SYMPOSIUM ON REMOTE SENSING CALLS FOR MORE LATIN AMERICA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000800

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR OES/SAT: ECHAVARRIA
STATE PASS USAID FOR LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV
TREASURY FOR USED IBRD & IDB & INTL/MDB
INTERIOR FOR KATHRYN WASHBURN, DIR. INT. AFFAIRS
INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS: JEAN WEAVER AND EROS
DATA CENTER: BRIAN BAILEY
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES: CAM HILL-MACON
USDA FOR ARS, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH, GRETCHEN FLANLEY
NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS: HAROLD STOLBERG
NASA PASS: DAAC FOR GILBERTO VINCENTE
NASA GODDARD SFC FOR ASSAF ANYAMBA

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO TSPA SOCI SENV KSCA EAID XM XS BR
SUBJECT: SYMPOSIUM ON REMOTE SENSING CALLS FOR MORE LATIN AMERICA
COOPERATION



1. SUMMARY: The 13th Brazilian Symposium on Remote Sensing was
held from April 23-26 attracting nearly 2,000 participants. While
the focus of the event was on increasing regional cooperation on
remote sensing technologies through transferring technology, sharing
methodologies, and building up regional capacities; the event also
focused in on a number of specific areas including using the
technology to follow and predict changes such as forest cover and
health issues caused by the impacts of global climate change.
Congregants also discussed increasing regional science and
technology cooperation with a view towards supporting a Latin
American space program. END SUMMARY.

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THE EVENT
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2. The 13th Brazilian Symposium on Remote Sensing, held in
Florianopolis April 23-26, 2007 attracted nearly 2,000 participants
from several parts of the country as well as from several other
parts of the world. Compared to the previous conference two years
ago, there was a 50 percent increase in the submission of technical
papers for the symposium. According to the event organizers, this
growing interest in the topic can be attributed to the strengthening
and expansion of graduate programs in the country, the intrinsic
growth of imaging technology and data processing, and a growing
interest in understanding Earth objects, phenomenon, and processes
through remote sensing and associated technologies.

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REGIONAL COOPERATION
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3. For the first time since the first symposium in 1978, the event
included an exclusive session to discuss Latin American cooperation
in remote sensing technologies. Participants from Brazil,
Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru (Colombia was unable to
attend at the last minute) all demonstrated enthusiastic interest in
cooperation among Latin American countries. According to Sergio
Gaudenzi, president of the Brazilian Space Agency AEB, Brazil is
interested in proposing a Latin American satellite or, in his own
words, "something similar to the international space station," in
which each country would contribute with some part. A South
American Space Agency was also discussed and the idea was well
received. At the end of the session, members of the table agreed to
come back in two years with more concrete and mature ideas to make
this cooperation a reality.


4. There are already two groups for cooperation in the area of
remote sensing: SELPER (Latin America Society for Remote Sensing),
one of the sponsors of the Florianopolis event, and CRECTEALC (Latin
America Regional Center for Space Science and Technology),which
encompasses a broader range of space technologies.


5. According to Brazil's Institute for Space Research INPE, the

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areas that are of most interest in cooperation are capacity building
and methodology transfer. Brazil, namely INPE, has become a
reference in South America for these capacity-building courses, with
over 2,000 professionals in the region trained in advanced
geotechnologies since 1999.

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CLIMATE CHANGE, HOT TOPIC
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6. The symposium also included an entire morning session to discuss
the impacts of climate change in Brazil, looking at health,
agriculture, biodiversity, and biogeochemical cycles. Members of
the table pointed to the lack of long-term, domestically-produced
research in the area and called for more research, especially using
remote sensing technologies. Members of the Brazil commission for
the IPCC (Carlos Nobre (INPE),Jose Marengo (INPE),and Ulisses
Confalonieri (Fiocruz)) gave a brief overview of the
recently-published evaluation reports. Brazil's study group on
climate change has a webpage updated frequently for more
information: http://www.cptec.inpe.br/mudancas_climaticas/

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CONTACTS FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION
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Brazil - Hilcea Ferreira, International Cooperation Advisor for the
National Institute for Space Research (INPE) - hilcea@dpi.inpe.br

Venezuela - Roberto Rivera Lombardi, Coordinator, Venezuelan Space
Center (CEV) - rrivera@idea.gob.ve

Ecuador - Ramiro Pazmino, Executive Director for the Center for
Integrated Data Collection on Natural Resources through Remote
Sensing (CLIRSEN) - (+593 2)254-3193

Peru - Catherine Kelly Gonzales Zuniga, representing Col. Wolfgang
Carlos Douglas Dupeyrat Luque (Peruvian Airforce),Institutional
Head of the National Commission on Air and Space Research and
Development (CONIDA)

Argentina - Ana Medico, International Relations for Argentina's
National Commission on Space Activities (CONAE) -
amedico@conae.gob.ar

Colombia - Ivan Dario Gomez Guzman, Director, Agustin Codazzi
Geographic Institute (IGAC) - direccion@igac.gob.co

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