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Int’l Cooperation News

ISEO 2014: Understanding Silk Road Economic Belt via Space Technology

Sep 18, 2014

The second International Symposium on Earth Observation for Arid and Semi-arid Environments 2014 (ISEO 2014) was held at Issyk-kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan from September 10 to 12, 2014. Jointly organized by the Institute of Physical and Technical Problems and Materials Science, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic (IPTPMS, NAS/KR), the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE), the symposium brought together more than 100 experts from 14 countries. The participants from these countries had extensive and in-depth discussions under the theme of Central Asia: Looking from Space. 

Prof. GUO Huadong, CAS member and co-chair of ISEO 2014, delivered the opening speech and the symposium was presided over by Prof. K. Zhumaliev, NAS/KR member and co-chair of the meeting.  

Prof. GUO pointed out that by taking advantage of the opportunity of Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB), ISEO 2014 will provide a platform for conducting earth observation and related cooperation for its application in Central Asia. Participants from Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Belarus stressed the rapid progress of space science and technology and their extensive application in various sectors, including agriculture, disaster mitigation, climate change and mineral resources. They also elaborated the region’s needs for space science and technology and expressed the strong hope to collaborate with China in this regard. They spoke highly of ISEO as a platform for such cooperation and the leading role of CAS.  

During the three day meeting, IPTPMS, the research team on Silk Road Economic Belt supported by the Academic Division of CAS, and RADI called for the roundtable meeting on the development of the Silk Road Economic Belt through Earth observation. They held discussions on the Phoenix Program of Science and Technology (literally, the territories of China and five central Asian countries look collectively like a beautiful phoenix as shown from the satellite image), a program to support regional sustainable development through space technology with special focus on cooperation in six areas: agriculture and water resources, eco-environment pattern and global climate change adaptation, urbanization and traffic layout, natural resources, world heritage protection and cultural integration, and space information communication.  

A statement of Scientific Program of Earth Observation for Development of Silk Road Economic Belt was approved at the meeting to boost cooperation among Central Asian countries. The statement suggests submitting a joint proposal to establish Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Central Asian Initiative with the objective of establishing a regional network of infrastructure for information and resource sharing in the region.  

The next meeting of International Scientific Committee for the Phoenix Program will be held in Beijing in 2015.  

Launched by RADI, ISEO is a biennial meeting series focusing on the Earth observation technology and applications in arid and semi-arid environments, especially in Central Asia and the neighboring regions. The first ISEO was held in Kashi of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The third ISEO is to be held in Tajikistan from September 12 to 14 in 2016.  

 

Figure 1: Opening Ceremony of ISEO 2014 (Image by RADI) 

  

Figure 2: A group photo of the ISEO 2014 participants (Image by RADI) 

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