Outcome of GEO's side event at UNFCCC/COP 17, Durban, South Africa
GEO-VIII Plenary accepts new GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan
The Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) hosted the GEO-VIII Plenary in Istanbul on 16 and 17 November. The Plenary's 380+ participants accepted the new GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan and the new Work Plan management structure. They also welcomed the recent improvements to the GEOSS Common Infrastructure, which now provides access to millions of data sets and information products through the GEO Portal. This includes the GEOSS Data-CORE, a distributed pool of documented datasets with full, open and unrestricted access at no more than the cost of reproduction and distribution. Other important outcomes of the meeting included an assessment and review of the progress made to date on GEOSS implementation, acceptance of the GEO Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Implementation Plan, and the launch of a process for defining the post-2015 phase of GEOSS. The review of the GEO-VIII Meeting Outcomes is available here
G20 Ministers launch GEO agricultural initiative
The agriculture ministers of the G20 countries adopted a ministerial declaration on 23 June in Paris launching a Global Agricultural Geo-Monitoring Initiative.
The aim of this GEO-led international monitoring network is to produce more accurate crop forecast data in order to promote food security. The Declaration is available here.
GEOSS in the Americas Symposium
The GEOSS in the Americas Symposium was held in Santiago de Chile from 5 to 7 October 2011. For more information please see the Symposium website.
Official review ends for GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan
Version 1 of the GEO Work Plan has been distributed to GEO Principals for comments. Version 1 incorporates the comments received from the GEO community during the technical review period March-May 2011 and draws from the outcomes of the 2011 Work Plan Symposium.
GEO's role in climate, biodiversity, forests
Research Media recently asked GEO Secretariat José Achache about GEO's progress over the past year and the challenges it faces going forward. The interview can be viewed here.
Japan's ALOS satellite concludes its mission
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced that its Advanced Land Observing Satellite "DAICHI" (ALOS) has reached the end of its operational life following the loss of power onboard. During the five years it spent monitoring the planet, ALOS took 6.5 million images. Many of these images have contributed to GEO's ongoing work on monitoring the world's forests under the Forest Carbon Tracking task. Read more...
Technical review launched for GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan
Version 0 of the next GEO Work Plan has been distributed to the GEO community for comment by 26 May. The draft Work Plan, has been designed to fully address the 2015 Strategic Targets; establish an operational and sustainable GEOSS; reinforce coordination, user engagement and resource mobilization; and provide information products and end-to-end services tailored to serve society's needs across the nine Societal Benefit Areas.
Nominations invited for Will T. Pecora Award
The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that have made outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) jointly sponsor the award. Read more...
GEO releases report on global water quality monitoring
The GEO Inland and Near-Coastal Water Quality Remote Sensing Working Group met last November to assess progress towards building the water quality component of GEOSS. The resulting progress report has been posted here.
Beijing Ministerial adopts Declaration
The GEO-VII Plenary and Beijing Ministerial, held from 3-5 November, assessed GEO's progress over the past five years, evaluated past and future GEOSS implementation, agreed a Data Sharing Action Plan, and adopted the Beijing Declaration. These documents as well as the speeches given during the Ministerial are posted on the meetings page. The full-color book "Crafting Geoinformation" is also available for download.
GEOSS Work Plan Progress Highlights presentation
Beijing showcase videos now available
On 5 November in Beijing, participants in the GEO Ministerial enjoyed a number of short videos introducing GEOSS and showcasing GEO achievements in the fields of biodiversity, carbon monitoring, capacity building, health services and water management in Asia/Oceania. These videos can be downloaded and viewed here (please note that these are large files).
Earth Observation Summit Endorses Global Data Sharing
Science magazine reported from Beijing on the GEO Ministerial; read the article here.
NASA sends cost-free data to African scientists
The provision of terrabytes of data to African researchers "support(s) the goals of the Group on Earth Observations, a partnership of international agencies that promotes collaborative use of Earth science data," said NASA. Read more here.
SERVIR-Himalaya launched in Kathmandu
USAID, NASA, and ICIMOD have joined hands to establish SERVIR-Himalaya as the third regional SERVIR operational facility. Read more here.
Get Connected Online to the "Earth Observation Symposium" and other events in Kathmandu 1-7 October 2010
Read full story
China, Secretariat brief Geneva diplomats on Beijing Ministerial
Dozens of government and UN diplomats attended a briefing on the upcoming Beijing Ministerial at the Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN office in Geneva. For more details see the People's Daily article.
UK GEO Co-ordination Project Launched
Four of the UK organisations with a significant stake in building GEOSS have come together to develop the UK's strategy for involvement in GEO. This will be achieved through a jointly funded UK GEO Co-ordination Project. See the article here.
Nature cites GEO BON value for biodiversity assessment
An editorial in the prestigious science publication Nature has recognized the GEO Biodiversity Observation Network as a crucial mechanism for supporting the proposed Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). See the article here.
GEO BON launches Implementation Plan
The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) has released its detailed, 175-page Implementation Plan for a coordinated global campaign to gather and share information on biodiversity, provide tools for data integration and analysis, and contribute to improved environmental management and human well-being. For more information, see the Technical Summary, Detailed Implementation Plan, and press release.
GEO participates in Shanghai Expo
The MeteoWorld Pavilion was officially unveiled on 9 May by the World Meteorological Organization, the China Meteorological Administration, EUMETSAT and GEO at the Shanghai Expo Park, Shanghai, China. Read full story
EnerGEO launches newsletter
As reported earlier in GEO News, the EnerGEO project (Earth Observation for monitoring and assessment of the environmental impact of energy use) started last November with support from the European Commission. The first issue of the EnerGEO newsletter is now available. To subscribe, please visit the EnerGEO website.
GEO applauds JAXA data on Haiti, Chile earthquakes
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has provided essential ALOS/PALSAR satellite data to international scientists whose analyses support the emergency teams responding to the major earthquakes in Haiti, on 12 January, and Chile, on 27 February. Read full story here
WCRP announces Open Science Conference
The World Climate Research Programme will host a major international Open Science Conference in Denver, Colorado, USA in October 2011. The conference will bring together major disciplines and leaders of the Earth system research community to identify opportunities for advancing scientific understanding and prediction of climate variability and change from seasons to centuries, and from the regional to the global levels. Details are available on the conference website.
A pioneer in the free distribution of medium-resolution satellite data, the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) announced on 29 September that it had exceeded the mark of one million images downloaded via its catalog at 
INPE recently conducted a survey to evaluate the level of satisfaction of users regarding the CBERS image quality and the number of people hired to work on satellite data.