The GIS Research Unit designed and implemented skill upgrading and retraining programs in high-demand sectors, with an emphasis on digital and green skills. Specifically, it conducted the following programs from September 2022 to December 2022:

• Location Intelligence and digital geospatial technologies: GIS, Drones, Satellite Images
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial technologies, and Location Intelligence in environmental and forest management
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geospatial technologies, and Location Intelligence in Digital Agriculture

B. Geoinformatics and digital geospatial technologies in enhancing agriculture for environmental protection

C. Processing digital image data from UAVs: GIS, remote sensing, 3D models, multispectral and thermal data, Vegetation indices

D. Basic training for UAV operators: Obtaining a certificate A1/A2/A3

E. Environmental Education for Preschool and Primary Education Teachers (Theory and Practice)

Training School in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in Agriculture: Applications in Vineyards [Cost Action CA21134 (T0P-AGRI-Network)]

This Training School has been organized by the scientific team of GIS Research Unit of Agricultural University of Athens and took place in selected awarded wineries of the internationally renowned Nemea PDO vineyard region. In this region a geospatial observatory has been established by the AUA GIS Research Unit as one of the results of a four year research project.

The course has been provided the principles and essential knowledge required for safe operations of state-of-the-art Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for agricultural applications mainly focused on vineyard management and pest detection. The course has been included meeting with pre-flight procedures and calibrations, development of basic flight skills in real flight conditions, use of a wide range of sensors for drone-based multispectral data acquisition for a variety of agricultural applications, and practice with open- source photogrammetric software for flight planning and post-flight processing of aerial imagery data.

18-24 November 2021

The GIS Research Unit undertook (as part of the implementation by the company NEW AGRICULTURE NEW GENERATION of a training program for the Agricultural Directorate of the Barba Stathis Company) the provision of demonstration services in the use of new technological aerial means and familiarization with precision agriculture services through educational seminars. Specifically:

I. Real-time demonstration of the flight of an autonomous aerial multicopter with imaging in the visible part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum (EM).

II. Real-time demonstration of the flight of an autonomous aerial multicopter with simultaneous imaging in the near-infrared part of the EF.

III. Processing and display of images for the rapid observation of the total cultivated area in order to monitor the evolution of the plants, the planning of the harvest, the forecasting of the production and the early diagnosis of nutrition problems, entomological and phytopathological attacks in order to deal immediately before the manifestation of their effects on cultivated plants.

Training on the Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) through two cycles of seminars/webinars (1/6/2021-28/2/2022) for officials of the Special Managing and Implementing Services of the "Rural Development 2014-2020" Program. The objective of the project was to train twenty-five (25) officials from the Special Managing Service and the Special Implementing Service of the "Rural Development" Program, who are required to analyze and present data and information that have a spatial dimension, thus necessitating the use of a Geographic Information Systems environment. The contracting authority was the UNIT FOR ORGANIZATION OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT (U.O.D.P.M.) S.A.

The object of the project was the training of twenty-five (25) executives of the Special Management Service and the Special Implementation Service of the "Agricultural Development" Program who are called upon to analyze and present data and information that also have a spatial dimension and therefore requires the use of a Geographical Environment Information Systems.

The contracting authority was the DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION UNIT (M.O.D.) S.A.

The GIS Research Unit undertook the implementation of part of it Workshop 3 ''Climate change and Agriculture'', in its context AdaptNet. The event took place in ''Navarino Environmental Observatory'', in Pylos on February 3 - 8, 2020. In particular, the EMGPS team, with scientific manager Mr. Kalyvas Dionysios, presented, in a theoretical and practical way, the whole range of modern digital technologies in Georgia. The proposals with a general title '"Digital Agriculture - Demonstration of digital tools, software and hardware (GIS, Remote sensing, UAV, mobile applications) for site specific crop and soil management (irrigation, fertilization, pest control)"  included the following thematic sections:

• Site Specific Digital Agriculture
• Spatial analysis of satellite data and GIS tools Management and monitoring zones using vegetation index Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis
• Spatial analysis of satellite data and GIS tools Management and monitoring zones using vegetation index Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis
• Cultivation and Monitoring using Remote Sensing: Applications in Agriculture

The GIS Research Unit participated in the past decade in organizing workshops and summer schools of the “Weed Mapping Working Group” of the European Weed Research Association (EWRS). Specifically, it was involved in two workshops in Prague (2014, 2018), in Israel (2015), and in Chania (MAICH, 2019), presenting theoretical topics and facilitating the practical training and exercises of participants in the following areas:

• Statistical methods and analysis for the spatial and non-spatial distribution of plant species using geostatistics
• Creation of digital maps for weed distribution, analysis, and interpretation of the maps
• Use of digital mapping in the application of precision methods for weed management