UN/Austria/ESA Symposium on Space Applications to Support the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
"Space Tools and Solutions for Monitoring the Atmosphere and Land Cover"
Graz, Austria, 9 - 12 September 2008
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the Government of Austria and the European Space Agency (ESA) are jointly organizing in 2006-2008 the second
series of three consecutive symposia to promote the use of space technology and its applications in support of activities to carry out the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002. The symposia held from 2003 to 2005 focused on water-related issues, while the present series of symposia is dedicated to the Earth's atmosphere. The first symposium, held in September 2006, addressed the benefits provided by space technologies for monitoring air pollution and energy production and use for sustainable development. Building on this event, the Symposium in 2007 focused on space tools and solutions for monitoring the atmosphere in support of sustainable development, with the aim to enable and support participants to develop and implement projects in this area, and to provide reliable data and information for policy- and decision-making related to such issues as air quality, climate change, changing weather patterns, ozone depletion and monitoring of ultra-violet radiation.
The Symposium in 2008 will be the third and concluding symposium of the present series dedicated to atmosphere-related issues and aiming to promote the use of demonstrated capabilities of space technologies and their applications to support actions called for in the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). It will also provide for a transition to issues related to the monitoring of land cover, focussing on the particular interactions between landcover and the atmosphere including issues such as agriculture, rural development, land, drought and desertification, which have been identified as issues under consideration in the thematic cluster of the Commission on Sustainable Development for the two-year cycle 2008/2009. Participants will review the outcome and recommendations of the previous symposia in the series in light of recent developments, report on ongoing follow-up activities as well as consider additional activities. It is also anticipated that the Symposium will provide input for selecting the theme and content for the forthcoming series of symposia.
The Symposium will be hosted and co-sponsored by the Government of Austria (Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs and Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology), the State of Styria and the City of Graz. It will also be co-sponsored by ESA. This will be the fifteenth in a series of symposia organized through the United Nations Programme on Space Applications in cooperation with these co-sponsors since 1994. The Symposium programme is supported through contributions by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and others.
The deadline for application for participants seeking full or partial funding is 20 June 2008.
This page was last updated on 24/10/2008.
Application Form
Symposium Programme and Presentations:
Logistical Information for Symposium Participants
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Hotel Accommodation and Local Information, Symposium Preparation
- Hotel Reservation Form(MSWord format, English only)
- The Symposium will be held at the
Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstraße 6, 8042 Graz, Austria. A local map can be found
here.
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Registration Form for non-funded participants, including attendees from the academic and private sector (PDF format, English only)
- Registration will commence at 8:15 on Tuesday, 9 September 2008.
Reference and Tutorial Materials
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Reference Materials
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CSD-16 Review Session: As the Review Session of the third implementation cycle, CSD-16 will focus on the following thematic issues: Agriculture, Rural development, Land, Drought, Desertification, and Africa. CSD-16 will be held between 5-16 May 2008.
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Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
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Johannesburg Summit 2002 - the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August - 4 September 2002
- Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (including the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development),
A/CONF.199/20
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List of space-related initiatives and programmes carried out by member States of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and within the United Nations system that respond to specific recommendations contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development
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United Nations Millennium Development Goals
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Tutorial Materials
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Fundamentals of Remote Sensing: A primer for those seeking to learn about or refresh their knowledge on remote sensing basics made available by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. Participants to the Symposium should have a good knowledge of the basics and concepts explained in this primer
Links to Atmosphere-related Data and Websites
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Data and Information
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Archived satellite data, maintained by National Satellite Meteorological Center of China
Archived satellite data can be ordered through this website. Data sets include: FY2C, FY2D, FY1D, MODIS/Terra (HRPT), MODIS/Aqua (HRPT), NOAA18/17/16 HRPT, MTSAT. Currently only a Chinese version is available. Registration is required, however it is free-of-charge.
- CALIPSO satellite
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EUMETSAT Image Gallery (Europe and Africa)
- India Meteorological Department Satellite Images and Products (INSAT satellite)
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Infusing Satellite Data into Environmental Applications (IDEA) site
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Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) description
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MODIS direct broadcast site
- MODIS Level 2 LAADS data browser
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MODIS Rapid Response System
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MODIS True Color and Aerosol Images
- MODIS True Color Images
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NASA Earth Observatory
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NASA Giovanni
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NASA Visible Earth
- OMI instrument
- Parasol satellite
- Satellite information service, maintained by National Satellite
Data for monitoring of dust, snow, fire, drought, flood, precipitation, fog, cyclone, etc. can be found at this website. Currently only a Chinese version is available. Registration is required, however it is free-of-charge.
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Satellite Products for Europe (German Remote Sensing Data Center)
- The International Sand and Dust Storm Warning System, maintained by Centre for Atmosphere Watch and Services
Modeling results and in-situ measurements for dust storms can be found through this website. An English version is available.
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Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service (European)
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U.S. Air Quality (The Smog Blog)
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U.S. EPA's AirNOW website
- U.S. NOAA Air Resources Laboratory HYSPLIT Model
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Weather Underground
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Institutional Programmes and Initiatives
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WMO Space Programme
The WMO Space Programme Page provides namely information on:
- global satellite planning, status and launch plans of Geo, LEO andR&D satellites
- overview and on-going projects of the WMO Space Programme
- data formats and dissemination mechanisms
- technical documents and meeting reports
- user requirements for satellite observations
- Virtual Laboratory and training activities
- Links to satellite operators and other relevant organizations
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Activities of Commercial Entities