INVITATION FOR THE PRESS: "PROBING VEGETATION Conference: from past to future"- 4–5 July 2013

SPOT-VEGETATION turned 15 in May 2013!
After a long and successful career as Europe’s first truly operational system for global monitoring of vegetation, the mission is now nearing the end of its life cycle.
But the story continues! The role of SPOT-VEGETATION will be taken over by ESA’s technologically advanced PROBA-V mission from the Autumn of 2013 onwards. After the successful launch on May, 6, 2013 (local time), and its first images only 8 days later, this Belgian satellite and its instruments hold high expectations. The miniature satellite is designed to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire planet every two days. The data can be used e.g. for alerting authorities to crop failures or monitoring the spread of deserts and deforestation.
To celebrate the operational and scientific achievements of SPOT-VEGETATION and to look forward to the intriguing perspectives that will be offered to the user’s community by PROBA-V, BELSPO and VITO have gathered over 200 international experts (authorities, scientists, developers, manufacturers and users) at the “PROBING VEGETATION Conference: from past to future”.

It is an honour for the organizers to be able to announce that HRH Prince Philippe will be attending the opening session. Moreover, HRH Prince Philippe will have a breakfast meeting with a number of collaborators of the PROBA V mission.

For additional information and programme, please visit our website: http://probing.vegetation.be/content/programme

If you plan to attend, may we ask you to contact
• Emmanuelle Courthéoux (Emmanuelle.COURTHEOUX@belspo.be ; +32 478 45 58 63)
• Kristine Verheyden (Kristine.verheyden@vito.be ; +32 472 250 262)
for further practical arrangements.

If you and/or your photographer or camera team wish to report on the participation of HRH Prince Philippe, you’ll be asked to show your Belgian press card (FOD Binnenlandse zaken / SPF Intérieur) as identification.