Author: Ann Wavinya

Building scientific cooperation in remote sensing + soil and land health research

In July 2022, World Agroforestry (ICRAF) and the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (ECoE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build cultural and scientific cooperation on remote sensing, soil and land health research, technological development, and innovation.

The MoU promotes a sustainable relationship between ICRAF and ECoE, whereby bilateral cooperation will be implemented in various ways to leverage each other’s strengths. “Collaboration between ICRAF and ECoE will enable knowledge and experience to be transplanted in both directions, attaining expeditious growth and development,” said Zampela Pittaki, a soil spectroscopy data scientist at ICRAF.

Through the MoU, the two organizations intend to exchange research staff, and collaborate on research projects, information exchange, scientific documentation, and publications. There will also be mutual exchange of remote sensing and ground-measured data on soil and vegetation properties and atmospheric conditions – and thesis co-tutorship. The two organizations plan to pursue joint fundraising activities, and expand soil spectroscopy science.

ICRAF, which is a center of scientific excellence and has been a world-class research institution for over forty years, leverages the world’s largest repository of agroforestry science and information – and has been at the forefront of remote sensing and soil health research for over two decades. Using tools such as the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework and spectroscopy, the institution has contributed notably to the development of efficient and cost-effective methods for acquiring credible data and evidence.

The University of Cyprus established ECoE in 2019 to upgrade its remote sensing and geo-environment laboratory, which had been operating at the Cyprus University of Technology since 2007. ECoE aims to become a world-class digital innovation hub for Earth observation, space technology, and geospatial information – and to be the reference center on these topics in the Eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa.

Diofantos Hadjimitsis, ECoE’s managing director, said that he expects the MoU to help the institution increase its stakeholder outreach and expand its area of activities in Africa. “The mobility of researchers between the two organizations, the mutual participation in research proposals and projects, and the overall knowledge exchange, will facilitate new synergies between remote sensing and soil/land health research and product development, leading to a further upgrade of the innovation capacity of the EcoE,” he said.

The MoE will contribute to the creation of an innovation ecosystem that combines state-of-the-art remote sensing, data management and processing technologies, cutting–edge research opportunities, targeted education services, and entrepreneurship promotion.