Kadlecikova, Regional Representative of FAO for Europe and Central Asia. 

Note: FAO is among the leading UN organisations which apply geospatial information on operational basis. FAO promotes user friendly solutions e.g. opensource softwares, standard based approach and alternative e.g. for the GEOSS portal.  

Actually, according to the selected topics, this event also an important contribution to the International Year of the Planet Earth.

Report to GSDI President on the WGISS-26 completed

The 18 page report reflects the rich professional content of the intensive meeting of the leading space agencies and some national academy of sciences in the field of Earth Observation information systems and services hosted by NOAA in Boulder one week ago. The report summarizes the joint meeting of WGISS and the Committee on Architecture and Data of GEO the Group of Earth Observation Systems of System arranged by IEEE as well. 

Photo portfolio:

http://picasaweb.google.com/gabor.remetey

GISTDA's Thai Earth Observation Satellite in orbit

THEO in orbit

1st October 2008
For details, please visit the official website at http://www.gistda.or.th/Gistda/THEOS_launch1en.html
The website has downladable documents and useful reference links as press releases:
THEOS User Handbook (English - pdf)
THEOS User Handbook (e-book)
- Successful launch of THEOS (EADS Astrium 01/ 10/ 2008)
- Russia launches Thai satellite on converted missile (15:44 | 01/ 10/ 2008)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081001/117363703.html
- THEOS in orbit; set to transmit Bangkok photos (MCOT.net 01/ 10/ 2008)
- After lengthy delay, rocket finally allowed to launch (by Stephen CLARK, SPACEFLIGHT NOW 01/ 10/ 2008)
- Earth Observation (Bangkok Post 01/ 10/ 2008)
- THEOS Satellite (Wikipedia)
- Russia to launch Thai satellite on Wednesday October 1, 2008
http://spacefellowship.com/News/?p=6819
- Russia to launch Thai satellite on Wednesday (news 30/09/2008/21:48 )
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080930/117343796.html

Hungarian Company GiziMap at the Frankfurt Book Fair

From our daily mail:

"Dear Gabor,
We would like to inform you that GiziMap takes a part in Frankfurt Book Fair (October 15-19), Hall 3.1. K 677.  You are welcome on our stand. Please write us if you would like to fix an appointment. Please find in attachment list of GiziMap titles.
Best regards
Gizella Bassa"
GiziMap Map Design & Publishing
Tel/fax: +36 1 326 07 17, e-mail: gizimap.mant@mtesz.hu

