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SAEON key focus areas

OBSERVATION science

SAEON seeks to coordinate and support long-term in-situ environmental observation systems through three tiers of stakeholder advisory committees — political, technical and operational. 

SAEON’s scientific design is adaptively refined to be responsive to emerging environmental issues and corresponds largely with the societal benefit areas of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

Six SAEON nodes have been established, not only at locations selected for geographical spread, but also in different host organisations for organisational spread.

The nodes are field centres coordinating and facilitating observation and information systems for four biome-based terrestrial regions, the coastal zone (divided into three bio-geographic regions) and offshore-marine systems (divided into three Large Marine Ecosystems).

INFORMATION management

SAEON has concluded a comprehensive review of the mandates, impacts and drivers that shape its Information Systems Strategy, and has identified a series of interrelated programs aimed at alignment with its stakeholders, user community, domain(s) of operation, and corporate objectives. Programs are already underway to create the guideline architecture through extensions to the CoGIS Portal environment and the establishment of a number of supporting systems.

EDUCATION outreach

The objective of SAEON’s science education outreach programme is to provide a platform for science education outreach and capacity development.

 Key outcomes of the science education outreach programme