IOC SubCommision for the Western Pacific (IOC/WESTPAC) and CEARAC conducted the 1st NEAR-GOOS-NOWPAP joint training course on remote sensing data analysis, at Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan from 3 September - 7 September 2007.
The course consisted of lectures by specialists and hands-on practical sessions on analysis of satellite data. The course provided an overview of remote sensing of ocean color with special emphasis on applications of ocean color relevant to the Northwest Pacific Region.
The training course was targeted at postgraduate students, professional researchers and local government officers working in the fields of marine sciences and coastal-zone management in North-East Asian Regional GOOS (NEAR-GOOS) and NOWPAP area. Applications from advanced undergraduates also were considered.
Ten lecturers composed of experts from China, Japan, Rep. of Korea, Russian Federation and USA, were invited and made the lectures and give practices to twenty three participants in the training course (Appendix 1).
Twenty three participants from eight countries which were China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Rep. of Korea, Russian Federation, Thailand and Vietnam, were chosen based on their demonstrated ability to be able to transfer the knowledge and skills gained in the course, back to their respective schools and institutions as trainees, and attended to the training course (Appendix 2).

Objectives

The objectives of the training course were as follows;

To make the participants become acquainted with the concept of NEAR-GOOS and its function in the WESTPAC region.
To contribute to capacity building for monitoring and assessment of marine and coastal environment in the Northwest Pacific Region through providing technical assistance of ocean remote sensing techniques.

Data and Venue

The date and venue of this training course were as follows:

Date; 3 September to 7 September 2007
Venue; Nagasaki University
Bunkyo-cho 1-14, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki 852-8521, Japan

Organization Structures

The training course was operated under the following organization structures:

Organizers:
IOC SubCommission for the Western Pacific (IOC/WESTPAC)
Special Monitoring & Coastal Environment Assessment Regional Activity Centre (CEARAC)
Co-organizer:
Nagasaki University
•Supporter:
UNDP / GEP Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem Project

Course Fee

Training course was provided for free of charge. However, the cost for traveling and accommodation was borne by participants themselves except for some participants from overseas who were defrayed the cost of traveling and accommodation by the UNESCO-Japan Fund in Trust for WESTPAC or the NOWPAP Fund.

Course Outline

Topics of the training course to be addressed included the following:

Lectures; Satellite oceanography, sensor characteristics, concept of NEAR-GOOS and NOWPAP, and so on.
Hands-on practice sessions; Operation of remote sensing software, case studies for the open-ocean and coastal environment.
By the end of the training, participants acquired the following knowledge and skills on:
Utilization methods for the remote sensing data in the open ocean and coastal environment;
Advantages and limits of the use of remote sensing in the marine and coastal environment;

Detailed course program are attached as Appendix 3.

Training texts

Please click the below link to the training texts distributed during the course.
Training texts for the first NEAR-GOOS - NOWPAP Joint Training Course on Remote Sensing Data Analysis

Course Evaluation

On 7 September 2007, the evaluation report on the training course was submitted by the most of the participants. This evaluation report was constituted by two questionnaires prepared by the organizers. The overall consensus was that the students learned a lot in a short period of time, the course was well arranged and also presented a great opportunity for participants to network with specialists in the filed.
However,the course should be reconsidered taking into account of the comments from the participants in order to optimize the maximum benefit of this training course in the future.

A group photo taken at the openning.

A snap shot during the hands on practice.