Portfolio of GIZIMAP
Maps Scale Size, cm
AFGHANISTAN Geo. Oxford Cart.-GiziMap 1:3 000 000 ISBN 978 963 00 8316 4 > ISBN-13 66×70
ALGERIA Geographical 1:2 500 000 ISBN 978 963 86808 1 5 > ISBN-13 99×88
ALGERIA Road Map 1:2 500 000 ISBN 963 87030 0 8 99×88
BAGHDAD City Map 1:25 000 ISBN 963 206 285 X 73×68
BEOGRAD Street Map 1:20 000 ISBN 963 00 5942 8 68×92
CAUCASUS Geographical 1:1 000 000 ISBN 978 963 00 6581 8 > ISBN-13 117×83
CAUCASUS Road Map 1:1 000 000 ISBN 963 02 9668 3 CM 117×83
CENTRAL ASIA Geographical 1:1 750 000 ISBN 978 963 03 7238 1 > ISBN-13 122×82
CENTRAL ASIA Road Map 1:1 750 000 ISBN 963 03 7239 8 CM 122×82
CHINA Geographical 1:4 750 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 1 1 > ISBN-13 122×88
CHINA Reference Map (Political) 1:6 500 000 ISBN 963 86808 6 5 CM 96×68
CHINA South (1) Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 3 3 > ISBN-13 125×88
CHINA Central (2) Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 4 0 > ISBN-13 125×88
CHINA Northeast (3) Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 5 7 > ISBN-13 97×88
CHINA Northwest (4) Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 00 8051 4 > ISBN-13 99×88
CUBA Geographical NEW Dec 1. 2008 1:1 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 6 6 > ISBN-13 122×64
DALMATIA * ISTRIA Geogr. New Edition 1:250 000 ISBN 978 963 216 314 7 > ISBN-13 125×88
DALMATIA * ISTRIA Road Map 1:250 000 ISBN 963 86808 5 7 CM 125×88
EGYPT Geographical 1:1 300 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 8 8 > ISBN-13 100×88
ESTONIA Road Map 1:400 000 ISBN 963 450 043 9 CM 97×67
INDIA Geographical 1:3 000 000 ISBN 978 963 212 163 5 > ISBN-13 86×125
INDIA Road Map 1:3 000 000 ISBN 963 86808 7 3 CM 86×125
IRAN Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 2 6 > ISBN-13 98×88
IRAQ Geographical New Edition 1:1 750 000 ISBN 978 963 204 299 2 > ISBN-13 73×68
KAZAKHSTAN Geographical 1:3 000 000 ISBN 978 963 00 8315 7 > ISBN-13 120×88
KAZAKHSTAN Political 1:3 000 000 ISBN 963 00 8050 8 CM 120×88
KOSOVO Geographical 1:250 000 ISBN 978 963 00 3920 8 > ISBN-13 99×69
LATVIA Road Map MapLink - GiziMap 1:400 000 ISBN 963 02 9669 1 CM 117×83
LIBYA Geographical 1:1 750 000 ISBN 963 86808 0 6 CM 98×88
LIBYA Road Map 1:1 750 000 ISBN 963 217 610 3 CM 98×88
MACEDONIA Road Map 1:250 000 ISBN 963 02 9667 5 CM 89×69
MAURITANIA Geographical NEW 1:1 750 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 5 9 > ISBN-13 94×88
MIDDLE EAST Political NEW Dec 1. 2008 1:4 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 7 3 > ISBN-13 125×88
MONGOLIA Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 86808 2 2 > ISBN-13 124×83
MONGOLIA Road Map 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 86808 8 4 > ISBN-13 124×69
MONTENEGRO Geographical 1:250 000 ISBN 978 963 00 5482 9 > ISBN-13 68×93
MOROCCO Geographical 1:1 250 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 0 4 > ISBN-13 99x88
NEW ZEALAND Geographical 1:1 700 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 9 5 > ISBN-13 74x94
OMAN * UAE Geographical 1:1 250 000 ISBN 978 963 87030 7 1 > ISBN-13 74×94
SAUDI ARABIA Geographical NEW 1:3 000 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 2 8 > ISBN-13 100×88
SERBIA*KOSOVO*MONTENEGRO Road M. New Ed. 1:500 000 ISBN 978 963 00 8053 8 > ISBN-13 81×118
SILK ROAD COUNTRIES Geo. New Edition 1:3 000 000 ISBN 978 963 204 138 4 > ISBN-13 125×88
SILK ROAD COUNTRIES Political 1:3 000 000 ISBN 978 963 204 137 7 > ISBN-13 125×88
ST LUCIA Road Map NEW 1:50 000 ISBN 978 963 87465 4 2 > ISBN-13 69×94
TIBET Geographical 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 204 139 1 > ISBN-13 124×84
TIBET Road Map 1:2 000 000 ISBN 978 963 00 8052 1 > ISBN-13 124×84
TRANSYLVANIA South-Eastern 1:200 000 ISBN 963 86808 9 X 82×118
UKRAINE * MOLDOVA Road Map 1:1 200 000 ISBN 978 963 450 044 5 > ISBN-13 116×82
ZÜRICH Street Map 1:12 500 ISBN 963 86808 3 0 CM 75×94
Geographical = The relief is with elevation tints Road Map = The relief is with hillshading

