ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM

Invitation

Aims of Workshop

Guide for Presenters

Dr Woodhouse's attendance in Mzuzu is supported by the Scotland-Malawi Partnership.  The workshop is possibly due to the generous support of the Edinburgh Earth Observatory, the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society and the University of Mzuzu.

INVITATION TO A TWO DAY ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM ORGANISED BY MZUZU UNIVERSITY

FROM 6-7 DECEMBER 2007

By 2008 there will be four new radar satellites in orbit, with more to come. Lidar remote sensing is increasingly becoming a staple constituent of land mapping and forest management.  Dr Woodhouse, Senior Lecturer in Radar RS, School of GeoSciences (Geography), Edinburgh Earth Observatory in the University of Edinburgh will present an overview of current systems in both these fields, with a view to possible applications in Malawi and neighbouring regions.

The event is an invaluable opportunity to be briefed on state-of-the-art satellite remote sensing and will be of interest to university researchers, land managers, government officials, NGOs and anyone with an interest in obtaining detailed data about the land surface. 

The symposium will also give opportunity for the participants to share the research experiences and applications of remote sensing in different fields. If your organisation or as an individual you have some paper or experiences contact the organisers by 30 November 2007.  

For confirmation of participation and detailed information you can contact Mavuto Tembo  on +265 (0) 8 203 143 Fax +265 (0) 1 320 505 Email: tembomd@mzuni.ac.mw

We look forward to your participation

The Aims of the Workshop

The large synoptic coverage, the frequent data acquisition and the increasing level of spatial and spectral detail available makes satellite-based remote sensing instruments ever more relevant to tackling environmental and geospatial issues in Malawi.  This meeting has three aims:

1)      To bring together interested parties to share knowledge and experience and the form the basis of a network of remote sensing researchers and practitioners in, and around, Malawi.

2)      To showcase some relevant examples of remote sensing applications in Malawi and to learn about state of the art active sensing systems and their capability.

3)      To link those practitioners with potential RS solutions to new challenges and issues in Malawi that might benefit from remotely sensed data and products.

Guide to Presenters

We welcome a wide range of topics and applications.  There are two main kinds of presentations that we would like to see.

1)      presentations outlining how a research project in Malawi has used remote sensing in some way. This may not be exclusively a remote sensing project, but may have included only a small element of remotely sensed data.  These presentations should:

    a.       Clearly state the problem being addressed.

    b.      Explain what environmental parameters are being measured by remote sensing and by what sensors.

    c.       Why remote sensing is being used in this project.

    d.      Summarise some results showing the level of success.

    e.       Look to the future and propose how things might be improved.

2)      presentations outlining a key environmental challenge facing Malawi that might be addressed using remote sensing.  In this regard we are also interested in presentations from speakers with little or no experience of remote sensing and are looking to the workshop audience to help formulate how remote sensing can help them tackle their problem.  These presentations should:

    a.       Clearly state the problem to be addressed.

    b.      Explain what environmental parameters require to be measured.

    c.       Give details of how often these parameters might need to be measured and to what level of spatial detail.

By hosting this workshop we hope to bring together people with problems and people with possible solutions, as well as generally informing the Malawi community about remote sensing projects currently being undertaken.