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Title
Remote sensing for resources development and environmental management
Author
Damen, M. C. J.

460
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I'IlL I tUl'll I NOMINAL SCfltVPPEPPOCESSED SLOT 25 ChTRLOGUE 1084910051
- The presence of dense cloud cover during crop growing
season, that could obstruct the earth surface
observation from space.
Despite the serious problems that these countries are
facing, the following prospects could be observed:
- The importance of regional cooperation has been
recognized.
- The awareness of certain problems has been
strengthened.
- The pursue of self-reliance in learning to utilize the
available resources is increasing.
6 CONCLUSIONS
The experiences, gained in the last two decades, have
shown that the derivation of information from remote
sensing data, both airborne and spaceborne in combination
with other sorts of data, in ecological monitoring and land
resource management of large regions in developing
countries, is very revealing. Remote sensing data could
contribute effectively to the compilation of land use maps,
which is the first cornerstone for a meaningful crop
forecasting and ecological monitoring programme.
However, the effectiveness of such programmes could be
enormously raised if the awareness and the self-reliance of
these countries are timely encouraged and genuinely
supported both in research and application.
Fig 4. Synoptic view of METEOSAT image showing the
cloud cover in tropical Africa (Source: Meteorological
Institute, FU Berlin).
in which remote sensing is needed. However, the upgrading
of the two facilities, both in equipment and manpower is an
essential prerequisite.
4.3 National
The scope of the available technology in regard to remote
sensing for agriculture and ecological monitoring varies
from one country to another. In Kenya, for example, crop
forecasting is carried out by two authorities, the Ministry
of Agriculture and Livestock using conventional
agrostatistical data, and the Kenya Rangeland Ecological
Monitoring Unit applying remote sensing technology. The
technical infrastructure is very favourable in Kenya. In
Somalia, the establishment of a food security programme,
in which the agricultural data is systematically collected
and evaluated, started just in 1979/80 with the technical
assistance of the Federal Republic of Germany. Agro
statistical sampling correlated with agrometeorological
data is used. Though there is an urgent wish to accelerate
crop forecasting by integrating remote sensing technology,
it will take some time before this could be realized.
5 PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
Some of the common problems that these concerned group
of countries share are characterized by:
- The lack of sufficient information on the human and
natural resources in the country, as a result of the
weakness of the institutions that collect information
or even their none existance.
- The lack of adequate financial resources, skilled
personnel, and appropriate facilities to permit remote
sensing applications effectively.
- The lack of receiving stations in the region that would
ensure the acquisition of spaceborne data that these
countries need.
- The lack of a genuine planning and implementation
policy towards the application of remote sensing
technology.
- The extreme variations in the climatic conditions, and
the fragility of the ecosystems as a whole.
7 REFERENCES
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