October 2008

HUCO registered with poster to UNGIWG-9 Meeting

UNSDI HUCO and its environment is the title of the proposed poster intended for the interactive poster exhibition of the 9th Meeting of United Nations Geographic Information Working Group hosted by COPUOS in Vienna, Austria. The open part of the event will take place on November 6-7, 2008. The representaton of HUCO by its coordinator (Secretary General of HUNAGI) was seconded by the Director General of FÖMI, dr. Szabolcs Mihály. FÖMI is for the Institute of Geodesy, Cartography and Remote Sensing, flagship of the Hungarian GI institutions, a core stakeholder of the UN Spatial Data Infrastructure Hungarian Coordination Office established in September 2006. HUCO was invited on behalf of the Co-Chairs of UNGIWG by the Director of the Geneva based UNGIWG Secretariat. Registration was made on-line on 3rd October 2008.

HUCO site attracts worldwide visitors

Geographical distribution of HUCO site visitors on a single day of October 3, 2008

New GSDI Regional Newsletters released

The SDI Regional Newsletters for October 2008 are now posted on the GSDI home page at http://www.gsdi.org
You may also download them directly as follows:

SDI-Latin America and Caribbean Newsletter
http://www.gsdi.org/newsletters/SDILACv5n10Espanol.pdf (Spanish)
http://www.gsdi.org/newsletters/SDILACv5n10English.pdf (English)
Portuguese translations of the newsletter are posted as they arrive and may be downloaded at http://gsdi.org/newsletters.asp

SDI-Africa Newsletter
http://www.gsdi.org/newsletters/SDIAfricav7n10.pdf (English)

SDI-Asia Pacific Newsletter
http://www.gsdi.org/newsletters/SDIAPv5n10.pdf (English)
Chinese translations of the newsletter are posted as they arrive and may be downloaded at http://gsdi.org/newsletters.asp

Past and current SDI Regional newsletters are also accessible in the archives at http://www.gsdi.org/newsletters.asp Also posted here are the SALB Newsletter and EIS-Africa Newsletter.

Please forward the newsletters to others that may be interested.

ANNOUNCEMENTS DURING THE MONTH

If you want to be kept up to date on announcements in your region of the world throughout the month or want to contribute announcements to others in your region, subscribe to the appropriate SDI discussion lists at
http://www.gsdi.org/discussionlists.asp Among the several discussion list offerings include:

SDI-Africa Discussion List
http://lists.gsdi.org/mailman/listinfo/sdi-africa

SDI-AP (Asia-Pacific) Discussion List
http://lists.gsdi.org/mailman/listinfo/sdi-asiapacific

SDI-LAC (Latin America and Caribbean) Discussion List
http://lists.gsdi.org/mailman/listinfo/sdi-latinamericacaribbean

--
****************************
If you would like to sign up for the GSDI News List,
please visit http://www.gsdi.org/

UNSDI HUCO Stakeholder & HUNAGI member Corvinus University at the ISDE Summit in Potsdam

