From klance_remote at yahoo.com Tue Dec 1 08:39:28 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Tue, 1 Dec 2009 05:39:28 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] SERVIR-Africa community and project news - entries in November 2009 Message-ID: <626350.14768.qm@web53608.mail.re2.yahoo.com> SERVIR-Africa community news - entries in?November 2009 http://www.servir.net/africa/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=54&task=show&action=all&id=0&ignorecount=1 - Amy Mahan Research Fellowship Program to Assess the Impact of Public Access to ICTs - UNESCO-Keizo Obuchi Fellowship for Young Researchers - UNESCO/Keizo Obuchi Research Fellowships Programme: 2010 Cycle - Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellowships on Climate Issues - International Research Initiative on Adaptation to Climate Change - Request for Applications - Traineeships in Observational Oceanography for Students from Developing Countries - International Masters Program in Geospatial Technologies - Grants for students and visiting scholars - JICA-Net (Videoconferencing/E-learning) Remote Sensing & GIS Course - Articles for the Special Issue "Global Croplands" - Swaziland: HIV and AIDS web-based GIS - Weather indexed crop insurance for farmers started in Laikipia East District, Kenya?? - A first estimation of above ground woody biomass in Africa - 2nd Regional Workshop of GEO Coastal Zone Community of Practice - AMESD Steering Committee meeting in Abuja? - 10th edition of the Kenya National Spation Data Infrastructure Newsletter? - ESA Member States approve full and open Sentinel data policy principles? - Current status of GIS in the Sudan (October 2009)?? - LSMS-ISA Project: Tackling weaknesses in agricultural statistics in Africa? - Nigeria?s space program commended?? - Nigeria: Enugu digital map to cost N467m? - African Agriculture Science Competitions and Awards - TWOWS prize for young women scientists - Additional GEONETCast receivers installed in Africa by DevCoCast project - Crime Aware South Africa?? - Johannesburg to mark 11th GIS Day - Africa lacks climate change data - Remote Sensing for natural disasters - Mapping wind resources in South Africa - New study uses satellite imagery to identify active magma systems in Rift Valley - Impressions of AfricaGIS'09 in the blogosphere - Climate Change Science Compendium http://www.servir.net/africa/index.php?option=com_content&task=category?ionid=9&id=20&Itemid=91 SERVIR-Africa project news - entries in November 2009? - AGCommons and RCMRD announce partnership - A win-win partnership for RCMRD and KENSJA - SERVIR providing web services training to UNECA - MYCOE/SERVIR Workshop kicks off at RCMRD -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091201/058fda8e/attachment.htm From klance_remote at yahoo.com Thu Dec 3 07:11:21 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 04:11:21 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] Fully funded scholarships for Egyptian nationals Message-ID: <200966.8886.qm@web53604.mail.re2.yahoo.com> http://www.itc.nl/Pub/newsevents/News/News-2009/November/Fully_Funded_Scholarships_for_Egyptian_Nationals!.html Fully funded scholarships for Egyptian nationals Erasmus Mundus - External Cooperation Window Deadline: 6 January 2010 The Erasmus Mundus ? External Cooperation Windows (EMECWs) offer a unique higher education institutional cooperation frame and training opportunities relevant to the skilled manpower needs of the targeted regions and the EU. Thus, EMECW students and academic staff benefit from the opportunity to study, teach and research in Europe and abroad while the participating universities raise their capacities, build pole of expertise and gain international visibility. Egypt was granted the Project ?Flow-by-Flow EU-Egypt Bridge Building??through the Erasmus Mundus ? External Cooperation Window Program.?The project aims at enhancing the academic cooperation between European and Egyptian universities by bringing together students, staff as well as young and senior researchers involved in the same disciplines or forming multidisciplinary teams to cover research domains identified by the Egyptian Universities as ?priorities?. The organisation of the mobility?s activities supported by the project will be a step toward the creation of more co-diplomas and co-thesis with stronger exchanges between PhD students from both EU and Egyptian sides, especially around the disciplines and themes which of interest for Egyptian and European universities. Visit the website http://www.ffeebb.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091203/13523c05/attachment.htm From klance_remote at yahoo.com Mon Dec 7 15:46:10 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 12:46:10 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] Education Specialist / Program Coordinator for AfricaArray, Greensboro, NC, USA Message-ID: <705664.38182.