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 |