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Further Reading

Morocco and Earth Observation Systems

A number of projects combining spaceborne remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) are in the process of development or implementation. These projects are designed to meet needs in the areas of natural resource stocktaking and management, environmental protection and town and country planning within the context of national and regional development programmes.

With regard to natural resources and the environment, several significant projects might be mentioned:

• The national AGRIMA project (co-financed by UNDP, the Ministry for Agriculture and CRTS) on the incorporation of satellite data in the country's agricultural statistics;
• The FORMA project (at the development stage and co-financed by the European Union, the Ministry for Agriculture and CRTS) on satellite surveillance of Moroccan forests;
• A study of the changes in land use and the estimation of the biomasses involved (financed by UNEP/GEF and managed by the Ministry for the Environment);
• The GEOSTAT project on vegetation mapping and the survey of common grazing land in Morocco, with the collaboration of CRTS, the Ministry for Agriculture and the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES). CRTS and CNES are currently working with the Sahara and Sahel Observatory to consider the possibility of extending this study to the region.

With regard to the coastline and marine environment monitoring:

• Morocco is currently working on applications for lagoon management and beach mapping;
• The national GERMA project (co-financed by the European Union, the Ministry for Maritime Fisheries and the Merchant Navy and CRTS), for the development of a system based on satellite images for marine resource management, is in the implementation phase;
• Morocco has participated in the airborne GLOBESAR campaign initiated by Canada to prepare for the launching of that country's RADARSAT satellite and, in that connection, has embarked on coastline and soil erosion research.

In the area of town planning, CRTS, together with the Rabat Urban Agency and Belgian Cooperation, is setting up a project using satellite data to monitor cities in developing countries. The aim of this project is to take advantage of existing methodologies and adapt them to towns with high growth rates.