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Land Cover/Land Use Changes in Southeast Asia - Regional Environmental Impacts and Synthesis
Landscapes in Asia

Meeting Objectives

The countries in Asia are rapidly developing, with significant advancements in their economies, infrastructure, and technology. This development is characterized by increasing urbanization, industrial growth, and improvements in living standards. As a result, these nations are experiencing profound changes in their social, economic, and environmental landscapes. In several Asian countries, there is immense pressure on land conversion—from forests to agricultural areas and from agricultural areas to residential and urban uses—resulting in significant impacts on ecosystem services. The increased Land Cover/Land Use Changes (LCLUC) in the region are affecting the atmosphere, forest resources, biodiversity, and regional climate, including biogeochemical and water cycles, water resources, and ecosystem services. This meeting aims to review the availability, potential, and limitations of various Earth observations and other data sources and methodologies for monitoring and studying LCLUC and its environmental impact. Presentations will focus on synergies among different approaches and provide recommendations on improving the use of Earth observations, ground data, and modeling techniques for better understanding land use sources and sinks.

The purpose of this international meeting is to provide a forum to discuss LCLUC and its impacts in Southeast Asia, including synthesizing various research themes, projects, and activities in the region. The meeting will be organized around the following themes:

Mapping, monitoring, and Impacts assessment w.r.t. the following:

  • Land use in forests and mountain regions
  • Agriculture and water resources
  • Biomass burning, including land-atmosphere interactions, air quality and pollution
  • Urbanization
  • Land use in the coastal zone

Meeting Host

Philippines Space Agency (PhilSA)

Venue

Richmonde Hotel, Iloilo City, The Philippines

https://www.richmondehoteliloilo.com.ph/

Meeting Dates

February 19-21, 2025

Meeting Registration (Mandatory)

We have more than a hundred participants registered for the meeting. Therefore, registration is now closed, and we are considering participants on a case-by-case basis. Please contact PhilSA (essmsd@philsa.gov.ph) or Dr. Krishna Vadrevu (krishna.p.vadrevu@nasa.gov). 

3-Day Meeting (All presentations will focus on synthesis and highlight past and ongoing work in the region)

-Day-1 Plenary

              -Space Agency Presentations

              -Programmatic Presentations

              -Overview presentations on different themes         

-Day-2 Parallel sessions

              -Agriculture

              -Atmosphere

              -Coastal Zone

              -Urbanization

-Day-3

              -Reports from Day-2 Presentations

              -Special topics (not covered on Day 1 and 2)

              -Discussion session on research for societal benefit

Training Dates

22, 24-25 February 2025

Training Registration

-Please get in touch with the local host. Email: essmsd@philsa.gov.ph

Training Workshop on Fundamentals of Remote Sensing and Applications (for Early Career Researchers)
     The training workshop will provide a forum to interact with remote sensing experts on forestry, agriculture, and water resources. The focus will be on using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Optical remote sensing datasets. The introductory lectures will combine practical training involving basic and advanced methods. Fundamental knowledge of remote sensing and GIS is required to attend the training.

International Steering Committee

Dr. Krishna Prasad Vadrevu, Remote Sensing Scientist, Deputy Program Manager, NASA LCLUC Program (HQ) and SARI Lead, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA, Phone: 256-321-9492; and Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, USA; Email: krishna.p.vadrevu@nasa.gov

Dr. Garik Gutman, Program Manager, NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change Program; Landsat Program Scientist, Washington D.C. USA; Email: ggutman@nasa.gov

Dr. Chris Justice, Program Scientist, NASA LCLUC; Science Lead, NASA Harvest; Co-Chair , GEOGLAM ; Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland College Park (UMCP), Maryland, USA; Email: cjustice@umd.edu 

Dr. Son Van Nghiem, Senior Research Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, USA; Email: Son.V.Nghiem@jpl.nasa.gov

Dr. Peilei Fan, Department of Urban Environmental Planning and Policy, Tufts University, USA; Email: Peilei.Fan@tufts.edu

Dr. Matsunaga Tsuneo, Head, Center for Environmental Measurement and Analysis (Environmental Information Analysis Section), National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Japan; Email:matsunag@nies.go.jp

Dr. Toshimasa Ohara, Research Director at Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Japan and Fellow, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Japan; Email: ohara.toshimasa@pref.saitama.lg.jp

Dr. Wataru Takeuchi, Prof. Remote Sensing of Environment and Disaster, University of Tokyo, Japan; Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan. Email: wataru@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Dr. Jon Padgham, START Inc., USA; Emailjpadgham@start.org

Local Steering Committee

Dr. Gay Jane P. Perez, Deputy Director General, Office of the Deputy Director General for Space S&T Philippine Space Agency, Philippines; Email: gay.perez@philsa.gov.ph, oddgsst@philsa.gov.ph

Dr. Ariel C. Blanco, Director, Space Information Infrastructure Bureau, Philippine Space Agency, Philippines

Dr.Reinabelle Reyes, Director of the Space Science Missions Bureau, Philippines Space Agency, Philippines

Local Logistics Support

Ms. Jeniffer De Maligaya, Senior Science Research Specialist, Earth Sciences Space Mission Studies Division, Philippine Space Agency

Ellison Castro, Senior Science Research Specialist, Earth Sciences Space Mission Studies Division, Philippine Space Agency

Ma. Angelica De Hitta, Science Research Specialist I, Earth Sciences Space Mission Studies Division, Philippine Space Agency

Mr. Rocell Niño Vicente, Planning Officer IV, Planning and Project Management Division, Philippine Space Agency

Ms. Ramoncita Valdez,  Planning Associate II, Planning and Project Management Division, Philippine Space Agency

Mr. Kritzman Caballero, Chief Science Research Specialist, Space International Cooperation Division, Philippine Space Agency

Ms. Sharmaine Caoili, Executive Assistant IV, Office of the Deputy Director General for Space S&T,  Philippine Space Agency

Email: essmsd@philsa.gov.ph; Phone: +632 8568 99 31

Nearby Hotels

-TBD