The GMES&Africa Program “Support for the sustainable Land and Water Management through the development of Earth Observation data and technologies” project is financed by the European Union through the African Union Commission and cordinated by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS).
The project aims to support decision-making in the field of sustainable management of water and natural resources through the provision of products and services developed out of Earth Observation data and techniques.
Three (03) services developed under the project :
1/ Seasonal Agriculture Monitoring and Early Warning,
2/ Estimating withdrawals and Water Use Monitoring in irrigated areas,
3/ Land Degradation Monitoring
GMES&Africa aims to develop and sustain decision support services for the benefit of natural resource and water managers ; to boost regional cooperation and promote the exchange of know-how in the management of natural resources and water in North Africa; and to build capacity and raise awareness among all partners and end users on the potential and better consideration of Earth Observation data and techniques.
The participatory approach involving end users in the service development process and the strong commitment of project partners has made it possible to develop two operational and complementary platforms hosting geoservices, in particular MISLAND (www.misland.oss-online.org) for land degradation monitoring and MISBAR (www.misbar.oss-online.org) for seasonal agriculture monitoring and agricultural water use.
In addition to the national studies on the analysis of end-user needs and the diagnosis of the existing situation, two regional studies on Earth Observation integration in decision-making (CRTEAN) and the situation of capacity building in North Africa (CRASTE-LF) were conducted.
Technical partners :
- Algerian Space Agency – ASAL
- Centre for Space Science and Technology Education – in French Language
- Desert Research Center – Egypt
- Libyan Centre for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences
- Regional Centre for Remote Sensing of North African States – CRTEAN
- Royal Center for Remote Sensing – Morocco
- The National Remote Sensing Centre – CNCT
- The Nouakchott Al-Aasriya University