Page 1 of 1
Mathias Lemmens Editor-in-Chief GIM International m.j.p.m.lemmens@tudelft.nl 
Without information we live blindly. Without information there is no planning, no understanding, no action taking, no communication…. Information is what makes the world go round. The need for accurate and detailed geo-information is tremendous and compelling. This is a worldwide trend, apparent in all countries. Continual migration from rural areas to urban fringes creates the need for planning and construction of housing, facilities, roads, railways and other infrastructure. And, once erected, all these immovable commodities require proper management and maintenance. Countless challenges are involved in the production of sufficient food for a growing world population and enabling farmers to make a living from agriculture whilst preserving the environment. In particular, emerging countries are rapidly altering the surface of the earth over many areas of their territory. India and China have meanwhile become seminal examples of economic success, with annual double-figure growth rates. However, the territories of smaller countries such as Poland, Czech Republic and Ukraine, are also undergoing a rigorous facelift. The need for geoinformation is induced not only by vigorous planning and construction efforts, but also for purposes of land administration to secure property rights. Unfortunately, in many countries cadastre and land administration are still in their infancy. Automation Many technologies are in place today to meet demands, at least from the dataacquisition side. We are able to continuously image the world from space at spatial resolutions up to 50cm. Airborne Lidar sensors can create highly automatically Digital Elevation Models, and these, in combination with optical digital cameras, mean geometrically correct images can be produced by computer alone. Integrating large-scale topographic maps with Lidar data and oblique aerial photographs enables the creation of 3D-city models without much human intervention. However, geo-data cannot yet be automatically transformed into geo-information; a labour-intensive process is still required for transferring geo-data into information suitable for use in, for example, a GIS environment, where it might be queried along with other data. From Space Worldview-1, launched 18th September 2007 and part of the National Geospatial- Intelligence Agency (NGA) NextView programme, provides panchromatic imagery with a groundsample distance (GSD) of 50cm at nadir and dynamic range of 11 bits per pixel. The swath width at nadir is 17.6km and one day of data acquisition may result in up to 750,000km2 being captured. During a single pass, contiguous areas of 60x110km can be covered in mono and 30x110km in stereo. An accuracy of 3m to 7.6m can be achieved without using ground-control points, 2m with them. The same area can be captured within just six day of a previous visit, so that if a GSD of 1m suffices, revisit frequency may rise to 1.7 days. These characteristics make the imagery particularly suited for map creation and updating and thus an important prerequisite for planning, development, disaster-management, poverty reduction and slum prevention. The United Nations (UN) recognises sound planning as a requirement for poverty reduction and acknowledges in particular the important role of geo-information technology in realising Goal 7 of the United Nations Millennium Declaration to ensure environmental sustainability. The accuracy and level of detail of satellite imagery, not only from WorldView-1 but many other satellites, is becoming so rich that it is effectively turning into key datasets for establishing land administration in developing countries. Millennium Goals A world without poverty, hunger, pandemics and anguish, a world offering basic education for every child, equality, freedom and brother- and sisterhood; it is a world we might dream of. And also one far removed from reality. Perhaps the United Nations (UN) had such a dream when it came together for the fifty-fifth time, from 6th to 8th September 2000, "at the dawn of a new millennium". All 189 Member States, 147 directly represented by their head of state or government, embraced the Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Following the UN example, other leading world organisations, such as the IMF and World Bank, welcomed the MDGs, consisting as they did of an array of eight goals to be achieved by 2015, with 1990 as reference datum. The goals are people-centred, time-bound and measurable. At the end of this article we come back to the Millennium Development Goals. Barriers Although Earth Observation (EO) satellites are being launched at breakneck speed, there are impediments to the use of all the peta bytes (mega x giga) of data generated. Yet EO data waiting eagerly to be used for the benefit of the planet and all that populates it too often languishes covered by a layer of dust. EO data neglect does not occur from any lack of appreciation but remains untouched because of barriers to its use, especially in developing countries. One such barrier arises from the fact that extracting information from EO data and using it in a fruitful way is still a specialised activity. On the one hand there is more than enough data in store, on the other there is a lack of capacity to transform it into information. And data reveals its value only when translated into information and shared. There are several possible responses. The first and most obvious is to build capacity through education and training. Although good education may be seen from many angles as a laudable initiative, in this context it would create a new round of specialists and fail to provide any long-term solution. EO images are of particular value to users not necessarily experts in remote sensing. Such people do not know exactly what data they need; neither do they speak the jargon. To them EO imagery is a source of additional information in support of their daily professional activities. Ideally, these professionals would like to use EO data as they use an Excel programme or statistical software, as a convenient tool. The unparalleled success of Earth viewers, particularly Google Earth and Microsoft's Virtual Earth, may produce an exponential growth in numbers of non-expert users of EO images. This group would be best served by availability of intelligent software that can be handled intuitively. Such software should be reasonably priced, and perhaps shipped as a module to be added onto Microsoft Office or downloadable from open-source domains for free. Lapsing Front-end In the meantime, most countries have marched onward towards establishing a National Geo-spatial Data Infrastructure. NGDI prevents various nationalgovernmental or quasi-governmental organisations all collecting and storing the same geo-information, the sort of overlap that greatly encumbers a national treasury. The undesirability of such glaring inefficiency has been recognised for more than fifteen years, and today many countries are well on their way towards resolving it. Various types of geo-information distributed across and maintained by different organisations can now be approached via one NGDI portal. However, what can be approached is the tail-end result of the geo-information production process: raster and vector information extracted from aerial and satellite imagery, Digital Elevation Models created from Lidar data, and so on. The front-end, basic collection of the data itself, is often still separately ordered by each organisation, giving rise to the peculiarly familiar situation of the same type of data being independently commissioned by several agencies, all in the same country. How often