PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
August 2018
477
SECTOR
INSIGHT:
.
org
E
ducation
and
P
rofessional
D
evelopment
in
the
G
eospatial
I
nformation
S
cience
and
T
echnology
C
ommunity
By Angelica Gutierrez, Nancy Searby, and
Ivan DeLoatch, Eldrich Frazier
AmeriGEOSS: A Framework for Capacity Building and Collaboration in the Americas
Humanity faces an uncertain future confronted with chal-
lenges that threaten public health, safety, and security.
Food, water, and energy security; resilience to natural haz-
ards; adaptation to climate change; pandemics of infectious
disease; preservation of ecosystems; and development of sus-
tainable economies–these are among the primary worldwide
environmental challenges faced by humankind today. In the
coming decades, nations will be challenged to make timely
resource management and policy-level decisions that fore-
stall or mitigate adverse consequences. In the face of these
unprecedented challenges, society benefits greatly by using
Earth observation (EO) resources in understanding and re-
sponding to these environmental threats.
The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is an intergovern-
mental organization working to improve the availability,
access, and use of EO for the benefit of society. GEO, as a
voluntary coalition of governments and participating organi-
zations, has as its mission the development of a Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) to meet the need
for timely, quality long-term global information as a basis for
sound decision-making. GEO fosters strategic partnerships
and initiatives to respond to specific challenges faced by us-
ers through facilitating the development of efficient, sustain-
able solutions to societal challenges.
A
bout
A
meri
GEOSS
The AmeriGEOSS initiative
(
AmeriGEOSS.org
) is a frame-
work that seeks to promote collab-
oration and coordination among
the GEO members in the Ameri-
can continent, “to realize a future wherein decisions and actions,
for the benefit of the region, are informed by coordinated, com-
prehensive and sustained Earth observations and information.”
AmeriGEOSS focuses its activities in four GEO Societal Bene-
fit areas (SBA’s)––
Agriculture, Disaster Risk Reduction, Water,
Ecosystems/Biodiversity, and in Foundational activities
that
support capacity building.
2
AmeriGEOSS seeks to increase insti-
tutional and personal capacity through cooperation, acquisition,
and sharing of technology, training, and through the engage-
ment of experts, stakeholders, and decision makers in the pro-
cess of decision-making and implementation of sound policies.
The AmeriGEOSS initiative seeks to address coverage gaps of
data, develop actionable tools and services, build partnerships
and capacity by leveraging existing expertise, training, tech-
nology, and efforts in-country and across the region, and apply
the knowledge and capabilities of partner members to address
gaps and challenges. The regional response is entrenched in
the institutional and
technical capabilities of
the country members,
and in the resources of
other GEO initiatives.
Photogrammetric
Engineering &
Remote Sensing
Vol. 84, No. 8, August
2018, pp. 477–479.
0099-1112/18/477–479
© 2018 American
Society for
Photogrammetry
and Remote Sensing
doi: 10.14358/
PERS.84.8.477
