15 Countries Join the Asia-Oceania Group on Earth Observations

NANJING, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen countries in the Asia-Oceania region and several international organizations have participated in the Asia-Oceania Group on Earth Observations (AOGEO), a Chinese scientist said.

In the third AOGEO Workshop which concluded Saturday in east China's Changzhou City, Wang Qi'an, director of the National Remote Sensing Center of China, said AOGEO has now become the most extensive and consensus-based framework for international cooperation in the field of Earth observation in the Asia-Oceania region.

As one of the founding nations, China is the rotating chair of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) this year. AOGEO is one of the four major regional GEO groups in the world.

China is playing an important role in the Asia-Oceania region, with the second highest number of remote sensing satellites in the world and its application of Earth observation shifting from experimental use to business services, Wang said.

Earth observation applications were urgently needed as countries and regions in the Asia-Oceania region face severe, complex and diverse problems of climate change and sustainable development, said Wu Yirong, dean of the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The online meeting was attended by more than 100 representatives from 16 countries and several international organizations.