Preliminary program ISDE Summit
Source: www.isde-summit-2008.org
"Wednesday, 12. November
8.30 Registration
9.30 -10.30 Introduction to the Summit and Welcome Addresses
M. Ehlers (GfGI, Summit Director)
R. F. Hüttl (GFZ Potsdam, Summit Co-Director)
H. Guo (ISDE, secretary general)
N.N. (State Representative, Brandenburg)
10.30 – 11.00 Coffee Break
Keynote Session (coordinated by desert.net):
Desertification: the Role of Policy, Geoinformation, Earth Observation and Modelling
11.00 – 13.00
N.N. (tbd)
G. del Barrio (Estacion Experimental de Zonas Aridas, Spanish National Research Council
CSIC, Almeria, Spain) “Assessment and monitoring of desertification: a geomatic approach”
M. Mulligan (King’s College London, Department of Geography, UK) “Geobrowser based
simulation models for land degradation policy support”
J. Hill (Remote Sensing Department, University of Trier, Germany) “Dryland degradation and
desertification: satellite-based assessment and monitoring concepts for a global problem”
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch Break
Global Change
14.00 – 14.45 Keynote M. Latif (Maritime Meteorology, IFM-Geomar, University of Kiel,
Germany) “The climate of the 20th and 21st century”
14.45 – 15.30 Keynote D. Stammer (Center for Marine and Climate Research, University of
Hamburg, Germany “Ocean reanalyses: status and their use for improving climate forecast.”
15.30 – 16.30
V.F. Krapivin; F.A. Mkrtchyan
(Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow,
Russia): „An adaptive remote sensing technology fort the nature-society system
biocomplexity assessment”
P.A. Propastin (Department of Geography, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Germany;
Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Image Analysis, Kazakh Academy of Science, Almaty,
Kazakhstan); M. Kappas (Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Image Analysis, Kazakh
Academy of Science, Almaty, Kazakhstan): “Linkages between the current climate change,
the political change in Kazakhstan and trends in the photosynthetic activity of vegetation”
W. Wan (State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote Sensing
Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing, China) ; Y. Xue (State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science,
Institute of Remote Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Beijing, China;
Department of Computing, London Metropolitan University, London. UK); Y. Wang; Y. Li; J.
Guang; J. Ai; L. Bai (State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Institute of Remote
Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Graduate School of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China): “High Performance Geocomputation for Digital Earth
– A Case Study of Aerosol Retrieval from Remotely Sensed Data”
H.M. Füssel (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany): “Climate, geography and macroeconomics: A reanalysis of the G-Econ database“
Earth Observation and Modelling
16.30 - 17.15 Keynote S. Schubert (Global Modeling & Assimilation Office, NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA) “NASA's Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for
Research and Applications (MERRA): Early Results and Future Directions”
17.15 – 18.15
Salihou; Y. Loya (ISIG - Institut Supérieur d`Informatique et de Gestion Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso); B. Somé; L. Somé (LANIBIO – Université de Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso);
M. Daniel; J.Sequeira (LSIS - ESIL, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France):
“Remote Sensing and modeling contribution to ecosystem control in Burkina Faso”
T. Peisker; D. Spengler; K.Segl; S. Itzerott; H. Kaufmann (GeoForschungsZentrum
Potsdam, Germany): „Artificial 3D crop field for the simulation of hyperspectral reflectance
data”
E. Forootan, M.A, Sharifi (Surveying and Geomatics Engineering Department, Faculty of
Engineering, University of Teheran, Iran): “Multi-Sensor Analysis of the Lake Victoria Basin
Variations”
C. Stasch, A. C. Walkowski (Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster, Germany):
“A Geosensor Network Architecture for Disaster Management based on Open Standards”
18.15 – 22.00 Postersession & Icebreaker Party
Thursday, 13. November
Simulation and Modelling
8.30 - 9.15 Keynote M. Goodchild (National Center for Geographic Information and
Analysis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA) “Simulation, modelling and digital
earth: status and prospects”
9.15 - 10.15
