Showcase AuthorsAuthor(s): Shawana Johnson E-mail: shawana@globalinsights.com Affiliation: Global Marketing Insights, Inc, - President; Project Manager for the USDA Foreign Agricultural Services Special Projects Member Country/Participating Organization: United States Showcase DescriptionShowcase title: Multi-Sensor Usage for Drought Assessment in the Middle East Description: In the Middle East there is limited to almost nonexistent field reporting for Agricultural crops. Field reporting is non existent due to political instability and the cost and time it would take to obtain the permission in developing a convoy which would be needed to protect the field agents. Although human observations on the ground can never be replaced entirely, a primary objective of the Middle East study was to determine if the high-resolution satellite imagery often used by the US Defense Department could be integrated into existing USDA processing methodologies. Participants in the pilot accurately predicted that an analysis process combining high-, mid- and low-resolution multispectral satellite data could help to fill information gaps in parts of the world where ground-based observations do not exist. The uniqueness of the process developed in the pilot is the multi-resolution look at agriculture conditions. For most international assessments, USDA FAS relies on medium-resolution imagery from the Indian AWiFS sensor and low-resolution data from the NASA MODIS, SPOT-Vegetation, or NOAA AVHRR sensors. Team: Project Team Leader Contact Information for GEO Proposal Contact Global Marketing Insights, Inc. (USA) Dr. Shawana P. Johnson, President shawana@globalinsights.com office 216-525-0600 (Eastern Time Zone) Implementing Organizations and Partners US Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, Office of Global Analysis Robert Tetrault, Satellite Imagery Archive Manager and Contract Manager, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Joint Program Manager, robert.tetrault@fas.usda.gov office 202-720-1071 (Eastern Time Zone) GDA Corporation, Dmitry Varlyguin, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, dmitry@gdacorp.com office 814-237-4060 (Eastern Time Zone) Showcase URL: Showcase JustificationAdded value of GEO: The impact of the drought was confirmed by mid-season in Iraq in 2008, and the information was provided in-country to agricultural ministers, which disseminated it to officials in Iraq to arrange for wheat purchases from other countries and to discuss ways in which to better monitor and develop Drought Management plans. The USDA FAS in-country Agricultural Counselors were able to use the data and the maps provided to give insight to the local agriculture officials in order to best prepare for what was to come. The same in-country agents will benefit during the continuation of the project in the additional Middle East countries. Added Value of UIC: At the point of the initial project UIC was not involved except to collect the input of USDA FAS Director, Dr. Bradley Doorn in Beijing, China last February 2009. We would like the UIC to become more involved in the project in the future. Earth Observation Summit Themes: Agricultural Management, Global Food Security, Drought Management Cape Town Declaration: Global Goals and Assessments: Filling Gaps: Strong future GEOSS: Links to high-profile issues: Cross-cutting nature: Capacity building: |