The sixth GEO Plenary session will take place Nov. 18-19, 2009 in Washington, D.C. The event will bring together members and participating organization of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) to discuss the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). This event takes place annually with the past two events taking place in Cape Town, South Africa (2007) and Bucharest, Romania (2008).

Teresa Fryberger of NASA, co-chair of  U.S. GEO, mentioned the upcoming event at ASPRS. Fryberger indicating that 80 countries would be involved, and that the event was strategically planned to coincide with the early days of the Obama administration. The U.S. GEO effort is made up of the following federal participants:

The US GEO comprises representatives from 15 member agencies and three White House offices: Centers for Disease Control, Department of Defense, Department of Defense – United States Navy, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior – Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior – Minerals Management Service, Department of the Interior – United States Geological Survey, Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Science Foundation, Smithsonian, Department of State, Department of Transportation, United States Army Corps of Engineers, United States Agency for International Development, United States Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture – Forest Service, Council on Environmental Quality, Office of Management and Budget, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy

The U.S. GEO effort is within the White Ouse Office of Policy and the GEOSS event stands to gain some high-level government promotion und the Obama administration. The opportunity for global cooperation on a sensor system of broad societal and non-military benefit are likely to resonate strongly with the goals and objectives of the current administration.

There’s no website yet with details on the event, but I’ll be following the event closely, and plan on attending.

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