WORLDWIDE ACCESS TO SATELLITE DATA TO BE EXPLORED AT WORKSHOP IN BRAZIL, 10-14 NOVEMBER

7 November 1997

Press Release
OS/1732

WORLDWIDE ACCESS TO SATELLITE DATA TO BE EXPLORED AT WORKSHOP IN BRAZIL, 10-14 NOVEMBER

19971107 VIENNA, 5 November (UN Information Service) -- Worldwide access to data gathered from remote-sensing satellites will be the focus of an international meeting jointly organized by the United Nations, the European Space Agency (ESA),the Committee for Space Research (COSPAR) and the Brazilian Government to be held from 10 to 14 November in San Jose dos Campos, Brazil. The Workshop is intended to foster communication among educators and scientists dealing with remote-sensing data acquired by a variety of satellites and currently stored in data archives. Access to that data and its interpretation, believed by space experts and development specialists to be vitally important, particularly for solving problems in developing countries, and a matter of increasing urgency throughout the world. The Workshop will include presentations on all types of data processing, from basic concepts through least-squares and fourier-based analysis, up to the latest neural network and wavelet techniques. The forum is expected to offer an opportunity for all actors involved in the production and use of software packages to advance the use of space-based remote sensing in weather forecasting, natural disaster prevention, planetary exploration and astronomy. Participants have been encouraged to offer problems from their own practical experience for discussion and solution during the Workshop. The Workshop is part of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, as recommended by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPOUS). The Workshop will evaluate the advances that have taken place since a 1992 meeting on the subject in Washington, D.C. The United Nations Space Applications Programme promotes awareness of advances in space science and technology and their applications -- including new systems developments -- in developing countries. It conducts an annual series of training courses, seminars, conferences and workshops on space-related issues. It also administers a long-term fellowship programme for in-depth training of specialists in space science and technology and provides technical advisory services on request. It is establishing regional Centres for Space Science and Technology Education affiliated with the United Nations around the world, with the goal of developing indigenous capabilities. Workshop participants will come from Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, Palestine, Paraguay, Russia, the Slovak Republic, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Uruguay and the United States.

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