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Azerbaijan hosts International Workshop on the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems

12 May 2009 12:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Aynur Veliyeva - APA-Economics. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is holding a five-day International Workshop on the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems.

According to its programme, the event officially titled â€œUnited Nations/Azerbaijan/European Space Agency/United States of America Workshop on the applications of GNSS is addressing, inter alia, the space technology applications such as: remote sensing, precision agriculture, aviation, transport and communications, and e-learning. The workshop aims at initiating pilot projects and strengthening the networking in the region. This workshop will also address the areas of natural resources management and environmental monitoring by applying GNSS technologies to thematic mapping, forest management and water resources management.

The programme includes plenary sessions and sufficient time for discussions among participants to identify the priority areas where pilot projects should be launched and examine possible partnerships that could be established.

Workshop is planned for a total of 80 participants including policymakers, decision makers and senior experts from the following groups: international, regional, national and local institutions, research and academic institutions, multi-lateral and bi-lateral development agencies, non-governmental organizations, and also from industry.

Azerbaijanâ€™s Minister of Communications and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov said participants from more than 32 countries were invited to the event.

According to him, the participants are discussing the opening of a global navigation system regional center in Azerbaijan.

There is a remarkable and growing number of civil users of global navigation satellite
systems (GNSS) such as the United States of America Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russian Federation Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the European Galileo system and the Chinese Compass/BeiDou and a growing number of satellites augmenting existing GNSS constellations, such as GPS and Geostationary Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN/IRNSS) of India, and Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS/MSAS) of Japan. For developing countries in particular, GNSS applications offer a cost-effective way of pursuing economic growth without compromising the need to preserve the environment, thus promoting sustainable development. Satellite navigation is now used in a wide range of sectors, including but not limited to, mapping and surveying, monitoring of the environment, precision agriculture and natural resources management, disaster warning and emergency response, aviation, and maritime and land transportation.