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 http://www.dgi.inpe.br/CDSR/. More…

The GEO Standards and Interoperability Forum (SIF) provides advice, expertise and impartial guidance on issues relating to standards and interoperability within the GEOSS context. To ensure that it is has the people, skills and resources needed to advance its work more effectively over the coming months and years, the SIF will shortly be issuing a Call for Participation to the GEO community. More…

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found that presenting well-chosen satellite images in an atlas format can be a powerful means of communicating the meaning of complex Earth observations to a broader audience. For this reason, UNEP has proposed that its Atlas of our Changing Environment series be integrated into the updated GEO Work Plan as an outreach Task in the capacity-building section. More…

Recognizing the critical importance of geological observations to GEOSS, the global geological survey community are contributing to GEO through OneGeology Global and the EC’s OneGeology-Europe project by making the best available geological map data from around the world web accessible (Task DA-09-03c). More…

To support GEOSS and expand the GEONETCast user base, the International Institute of Geo-information Science & Earth Observation (ITC) has developed an integrated toolbox for retrieving data via GEONETCast and then managing and analyzing these data. ITC supports this toolbox by providing education and training on the operational use of the GEONETCast system. It also conducts research aimed at developing applications for the various GEO societal benefit areas. More…

Over the past year, GEONETCast Americas has been actively expanding its user base through user-engagement and training activities. From July through October 2009, GEONETCast Americas specialists from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), and Panama’s Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America (CATHALAC) briefed new potential users on the system, its applications, and existing and potential product suites. More…

The Government of Madagascar became a GEO Member on 21 August, bringing the total GEO membership up to 80 national governments plus the EC. By expanding the Africa caucus to 17 countries, Madagascar’s action contributes to the ongoing strengthening of GEO’s presence in this critical region. A complete list of GEO Members and Participating Organizations can be found on the GEO Website.

The Capacity Building Committee (CBC), the User Interface Committee (UIC), the Architecture and Data Committee (ADC), the Science and Technology Committee (STC) plus the C4 met during the week of 14 September 2009 in Melbourne at the invitation of the Government of Australia. In addition to their individual meetings, the Committees kicked off the week with a joint meeting. More…

The GEO Health and Environment Community of Practice was launched at the GEOSS Workshop on Health and the Environment held in Geneva from 7-9 July 2009... The Community will continue its activities by organizing a workshop on Using Earth Observation for Health; this event will be held in Washington DC on 12-13 November 2009. More…

The 2010 Ministerial Summit, which will be held in Beijing, will mark the half-way point in the GEOSS 10-Year Implementation Plan. It will provide the GEO community will have the opportunity to demonstrate to Ministers the significant progress being made by GEOSS. The newly established Task Force will make its first report to the GEO-VI Plenary meeting in November.

The GEO Executive Committee met in Geneva on 21-22 September to prepare for the GEO-VI Plenary, which is being held in Washington DC on 17 -18 November. The Committee also reviewed the progress being made by the various GEO committees, task teams and processes. More…

An updated list of Secretariat staff responsibilities is available here.

In conjunction with the 2009 GEO-VI Plenary, the United States Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) and the Canadian Group on Earth Observations (CGEO) are organizing a GEOSS in the Americas forum on Coastal Zone Management. The forum, planned in cooperation with the GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice, will take place at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, 501 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., on Friday, November 20 from 8:30am to 1:00pm. Those wishing to participate in this forum are invited to register at http://www.cgeo.gc.ca.

Earthzine, the on-line journal on Earth observations and related issues, is inviting undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to submit an essay for the 2009 Student Essay Competition: "Sustainability through Earth Observation and Engineering". See the press release for more details.

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