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> http://www.iris.edu/hq/employment/job/education_specialist_program_coordinator_for_africaarray Education Specialist / Program Coordinator for AfricaArray North Carolina A&T State University AfricaArray ( http://www.africaarray.org?) is a multifaceted initiative to support research and education in the geosciences in Africa and the U.S., with a strong emphasis on enhancing diversity in the geosciences.? This position will be administered through the Department of Physics and the NOAA Interdisciplinary Scientific Environmental Technology Cooperative Science Center (ISETCSC) at North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro, NC).? The successful candidate will be responsible for coordinating program activities between existing partner institutions (Penn State University, Fort Valley State University, University of Texas El Paso, and California State University Northridge), as well as for expanding the program to include new partner institutions.? The successful candidate will report to Prof. Solomon Bililign (NOAA ISET Center, NC A&T University) and Prof. Andrew Nyblade (Penn State University).? The appointment will be initially for two years, with the possibility for extension. Primary Duties and Responsibilities: -? Coordinate program activities between all partner institutions -? Teach one or two geoscience courses each year at NC A&T University -? Develop an outreach program with the school systems in North Carolina to create a pipeline of underrepresented minority students -? Expand the AfricaArray summer workshop for teachers and implement summer camps for K-12 students Qualifications: M.S. or Ph.D. in geoscience or a closely related field with K-12 educational experience and a strong desire to teach and work with high school students and undergraduates. Strong communication skills are required. Application Procedure: Interested applicants must submit a) an administrative and faculty employment application ( http://facultypages.ncat.edu/hr/Documents/Admin-Faculty%20Employment%20Packet.doc ), b) a letter of interest, c) current Vitae, d) a statement of teaching philosophy and research interests, e) three letters of reference, and f) copies of all undergraduate and graduate transcripts to:? Dr. Dr. Solomon Bililign, Director NOAA Interdisciplinary Scientific Environmental Technology (ISET) Cooperative Science Center, Gibbs 302, North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC 27411, E-mail:bililign at ncat.edu Salary: Negotiable, Min: $40,000/year Deadline for accepting applications:? December 15. 2009?or until the position is filled -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091207/9e15adae/attachment.htm From klance_remote at yahoo.com Tue Dec 8 09:57:56 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Tue, 8 Dec 2009 06:57:56 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] PhD defence: Integrated modeling/analysis of land use in African dry savannas Message-ID: <702025.73522.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> Best wishes to Eric Fotsing from?the University of Dschang, Cameroon (and Leiden University, NL) who defended his PhD today!?? http://www.cml.leiden.edu/news/phd-graduation-eric-fotsing.html The title of?his thesis is??SMALL Savannah: An Information System for the integrated analysis of land use change in the Far North Cameroon?.??The?thesis will be available online on the University website after the defence. The system SMALL is a framework (concepts, methods, software tools and simulation models that are also building on existing GIS, DBMS software, Statistical package and dynamic simulation plateform) that can?be applied elsewhere. The next steps of the project is to finetune the specifications of the EIS, improve the performance of the models, share?experience with stakeholders in the region?to include the institutional aspects -- not mentionnned in the thesis but very important -- and at the same time explore the application in areas with similar context (drylands in Benin and Burkina Faso). A small part of these next step?have started in the framework of a EU-funded project in which?Eric is intervening. After the defence, Erick will be going back to Cameroon.?He is?open to possible further collaboration to bring the small SMALL Savannah to maturation. Congratulations to Dr. Fotsing!?? And thank you for sharing this news with SDI-Africa. p.s. SDI-Africa would love to hear from and give kudos to?others who are finishing up their master's and doctoral degrees. ----- Forwarded Message ---- From: FOTSING Eric To: SDI-Africa at gsdi.org; news at gsdi.org Sent: Fri, December 4, 2009 10:29:41 AM Subject: PhD defence Integrated Modellling Analysis Land use in African dry savannas Dear Sir, I would like to inform the?GSDI community?that my PhD defense is planned to take place on the 8 December 2009 at 16:00. http://www.cml.leiden.edu/news/ Find attached,?the (Short and long) summary of the thesis and 3) the attached propositions. Find also below, a short summary for a larger public in English and French? ? Please let me know if you need any further information include this news?in the upcoming Issue of the GSDI?or inform the community ? Looking forward to hear from you ? Best Eric -------------------------------------------------- Eric Fotsing GeoInformatic and Environmental Modelling Laboratory Department of Computer Science, IUT