formats of CORINE products. The CORINE land cover 
classification system consists of three levels, with 44 classes 
in the third level. The inventory results are compiled at a 
mapping scale 1 : 100 000. The area of the smallest mapping 
unit is 25 hectars. Landsat-TM and SPOT digital and hard 
copy images are the primary source of RS data. Ancillary data 
inputs include the existing topographic maps, thematic maps 
related to land cover, aerial photographs and statistical 
information. Some countries are also producing land cover 
inventories at 1 : 50 000 scale, based on SPOT imagery. All 
land cover inventory data are digitized, georeferenced, 
transformed to a common cartographic projection and 
integrated with GIS-based comprehensive CORINE database. 
The Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area Projection was selected as 
the standard cartographic projection system for CORINE. In 
order to facilitate timely dissemination of land cover and other 
environmental information stored in the CORINE database, 
the EEA is establishing the European Information and 
Observation Network (EIONET), linked with Internet. 
5.1.3 Global Map 
Status: implementation starting in 1996 - global. 
Organization: Geographical Survey Institute (GSI), Japan. 
The Global Map concept has been initiated by Japan in 
response to recommendations by the Earth Summit ( Section 
1). Its plan of action, the Agenda 21, identified a lack of 
reliable geographic information as one of the most serious 
impediments to sustainable development. The Global Map’s 
objective is to establish a comprehensive digital geographic 
database, containing topographic and land cover information 
at 1km level, and to produce a hard copy global map at 1 : 1 
million scale by the year 2000. Its main data source will be 
satellite RS data recorded by the NOAA-AVHRR system with 
approximately km ground resolution (Section 2.2), 
complemented by the medium resolution satellite RS data 
(Sections 2.3 & 2.4). In addition, the Globe Map database will 
incorporate existing geographic databases, relevant to global 
mapping at 1 : 1 million scale. Examples of such databases are 
the Digital Chart of the World (DCW) at 1 : 1 million scale 
(Danko, 1992) and the Global Land 1km Baseline Elevation 
(GLOBE) database, both produced by the United States; the 
international Global Land Cover Characteristics Database, 
based on 1km RS data from the NOAA-AVHRR system; as 
well as selected geographic databases compiled at the regional 
and national levels. (GSI, 1995; Kondo, 1994). The 
International Steering Committee for Global Map was 
established during the Second International Workshop on 
Global Mapping, held in Tsukuba, Japan, in February 1996. 
5.1.4 EARTHMAP 
Status: proposal - global. 
Organizations: US Department of State 
US Agency for International Development 
The World Bank 
Earth Council 
Environmental Systems Research Institute. 
The Earthmap proposal is a joint initiative by the U.S. public 
and private sector, the World Bank and the Earth Council. Its 
overall objective is to promote and facilitate wider application 
of geospatial data and tools in sustainable development 
projects. In order to achieve this objective, the EARTHMAP 
would participate in building a Global Geospatial Framework. 
It would involve development of an multiscalar digital world 
map framework, within which different types of existing and 
new geospatial data would be inventoried, organized, 
processed, integrated and distributed in user-friendly, 
standardized formats. Other proposed activities include 
improvement of linkages among the existing geospatial data 
archives; increasing the users’ awarness and strengthening 
their institutional capacities in the use of geospatial data and 
tools; and establishment of Internet-based information network 
on geospatial applications. The EARTHMAP proposal also 
includes updating the Digital Chart of the World at 1:1 million 
scale with new satellite imagery, and exploring the 
development of the next generation global base map. 
Implementation of the EARTHMAP would be coordinated by 
a consortium of public, private and international organizations, 
(Wood et al., 1995). 
5.2 Environmental Monitoring 
5.2.1 Africa Real Time Environmental Monitoring and 
Information System (ARTEMIS) 
Status: ongoing, regional - Africa. 
Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 
ofthe United Nations. 
FAO has been operationally monitoring precipitation and 
vegetation in Africa by its dedicated Africa Real Time 
Environmental Monitoring and Information System 
(ARTEMIS) since August 1988. The main purpose is to 
provide timely RS inputs for early identification of agricultural 
drought and desert locust risk areas. Development of the 
ARTEMIS system had benefited from the FAO experience 
with the application of RS data from the meteorological polar- 
orbiting and geostationary satellites to environmental 
monitoring in Africa. FAO started to experiment with the use 
of such RS data for environmental assessments in Africa at 
the end of 1970s. (Hielkema, 1980; Kalensky et al., 1985). 
The reason was an urgent need for timely and regular 
environmental assessments in Africa by the FAO Food 
Security Early Warning System, and by the Regional Desert 
Locust Control operations in Africa and Middle East. In 1988, 
the ARTEMIS, which was developed by the National 
Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands, became the first 
system for operational applications of meteorological satellite 
RS data to environmental assessments. Two.types of RS data 
are used by ARTEMIS: thermal imagery recorded by the 
European geostationary satellite Meteosat, and the visible and 
near-infrared imagery from the Advanced Very High 
Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on-board of the U.S. NOAA 
series of polar orbiting satellites . The Meteosat imagery is 
recorded by the FAO receiving station at 30 minutes intervals. 
The NOAA-AVHRR imagery, recorded daily, is transmitted 
to FAO from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. It 1s 
processed into the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index 
(NDVI) products. All ARTEMIS precipitation-related and 
NDVI products are produced in digital and hard-copy formats 
with 7.6 km ground resolution at 10-day and monthly 
intervals. Based on the ARTEMIS experience, FAO prepared 
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International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXI, Part B4. Vienna 1996