Training/education and
research promotion on Remote Sensing in Thailand Chalomphon Boonboothara, Lakkana Srisawat Remote Sensing Division, National Research Council Bangkok 10900, Thailand Abstract Having realized the important role of remote sensing as an effective tool for national planning and development, the Thailand Remote Sensing Center (TRSC) under the auspices of the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) has encouraged Thai officials from various government agencies to be trained in this field with an aim to increase the awareness and expertise within the country. Training courses have been provided at NRCT on a regular basis. In addition, opportunities for Thai officials to be trained abroad have been widely open through supports from various foreign institutions under the coordination of NRCT. However, the more striking effort has been to popularize and promote research work on remote sensing by providing research grants to both government and private sectors. The year 1978 worked the beginning of such promotion with an allocation of 500,000 Baht to fund projects. This annual research fund has been doubled once in 1980 and again in 1990 to 2 million Baht with an exclusion of the value of satellite data which are provided free of charge for research purposes. So far a total of 108 projects, including agriculture, forestry, land-use, computer science, geography, hydrology and oceanology, earth science and multi-discipl9inary have been supported. However, the most outstanding projects were that submitted by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn under the titles, Land Use/Land cover Map Accuracy of Landsat Thematic Mapper Data using the Dimaps Image Processing System for Narathiwat Province , and Environmental and Agricultural Development Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques in Phatthana Nikhom District , I. op Buri Province, for 1988 and 1989 respectively. Although most of the funded projects are only on research scale or experimental stage, Thailand, in the near future, is expecting to provide research funds for a multidisciplinary approach that would lead to an operational scale. Introduction Technology transfer has been one of the activities being promoted by Thailand Remote Sensing Center (TRSC). This is done in terms of education, training and research support in area of remote sensing and its application. Since 1973, TRSC/NRCT has started to transfer this advanced technology by organizing the First Basic Training Course in Remote Sensing. By that time, there were 69 participants from 19 organizations attended the course. From then on, various kinds of training have been continuously held, namely, the basic courses in visual interpretation and hands on training on digital image processing, etc. With the availability of computerized image analysis systems at RRSC/NRCT in 1984, several workshops have been organized. Through the technology transfer done by TRSC/NRCT expertise in this field has increased rapidly. In addition, financial support for research purposes has also been provided in order to familiarize Thai scientists with remotely sensed data. The purpose of this paper is to encourage a better understanding of the important roles of both NRCT and the Thai academic institutes on increasing the man-power in the field of remote sensing in order to be able to apply remote sensing technology for natural resources management effectively. Education and training in Thailand The participation in the United States NASA LANDSAT Investigation Program with the launch of ERTS-1 (LANDSAT-1) of Thailand has marked the era of using data from space. In the very beginning of that period, NASA supported LANDSAT1-2 data for Thailand through the EROS Data Center. The education and training in Thailand started when the 6 Thai officers were funded by FAO and UNDP to be trained at Laboratory for Application of Remote Sensing of Purdue University, U.S.A. After returning, these officers started to transfer and promote this technology. Since, in the beginning period, Thailand had lacked man-power in this field, TRSC/NRCT therefore began to organize a basic training course on remote sensing for personnel not only from government sector but also from private sectors. The content of the training course was centered around the application of remote sensing data for economic development as well as stimulating and promoting this technology. Since then, the organization of training has become one of the major activities of TRSC/NRCT. Along with this idea, in 1973, the First Basic Training Courses in Remote Sensing was organized at the Royal Forest Department with the support of USAID in sending 6 experts in remote sensing field to train the 69 Thai participants of 19 organizations. Later on, the trainings of this type were organized for 9 times at TRSC from 1976-1984 with details as appeared in Table 1.
Although Thailand has engaged in satellite remote sensing for as much as a decade now, one still has to admit that the awareness of this technology and its application is limited to a rather small community. (Vibulsresth : 1983). However, this problem has begun to dissolve after the high resolution satellite data of LANDSAT MSS and TM, SPOT HRV and the Japanese MOS-1 VTIR and MESSR can be received at the Thailand Ground Receiving Station. Thus, in order to increase the awareness as well as familiarization with satellite data, the various kinds of training have been done by TRSC/NRCT, In 1980, the First Training Course of LANDSAT Data processing and Applications was organized and computer was first introduced for satellite data interpretation. All of these training courses appear in table 2.