FV at Bandjoun & Centre for Environment and Development Studies in Cameroon at Maroua University of Dschang P.O. Box 410 Maroua, Cameroon Tel: (+237) 99 86 06 55 or 77 33 69 16 Email:nefotsing at yahoo.fror efotsing at gmail.com ? Summary of the thesis for a large?public?in?English?and French ? Title : ?SMALL Savannah: An Information System for the integrated analysis of ?land use change in the Far North Cameroon? ? Scientific Field: FundamentalComputer Science, Geographic Information and Environmental Sciences ? SMALL Savannahis a conceptual framework and tool designed to help the various stakeholders (including scientists, policy-makers and local farmers/herders) to achieve adaptive and sustainable land management in dry regions of West and Central Africa. This system combines 1) an observation/spatial analysis component for the representation of phenomena from various data sources, with 2) an explanation/prediction component for the analysis of land change processes and 3) a dynamic simulation component for the exploration of possible future trajectories. The key message of the thesis is an appeal for a more integrated, participatory and trans-disciplinary approach to reduce land degradation, biodiversity loss, poverty and achieve sustainable development through collective knowledge generation, management and sharing on natural resources and land use.? ? The case study of the far North region of Cameroon shows that during the last three decades, one of the most significant changes is agricultural and urban expansion with the associated deforestation and land overgrazing, leading to natural resources degradation, reduction in land productivity and loss of biodiversity. With increasing population, climate change risk and regular human and animal mobility, most land are currently facing resource scarcity and land saturation, reinforcing more competition among land uses, more conflicts between actors and increasing poverty. The model developed in this thesis indicates that the accessibility to the main urban centre of the region, soil suitability and population pressure, have been the main drivers behind the observed processes. For near future development, it is expected that changes in land use trajectories will be mainly influenced by the implication of regional-urban actors and the potential investment of rural farmers for improving the quality of land and institutions. The simulations performed for the period 1999 to 2010 explore 3 scenarios including a first one considering that the observed trend is maintained, the second scenario is an optimistic vision while the third scenario is a pessimistic one. The results indicate areas where changes are likely to occur, thus providing a possibility to evaluate, and discuss about the impact of a given land management policy in view of any concertation or negotiation. ? This research provides key concepts for the specification of Environmental Information Systems and suggests relevant elements to include in the existing methods for the design and implementation of this new generation of information system. Future research will investigate 1) the improvement of the performances of the developed model through appropriate data collection and cross-scaled methods 2) the development and integration of Agent-Based Models to account for the wide range of actor?s behaviour, decisions and learning strategies, 2) the dissemination and the development of applications for other regions in Africa with similar context. ? ? R?sum? de la th?se pour grand public en Anglais et Fran?ais ? ? Titre : ?SMALL Savannah: Un Syst?me d?Information pour l?analyse int?gr?e des changements d?utilisation de l?espace ? l?Extr?me Nord du Cameroun? ? Domaine scientifique?: Informatique fondamentale, Sciences de l?Information Geographique et de l?Environnement ? SMALL Savannahest un cadre conceptuel et un outil con?u pour aider les diff?rentes parties prenantes (y compris les scientifiques, les d?cideurs et les agriculteurs/?leveurs locaux) ? r?aliser une gestion adaptative et durable des terres et des ressources naturelles dans les r?gions s?ches d?Afrique centrale et de l?Ouest. Ce syst?me combine 1) une composante observation/analyse spatiale pour la repr?sentation des ph?nom?nes ? partir de donn?es de sources diverses, avec 2) une composante explication/pr?diction pour l'analyse des processus de changement et 3) une composante de simulation dynamique pour l'exploration des trajectoires possibles de l?utilisation de l?espace. Le message essentiel de la th?se est un appel ? une approche trans-disciplinaire, plus int?gr?e et participative pour r?duire la d?gradation des sols, la perte de la biodiversit?, le niveau de pauvret? et parvenir ? un d?veloppement durable ? travers la g?n?ration collective, la gestion et le partage des informations-connaissances sur les ressources naturelles et les syst?mes de mise en valeur. ?. L'?tude du cas de la r?gion de l?Extr?me Nord du Cameroun montre que pendant les trois derni?res d?cennies, l'un des changements les plus significatifs est l'expansion agricole et urbaine avec les processus de d?forestation et de surp?turage associ?s, entra?nant une