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Our selection of unusual and unique satellite images from PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery base map

In these past weeks, we have showcased the World Tour series exploring PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery base map. This journey has taken us from North African and Middle East deserts, to wide open spaces in Central Asia, water-rich regions in India and Southeast Asia, to the bright colours of Australia and fascinating Pacific islands.

Discover the best of PlanetSAT 15 L8 satellite images. Check out all episodes of the World Tour series exploring PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery base map:

  • Tour #1 North Africa
  • Tour #2 Middle East
  • Tour #3 Central Asia and India
  • Tour #4 Southeast Asia
  • Tour #5 Australia
  • Tour #6 Pacific Islands

Check out more PlanetSAT 15 L8 satellite images in the image gallery

Processed with fresh and cloudless Landsat 8 data, PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery base map offers high quality 15m resolution suitable for a working scale down to 1:50,000.

PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery base map is ready for delivery for all North Africa, the Middle East, India, a large part of Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands. By the end of 2016, all of China, Japan, South America resgions will be finalized.

You’re looking for a global base map? We have a quality solution available off-the-shelf. By combining PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery with PlanetSAT 15 base map, you benefit from a high quality and cloudless global imagery base map available immediately!

To find out more on PlanetSAT 15 L8 imagery base map, just contact us by phone at +33 (0) 4 73 44 19 00 or leave us a message in the contact page.

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Few months has passed Planetek Italia was awarded as best Apulian aerospace company by Premio Industria Felix 2015. On March 2016, Planetek Italia has been listed top 100 Italian companies by the SME Welfare Index Report 2016.

The award was announced during the presentation event of Rapporto 2016 Welfare Index PMI (SME Welfare Index Report 2016) and the award ceremony of the 11 best companies in each sector, held in Rome, Italy, last March 8th 2016, present the Italian Minister of Labour and Social Policies, Giuliano Poletti.

Planetek Italia is among the 2140 companies, which participated the initiative. After the screening of the 10 areas composing the Welfare Index, the commission listed Planetek Italia among 100 best Italian companies.

The screening activity of the Welfare system in the company highlighted that its Welfare Index is noticeably higher than the average of the sector, observing an exceptional sensitiveness for the educational and training areas, the support to flexibility and mobility, the economical support to employees, equal opportunities, and the support to parents and private life-job facilitation.

The article published on Planetek Italia Blog (in Italian) explains the concept of “Company Welfare”, which important benefits the company adds to its business, the initiative Welfare Index PMI and the aggregate results of the Welfare Index PMI 2016 Report.

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One of satellite remote sensing’s greatest strengths is the archive of historical data available, allowing researchers to analyse how areas change over years or even decades – for example, Landsat data has a forty year archive. It is one of the unique aspects of satellite data, which is very difficult to replicate by other measurement methods.

However, this unique selling point is also proving an Achilles Heel to industry as well, as highlighted last week, when a group of 179 researchers issued a plea to the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide a replacement for the aging Cryosat-2 satellite.

Cryosat-2 was launched in 2010, after the original Cryosat was lost during a launch failure in 2005, and is dedicated to the measurement of polar ice. It has a non sun-synchronous low earth orbit of just over 700 km with a 369 day ground track cycle, although it does image the same areas on Earth every 30 days. It was originally designed as three and half year mission, but is still going after six years. Although, technically it has enough fuel to last at least another five years, the risk of component failure is such that researchers are concerned that it could cease to function at any time

The main instrument onboard is a Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL) operating in the Ku Band. It has two antennas that form an interferometer, and operates by sending out bursts of pulses at intervals of only 50 microseconds with the returning echoes correlated as a single measurement; whereas conventional altimeters send out single pulses and wait for the echo to return before sending out another pulse. This allows it to measure the difference in height between floating ice and seawater to an accuracy of 1.3cm, which is critical to measurement of edges of ice sheets.

SIRAL has been very successful and has offered a number of valuable datasets including the first complete assessment of Arctic sea-ice thickness, and measurements of the ice sheets covering Antarctica and Greenland. However, these datasets are simply snapshots in time. Scientists want to continue these measurements in the coming years to improve our understanding of how sea-ice and ice sheets are changing.