does it not happen that the same piece of the earth is flown many times during the same year…because a municipality has ordered aerial photography of its entire territory, and provincial authorities also happen to want an overview of a certain type of landscape under their domain. And national government wants to construct a railway line between two cities crossing the municipality already flown earlier, while a water board has discovered photogrammetry to be a cheap method of inspecting dikes… And all with just a very few, slightly differing specifications with respect to main, defining parameters such as scale and weather conditions. This is, of course, very good news, economically speaking, for the service provider. But not so good for the national treasury, a truth all the more striking when it concerns developing countries. Business Model This brings us to the second barrier for using all the peta bytes of EO data: the business model. Many government officials, researchers and other users complain about the high price of EO products. As a result, what gets processed and analysed are often cheaper but inferior alternatives and this amidst an abundance of high-quality datasets which might contribute to sustainable solutions. Superior data remains locked away thanks to the rigidity of the business model. Of course, there are many arguments in favour of a business model based on revenue generation. And yes, it is true that the bankruptcy of communist economies proves the superiority of the free-market system. A free market flourishes, especially when the commodities traded are meant for individual use and pleasure. However, there do exist goods that supersede the level of private interest and serve society as a whole. Geo-information in general, and EO data in particular, are such goods. This is not to say that producers should dump their EO data on the market free of charge. For goodness sake, no! Many producers are private or privatised organisations subject to the judgement of stakeholders who particularly scrutinise the number of digits in black on the final page. However, EO data is a resource the use of which transcends private gain; to date it has proved its indispensability in urban development, food production, public and private sanitation, combating poverty and halting environmental decay. Strategic Public Resource The issues outlined above concern society as a whole, and within this framework EO data constitutes a strategic public resource which should be freely available. Of course, in principle nothing comes for free, every activity requires financial resources. The term "free" usually means that someone other than the user is paying. Who should foot the bill for high-quality EO data? When the beneficiary from use of a certain resource is the whole of society, the tab should naturally land on the common table. In practice this would mean establishing public-private partnerships allowing the public-sector to buy relevant datasets from private EO data providers and redistribute it free of charge to certified users or the public in general. Such freely available EO data should be organised such that it is accessible to non-expert users. Seeing the enormous demand for remote-sensing data in developing countries, this model could work especially well in these areas. But given the deplorable state of many treasuries, it would be a charitable gesture on the part of public sectors in the north to act as sponsor. Acting Autonomously The situation sketched above may be mainly traced back to policies of decentralisation and privatisation initiated by the majority of world governments in the nineties. These policies led to drastically increased levels of tax reserves held in (quasi-) government organisations, so that they all resorted to acting autonomously, not least in respect of the acquisition of geo-data. The resultant proprietary mindset nourishes the sense that data is actually owned, and it is only a small step from here to completely losing track of the reality that such data is originally a common commodity financed from the national purse. What should be done to prevent the same geo-data covering the same territory being purchased and collected countless times over? Here the national government and its representative the National Mapping Agency have a pivotal role to play in terms of carrying out annual aerial and Lidar surveys, buying all satellite imagery covering national territory and storing it in a centrally accessible database. The appearance of geo-data has changed drastically over the last two decades, but it seems that thinking at national level is still stuck with the notion of topographic maps as the one and only, ultimate source of geo-information… Daunting Percentages Let us go back now to the Millennium Development Goals mentioned earlier and particularly look at Goal 1, to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. This has as measurable target halving over the 25 years from 1990 to 2015 the proportion of people whose income is less than US$1 a day. According to MDG Report 2007, there were 1.25 billion people in developing countries living on less than US$1 a day in 1990. This number fell to 980 million in 2004. Expressed in percentage terms, this means the proportion of people living in extreme poverty across the globe dropped from 32% to 19% in nearly fifteen years, and that is very promising indeed. If this rate of progress continues, the MDG target will be met. But the progress shows geographical bias; the majority of the decrease results from rapid economic growth in China, India and south-east Asia. In contrast, poverty in sub-Saharan Africa fell only slightly, from 47% in 1990 to 46% in 1999, arriving at 42% in 2004. Imagine 47%! That means nearly half the population suffers from severe poverty and malnutrition. These are daunting percentages. Worse, sub-Saharan Africa enjoys the dubious privilege of being the only region in the world where the poor are getting poorer. An UNDP/UNICEF report (June 2002) states that it will take until 2150 to halve extreme poverty. And that in a region where nearly half the population consists of children under the age of fourteen. Time to Take Urgent Action Speaking of children: the target of Goal 2 is to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, are able to complete a full course of primary schooling, instead of helping their fathers in the field or carrying stones to a construction site for a coin or two. However, enrolment is an administrative matter and does not guarantee the physical presence of Promise in the classroom. Promise's parents may have other, higher, priorities, and while her classmates do their spelling Promise is busy in the fields, reaping yam and cassava. It will probably take sub-Saharan African countries until 2140 to achieve full primary school attendance for all their children. In the UN MDG Report 2005, Kofi Anan, then secretary-general, stated unequivocally: "Instead of setting targets, this time leaders must decide how to achieve them". In the UN MDG report 2007, the present UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon, reinforced Anan's words: "There is a clear need for political leaders to take urgent and concerted action, or many millions of people will not realise the basic promises of the MDGs in their lives". There is plainly a great deal of willingness to formulate goals and targets, but some reluctance to act on them. Let us keep our fingers crossed that the MDGs will not go down in history as a gesture of humanitarian fervour inspired by no fewer than three noughts in the year, noughts which might turn out in retrospect to have been an omen sadly indicative of the final outcome. Page 1 of 1
|