d?gradation des ressources naturelles, la r?duction de la productivit? des terres et la perte de la biodiversit?. Avec une population croissante, les risques de changements climatiques et la mobilit? r?guli?re des populations et des troupeaux, la plupart des espaces sont actuellement confront?s ? la raret? des ressources et la saturation fonci?re, ce qui renforce la comp?tition entre les formes d?utilisations de l?espace, les conflits entre acteurs et augmente le niveau de pauvret?. Le mod?le d?velopp? dans cette th?se montre que l'accessibilit? au principal centre urbain de la r?gion, l'aptitude des sols et la pression d?mographique, ont ?t? les principaux facteurs d?terminants des processus observ?s. Pour les d?veloppements dans un futur proche, les principales trajectoires d'utilisation de l?espace et les dynamiques associ?es seront principalement influenc?es par l'implication des acteurs r?gionaux ou urbains et les investissements que les acteurs locaux vont consentir pour am?liorer la qualit? des terres et des institutions. Les simulations r?alis?es pour la p?riode 1999 ? 2010 explorent 3 sc?narios notamment, le premier qui suppose que les tendances observ?es sont maintenues, le deuxi?me sc?nario est une vision optimiste et le troisi?me est une vision pessimiste. Les r?sultats indiquent les zones o? des changements sont susceptibles de se produire, donnant ainsi la possibilit? d'?valuer et de discuter dans le cadre d?une concertation ou n?gociation, l'impact d'une politique donn?e de gestion de l?espace. ? Cette recherche fournit les concepts pour la d?finition et la sp?cification des Syst?mes d'Information sur l?Environnement et sugg?re des ?l?ments ? prendre en compte dans les m?thodes existantes pour la conception et la mise en ?uvre de cette nouvelle g?n?ration de Syst?me d?Information. Les recherches futures devront prioritairement s?atteler ?? 1) l'am?lioration des performances du mod?le d?velopp? par la collecte de donn?es appropri?es et l?exploration des m?thodes multi-?chelles 2) le d?veloppement et l'int?gration des mod?les de type multi-agents pour tenir compte de la diversit? des comportements, des strat?gies de prise de d?cision et? d'apprentissage des acteurs, 3 ) la diss?mination et le d?veloppement d'applications pour d'autres r?gions d?Afrique qui pr?sentent un contexte similaire. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091208/a970ba46/attachment-0001.htm -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Invitation_SummaryThesis_Ref_Fotsing.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 860046 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091208/a970ba46/attachment-0001.pdf From klance_remote at yahoo.com Wed Dec 9 10:34:45 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 07:34:45 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] =?utf-8?q?job=3A_Chef_de_mission=2C_Sch=C3=A9mas_pro?= =?utf-8?q?vinciaux_d=E2=80=99am=C3=A9nagement_du_territoire=2C_Burundi?= Message-ID: <871653.25771.qm@web53608.mail.re2.yahoo.com> http://brli.brl.fr/index.php?page=73 Chef de mission ? R?alisation de sch?mas provinciaux d?am?nagement du territoire, Burundi BRL Ing?nierie Qualifications et Exp?rience : dipl?me d??tudes sup?rieures en Agronomie, dipl?me sp?cialis? ou exp?rience en SIG, 10 ans d?exp?rience dans l??laboration de plans ou sch?mas directeurs d?am?nagement du territoire, exp?rience dans la prise en compte des aspects sociaux ?conomiques du d?veloppement, 5 ans minimum dans l?identification et la formulation d?activit?s relatives ? l?am?nagement du territoire en Afrique Subsaharienne, connaissance des proc?dures de l?UE. Dur?e : 8 mois sur une p?riode de 15 mois. Contact: Isabelle.Thomas at brl.fr Deadline: December 31, 2009 http://brli.brl.fr/popup2.php?id=59&type=consultants BRL Ing?nierie?recherche aussi pour le m?me projet : Un ing?nieur Urbaniste pour 5 mois; Dipl?me d??tudes sup?rieures en Economie ou en G?ographie, trois ans d?exp?rience dans les sch?mas d?am?nagement du territoire en Afrique.? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091209/9c8ad335/attachment.htm From klance_remote at yahoo.com Thu Dec 17 10:59:52 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:59:52 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] Web-based GIS and future of PGIS applications within local and indigenous communities Message-ID: <645684.70692.qm@web53606.mail.re2.yahoo.com> http://www.ejisdc.org/ojs2/index.php/ejisdc/article/viewFile/584/292 Web-based GIS and the future of participatory GIS applications within local and indigenous communities As resource managers search for strategies to meet the challenges posed by intense competition for scarce local resources, the implementation of Community-based GIS applications have become widespread. Besides mapping, the Participatory GIS (PGIS) projects create a peaceful medium for community groups and public officials to meet, exchange views and also learn to develop trust for each other. However, PGIS projects face many problems including the lack of basic supporting infrastructure and services. The adoption of the Internet as a platform for PGIS applications therefore raises concerns about the future of PGIS projects. While the Internet may open the participatory process, it can also hinder participation among local groups. In an era when PGIS applications have become important in the management of local resources, there is an urgent need to examine implications of the On-line PGIS project. Accordingly, the authors of this?paper,?Peter Kyem and James Saku, assess the potential benefits and drawbacks of on-line PGIS applications within local communities.?