On behalf of the organizing committee of the 3rd International Symposium on Earth Observation for Arid and Semi-arid Environments (ISEO), it is a great pleasure for me to invite you to participate in this symposium, which will be held in the capital city of Tajikistan – Dushanbe from 19th to 21st of September 2016.

The investigations on Earth observation in Central Asia are a very important mechanism for strengthening the international scientific cooperation in this region.

The first ISEO symposium was initiated and organized in 2012 in Kashgar, Peoples Republic of China, which showed that investigations of the Earth from the space can give very important and useful results. The next symposium, ISEO-2014 held in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, revealed new aspects of the Earth observation, especially in the field of environmental protection, natural resources and natural disasters; gave new opportunities for the further development of scientific investigations, data sharing on formation and development of the arid and semi-arid zones in Central Asia.

Holding ISEO international symposium now became a tradition. This was a symbolic to organize the first ISEO symposium in an ancient city on the Great Silk Road. Continuing this tradition the 3rd ISEO 2016 in Dushanbe will be organized with the theme of “Earth observation for the Great Silk Road”. The goal of this symposium is to focus on different aspects of Earth observation, which can give a unique opportunity to discuss how effectively we react to global economic and social changes in our densely populated planet.

I hope that the symposium will play a very important role in strengthening of the international cooperation in the field of Earth investigations from the space. I heartily welcome you, scientists, experts and students from different countries to join our international scientific symposium in the capital of sunny Tajikistan in September – the golden period of year.