(SAR) to Support Agricultural Monitoring 2 - Group on Earth ...

International GEO Workshop on <strong>SAR</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Support</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring
5.4 Encouraging Greater Capacity <strong>to</strong> Use <strong>SAR</strong> Data
Question 9 asked: “What suggestions do you have <strong>to</strong> encourage greater capacity <strong>to</strong> use
<strong>SAR</strong> data? (Rate each from 1 <strong>to</strong> 5 with 1 being least important and 5 being most
important.” The weighted scores were calculated and sorted as described above. The
result is shown in Table 10.
Table 10 Fac<strong>to</strong>rs that Encourage Greater Capacity <strong>to</strong> Use <strong>SAR</strong> Data
Encourage <strong>SAR</strong> software developers <strong>to</strong> provide software for
educational purposes at minimal or no cost 261
Encourage <strong>SAR</strong> data providers <strong>to</strong> provide sample data for educational
purposes so that new users can practice what they have learned 257
Through the GEO <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Community of Practice, build
a network of networks in <strong>SAR</strong> and agriculture <strong>to</strong> coordinate/share
resources and experiences 252
Develop, disseminate and update <strong>SAR</strong> training courses and technical
manuals specifically designed for the agriculture community 251
Develop lecture series on <strong>SAR</strong> and agriculture which could be
included in university and college courses 249
Through the GEO <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Community of Practice,
compile list of potential avenues for obtaining funds for infrastructure
development (computers, software, Internet, etc). <strong>to</strong> facilitate greater
use of EO data and capacity building opportunities. 235
Through the international GEO website, advertise opportunities for
internships and exchanges with leading <strong>SAR</strong> institutions 232
Through the GEO <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring Community of Practice,
develop user forums <strong>to</strong> drive capacity needs 223
Other fac<strong>to</strong>rs that respondents added include the following:
• “Reduced data cost.”
• “Low cost <strong>SAR</strong> sensor (data) should be made commercially available in the
market, as easily as the existing COTS optical sensor (data).”
• “We certainly need <strong>to</strong> be trained on the operational use of <strong>SAR</strong> data for
agriculture and large scale land cover mapping in general.”
• “Demonstrate operational use of <strong>SAR</strong> data for crop assessment and moni<strong>to</strong>ring.”
• “Show case operational ability of <strong>SAR</strong> and availability of a few (images of) free
data <strong>to</strong> new users.”
• “GEO can establish an International digital reposi<strong>to</strong>ry and enable CMS for
updates on emerging technologies.”
Report on Results: Survey on <strong>SAR</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Support</strong> <strong>Agricultural</strong> Moni<strong>to</strong>ring – Annex 1 29