Nurturing international partnerships to meet our ambitions

Over the last few months, the CCEO has strengthened its global outreach through various activities to increase awareness and visibility on the role of EO supporting Climate, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development global Agendas (CEOS and Conference of Parties events), consolidate its partnerships on SAR and cal/val, as well as increase collaboration with industry and regional stakeholders (Boeing and Can Tho University in Vietnam, APRSAF).

CEOS Plenary in Montreal (Canada)

Late October, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of CEOS, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) hosted the 38th CEOS Plenary at their headquarters, in Montreal.

For CSIRO, it was the opportunity to share &  learn recent progress in the organization across multiple entities (e.g. Ecosystems Extent/Biodiversity, the UN Sustainable Development Goals), endorse key documents or decisions with other Principals (e.g updated strategy of CEOS Analysis Ready Data), voice its ambitions (e.g. AquaWatch Australia) and strengthen its partnerships with many Space Agencies through bilateral side meetings.

 

At this occasion, CSIRO, in close collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the Bureau, was officially endorsed as the upcoming 2026 CEOS Chair and will organise the 40th Plenary in Australia (Hobart), 10 years after a successful leadership year (30th Plenary 2016, in Brisbane).

 

Most importantly CSIRO, in close collaboration with Geoscience Australia and the Bureau, was officially endorsed as the upcoming 2026 CEOS Chair, 10 years after a successful leadership year (30th Plenary 2016, in Brisbane).

International Conferences of Parties (UNCBD and UNCCD)

Following the CEOS Plenary, CSIRO was also represented at the 16^th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity – CBD COP16 in Cali, Colombia, where the GEO community was also well represented. There, CSIRO experts on biodiversity and nature-based solutions engaged with other international delegates; and consequently, the CCEO nominated additional experts to the newly formed CEOS Biodiversity Study Team.

In December, CSIRO experts joined the Australian delegation at the UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The UNCCD joined forces with GEO Land Degradation Neutrality (co-led by CSIRO) to promote the work and value of EO-based information in monitoring progress of land degradation, land use changes over the years.

This high-level meeting presented many opportunities to discuss impacts on the water quality, and hence present our AquaWatch work (a side event/workshop was organised with some of our partners from the UK, and the US).

Calibration and validation (Cal/val)

IVOS and AERONET meetings (Japan and USA)

CSIRO, through the CCEO, participated in two key international meetings where calibration and validation experts shared knowledge and expertise, maintaining strategic and developing new partnerships. 

The AERONET meeting (September) was an opportunity to bring together all AERONET partners and the data user community to discuss and collaborate on topics related to the AERONET system, data products, scientific development, instrument calibration, research, and application. Following this, new sensors (wet optical) are being trialed in CSIRO.

The CEOS IVOS meeting (September) provided an opportunity for CSIRO to nurture our partnership with JAXA and other key international partners.

SAR capability development

ALOS-2 Mission meeting in Japan

As PI of ALOS-2 mission under JAXA’s EORA-3, CSIRO had received SAR data for research purposes, free of charge. CSIRO used more than 100 ALOS-2 images for number of tasks used in research activities with outcomes presented at the recent PI meeting in Japan. This was an opportunity to showcase our research achievements, exchange knowledge and technical skills, and advance SAR technique and application developments with world’s leading space agencies.

Following the successful launch of ALOS-4 in July 2024, JAXA presented new sensor capabilities, and CSIRO submitted a request for ALOS-4 observations in Australia. With the view of growing our SAR capability, this event provided us the opportunity to discuss about new radar technology developments and applications, advanced SAR data processing techniques, etc. with experts from Tohoku University, Tokyo Denki University and RESTEC, as well as with GAMMA RS, DLR and JPL. These face-to-face discussions are critical for knowledge sharing and ensuring our continued access to ALOS-2 and ALOS-4 data – free of charge – for CSIRO’s R&D purposes in the coming years. 

CEOS WGCV SAR Subgroup, in Ahmedabad (India)

CSIRO was represented at the CEOS Working Group on Calibration and Validation (WGCV) SAR workshop to consolidate its engagement, and establish CSIRO as a leading player in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) within Australia. This leads to developing strategic and technical partnerships with international organisations. This event in India was also an opportunity for our SAR expert to visit the Indian ISRO NRSC, discuss opportunities, and improve bilateral relations and ultimately provide meaningful cal/val collaborations in the future.

Increased regional collaboration

Boeing & Can Tho University Remote sensing project, final showcase in Can Tho (Vietnam)

In November, our local partner Can Tho University (CTU), supported by CSIRO, successfully delivered a showcase event (half day) at the University, gathering 100 attendees, including students, different sections of the university (informatics, environment), project team members and local decision makers (provinces).

It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the project’s achievements, and demonstrate the benefits of using remote sensing data on a collaborative platform underpinned by CSIRO’s EASI (Earth Analytics Science and Innovation) technology to help inform decision making processes around land use and its management.

Six experts shared knowledge, thoughts and aspirations during a round table discussion, which included questions on the use of outputs (maps, analytics) to support the development of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), aligned with aviation industry interests and Boeing-CSIRO SAF Roadmap (biofuels) launched in 2023.

With our Boeing-CSIRO-CTU project ending in December, CCEO is working on a final report, while exploring avenues to leverage this important collaboration model in Vietnam with regards to remote sensing activities.

EO for water quality (AquaWatch) in Southeast Asia and Pacific: APRSAF-30 (Perth, Australia)

Late November, CCEO and AquaWatch members participated in the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agencies Forum (APRSAF) held in Perth, Australia this year. Over the last few years and this year in particular, CSIRO has played a key role in  Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF), where the focus was on leveraging space technologies to tackle regional challenges. Dr Alex Held even received the 2024 APRSAF Special Award for Long-term Contributions, recognising his significant efforts in advancing space applications for societal benefit.

CSIRO participated in bilateral meetings alongside the Australian Space Agency, joined the Pacific Round Table discussions and hosted a workshop,in collaboration with the Australian Centre for Space Governance (ACSG), on the AquaWatch Australia Regional Alliance (AQWRA), furthering collaboration across the Asia-Pacific.

 

 

 

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As 2024 draws to a close with many other ongoing activities for 2025, the whole team wishes you a safe, restful and joyful Christmas break!