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temperatures, and ocean production (ocean color) with a view to the wise use and management of renewable and non-renewable marine resources. Basin scale  studies of physical and biological processes will contribute greatly to the management of resources in regional seas.

Recommended ISY Projects

Pilot projects offer a most practical means of initially directing space assets toward social and economic development objectives, and the ISY is an excellent vehicle for such projects. 
* Develop a register of data bases and activities related to remote sensing that can be consulted by users, focussing initially on a selected theme. The objective would be to develop a product for distribution and use in conjunction with the ISY. This effort would eventually be updated and grow. 
* Develop specific information products which demonstrate the impact of global change to the general public. They would include presentations showing the impact of humankind's activities on the environment (e.g. changes in global ice and forests) and presentations showing the environment affecting humankind (e.g. the social and economic effects of El Nino.)
* Establish a centralized source for collecting and distributing information and guidelines for applications of space remote sensing technology as a teaching tool. Numerous applications have developed locally that might be applied internationally.
* Specific information mapping projects, such as:
   (a) A multidisciplinary geographic-information-system atlas of Africa. This would include remote-sensing data and data from other sources including economic and social data. It would be developed for interactive use on personal computers perhaps using CD-ROM technology. The project should solicit feedback from users, and this feedback phase might occur during the ISY, in order to illustrate the benefits of such a space-derived atlas. 
  (b) A Pacific Basin ocean color map for use in managing fisheries, etc.
  (c) A global land use map (perhaps by region) for use in land use management and policy development. A Domesday Book of the world. 
  (d) A working map of Pacific Rim vulcanism with provision for updating and for the generation of reports of impacts and, where possible, warnings.
  (e) GIS-type products for use in schools. This might involve mass production of CD-ROM data bases or the provision of TV images through telecommunication networks. This would emphasize the combination of remote-sensing and other data.
  (f) Specific projects in third world countries demonstrating the delivery of information (originating in part from remotely sensed data) to ultimate end-users. Such end-users could be field offices, village elders, co-ops, etc. There should be an attempt to determine the cost-benefit ratio of such projects. 

Costs and Benefits of Satellite Remote Sensing: Potential ISY Activity

  Widespread application of satellite remote sensing technology depends upon making decisionmakers aware of its value. To that end, a project could be initiated to take 5-10 real case examples covering different uses of satellite-derived information in economic development in 20-25 randomly selected countries, between 1986-1991, and to document the social, economic, and possibly political benefits. The costs would be known, or collected and compared to the benefits. This would provide a clear comparison of costs and benefits of a representative set of large development activities. The results would be broadly disseminated during the ISY.

Conclusion

Remotely sensed data has the potential for contributing in a major way to the solution of many social and economic problems around the globe. For this potential to be realized fully, the data must be transformed into useful information and the appropriate people -- managers, officers, et al -- must be persuaded to use it.

  Therefore, it is vital that end-to-end systems tests, and the permanent activities that grow out of them, have social and economic development as well as scientific objectives and that social scientists (economists, sociologists, demographers, planners, et al) join physical scientists in planning such activities. The ISY offers an excellent opportunity for developing that vital synthesis by means of projects such as those outlined above.

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