The Future Okavango
 
 You are here: HomeGlossary
Filter Glossary

First letter of the Acronym 
  
 

Glossary

  

Acronym Explanation
ACADIR Angolan Partner NGO of TFO, (see KCS and NNF)
ACRU Agrohydrological Modelling System
ADRC Applied research consultants
AFAPAR Analytical Framework for Assessing Participatory Agricultural Research
AI Aridity Index
AIDIS Adaptable Integrated Data and Information System
ALDEP Arable Land Development Program
AN Angola
API Application programming interface
ARAP Accelerated Rain-Fed Arable Program
Area Term used on different spatial scales. Research area usually means the (see site)
Basin An area having a common outlet for its surface runoff.
BECVOL Biomass Estimates from Canopy Volume
Bio-economic models A bioeconomic model is a mathematical representation of a managed biological system. Bioeconomic models describe biological processes and decision-making processes and predict the effects of management decisions on these processes. They also evaluate the consequences of management strategies in terms of some economic performance measure – usually a measure of profit.
BIOLOG Forschungsprogramm "Biodiversität und Global Change"
BIOTA BIOdiversity Monitoring Transect Analysis in Africa. Former BMBF Research project in Namibia and RSA
BMBF Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
BNF Biological Nitrogen Fixation
BO Botswana
CA Conservation Agriculture
CASIMIR Computer Aided Simulation System for Instream Flow Requirements
Catchment Used to denote the Okavango river catchment. Synonymous to Basin
CE.DO Centre of Desert Studies – Angola
CEDP Caprivi / Community Economic Development Project
CFNEN Community Forestry in North Eastern Namibia
CLM Community Land Model
CLUE Conversion of Landuse and its Effects (Land-use-change Model)
Community Often used synonymous to village. Describing a group of people cohabitating within a certain spatial area. Community implies a sense of belonging and common interests of its members, but that must not necessarily be so.
CONTILL Conservation Tillage Project
core site see site, used similarly maybe just additionally indicating the special core areas of interdisiplinary research within a site
CORONA A former US military reconnaissance satellite system
CP Coordination project
CPP Country Pilot Partnership Programme for Integrated Sustainable Land Management (Namibia)
CRIAA SA-DC Centre for Research Information Action in Africa Southern African Development and Consulting
CSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, South Africa
DED Deutscher Entwicklungsdienst
DEES Directorate Extension and Engineering Services, MAWF, Namibia
DFID UK Department for International Development
DNA Desoxyribonukleinsäure
DNAPF Direcção Nacional de Agricultura, Pecúaria e Florestas
DoF Directorate of Forestry, Namibia
DSS Decision Support System
DWAF Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
ECHAM5 Comprehensive general circulation model of the atmosphere
ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
emic An emic model is one which explains the ideology or behaviour of mebers of a culture according to indigenous definitions (see etic)
EOS Earth Observation Satellite; medium-high spatial and spectral resolution and lower temporal resolution
EPSMO Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango River Basin Project
EPSMO Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management of the Okavango River Basin
ERP Every River has its People Project
ERU Erosion Response Units
ESB - Ecosystem Benefits the perceived contribution of ecosystem services to human well-being. “Ecosystem benefits thus relate to the value of ecosystem services, which can be made explicit using particular measurement tools“ (Gomez-Baggethun and de Groot, 2010)
ESF - Ecosystem Functions Ecosystem functions are the physical, chemical, and biological processes or attributes that contribute to the self-maintenance of an ecosystem; in other words, what the ecosystem does. E.g. provision of wildlife habitat, carbon cycling, or the trapping of nutrients  (naturevaluation.org). ESF are all the processes which take place in an ecosystem, ensure its functioning and maintain its integrity.
ESG - Ecosystem Good Ecosystem goods consist of the goods which are delivered by ecosystems to societies. These are food and fibers in general, such as driking water, forest products, crops, grass for grazing, wildlife, raw material for construction.
ESS - Ecosystem Service Since there is a variety of understandings of the concept of ESS - from one that includes only ESG and one that includes all ESG and ESF relevant to human well-being - the identification of specific ESS in TFO should be done so as so serve the overall purpose of the TFO project. Consequently the following criteria for the identification of ecosystem services (ESS) were identified. 1.) ESS should be useful indicators for management. 2.) ESS relevant and meaningful for the practical and scientific dimensions. 3.) ESS as interface between natural and socio-economic sciences. 4.)  ESS in consistence with existing literature. The exact denomination of the specific ESS of TFO will arise as groups work together towards the effective data exchange.
ESSP Earth System Science Partnership
Ethnography Anthropological method of describing human societal groups and their culture grounding on participatory observations and questioning
