Prof. Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis, and PhD candidate Andreas Christophe during the EARSEL workshop presented a paper on the “EXcellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment (EXCELSIOR) for the Eastern Mediterranean Region: the establishment of EO hub for data, products and services” and “Earth Observation for Forestry Applications in Cyprus”. During his presentation Prof. Hadjimitsis presented his vision about the Centre of Excellence by highlighting the following: ‘The new Centre to be the top-leading one in the Eastern-Med region! To host top scientists in earth observation! To be a sustainable centre through European and national funds! To provide product and services / Hub!‘Cyprus’ to be on the ‘European Map of Earth Observation’!’. He highlighted also that through the Widening Horizon 2020 call, the Eratosthenes Research Centre based on its existing experience of coordinating the ‘ATHENA’ Twinning project (www.athena2020.eu) has the capacity to move one step forward and be successful on the EXCELSIOR phase 2 project. During the EARSEL workshop the following poster papers have been also presented:
‘Earth Observation for Foresty Applications in Cyprus’ & ‘Exploring the Importance of Monitoring the Fire Risk Index in the vicinity of Cultural Heritage Sites in Cyprus using Sentinel Remote Sensing data’.
The EXCELSIOR team had interesting meetings with stakeholders from European and worldwide agencies, industry and the academia. Dr Vincent Ambrosia –NASA member of the Excelsior Advisory board and Prof. Rosa Lasaponara-CNR (partner in the ATHENA project) joined also the EARSEL workshop.
The EXCELSIOR team had interesting meetings with stakeholders from European and worldwide agencies, industry and the academia. The following institutions have agreed to collaborate with EXCELSIOR to achieve its goals:
1. Technical University of Crete, Greece
2. Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Greece
3. EFTAS, Remote Sensing Transfer of Technology, Germany
4. South Dakota State University, USA
5. University of Montpellier, France
6. University of Balamand Lebanon
7. RUDN University, Russia
8. Italian National Research Council (CNR)
