Satellite applications course at Sultan Qaboos University

Twenty participants from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Iran and Oman are attending the fourth EUMETSAT Satellite Applications Course under way at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) here.

The course is sponsored by European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) and is held in co-ordination with the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation and Meteorology (DGCAM) and the Remote Sensing and GIS Centre, SQU.

The programme is meant as an opportunity for the participants to learn more about EUMETSAT satellites, the theory of remote sensing, image processing and interpretation, as well as other applications in satellite meteorology and climate studies.

The workshop is conducted by Henk Verschuur and HansPeter Roesli, both from EUMETSAT, Dr Juma Al Maskari and Humaid Al Badi from DGCAM, and Dr Andy Kwarteng from SQU.

The Centre of Excellence (CoE) at the university is recognised by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) for training in satellite meteorology and was inaugurated in February 2006.

It is a joint venture between the Department of Meteorology of DGCAM and the Remote Sensing and GIS Centre, and caters for the Arab speaking nations and countries in southwest Asia.

The centre’s activities are supported by EUMETSAT. Data and services from EUMETSAT's satellites provide a significant contribution to the improvement of weather forecasting and to the monitoring of global and regional climate.

Some 100 weather forecasters and environmental scientists from the Arab and southwest Asian countries have been trained since the establishment of CoE in Oman.

Source : http://www.khaleejtimes.com/