An international workshop on Glocal Monitoring was held on February 25 at Tokai University Koyu Hall in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, as part of the research project, “Contributing to a Safe and Secure Society through the Development of a Glocal Monitoring System for Monitoring Disasters and Environmental Changes.” This project was selected as a 2016 research branding project for private universities by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The purpose of this event was to introduce the selected project to society at large and to further expand its research content through discussions with researchers from overseas. About 60 participants from inside and outside Tokai University participated.

At the beginning, Dean Kiyoshi Yamada, speaking on behalf of Tokai University, expressed his aspirations, saying, “Tokai University has long been strong in research that utilizes satellite data such as remote sensing. Now that this project has been selected for the Private University Research Branding Project, we hope we can further strengthen our research.” Then an overview of the project was given by project representatives Professor Kohei Cho, who serves as Director of the School of Information Science and Technology, and Professor Osamu Uchida of the School of Information Science and Technology. After this, researchers from the US, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, and Germany introduced their research, the current state of the utilization of satellite images, and means of spreading information in disaster times.

With lively discussions during the workshop, the event provided a good opportunity for participants to learn about cutting-edge research from around the world. At the information exchange session after the event, participants exchanged opinions on cutting-edge technologies and their applications in other fields.

The research themes and presenters were as follows.

○Outline of Glocal Monitoring Project
Professor Kohei Cho (Dean, School of Information Science and Technology; Deputy Director, Research and Information Center)
Osamu Uchida (Professor, Department of Information Media Technology, School of Information and Telecommunication Engineering)

○Combustion Sources Monitoring with Night Time Satellite Images
Dr. Christopher D. Elvidge (physicist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US)

○Land Use Change Detection Using Satellite Data
Professor Chifan Chen (Center for Space and Remote Sensing Research, National Central University, Taiwan)

○Experiences in Disseminating and Communicating Disaster Geo-Information to Local Communities
Professor Enrico Paringit (University of the Philippines)

○Research Activities of RADI
Professor Husi Letu (Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

○Sea Ice Monitoring at the University of Bremen
Dr. Gunnar Spreen (University of Bremen Institute of Environmental Physics, Germany)