which the Centre is bound by an agree-
ment. The Board of Directors is in charge
of deciding the general policy of the
Centre, of reviewing its programme of
activities and of approving its budget and
annual balance. The Centre also has a
Scientific Board that gives opinion on the
scientific programme to be submitted to
the Board of Directors.
regional and international scientific insti-
tutions, the Centre has implemented five
(05) postgraduate training sessions since
April 2002 to this day. Overall, more
than 60 African trainees coming from
member states took part in the following
courses: two training sessions for
Remote Sensing and GIS, two training
munications and one training session for
Satellite Meteorology and Global
Climate. A new postgraduate training
session is scheduled for Remote Sensing
and GIS, and more than 25 applications
are recorded, thus showing the keen
interest aroused by these tools in African
countries.
stages. The first stage takes place in the
Centre, and this course comprises more
than 1000 hours, including the prepara-
tion of a pilot project. During the second
stage, the trainee has to achieve a
research project in his home country. At
the end of this stage, a viva voce before
an examining board is organised in the
Centre.
- extraction and texture analysis of urban
fabric through texture and statistical
approach from satellite imaging
(RSGIS),
to multi-resolution texture classification
of satellite images (RSGIS),
- contribution of remote sensing and GIS
to the monitoring of land occupation
dynamics in Tunisian arid environment.
Case of the Haddej Bou Hedma observa-
tory (RSGIS),
- image compression and transmission
through VSAT (ST),
- contribution of Landsat 7 ETM+
images to map updating at the 1/200000
scale. Case of the M'Sila map sheet
(High plateaux, Algeria) (RSGIS),
- assessment of the contribution of
Ikonos images to topographic mapping -
Application to large scales (RSGIS),
- feasibility study of a Moroccan nano-
satellite dedicated to transmitting seismic
signal (ST).
Union's request, the Centre organised in
July 2001 an international workshop on
the theme "Regulation and Management
of the Frequency Spectrum". It also took
the initiative in organising in June 2003
an international workshop devoted to
"Space Technology and Telemedicine"
with the backing of the United Nations
Office for Outer Space Affairs (Vienna)
and the European Space Agency (ESA),
the support of the Canadian Space
Agency, the French Space Agency
(CNES), ISESCO, Eutelsat, WHO,...
Climate Observing System - World
Meteorological Organisation) to take part
in the implementation of an action plan
for West and Central Africa, by designing
a project aimed at reinforcing the capa-
cities related to the use of satellite obser-
vation data.
tives that involve the use of space-
derived tools. On this account, the
TIGER initiative of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development
Follow-up Programme of the CEOS,
that intends to develop sustainable
information services related to Earth
observation for the management of
water resources in Africa, recom-
mended to rely particularly on
Centres such as the CRASTE-LF in
order to consolidate African capaci-
ties.
NAFREF project aimed at defining a
Unified Co-ordinate Reference Frame
for North Africa, especially as regards
the realisation of the considerable trai-
ning chapter it includes.
between the Centre and the Islamic
Educational Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (ISESCO) and with the
African Centre for Meteorology Applied
to Development (ACMAD), to say no-
thing of the agreements settled with spe-
cialised institutions of the member states.
of space technologies to improve deci-
sion-making processes in various fields,
in order to put an end to underdevelop-
ment, especially in Africa. The setting-up
of these technologies at a national scale
in an autonomous and permanent way is
subject to a considerable effort of rein-
forcement of capacities and awareness.
The CRASTE-LF is dedicated to this
task. To achieve this goal, the Centre
relies on the commitment of its member
states as well as on the support of inter-
national institutions and organisations of
advanced countries that are interested in
bringing their contribution to this pro-
cess and in developing multilateral co-
operation. This mission is quite in phase
with main activities within the MEDIAS
network.