Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services

The Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services started as a Remote Sensing Application Laboratory in 1990 at the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Legon. As part of the Ghana Environmental Resource Management Project (GERMP), the centre was commissioned by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Remote Sensing Application Unit to produce land use and cover maps for Ghana’s Environmental Information System Development project. Under this project, national land use digital maps were produced at a scale of 1:250,000 using satellite image data in addition to regional bulletins for all the administrative regions of Ghana. The Remote Sensing Application Unit developed its staff capacity to provide contractual Remote Sensing and GIS services to its clients. In 2000, the status of the Remote Sensing Application Unit changed to Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERSGIS). The change of name meant change of strategic focus from a funded establishment to a self-sustaining Non-profit Organization that focused on providing geographic information and remote sensing services for sustainable development planning and management of resources. We offer Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) services for land and water resources appraisal and monitoring such as rural and urban land use pattern and trend analysis, The centre also provides support for research and teaching of the application of GIS and Remote Sensing to resources management. The Centre is currently involved in the development of spatial databases for mapping land use and land cover changes, desertification and flood hazards. Further services offered include, spatial modeling, vulnerability risk assessment and capacity building in GPS and GIS applications. Major clients of CERSGIS are government, non-government institutions and the private sector.