One the main goals of TRSC/NRCT is the development of methodologies and applications for the benefit of users. After 1984, TRSC/NRCT is equipped with two computerized image analysis systems, DIPIX Aries-2 and Meridian. The Dipix is a stand-alone, single workstation system while the Meridian provides a multi-operational environment with three PC workstations for image processing and a PC GIS that is linked to the Meridian System. The GIS is located on an IBM PC-AT computer with the SPANS (Spatial Analysis System) software. In addition, the TRSC/NRCT has developed a micro based image analysis system using the available commercial personal computer. The system was called MIAS-1 (Micro-Image Analysis System-1). It is suitable for elementary training (Ruangsisri, 1990). These facilities are made available to most government users to promote the use of satellite data to extract information that would be useful not only to the respective agencies but also to the community as a whole. In attempting to create knowledge and better understanding on computerized image analysis, the First and the Second Hands on Training on Digital Image processing were organized in 1987 and 1989 respectively. There have been 29 participants already attending this training. It is hoped that these participants will be able to operate this kind of equipment effectively. Moreover, some specialized training has been designed to fit the ongoing activities of certain agencies such as training courses on remote sensing and mangrove which were held in 1986 and 1987 for increasing expertise of forest officers particularly those in local areas. Clearly, all the afore-mentioned training courses have provided highlights on the techniques and applications on remotes sensing. In other words, the participants are encouraged to continue their work on using remotely sensed data when back in their offices. The feedback of the participants after completion of the course also look promising in that they have become familiar with the data and its potential, and hence strengthening users community within the country. While remote sensing has proven useful in providing timely information which is necessary for development planning proceed both at regional and national level, there is a need to increase the awaronee of this technology in various sectors concerned including planners and decision makers. This has been achieved through organization of seminars and workshops on a regular basis. In addition to the international seminars, workshops, conferences and symposiums have been organized jointly with international agencies in order to share experiences and exchange ideas and information for mutual benefits. It seems that only the technology transfer through trainings and seminars within the country has not fulfilled the need of man-power requirement, Besides, this advanced technology has developed continuously, This is the reason why Thai officers of various agencies
Note: CIDE = Canada International Development Agency KKU = Khon Kaen University AARS = Asian Association on Remote Sensing ERIM = Environmental Research Institute of Michigan NRCT = National Research Council of Thailand ATT = Asian Institute of Technology concerned have been funded to study and be trained aboard. Thailand have benefited greatly from international co-operation, that is, Thai officers have received continuous support and assistance from these organizations. Many joint projects, such as, Thai-Canadian Cooperation Remote Sensing Application Project, MOS-1 Project of NASDA, etc, are the good examples of these assistance. Education of Remote Sensing in Thai Academic Institutes Thailand has realized the importance of remote sensing technology for a long time. Along with this idea, many universities like Chujalongkorn University, Silapakorn University, Ramkhamhaeng University, Srinakharinwirot University and Chiang Mai University have included remote sensing into the curriculum of geography both for undergraduate and graduate levels while kasetsart University has included this subject in the Faculty of Forestry. The course on remote sensing has also been included in Teacher's College. For the international institutes in Thailand like the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), there has been a Master Degree Curricular in Natural Resources Department. TRSC/NRCT has played an important role in coordinating and providing research funds for lecturers of the said academic institutes, as well as providing satellite data and also training for students in this field. Research Promotion One of the major activities of TRSC/NRCT is research promotion by stimulation research work in terms of providing research grants to both government and private sectors. At the early stage of this activity (1976-1980), each year, a total fund of about 500,000 Baht was allocated from TRSC'S annual budget for this purpose. In the first year, ten projects including Agricultural Area Surveying and Mapping, The Study of Environmental Changes in the Bangkok Metropolitan Area. The Study of Changes in Forest and Land-use were supported. This annual research fund has been doubled once in 1980 and again in 1980 to 2 million baht with an exclusion of the value of satellite data which TRSC/NRCT would support besides actual fund. So far a total of 108 projects , from 70 principal investigators, in areas of agriculture, forestry, land-use , computer science , geography, geology, hydrology, oceanography, earth science and multi-disciplinary, were supported by TRSC, These researchers are from various concerned agencies, such as Land Development Department, Department of Agriculture , Department of Agricultural Extension, Office of Agricultural Economics, the Royal Forest Department , Department of Mineral Resources, the Royal Irrigation Department, the Royal thai Survey Department , Department of Fisheries, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Asian Institute of Technology, the Academic institutes of the government, etc. However, the most outstanding projects were that submitted by H.R.H. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn under the titles Land Use/Land Cover Map Accuracy of LANDSAT Thematio Mapper Data Using the DIMAPS Image Processing System for Narathiwat Province and Environmental and Agricultural Development Studies by Remote Sensing Techniques in Phatthana Nikhom District, Lop Buri Province, for 1988 and 1989 respectively . For this fiscal year, the total fund has been provided to 19 research projects as shown for the following
In Fact, although most of the funded projects have been only on research scale or experimental staged, Thailand, in the near future, is looking forward to providing research funds for a multi-disciplinary approach that would lead to an operational scale and become very widespread. Conclusion As mentioned earlier, Thailand has attempted to apply remote sensing technology to national development since 19781. That is, in comparison with the past years, it seems reasonable to conolude that Thailand has vividly increased man-power on remote sensing . Undoubtedly, this came about through technology transfer policy and the high capacities of the Thailand ground Receiving Station. Along with this idea, about 600 trainees who have already been trained can help broaden the use of this high technology. In addition, there were 70 principal investigators / researchers of 27 organizations who were funded by TRSC/NRCT for research work. This leads us to the conclusion that Thailand is entering into an operational scale in years to come. References
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