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April - June 2014
New Chief Geoscientist Appointed for the SOPAC Division
The SOPAC Division is happy to announce
the appointment of its new Chief
Geoscientist, Mr Kifle Kahsai. Originally
from Eritrea in North East Africa, Kifle is
also a naturalised New Zealander. He
received his B.Sc., Post-Graduate Diploma
and PhD. degrees in Geology, Geothermal
Energy Technology and Geochemistry
from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia,
University of Auckland in New Zealand and
Victoria University of Wellington in New
Zealand respectively.
Kifle has over 30 years of successful and
comprehensive career in geothermal
exploration and development fields and in
academia in many parts of the world.
He has worked and lived in a number
of countries in East Africa, SE Asia,
South Pacific and the Americas within
the geothermal industry with consulting
companies, investors, developers and
governments and also in academia in
tertiary and research institutions. His
work focuses on geoscientific studies
of geothermal reservoirs, geothermal
resource assessment and management of
geothermal development projects.
He has a broad knowledge and extensive
practical expertise which is an asset
to an interdisciplinary approach in the
development of strategies and policies
aiming to achieve sustainable development.
He has tertiary teaching experience in
geoscience areas including geothermal,
environmental and earth sciences,
hydrology and integrated water resources
management areas. He has been actively
involved in designing, conducting and
monitoring geothermal exploration and
development programs, including analysing
and interpreting geological and structural
mapping, hydrothermal alteration analysis,
geochemical and hydrological
characteristics and geophysical surveys.
This allowed him to develop an integrated
conceptual geological modellings of high
enthalpy geothermal systems in a variety of
tectonic settings. He is committed to the
transfer knowledge, gained through work
experience and research activities, to both
technical and non-technical professionals.
Secretariat of the Pacific Community brings drone
technology to Solomon Islands
Staff of SPC’s Solomon Islands Country
Office were saddened to witness tragedy
in the April flash floods that burst the
Matanikau and Lungga river banks, killing
at least six people and leaving some 10,000
homeless.
Country Office Manager, Mia Rimon,
contacted SPC Director-General, Colin
Tukuitonga and the Director of SPC’s
Applied Geoscience and Technology
Division (SOPAC), Michael Petterson with
a request for assistance. A request came
also from the Solomon Islands Ministry
of Lands, Housing and Survey (MLHS) to
provide a geohazards assessment.
In response to these, the SOPAC Director
arrived in Honiara with his team andmet with
the permanent secretaries of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and External Trade, MLHS
and the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Rural
Electrification (MEMRE). They presented
unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, or drone)
technology to the government to obtain
precise imagery of the flooded areas.
A UAV is an electrically driven, remotely
piloted vertical take-off aircraft equipped
with a standard camera. Using this high
level technology, SPC trained over 20
officers of MEMRE and MLHS and then they
took to the field over the Easter weekend to
obtain valuable imagery of the Matanikau,
Lungga and other rivers and parts of the
Guadalcanal plains. The drone use was
facilitated by SPC through the voluntary
services of Teja Kattenborn of Germany,
who was in Fiji doing work with SPC using
the drone when news of the floods broke.
SPC lost no time in asking Mr Kattenborn
if the drone could be used to assist the
Solomon Islands government, which
has relied on the technical and scientific
know-how, training and assistance of SPC
Geoscience for decades. Mr Kattenborn
was happy to help. He is working with
remote sensing expert Wolf Forstreuter of
SPC, who has trained dozens of Solomon
Island government officers in GIS and
remote sensing.
As a unique multi-ministry collaboration, Mr
Forstreuter and the team of ministry officials
worked on the drone data, and presented
their analysis to the Permanent Secretaries
of the three ministries and the Director
of the National Disaster Office yesterday
afternoon.
‘Using this technology, we have produced
high resolution images and digital terrain
models to document the recent flooding,’
said Mr Forstreuter. ‘We have clearly
mapped the spacial extent of the flooding
and the damage. Using this information, we
have worked with our counterparts to give
the government high quality scientific data
that can be used to ensure that people do
not move back into high risk areas that we
know will flood again.’
SPC’s Country Office in Honiara oversees
the work of the organisation in over twenty
government ministries.
Mr Kattenborn explains the use of the drone camera to
Solomon Island government officials
Drone in action