T. Blaschke; M. Biberacher; S. Gadocha; D. Zocher; M. Mittlböck; E. Hauslauer; I.
Schardinger (Research Studio iSPACE, Salzburg, Austria); J.Strobl (Z_GIS, Centre for
Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Austria): “Virtual Power Plants: spatial energy
models in times of climate change”
V.F. Krapivin; F.A. Mkrtchyan (Institute of Radioengineering and Rlectronics, Russian
Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia): „GIMS - Technology for the operative
environmental diagnostics”
E. Ivits; M. Cherlet, G. Buchanan (DG JRC, Italy), D. Chamberlain (BTO, England):
„Remote sensing derived phenological indicators to explain European farmland bird
distribution pattern”
R. J. Corner (Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information, Australia); M. Marinelli
(Curtin University of Technology, Bentley, Australia): “Modelling the effects of data
uncertainty on agricultural and environmental models under global change conditions”
10.15 – 10.45 Coffee Break
Earth observation
10.45 - 11.30 Keynote H. Guo (Center for Earth Observation and Digital Earth, Chinese
Academy of Sciences) “ABCC Program: Global Change Study Using Space Technology”
11.30 – 13.00
A, Roff (Co-operative Research Centre for Spatial Information, University of New South
Wales, Sydney, Australia); D. Silverstone (NSW Department of Environment and Climate
Change, Parramatta , Australia) G. R. Taylor; M. Day; A. L. Mitchell (Co-operative
Research Centre for Spatial Information, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia);:
“Beyond land-cover mapping: Semi-automated delineation of vegetation pattern using
segmentation”
C. Aubrecht; M. Köstl; K. Steinnocher (Austrian Research Centers GmbH, Vienna,
Austria): “Functional object grouping – An advanced method for integrated spatial and space
related data mining”
D. Tiede (Centre for Geoinformatics (Z_GIS), University of Salzburg, Austria); S. Lang
(Centre for Geoinformatics (Z_GIS), University of Salzburg, Austria; Institute of Landscape
Architecture and Environmental Planning, Berlin): “Rapid dwelling extraction from VHSR
satellite imagery in refugee camps and dissemination of conditioned information via virtual
globes”
P. Milenov; D. Kapnias; W. Devos (European Commission, Joint Research Centre,
Agriculture Unit, GeoCAP team): “Best Practice and Quality Checking of Ortho Imagery –
toward a common approach”
T. Soukup (GISAT, Prague, Czech Republic); Y. Bushuyev (Dniprocosmos State Company,
Dniepropetrovsk, Ukraine); M. Popov (Scientific Centre for Aerospace Research of the
Earth, Kiev, Ukraine); A. Tarariko (Institute of Agroecology of the Ukrainian Academy of
Agrarian Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine);V. Starovoitov (United Institute of Informatics Problem of
the Belarus Academy of Sciences, Minsk Belorussia); K. McCloy (Faculty of Agricultural
Sciences, University of Aarhus, Denmark): “Technology of automated land cover
classification based on the remote sensing data”
S.Hese; C. Schmullius (Department of Earth Observation, Institute of Geography, Friedrich-
Schiller-University, Jena, Germany): “Strategies for object-oriented thermokarst lake change
analysis in Siberia using very high resolution multitemporal satellite data”
13.00 -14.00 Lunch Break
Spatial Data infrastructure
14.00 - 14.45 Keynote A. Annoni (Spatial Data Infrastructures Unit, Institute for
Environment and Sustainability , European Commission Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy)
“Regional and Global spatial data infrastructures: a key to assess and monitor
environmental changes”
14.45 - 15.45
C. Graul; A. Zipf (University of Bonn, Germany): “Putting Biogeographic Research on the
Spatial Web: Towards Interoperable Analysis Tools for Global Change Based on the Web
Processing Service (WPS)”
U. Boes (URSIT Ltd., Sofia, Bulgaria); R. Pavlova (Technical University Sofia, Bulgaria):
”Spatial Data Infrastructures by 2020 – where do they go?”
D. Doktor (Imperial College, Department of Biology, UK); F. W. Badeck (Helmholtz-Centre
for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig, Germany); A. Bondeau (Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany); D. Koslowsky (Free University of Berlin,
Department of Meteorology, Berlin, Germany): “On the comparison of point and area-wide
observations of vegetation”
E. Gennai (ESRI Europe): ”Spatial Data Infrastructures, building as one”
15.45 – 16.15 Coffee Break
Visualisation
16.15 – 17.00
D. Wortley (Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK): “Integrating Physical and