[Source: EJISDC (2009) 38(7): 1-16] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091217/a36ed870/attachment.htm From klance_remote at yahoo.com Wed Dec 23 09:23:27 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:23:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] Spatial data infrastructures model for developing countries: A case study of Nigeria Message-ID: <988438.64881.qm@web53602.mail.re2.yahoo.com> SDI-Africa congratulates those who have recently completed their studies with theses related to spatial data infrastructure development. ? ISEGI - MA Dissertation Geospatial Technologies (Erasmus-Mundus) (March 2009) Onah, Chinonye Cletus ? http://dspace.fct.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2319/1/TGEO0004.pdf Spatial data infrastructures model for developing countries: A case study of Nigeria? This research explores the basics of SDI, and investigates the National SDI of different countries. Further, the research analyses SDI implementation in developing country with specific reference to the National Geospatial Data Infrastructure (NGDI) of Nigeria. The research assesses the status and the milestones of NGDI implementation using key SDI components as assessment variables. These components were grouped into four classes: Policy and Legal Issues, Technical, Funding and People. A questionnaire survey via email was conducted on the stakeholders and users of geoinformation in Nigeria. From the analysis, the NGDI has an advantage of having a national policy backing its implementation and the establishment of the coordinating body. However, the lack of SDI directive and funding are major hurdles in the implementation of the NGDI making it lack behind most of the selected case study countries in other key components. Nigeria is also found to be applying a Mixed Model of NSDI implementation as both product model and process model are evident in the NGDI. In the real sense of access network and data sharing, NGDI is yet to be operational, though the project is going on. [Source: Serryn Eagleson, SDI-AP Editor, University of Melbourne, Australia] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091223/4e79987a/attachment.htm From klance_remote at yahoo.com Wed Dec 23 09:24:17 2009 From: klance_remote at yahoo.com (Kate Lance) Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:24:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [SDI-Africa] Towards a GIS-T database design and implementation for public transit planning Message-ID: <889931.577.qm@web53603.mail.re2.yahoo.com> SDI-Africa congratulates those who have recently completed their studies with theses related to spatial data infrastructure development. ISEGI - MA Dissertation Geospatial Technologies (Erasmus-Mundus) (March 2009) Ngereja, Zakaria Robert http://dspace.fct.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/2321/1/TGEO0006.pdf Towards a GIS-T database design and implementation for public transit planning: the case study of Dar-Es-salaam metropolitan city, Tanzania? (PDF, 3.93 MB) In the last decade, we have witnessed tremendous advances and developments in the applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in terms of technological hardware, software, methods, and data models. One of the applications that have attracted much attention in the use of GIS is the transportation sector mainly for planning, public transport routing, management and operations. This has made it important to have a unified or universal GIS-T standard data model, specifically, in the area of transportation applications. Several data models have been developed over the past 20 years, like the ArcInfo route system, National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Project 20-27, Federal Geographic Data Committee, Enterprise GIS-T data model and the UNETRANS data model to mention just few. This research project focused into the GIS-T database design and implementation for public transit planning and management in the Dar-es-Salaam City, and used part of the UNETRANS data model. As part of this research, the UNETRANS data model was thoroughly examined, and extracted useful elements useful for the geodatabase design of GIS-T for Dar-es-Salaam City. The outcome of the project is a designed GIS-T database model for Dar-es- Salaam and its prototype implementation in ArcGIS 9.3. In addition, an output of the network analysis for determining the closest bus stop to hospitals, shortest routes from an incident location as well as service are surrounding hospital facilities, and recommendations for future works are presented. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.gsdi.org/pipermail/sdi-africa/attachments/20091223/02db69f0/attachment.htm