International delegation to visit Landgate’s satellite facility

Landgate will host a tour of its Satellite Remote Sensing Services facility for an international delegation of experts on Wednesday 23 May 2012.

The delegates are visiting Perth for the Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF) Space Applications for Environment (SAFE) and Climate Regional Readiness Review (Climate R3) workshops.

Landgate's Chief Executive Mike Bradford said the Satellite Remote Sensing Services facility is unique in Australia and one of the best in the southern hemisphere.

"Our satellite facility is at the leading edge of research and development in remote sensing and its applications."

"We provide the full range of remote sensing services from the acquisition of data from satellites to processing the data and using it to develop a range of products and services for government, industries, agriculture and emergency management authorities."

The delegates represent peak bodies and governments throughout the Asia Pacific region and are keen to learn more about Landgate's products such as the FireWatch program.

"FireWatch is our Premier's Award winning satellite-based fire monitoring program," said Mr Bradford. 

"It collects data to track fires in Australia, and provides real time information to help emergency services and land management professionals with their efforts in battling bushfires."

With funding from the Commonwealth, FireWatch is being expanded to incorporate 'bushfire spread modelling' which aims to predict the spread of fire in near real time, as well as assist with managing prescribed burning programs across Western Australia.

"We already have a presence in the Asia Pacific region which will be of particular interest to the visiting delegation", said Mr Bradford.

"In 2009 we launched 'Indofire', which is modelled on our FireWatch program, and monitors fire  hotspots covering the whole of Indonesia enabling early detection and minimising the spread of fires into forest habitats," said Mr Bradford.

FireWatch and Indofire deliver essential fire monitoring information via a web based data delivery system which is accessible to all stakeholder groups. New online versions of both programs will be launched on 1 July 2012.

The Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are co hosting the SAFE and Climate R3 workshops from 22 – 25 May in Perth.

Earth observation applications derived from space is an integral part of everyday life. It allows experts to accurately predict weather, provides public safety warnings, improves disaster prediction and response and enhances agricultural and water monitoring.

The SAFE and Climate R3 workshops aim to bring together key experts from the Asia Pacific region to discuss climate change mitigation and adaptation through the use of space based applications. 

Countries participating in these workshops include Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Laos and Mongolia. For further information about the SAFE and Climate R3 workshops visit www.space.gov.au

Landgate is Western Australia's primary source of land information and geographic data, providing the accuracy government, business and individuals rely on.

Landgate's Satellite Remote Sensing Services facility operates on behalf of the Western Australian Satellite and Technology Applications Consortium (WASTAC). The two earth observation satellite download stations, located at Curtin and Murdoch Universities, observe the earth in many different spectral channels and collect information about the condition of the atmosphere, ocean and land surface. The facility generates a range of monitoring products and services for emergency management, natural resource management, agriculture, ocean sciences, geological and mineral requirements and government.