ESA LPS16.

Last week, I received news that our abstract was accepted for oral presentation at the Living Planet Symposium 2016 (LPS16), based on the scientific committee reviews. Our paper entitled, Identifying priority high conservation value areas using earth observation data to support site-level interventions in Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, Philippines, is scheduled for presentation on Day 3 as part of the series of biodiversity sessions.

I am not sure whether there are other presentations from the Philippines in this upcoming symposium, or if others have been made in the past symposia. But I am elated for sure that we have an opportunity to share our past work at LPS16 on 09 to 13 May 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic.

In addition to presenting our paper, I am looking forward to the discussions about remote sensing for Essential Biodiversity Variables (RS4EBV); applications of earth observation for biodiversity and conservation; the topics on tropical forests, forest biomass, and REDD+; updates about earth observation missions such as ALOS-2, the Sentinels, and BIOMASS; and the dedicated tutorials and demonstrations.

The LPS16 is organised by the European Space Agency (ESA) with support from the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. The main objectives of the symposium are to:

• Present the progress and plans for the implementation of ESA earth observation strategy and the relevance of ESA’s EO programme to societal challenges, science and economy;
• Provide an international forum to scientists, researchers and users to present and share state of the art results based on ESA’s earth observation and third-party mission data;
• Review the development of earth observation applications.
• Present the Copernicus space component and operational services.
• Report on ESA’s exploitation programmes such as the Climate Change Initiative, Data User Element, and Scientific Exploration of Operational Missions, among others;
• Introduce the current and future planned earth observation missions;
• Outline ESA’s international cooperation in the field of earth observation; and
• Provide dedicated thematic tutorials and demonstrations.

For more information, you can the ESA LPS16 website and check out the preliminary programme.

[Update: 01 Oct 2016]

Unfortunately, my plans to attend the ESA LPS16 did not push through this year as I was transitioning to my new research job at the National University of Singapore from my previous one at Fauna & Flora International. That’s too bad. Perhaps that gives me reason to look forward instead to the next symposium, LPS19, in three years time.