Virtual Worlds for Sustainable Development”
F. Hruby; J. Kristen; A. Riedl (Department of Geography and Regional Research,
Cartography and Geoinformation (IfGR), University of Vienna, Austria): “Global Stories on
Tactile Hyperglobes – visualizing Global Change Research for Global Change Actors”
P. Paar (Lenné3D LLC. Berlin); K. Appleton (School of Environmental Sciences, University
of East Anglia, Norwich); M. Clasen (Zuse Institute Berlin, Dept. of Visualization and Data
Analysis); M.Gensel (Zuse Institute Berlin, Dept. of Visualization and Data Analysis); S.
Jude (Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich); A.
Lovett (School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich):
“Interactive Visual Simulation of Coastal Landscape Change”
18.00 Program Sanssouci Castle
19.00 Social Evening Event (Dinner) & Poster Awards
Friday, 14. November
Simulation and Modelling
9.00 - 09.45
Keynote Deren Li (State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping
and Remote Sensing): “Role of Geospatial Technology in Wenchuan Earthquake”
9.45 -11.00
J. LeLievre (Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne, Australia); A. Kealy
(Department of Geomatics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia): “Homogenous
positioning using CORS networks in a Digital Earth“
N. de Lange; C. Plass (Institute for Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing, University of
Osnabrueck, Germany): “WebGIS with Google Earth and Google Maps“
T. Häring; V. Hochschild (Department of Geography, University of Tübingen, Germany); M.
de Paly; C. Henneges (Department of Informatics, University of Tübingen, Germany):
“Modelling Tsunami Vulnerability – The development of a Tsunami Inundation Model with
Machine Learning tools“
D. Lincke; C. Ionescu; N. Botta (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany):
“A generic library for earth system modelling based on monadic systems“
K. Frotscher; C. Hütting (Institute for Geography, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena): “The
monitoring potential of Terra/Aqua-MODIS data in boreal forests”
11.00 - 11.15 Coffee Break
11.15 -11.45 Three best poster presentations
Urbanisation
11.45 – 12.45
O. Grübner; B. Jakimow; K. Janson; T. Lakes; P. Hostert (Humboldt University,
Department of Geography, Berlin, Germany): “Linking ecological, economic, and social data
in a health data model to analyse complex dynamics in informal settlements in Dhaka,
Bangladesh“
G. Zeug; S. Eckert (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Institute for the
Protection and Security of the Citizen, Support to External Security Unit, Ispra, Italy) T.
Kukuk; U.,Steiner (GAF AG, Munich, Germany); D. Ehrlich (Joint Research Centre of the
European Commission, Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen, Support to
External Security Unit, Ispra, Italy): “Monitoring urban city growth and its impact on the
environment: the case study of Sana’a, Yemen”
TBD.
M. Moeller (Austrian Academy of Science, GIScience, Salzburg, Austria; University of
Bamberg, Institute of Geography, Bamberg, Germany): “Metropolitan Growth Mapped from
Space Images”
12.45 - 13.00 Break
Urbanisation & Visualisation
13.00 -14.00
T. Nocke; T. Sterzel (Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)); M. Böttinger
(German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ); M. Wrobel (Potsdam Institute for Climate
Impact Research (PIK)): “Visualization of Climate and Climate Change Data: An Overview”
J.-P. Aurambout; C. Pettit; H. Lewis (Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Australia):
“Digital Globes: gates to the digital earth”
J. Schiewe; A. Krek; I. Peters; H. Sternberg; K.-P. Traub (Hafen City University Hamburg,
Germany): „Developing and evaluating tools for Urban Research”
”T. Lakes (Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Geography); S. Lautenbach
(Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Geography; Helmholtz-Zentrum für
Umweltforschung GmbH ): “Modelling urban land use systems under transition – from
socialist to postsocialist dynamics in urban areas”
14.00 -14.45 Lunch Break
14.45 – 16.45 Resumee & Panel Discussion
Software presentations:
Simon D. Hennig; D. Hoffmeister; U. Baaser; G. Bareth (Dept. of Geography, University of
Cologne): ”CampusGIS 3D”
W. H. Mayer (PROGIS Software GmbH, Villach, Austria): “Planning and valuation of
ecological performances with the holistic and integrated agro-environment software-
technology AGROffice”
Poster Presentations:
C. Chen (College of earth sciences, Daqing Petroluem Institute, China); L. Weifeng (Sinopec