etic An etic model is one which is based on criteria from outside a particular culture (see emic)
evaluate To judge or calculate the quality, importance, amount or value of something. Assess importance. More vague. (similar to assess)
evaluation (see evaluate)
EVI Enhanced vegetation index
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FAOSTAT Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistical Database
FAPAR Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation
FED Farmer Extension Development
FIRM Forum for Integrated Resource Management
Foromani Traditional Authority in Namibia, Community Headman/woman drived
FOSS Free and open-source software
FSU Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena
GCM Global Climate Model
GE Germany
GEF Global Environmental Facility
GEMS Global Environmental Monitoring Satellite, long term archives with high temporal resolution and moderate to low spatial resolution
GHG Greenhouse gas
GIS Geoinformationssysteme
GNU A free software, mass collaboration project
GPS Global Positioning System
GRID Global Ressource Information Database
GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
GUI Graphical user interface
HadCM3 Hadley Centre Coupled Model, version 3
Homestead Depicts the spatial dwelling unit of a group of people, the space and buildings inhabited, but not the people.
HOORC Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre, University of Botswana
Household Basic residential unit of individuals who live in the same dwelling. HH is a unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out in culturally different combinations. It is one of the basic units of analysis in many social science disciplines. (see homestead)
HRU Hydrological Response Units
HWC Human-Wildlife conflict
IBI Index of Biotic Integrity
ICEMA Integrated Community-Based Ecosystem Management
ICPMS Inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometry
IDF Instituto de Desenvolvimento Florestal
IHDM Institute of Hydrology Distributed Model
ILWRM integrated land and water resources management
INP Indigenous Natural Products
Interface Used in TFO in the sense of the german 'Schnittstelle' meaning the space/locus within a system where two parts meet, touch and communicate
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change
IPCC Modelling Climate change models provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPCC Scenarios Scenarios on climate chnage provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPTT Indigenous Plants Task Team (MAWF)
IRBM Integrated Okavango River Basin Management Project
IRDNC Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation
ISCED Instituto Superior de Ciências de Educação
ISCTE Instituto Universitário de Lisboa
ISO Organisation for Industrial Standardization
IT Information technology
ITCZ Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
IWRM integrated water resources management
J2000 Process based, distributed hydrological Modelling System for water, erosion and solute transport modelling in river basins developed by FSU
JAMS Jena Adaptable Modelling Systems developed by FSU
JAMS/J2000 JAMS/J2000 model suite. Software developed by FSU
KAZA TFCA Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area
KCS Kalahari Conservation Society
KDC Kalahari Development Corporation
kNN k Nearest Neighbour; specific classification approach
LAC Limits of acceptable change
LAC Namibia Legal Assistance Centre of Namibia
Land use Action of using spatial portions of land e.g. pastoral, crop, forest land.
Local Lowest level of spatial scales, used to describe the level of households and communities
LSA Landscape Structure Analysis
LULC Land Use / Land Cover
LULCC Land Use / Land Cover Change
MAWF Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, Namibia
MEA Millenium Ecosystem Assessment
measure The determination of magnitude or quantity
MEWT Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism (Botswana)
MHM Modular Habitat Model
MIKE SHE An integrated hydrological modelling system for building and simulating surface water flow and groundwater flow
Model A simplified representation used to explain the structural dynamics of a real world system or event
MODFLOW Modular finite-difference flow model
MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
MPI Max Planck Institute
mRNA Messenger Ribonucleic acid
NA Namibia
NBRI National Botanical Research Institute, Namibia
NEPRU Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit
NFA National Forestry Assessment
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NNF Namibia Nature Foundation
NPGRC National Plant Genetic Resources Centre
NPP Net Primary Productivity
OBIS Okavango Basin Information System
OBSC Okavango Basin Steering Committee
ODA Official Development Assistance
ODMP Okavango Delta Management Plan
ODRS Okavango Delta Ramsar Site
OGC Open Geospatial Consortium
OKACOM Permanent Multinational Management Commission of the Okavango River Basin
OKACOM The Permanent Okavango River Basin Water Commission
Omuramba/Omiramba Dry river or arm of a river only flowing in rainy times
OOS Online Operating System
ORB Okavango River Basin
ORI Okvango Research Institute
ORPMP Okavango River Panhandle Management Plan
Pabalelo Trust Botswanan NGO
