Introduction

SEAMERGES is a project funded under the ASEAN-EU University Network programme (AUNP), human resource development component, by the European Committee (EC) that started 1 January 2004 and will run for two years. The participants are university and research groups from the Netherlands, France, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand who are involved in geodetic education and geodetic research. The project entails a number of seminars on the applications of the Global Positioning System, Interferometric SAR and satellite radar altimetry: exchanged knowledge, methods and data will then be used to define and carry out research projects targeted to the South-East Asian region.

Update: The SEAMERGES partners have published their GPS results on the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake in Nature! Checkout the News and Quakes in SE Asia sections!

Summary

The aim of the SEAMERGES project is the transfer of knowledge, expertise and technology to SE-Asia to locally enable higher-level geodetic research and initiate implementation of applications for water management and risk assessment. It also aims at stimulating scientific cooperation among the different Asian countries. The initial target groups consist of selected staff and students of 3 local universities: the Institut Teknologi Bandung in Indonesia, the Universiti Teknology Malaysia in Malaysia, and the Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. Main activities include theoretical and training courses in 3 geodetic techniques (HRD), the setup of interdisciplinary research (pilot) projects involving all partners, and the organization of a final international symposium. Besides the 3 university groups in SE-Asia (ITB, UTM, and Chula) the partnership includes DEOS (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands) and ENS (Ecole Normale Superieure, France).

Objectives

1. Transfer moderate and expert scientific knowledge and associated technologies in the field of earth-oriented space research to the ASEAN countries, which are tailored to their needs;
2. Improve research capability in the participating ASEAN countries, which would in turn allow for better and mujtual beneficiary cooperation between ASEAN and EC countries on the higher-education and scientific research levels;
3. Encourage more comprehensive and efficient studies in the region of SE-Asia in the fields of space geodesy, geodynamics and the assessment and monitoring of environmental risks. These future ASEAN co-lead research projects should also stimulate the participation and the sharing and transfer of knowledge of other ASEAN countires not included in this project;
4. Help the ASEAN countries to become full and respected members of the international scientific community. Both direct (graduated students) and indirect (through research projects and technology spin-offs) also the civil and industrial community would benefit from the project's HRD and combined research efforts.

Contacts

To register interest and make comments or suggestions please contact Boudewijn Ambrosius or Wim Simons of DEOS of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands.

For more information please go to the documents section.