Is of 
ation 
more 
ough 
ta, at 
riate 
will 
, and 
eeds. 
with 
, and 
n the 
ut as 
types 
rging 
$3 to 
small 
a real 
ange. 
‚stem 
series 
cts at 
Bernard Denore 
  
1 
With resolutions in the range 10-30m these "public-good" international programmes are generally seen as not in 
competition with the very high resolution commercial systems (Fritz 1999). The latter are now possible thanks to the 
declassification of military very high resolution imagery technologies as part of the peace dividend of the end of the 
cold war. Their operators are dedicated to business goals with systems offering to provide near real-time very high 
resolution data (1m in panchromatic, 3-5m multispectral) for many markets requiring detailed large-scale information. 
In general the objectives of the existing space nations (science) and the commercial operators (profit) are clear and non- 
conflicting. However, the efforts of emerging space nations respond to very varied motives including science, industrial 
policy, technological development, strategic objectives and commercial incentives. Thanks to technological 
developments, especially the development of operational small satellites for Earth Observation, entry costs are much 
lower than they used to be, making space an affordable option for many countries. Small, focussed, low-cost missions 
can meet real mission objectives with only a small amount of private or public finance. Technology is also rapidly 
changing in the ground segment with low-cost receiving stations and bandwidth on demand data transmission. 
This paper suggests that co-ordination of these multiple new entrant programmes could meet the information needs of 
local environmental managers. A decentralised approach, with low cost satellites and ground segment, could permit 
rapid and easy access to medium to high resolution environmental data at very low cost. The affordability and 
dvailability of both data and technology could stimulate the rapid growth of indigenous information services industries. 
Furthermore, such a co-ordinated constellation of small satellites would be complementary to existing public financed 
systems and would help to build the market for the data and information services offered by commercial operators. 
2 LOCAL NEEDS 
The need for global data sets and a long term commitment to monitoring and understanding the global environment are 
being addressed within the Integrated Global Observing Strategy backed by CEOS, the International Group of Funding 
Agencies and a number of major international research programmes. They are busy articulating a strategy based on the 
needs of their users: users who are international agencies and programmes like the three global observing systems. 
Within the IGOS framework regional, international and national agencies, like ESA, NASA, NOAA, CNES, NASDA, 
ISRO, INPE and many others, are able to work together with a focus on global needs. 
However, whilst these international efforts progress it is increasingly recognised that sustainable development, which is 
intimately related to the sustainable management of the environment and for which global change is merely the 
background noise, requires information, programmes, capacity and understanding at the local level. Agencies such as 
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (He, 1999), UNEP and national programmes — notably in India 
and Brazil (Government of India, 1999; Barbosa, 1999) — recognise the importance of enabling local people to gain 
access to environmental information and to develop the ability to use this information in operational decision making. 
In most cases it is the people who actually use a natural resource who must be responsible for its sustainability. 
Developing country governments, local authorities, resource custodians and non-governmental organisations are the 
"real environmental managers" playing key roles in sustainable development. It is they who must implement 
sustainable management practices in response to legal obligations, local and external pressures, and acute 
environmental problems. They increasingly frame their policy objectives in terms of quantitative goals, but this 
depends on their ability to monitor the environment. The local environmental managers have the best understanding of 
the local conditions and the problems and they are the people with most interest in achieving sustainability, yet their 
ability to implement sustainable development is limited by their lack of access to appropriate technologies. 
The United Nations (UN, 1999, p146) has recognised that basic geographic information should be considered part of 
national infrastructure, as important for development as roads, telecommunications, housing and clean water. The 
Indian space programme (Rao, 1999) places highest priority on delivering clear and accessible information to local 
bodies where “once yqu see the right information in an image, the right decision (on development options) 
automatically falls into place”. Similarly FAO and others acknowledge that local knowledge and locally tailored 
planning and analysis are essential for sustainable development. The objectives of the Indian and Brazilian remote 
sensing programmes are “towards developmental planning and decision-making at micro-level, in consonance with the 
accepted concept to ‘think globally and act locally’ towards sustainable management of natural resources” (Government 
of India, 1999, p8). 
Partly in recognition of the need to think global — act local official development assistance is increasingly channeled 
through non-governmental organisations (ODI, 1996). NGO's have a proven ability to reach local needs. This policy 
also reflects concerns that in the environmental sphere governments themselves present two of the major obstacles to 
  
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part Bl. Amsterdam 2000. 71