Paraecologist Project employee receiving a training as research assistant and fieldwork facilitator in natural and social sciences
Participatory film Film method involving stakeholders into the production of the final product (see stakeholders)
PES Payment for Ecosystem services
PGPR Plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria
PHABSIM Physical Habitat Simulation Software
plot Very small spatial research unit e.g. the pit being dug by soil scientists
PON Polytechnic of Namibia
PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal
PRMS Precipitation-Runoff-Modelling System
QCA Qualitative Comparative Analysis
QCA Qualitative comparative analysis
RCM Regional Climate Model
REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation
Region Term used on different spatial scales (SADC Region, Kavango Region). Region in TFO usually means the region of the Okavango Basin unless marked differently
REMO Regional Climate Model
Resilience Ability of a (eco-)system to withstand stress, perturbations etc. up to a certain point
RU Response units
RUE Rain Use Efficiency
SAGA System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses
SAP Strategic Action Program
SAREP Southern Africa Regional Environmental Program
Scale Used in the sense of different spatial levels or temporal distances e.g. spatial scales of research can be for example local, regional, national or global
Scenario Scenarios have been defined as: ‘. . . plausible and often simplified descriptions of how the future may develop based on a coherent and internally consistent set of assumptions about key driving forces and relationships’. (cf. Rounsevell & Metzger 2010: 606)
SeaWiFs Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor
Sensitivity tests Analysis of model parameters regarding their sensitivity to control modelled variable time series
SERS Special Report Emission Scenarios developed by the IPCC
SERS Projections Modelled climate projections based on Special Report Emission Scenarios (SERS)
SES Social Ecological System.
SHE Systéme Hydrologique Européen
SINFIC Portuguese-Angolan Consultancy
Site For TFO a site describes one of the four core areas where the inter- and transdisciplinary research is concentrated
SOC soil organic carbon
SOM Soil organic matter
SP Subproject
SPGRC SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre
SPOT Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre
SRU Salinity Response Unit
SST Sea surface temperature
Stakeholder Anybody (person, organisation) who has a stake, a claim, an interest, an engagement in an areae and the course of related events or its outcome
STO Scientific and Technical Objectives
Storyline The qualitative component of scenarios. "Scenario storylines have an important role to play when we have limited understanding of the causal relationships within a system that prevents quantification of these relationships in models. Although scenario storylines attempt to open our eyes to different ways of perceiving our world, they are not predictions they do not seek truth. What they do try to achieve is to stimulate, provoke, and communicate visions of what the future could hold for us. They aim for creativity, rigor, internal coherence, and plausibility. As a tool, scenario storylines are more useful the further into the future we explore as uncertainties also increase and predictions become unsound." (cf. Rounsevell & Metzger 2010: 606f.)
strategies long term, complex, combination of land use options in time with a specific aim. Linked with decision making. E.g livelihood strategies: strategy to make a living; Strategy to cope with rainfall variation
surface parameterization Methods to parameterze the JAMS/J2000 modelling system with surface parameters
SWAP Soil Water Atmosphere Plant model
TDA Transboundary Diagnostic Assessment
TEEB The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
TFO The Future Okavango – Project
TOCADI Botswanan NGO
Transdisciplinarity Work integrating not only scientific disciplines but all sorts of stakeholders into scientific and nonscientific efforts
TSA Time Series Analysis, derivation of descriptive variables related to phenology
TUCSIN The University Centre for Studies in Namibia
UAN Universidade Agostinho Neto, Luanda
UNAM (SSD) University of Namibia, Windhoek (Social Sciences Division)
UNDP-GEF United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
UNITWIN University of Namibia Winhoeek and Utrecht University Network
valorize Adding value to something. Ex: Making jam from Mangos adds value to the mangos
valuate To estimate the value of (something); to appraise: E.g. "The actual harm I can do I leave you to valuate for yourself.". More precise, but not only monetary.
valuation 1. The action of valuing; the process of assessing or fixing the value of a thing. 2. Value or worth, esp. of a material nature. 3. Appreciation or estimation of anything in respect of excellence or merit.
value (noun) Medium of exchange; Worth, usefulness; Judgment on importance; Value is contextual; Fluctuating societal judgment based on indicators
value (verb) I. To estimate or appraise as being worth a specified sum or amount. II. To consider of worth or importance; to rate high; to esteem; to set store by.
VHF Very high frequency (radio frequency)
WFD Water Framework Directive
WIND National Herbarium of Namibia
WRF Weather Research and Forecasting
WTP Willingness to Pay analyses