SPC Geoscience Division

The annual Pacific Geographic Information System and Remote Sensing (GIS/RS) User Conference will be held from Tuesday 25 - 27 November, 2014 in Suva.

The Conference will be held at the Japan Pacific ICT Centre located at the University of the South Pacific (USP), Laucala Campus and will be opened by the Permanent Secretary of Lands, Mr Tevita Boseiwaqa and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Applied Geoscience and Technology Division Director, Professor Michael Petterson.

The theme of the 2014 Conference is “Empowering Pacific Communities through Improved Geospatial Data” where more than 200 participants are expected to converge.

The three-day conference will include plenary presentations and technical sessions to address themes that include but are not limited to using GIS in forestry and landcover, coastal and marine, spatial open source data, disasters, geodetic infrastructure, utilities, and education with case studies from Pacific Island countries. The conference will also showcase the latest technology and applications on GIS presentations.

Dr Wolf Forstreuter, Head of SPC’s GIS/RS Unit commented that this is the only conference in the GIS & RS user community where Pacific Islanders have an opportunity to showcase their GIS & RS applications and meet representatives of spatial data resellers, software, hardware vendors, and scientific specialists. He added, ‘There are some regional conferences in Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia; however, the level of participation by representatives from the Pacific region is often limited at those meetings, as compared to the Suva conference.’

The nation of Tuvalu is made up of nine low-lying islands scattered across the surface of the equatorial Pacific Ocean.  These islands are home to over 11 thousand people and for them, the sea is a major source of food.  However, the ebb and flow of the tides has also brought change to these islands.

The sea level monitoring station in Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu, is one of 13 located throughout the Pacific region and undergoing maintenance. For the past 20 years it has been collecting and analysing vital data in tracking Tuvalu tides.  These monitoring stations help to better predict and prepare for the extreme high tide which, in turn helps prevent great loss to personal property.  Other vital services also depend on this important information e.g. infrastructure, large buildings etc.

The monitoring stations are part of the Australian Government- funded Pacific Sea Level Monitoring Project in partnership with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology’s Climate and Ocean Support Program, Geoscience Australia, Pacific Island Governments and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Geoscience Division (GSD).

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