The detection of food shortages

An early warning system for food shortages and natural disasters in Africa is one step nearer, thanks to the DIANA telecommunications satellite system. This direct access information system, which was developed and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), will link the FAO headquarters in Rome with various regional surveillance offices and centres in Africa via Intelsat. The information leaves the 'mother' station in Rome for the regional stations: FAO Regional Office in Accra, Ghana, the Regional Surveillance, Cartography and Remote Sensing Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Harare Weather Centre in Zimbabwe. Soon, these stations will also be able to transmit short messages and computer files back to the mother station. DIANA transmits pictures and data on rainfall and the state of vegetation acquired by the environmental satellites and analyzed by the ARTEMIS system. ARTEMIS, developed by FAO, allows real-time surveillance of the state of crops in Africa and can issue an urgent warning if severe weather conditions are threatening, or if some natural disaster is imminent. FAO and the ESA are carrying out a year of tests of the different applications of the DIANA system, starting in July 1992. FAO Via delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, ITALY

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
Format:	News Item biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation 1992
Online Access:	https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45797 http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta40e/
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