HESCF and
MESA-SADC-THEMA collaborate to setup a EUMETCast Receiving station at the
University of Limpopo (UL)
Africa is probably the continent
which is most vulnerable to climate change and it faces frequent natural
disasters such as droughts, floods or bush-fires. Many countries are developing
coping strategies to manage their natural resources and to reduce their
vulnerability to climate change. As many ministries are building up
internal capacity, technical officers with “Geographic
Information Systems” (GIS) and “Remote Sensing” (RS) skills are in high-demand.
EUMETSAT systematically disseminate
important Earth Observation (EO) datasets from European data providers in
near real time to Africa through their EUMETCast dissemination system at
zero cost for the end-user in Africa.
The access to relevant and recent
Earth Observation data, both for educational as for research
(PhD-students) purposes, remains a primary challenge for the universitys
because the internet connections towards and inside Africa, and in particular
in Zimbabwe are generally very poor. Students and staff often need multiple
weeks of night-work to acquire some old datasets to support their
educational and research needs. Due to the lack of data, many students
graduate with a lot of theoretical but little practical experience.
The above need for NRT (Near Real
Time) data can be easily solved by setting up a low-cost EUMETCast
receiving station within the university and by teaching the university
staff on how to operate and maintain the station. With a small investment,
the University could fully benefit from the huge stream of NRT data which
comes for free through EUMETCast system day after day.
The Earth Observation Data data can
be used to train the students with local and real-time data within the GIS and
RS courses as well as in many derived applications (e.g. natural resources
monitoring) or to allow PhD and thesis students to conduct their research.
Their knowledge to monitor the
earth from space can then become their ”ticket to the stars”.
This project is funded by the HE Space Children's Foundation.
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