Date: 13/07/2009

Source: Department of Science and Technology

Title: SA: Pandor: Opening address by the Minister of Science and Technology at the 2009 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, University of Cape Town

Programme Director
Dr Harold Annegarn, General Chair of IGARSS 2009
Distinguished Guests and Representatives
Ladies and Gentlemen

On behalf of the Government and the people of South Africa, I welcome you
all to this important symposium.

Remote sensing is central to our lives today - at the core of worldwide
communications, global positioning systems, and data gathering on topics as
vital as climate change and global warming. With the Earth experiencing
devastating natural disasters - hurricanes, droughts, floods and heat waves
- remote sensing is no longer merely useful, but has become crucial in
ensuring our survival.

We need early warning systems that will allow us to plan and coordinate our
efforts to counter the effects of climate change. In addition, we need to
work together, as we're doing at this symposium, to optimise our response.

We know also that remote sensing, from satellite-borne platforms, provides a
valuable, non-intrusive tool for mapping, monitoring, modelling and
measuring the Earth's resources. Downloaded satellite imagery provides a
convenient means of data collection offering several unique advantages, such
as, lower cost, speed, ease, and frequency with which space-borne imagery
can be obtained.

As environmental issues are global in scope and cross international
boundaries, satellite remote sensing is the only source of data that
provides a global perspective that's consistent with the scale of the issues
being investigated, particularly for climate change studies/observations.
Operational remote sensing has evolved to the stage where end-users could
obtain archived imagery of any desired geographic area, within a relatively
short time ranging from a few hours to a few weeks compared to aerial
surveys that may require several months.

Furthermore, this principle of archiving satellite imagery and using it
downstream for environmental and resources analysis and management is not
unique. In fact, it forms the basic foundation for many Earth observation
systems, including the Group on Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
and the South African Earth Observation Strategy, launched in 2007.

Flowing from the Strategy, the South African Environmental Observation
Network has been established to bring better cohesion between research
programmes locally and internationally, and has made good progress in
ensuring that in-situ earth observation data is archived and accessible as a
national asset for future generations.

The Network has linked a number of environmental observatories and field
stations. The observatories deal with areas such as water and water
resources monitoring, land use and land cover, disturbance regimes like
fires and droughts, biodiversity and human health and security.

In the same way that we witness increasingly effective coordination between
satellite and ground-based sensors internationally, so we are seeing more
effective sensor coordination on a national and continental level. With
advances in undersea cables and fibre-optics technologies, it is now
feasible to consider webs of sensors on all types of platforms with rapid
access for observers. These technologies have been developed as sensor webs
and sensor networks, which is a major focus of the GEO Data and Architecture
Committee that South Africa currently has the honour of leading.

Ladies and Gentlemen, apart from the technology, what we need is the
capacity to collect, analyse and disseminate earth observation data.

This capacity is being developed in no small part thanks to the Group on
Earth Observation's Capacity Building Committee. Under this committee is
GEONETCast, a global network of satellite-based data dissemination systems
that provide space-based, airborne and in-situ data, metadata and products
to users worldwide.

In Africa, the proposed African Resource Management Constellation is a step
in the right direction.

This is a continental initiative to provide earth observation imagery to
facilitate the continent's response to drought, flooding, outbreaks of fire,
water scarcity, the spread of infectious diseases, the destruction of
ecosystems, water degradation and air pollution. Long-term weather
predictions will also greatly assist the agricultural sector to improve food
security.

With space science and technology identified as a specific cluster in the
African Union/NEPAD Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action, we
hope that more African countries will commit to this and related
initiatives.

In South Africa, our national Earth Observation Strategy coordinates all the
earth observation activities of the government, science councils and
academic institutions, among other agencies.

In January this year, the South African National Space Agency Bill was
signed into law. It's anticipated that the agency will stimulate the
country's capabilities in the innovative utilisation of space science and
technology, serving as a central point for the coordination and promotion of
all space-related activities in the country, including earth observation.

In March, South Africa's National Space Policy was launched by former Trade
and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa, to give direction to the country's
space agenda.

Through Stellenbosch University, we have been developing SumbandilaSat, a
low earth orbiting satellite, the launch of which is planned for August 2009
from Russia.

The main objectives of this programme are to strengthen the technological
capabilities and space resources that exist in South Africa, to develop
capacity in satellite engineering, and to provide earth observation data for
a wide range of applications.

The development of SumbandilaSat offers our country and region a number of
advantages, including scientific and economic growth, and information to use
for sustainable development, security and planning.

However, as Africa and South Africa progress, the world's leading players in
the advancement of earth-observation technologies and related environmental
applications already have remote-sensing satellites covering all the Earth's
climatic zones. In addition, their ground-based, air-based and ocean-based
monitoring devices serve users by providing high quality observation data in
areas as diverse as urban planning, adaptation to and mitigation of climate
change, disaster reduction, disease control and humanitarian relief.

Their sharing of this information will be crucial for Africa.

We appreciate the generosity of countries such as Brazil and the People's
Republic of China for allowing the Satellite Application Centre of our
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research to receive earth observation
data free of charge from the China-Brazil Earth Resource Satellite 2B, and
to distribute it to the rest of the African continent.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's my belief that proper monitoring of our planet
will require the joint use of in-situ and remote-sensing techniques, and
that both the developing and the developed world have contributions to make
in this regard.

I hope that this symposium will be a resounding success, and that you will
all enjoy your stay in Cape Town.

Thank you.