processing equipment, as well as ease fears that 

 any one nation would gain unilateral advantage. 



Such efforts might take several organizational 

 forms including the establishment of centers for 

 data storage and processing by regional 

 organizations; multilateral funding and 

 participation through a specialized agency; or 

 ownership and management of a network of regional 

 stations and distribution centers through an 

 independent consortium of sponsoring nations or 

 through a U.N. body. 



— Increase assistance to developing countries to 

 establish and strengthen capabilities for remote 

 sensing data-gathering, analysis, interpretation, 

 and assessment. Some of these countries have 

 already begun to make use of the LANDSAT system. 

 It is probably advisable to continue this activity 

 through U.S. government agencies such as AID, USGS, 

 and NASA, drawing on the expertise of universities 

 or private sector organizations as appropriate. 

 Train and support the personnel needed by 

 developing countries for resource mapping and 

 assessment using remote sensing. A combination of 

 U.S. and developing country funds could be used to 

 strengthen and expand degree programs related to 

 remote sensing and resource analysis at selected 

 U.S. universities, focusing on problems of 

 developing countries. In turn, university teaching 

 and research activities could be used as a resource 

 for establishing nondegree training programs for 

 technicians at several regional centers in the 

 developing world. 



Support periodic seminars in cooperation with U.N. 

 regional commissions on remote sensing applications 

 and technologies. 



— Expand cooperative research projects with 

 developing countries on the application of remote 

 sensing to resource studies. 



— Introduce new satellite systems into use for remote 

 sensing as they become available. 



Both institution-building and training activities 

 should attempt to increase the level of awareness of 

 possible uses of existing data generated by the LANDSAT 

 (formerly ERTS) program and other remote sensing 

 activities. Even without gathering additional data, 

 many developing countries can find highly useful 

 applications for existing information. 



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