Exploration & Production Research Institute, Beijing, China): “New Computer Graphics Technologies
for Digital Earth Visualization”
D. Vassilaki; C. Ioannidis (School of Rural and Surveying Engineering; National Technical University of
Athens); A. Stamos (School of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens): “Geospatial
Data Integration using Automatic Global Matching of Free-Form Curves”
Z. Dingiu; F. Jianping (Institute of Computing Technology; Shenzen Institute of Advanced Technology;
Chinese Academy of Sciences): “PSDC: Parallel Simulation of Digital City”
M. Gaál (Corvinus University of Budapest): “Expected changes in climatic conditions of maize growing
– Hungarian case study”
G. Schaab; P. Dammann; F. N. Muchori; N. Ojha; H. Zimmer (Faculty of Geomatics, Karlsruhe
University of Applied Sciences); „Biodiversity monitoring and forest management involving geospatial
data in Kakamega Forest (Kenya): Tools tailored to the users’ needs.”
H. Jiang; Q. Wang; X. Wang (Key Laboratory of Spatial Data Mining & Information Sharing of
Ministry of Education, Fuzhou University; Spatial Information Research Center of Fujian
Province, Fuzhou University, Fujian, China): “Simulation and Spatial-Temporal Analysis of forest
net primary productivity in Fujian Province”
Y. Jiang; S. Bi ((Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Information Sciences, Institute of Remote Sensing
Application, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China): “Dynamic Object-oriented Model and the
applications for the Digital Earth”
Neumann, C. (University of Potsdam) : “Linkage of climate variables from AVHRR raster data to the
heterogeneous layout of sub-catchments in the Ebro Basin”
J. Lian (Key Lab of 3D Information Acquisition and Application, MOE, School of Resource and
Environmental Science, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China); X. Li (Key Lab of Resources
Environment and GIS, Beijing, China):
“Research and Development of GIS Project Based on XML”
A. Tarariko (Institute of Agroecology of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine);
A. Syrotenko (Institute of Agroecology of the Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine);
V. Grekov”( Centre of Soil Fertility State Enterprise at the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine, Kiev,
Ukraine): “Net of Agrarian Testing Polygons in System of Remote Monitoring of Agrarian Resources in Ukraine
L. Bolor-Erdenel (Mercy Corps, Gobi Forage project/Institute of Botany, Mongolian Academy of  Sciences); J. Angerer (Dept of Ecosystem Science & Management, Texas A&M University, USA ); S.
Granville-Ross; M. Urgamal; D. Narangerel; D. Tsogoo; T. Stewart (Mercy Corps, Gobi Forage project/
Institute of Botany, Mongolian Academy of Sciences); D. Sheehy (Dept of Ecosystem Science &
Management, Texas A&M University, USA):
“Gobi Forage: An early warning system for livestock in the Gobi region of Mongolia”
S. Shumilov, J. Laubach; A. Rogmann (Department of Computer Science III, University of Bonn):
“GLOWA Volta GeoPortal - an active geodata repository and communication system”
M. A. Popov; S. A. Stankevich; A. I. Sakhatsky, A. A. Kozlova (Scientific Centre for Aerospace
Research of the Earth, Kiev, Ukraine): “Multispectral Imagery Normalized Difference Indexes for Land Cover Classification”
L. Siyuan; W. Gaojin; C. Wenjing; F. Shenzhong; F. Jianping (Shenzen Institute of Advanced
Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzen; Institute of Computing Technology,Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Beijing): “The Feasibility Analysis and Evaluation in Water TransferProject and Environment Change”
V. Starovoitov: (United Institute of Informatics Problems, Minsk, Belarus): “Multispectral image pre- processing for interactive satellite image classification”
G. Li; P. Lv; Y.Yunxuan (CEODE/CAS, Graduate School of CAS): “Research on parallel buffer
analysis based on Grided based HPC): ”Research on parallel buffer analysis based on Grided based HPC”
A. Sharifi; M.A. Rajabi (Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Teheran); N. F.
Moghaddam (Department of Geosciensces, University of Shahid Beheshti, Teheran):
“Evaluation of Thermal Islands Logical Relation with Lineament Density Changes in Pre and Post- earthquake Satellite Images”
B. Hope; C. Kamrowski; (Department of Lands, NSW, Australia); D. Tien (Charles
Sturt University, NSW, Australia) “Refined Geo-referenced Image and Imagery Metadata Standards for SDI Implementation”

