Presentations | 16 & 18 March

Information provided by Namibia Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft

Monday, 16th March at 19h30:

Presentation by Achim Röder, Marion Stellmes & Anne Schneibel

The utilization of earth observation images to monitor our environment

Dept. of Environmental Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics, University of Trier, Germany. Humans are changing the face of the planet at an unprecedented rate, and demographic developments and the way societies consume natural resources cause massive changes of land use and land cover, which in turn affects the potential of ecosystems to produce goods and services needed by humanity. With the launch of the first earth observation satellites in the early 1970s, the potential to assess and monitor the earth’s surface has advanced from individual snapshots to the synoptic observation of thousands of square kilometres with objective and consistent data. Since then, the focus has changed from engineering challenges of placing satellites in stable orbits towards the development of analysis techniques to answer specific environmental questions. Today, satellite images offer unique potential to contribute to a better management of terrestrial resources, by providing spatially explicit maps of the present state of the environment. Earth observations images show how past land use decisions have shaped today’s environment, and provide quantitative inputs for environmental models of various kinds. In our presentation we aim at introducing some of the fundamental concepts of satellite-based remote sensing and illustrate the potential of earth observation data to help addressing some of the most burning questions in environmental monitoring and assessment exemplified with case studies from Southern Africa.

Wednesday, 18th March at 19h30:

Presentation by Lize Brown, Ecologist/Herpetologist

The amazing amphibian diversity of Namibia

Frogs (and toads!) can be found all over the world and few people truly realize what unique creatures they are.Namibia is home to a surprisingly large amount of frog species with a number of them endemic. Specifically the endemic species show some amazing adaptations that they utilize in order to survive extremely harsh conditions.Lize Brown studies zoology, frog husbandry & breeding and is a certified venomous snake handler.

All events are open for public – everyone welcome! Venue is Namibia Scientific Society, Robert Mugabe Ave 110,
opposite National Theatre. Safe parking in yard – Love street entrance.
Please note: The opinions expressed during any presentations, films or events are not necessarily in accord with ours.