_2012-02-24

52°North partner ITC participates in the the Sixth World Water Forum - Time for Solutions from March 12 - 17, 2012 in Marseille, France. The Forum strives to tackle the challenges of the world and to place water in a high position on all political agendas.

ITC particpates at the Netherlands Water Partnership pavilion, informing the public about research & capacity development in water information management with a focus on the GEONetCast developments and activities. Additional topics cover education and capacity development in earth observation/GIS and water resources. Furthermore, ITC holds a Tiger Capacity Building Facility side event, during which research projects results are presented, and participates in the launch of the TIGER NET, a program designed to develop and complement water observation and information systems for monitoring water resources with EO and provide capacity building and training of African water authorities and technical centers.

The Tiger Capacity Building Facility event - " Water management in Africa with Earth Observation" - takes place in the “Patio 2 (PC4)” in the « Palais des Congrès » on March 14 from 19:15 - 20:15. It will provide an insight into some of the most interesting success stories of the TIGER Capacity Building Facility (TCBF).

Under the guidance of the African Ministerial Council on Water (AMCOW), with contributions from CEOS, UNESCO and the African Development Bank and in collaboration with UN-ECA and other African and international organizations, the TIGER Initiative has been active sind 2005. It strives to develop tailored Earth Observation (EO)technology for strengthening the water sector in Africa. The current TCBF, phase II (2009 – 2012), encompases 20 research projects carried out by numerous African institutions. They make use of EO technology to learn more about the water cycle and to improve water management. TCBF provides specific technical assistance, training and scientific support to access and use EO datasets. Its major topics are, among others, sustainable water use, flooding patterns, water quality monitoring, sedimentation modeling, groundwater resource assessment, hydrological and environmental aspects of wetlands and climate change impacts.

The preliminary program is as follows:

Each presentation is 12 minutes long, concluded with a twelve-minute interactive summary.

• Capacity building by building on fast-growing capacity: How TIGER CBF supports the use of Earth Observation for water management in Africa. Achievements and challenges. Benjamin Koetz (ESA) and Zoltán Vekerdy (ITC).
• Regional office activities to support capacity building: User requirements, data services, products and training activities. Linking EO technology and water professionals. Carey Rajah (DWA), Chris Moseki (WRC) and Bruno Meyer (SANSA), Republic of South Africa
• TIGER Project 1: Water quality observations for water management in East Africa - Water quality observations based on medium resolution satellite (MERIS) provide information about eutrophication level of lakes and wetlands.
• TIGER Project 2: Observation of water cycle elements for water management in North-West Africa. - Integration of geospatial data for the development of a water resources monitoring system
• Interactive summary: Discussion, conclusions - needs of water managers, EO implementation possibilities and limitations for Africa.

Event Coordinator: Dr. Zoltán Vekerdy, Coordinator TIGER Capacity Building Facility,
ITC Faculty of the University of Twente