United Nations/Colombia/United States of America Workshop on
the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Follow up to the 5th Space Conference of Americas and
Preparatory for the 6th Space Conference of Americas
Hosted by and Co-organized with
the Vice Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, and
the Colombian Commission on Space (CCE)
Medellin, Colombia
23 – 27 June 2008
1. Background
The technology of global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) is currently being used in a wide range of sectors including but not limited to: mapping and surveying, monitoring of
environment, agriculture and natural resources management, disaster warning and emergency response, aviation, maritime and land transportation. The Plan of Action, contained in document A/59/174 entitled “Review of the implementation
of the recommendations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space” and endorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 59/2, presented findings and proposed specific actions in the areas that are important for strengthening and further developing the well-being and the future of all nations. These actions include, among others, maximizing the benefits of the use and applications of global navigation satellite systems to support
sustainable development, improving medical and public health services through the use of space technologies, developing a comprehensive, worldwide environmental monitoring strategy as well as improving the management of the Earth’s natural resources. In its resolution 61/111 of 14 December 2006, the General Assembly noted with appreciation that the International Committee on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (ICG) had been established on a voluntary basis as an informal body to promote cooperation, as appropriate, on matters of
mutual interest related to civil satellite-based positioning, navigation, timing and value-added services, as well as the compatibility and interoperability of global navigation satellite systems, while increasing their use to support sustainable development, particularly in developing countries.
In 2006 the Office for Outer Space Affairs of the Secretariat scheduled, in coordination with co-organizers, activities focusing on capacity-building in the use of GNSS in various areas of applications that support sustainable development, as follows:
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(a) United Nations/Zambia/European Space Agency Workshop on the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite System Technologies for Sub-Saharan Africa, held in Lusaka from 26 to 30 June
2006 (see A/AC.105/876);
(b) United Nations/China/European Space Agency Training Course on the Use and Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems, held in Beijing from 4 to 8 December 2006 (see
A/AC.105/883).
In 2006, a regional project on preventing malaria using space technology was initiated by the “Pan American Group for Tele-Epidemiology” under the Task Force on Health Using Space Technologies for Latin America and the Caribbean region as a follow-up to the United Nations/Argentina/European Space Agency Workshop on Applications of Space Technology to Human Health for the benefit of Latin American and the Caribbean Countries held in Córdoba, in September 2005 (A/AC.105/860). The Group also organized the “Health Workshop” during the XII Symposium of the Latin American Society in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems (SELPER), held in Colombia, in September 2006. In view of following up to the aforementioned activities, taking into account the objectives of the forthcoming Sixth Space Conference of Americas, and carrying out the plan of action that was established at the International Workshop held in Bogotá in 2005, the Satellite Navigation Group of the Colombian Commission on Space (CCE) is co-organizing with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the United States of America a Workshop on the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) from 23 to 27 June 2008. The Workshop will be held in
Medellin, Colombia. It will examine the progress of the projects launched in 2005, provide fresh impetus to projects that have not yet moved forward, and will also make way for new projects related to the implementation and use of satellite navigation technology. The Workshop will address the GNSS applications to: precision farming that improves
agriculture productivity and food security; climate change that affects land use, forest and agriculture; tele-epidemiology that provides early warning to infectious diseases such as dengue fever, chagas disease, malaria, etc.; e-learning that stimulate the growth of indigenous nuclei capacity in Latin American and the Caribbean countries.
In the area of precision agriculture, the decision-making process could be significantly improved with the use of geospatial technologies, which allow for timely tactical or strategic decision-making at various levels. The use of GNSS could benefit various areas of the agricultural sector, ranging from basic rural cadastre and surveying to advanced precision agriculture. Agroclimatic and ecologic-economical zonings, crop inventory, monitoring and forecasting are only a few examples of agricultural activities where positioning is of paramount importance. Landscape epidemiology involves the characterization of eco-geographical areas where diseases develop under the assumption that the biological dynamics of both host and vector population are driven by landscape elements such as temperature and vegetation. It can be understood as part of a second-generation application of remotely sensed data where the target cannot be seen directly with satellite images. In the area of climate change, different factors and mechanisms drive land use and land cover
transformation. In many cases, climate, technology and economics appear to be determinants of landuse change at different spatial and temporal scales. At the same time, land conversion is an adaptive feedback mechanism that farmers use to smooth the impact of climate variability, especially in extremely dry and humid periods. Satellites have for several years been an indispensable resource in global observation of the Earth and weather systems. They bring undeniable added value to global climate models but much remains to be done in developing finer-scale models capable of use in a regional or national setting. Space-based systems such as GNSS has demonstrated its ability to make precise and detailed observations of key meteorological parameters, whose measurement stability, consistency and accuracy should make it possible to quantify long-term climate change trends.
2. Objectives and expected outcomes
The objectives of this Workshop will include:
(i) Sharing experience of GNSS application projects that are already implemented in countries of the region in order to gain insight of lessons learned;
(ii) Increasing the regional technical and human capacities in the GNSS applications, aiming at establishing regional cooperation programs to synergize resources;
(iii) Initiating pilot projects for joint work at the regional level;
(iv) Exploring the possibility of setting up national and regional coordination mechanisms among authorities in the related fields, aiming at exchanging experience, identifying common needs, implementing coordinated actions and disseminating information on the various applications of GNSS technologies; and
(v) Review the status of currently existing plans and projects on GNSS at the regional and international levels for near, medium and long term applications. This Workshop will be held in conjunction with the meeting of the Satellite Navigation Group of the CCE. Each working group will examine one of the four agenda items. The targeted results willinclude the following:
(i) Establishment and consolidation of specific regional and national working groups and their work schedules for particular projects;
(ii) Definition of ways and means of supporting specific pilot projects, resources, work schedules and the project leaders;
(iii) Definition of a regional coordination mechanism that could serve as an interface to the International Committee on GNSS (ICG);
(iv) An update of the GNSS inventory document for the Latin American and Caribbean Region.
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