IYPE activities in Hungary

Dr. László Szarka, Secretary of the Hungarian National Committee (NC) of the International Year of the Planet Earth submitted the following formulation as contribution to an IYPE publication.
"The NC was established under the auspices of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the UNESCO and IUGS National Committees. The programs − organized by various associations, universities, research institutes and private companies − are under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Hungary. The National Launch Event was held on April 17, followed with a four-days long "Earth Science Fair" at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest. The IYPE was briefly reviewed in the Hungarian Parliament. The Hungarian Science Festival 2008, organized by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has a special, IYPE-inspired slogan: "Science for the Habitable Earth". Between 3-7 November, 2008 tens of lectures are held at the Academy about the modern content of the Greek Classical Elements (Earth, Water, Air and Fire) and about the Humanity. IYPE NC for Hungary prepared a declaration (a Hungary-focussed “Paris Declaration”). In 2008 numerous publications (including the Hungarian version of the IYPE booklet series, under the title GEO-FIFIKA) are produced. Throughout the country symposia (among others a conference, pointing out the compatibility of Earth sciences and religion), contests, film shows (e.g., the movie “Another Planet”) and other performances are organized, with increasing media coverage."
Source: Secretariat of the Hungarian National Committee of the International Year of the Planet Earth.
For more information on the activities in Hungary please visit http://www.foldev.hu

UNSDI Stakeholder Meeting Report

Mr. T.Suha Ulgen wrote in his circular:
"Dear Colleagues,
Please find attached the UN Spatial Data Infrastructure (UNSDI) Stakeholder Meeting Reports held in Geneva on 20 June 2008 at the International Environment House. The reports reflect the discussions on the way forward to the implementation of a UNSDI , as proposed in the draft Interim UNSDI Framework Document (drafted after the February 2007 Rome UNGIWG meeting) and the governance structure (as proposed at the November 2008 Bangkok Plenary meeting).
As decided upon at the meeting, the Co-chairs and the Secretariat of UNGIWG will table a resolution/strategy for UNSDI at the 9th Plenary Meeting of UNGIWG in Vienna, Austria, in November 2008 for approval by UNGIWG Members to propose the following:
• The Draft UNSDI Framework Document should be read in conjunction with the UNSDI Strategy Document;
• UNGIWG continues to sponsor UNSDI;
• Approval of most members of UNGIWG is required to go ahead with the implementation of UNSDI;
• A lighter institutional structure with an UNSDI Board/Steering Committee, a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and a Project Team governs UNSDI implementation; and
• An Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizes UNSDI as a Project with commitment from Senior Management of sponsoring UNGIWG members.
Next steps include the revision of the Interim UNSDI Framework Document and the drafting of the UNSDI Project Governance Terms of Reference by late September for a next round of consultations in preparation for a vote at UNGIWG-9. The Co-chairs will also undertake further outreach with respect to building institutional understanding, including with various senior managers in the UN System, future Co-chairs, as well as the CEB Secretariat, the ICT Network, the office of ASG and the Chief Information Technology Officer.
Best regards,
For Alta Haggarty (OCHA) and Karl Steinacker (UNHCR),
T. Suha Ulgen (Mr.)
Coordinator - UN Geographic Information Working Group Secretariat (UNGIWG)
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Geneva, Switzerland..."
The enclosures have been mailed by circular to the members of the UNSDI HUCO Stakeholders (Steering Committee members)