It’s unlikely ESA will provide a follow on satellite, as their aim is to develop new technology and not data continuity missions. This was part of the reason why the EU Copernicus programme of Sentinel satellites was established, whose aim is to provide reliable and up to date information on how our planet and climate is changing. The recently launched Sentinel-3 satellite can undertake some of the measurements of Cryosat-2, it is not a replacement.

Whether the appeal for a Cryosat-3 will be heard is unclear, but what is clear is thought needs to be given to data continuity with every mission. Once useful data is made available, there will be a desire for a dataset to be continued and developed.

This returns us to the title of the blog. Is data continuity the hero or Achilles Heel for the satellite remote sensing community?

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Last week, the US and Japan announced free public access to the archive of nearly 3 million images taken by ASTER instrument; previously this data had only been accessible with a nominal fee.

ASTER, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer, is a joint Japan-US instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite with the data used to create detailed maps of land surface temperature, reflectance, and elevation. When NASA made the Landsat archive freely available in 2008, an explosion in usage occurred. Will the same happen to ASTER?

As a remote sensing advocate I want many more people to be using satellite data, and I support any initiative that contributes to this goal. Public satellite data archives such as Landsat, are often referred to as ‘free data’. This phrase is unhelpful, and I prefer the term ‘free to access’. This is because ‘free data’ isn’t free, as someone has already paid to get the satellites into orbit, download the data from the instruments and then provide the websites for making this data available. So, who has paid for it? To be honest, it’s you and me!

To be accurate, these missions are generally funded by the tax payers of the country who put the satellite up. For example:

  • ASTER was funded by the American and Japanese public
  • Landsat is funded by the American public
  • The Sentinel satellites, under the Copernicus missions, are funded by the European public.

In addition to making basic data available, missions often also create a series of products derived from the raw data. This is achieved either by commercial companies being paid grants to create these products, which can then be offered as free to access datasets, or alternatively the companies develop the products themselves and then charge users to access to them.

‘Free data’ also creates user expectations, which may be unrealistic. Whenever a potential client comes to us, there is always a discussion on which data source to use. Pixalytics is a data independent company, and we suggest the best data to suit the client’s needs. However, this isn’t always the free to access datasets! There are a number of physical and operating criteria that need to be considered:

  • Spectral wavebands / frequency bands – wavelengths for optical instruments and frequencies for radar instruments, which determine what can be detected.
  • Spatial resolution: the size of the smallest objects that can be ‘seen’.
  • Revisit times: how often are you likely to get a new image – important if you’re interested in several acquisitions that are close together.
  • Long term archives of data: very useful if you want to look back in time.
  • Availability, for example, delivery schedule and ordering requirement.

We don’t want any client to pay for something they don’t need, but sometimes commercial data is the best solution. As the cost of this data can range from a few hundred to thousand pounds, this can be a challenging conversation with all the promotion of ‘free data’.

So, what’s the summary here?

If you’re analysing large amounts of data, e.g. for a time-series or large geographical areas, then free to access public data is a good choice as buying hundreds of images would often get very expensive and the higher spatial resolution isn’t always needed. However, if you want a specific acquisition over a specific location at high spatial resolution then the commercial missions come into their own.

Just remember, no satellite data is truly free!
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Airbus Defence and Space will supply its latest generation Solid State Recorder for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, slated for launch in 2020. The contract was recently signed between Airbus Defence and Space and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, CA, USA.


“This order for the NISAR mission demonstrates the high level of confidence our customers have in our product line heritage. It is the first time that our Solid State Recorder based on Flash technology will be deployed on a US mission,” said Jean-Pierre Domenget, Head of Space Equipment.

“This product will offer more than 10 Tbit storage capacity in a unit with mass less than 25Kg. This, combined with a high-level file management system, provides a world-class solution fully satisfying the customer’s needs.”

The flash memory Solid-State Recorder (SSR) products of Airbus Defence and Space had previously successfully passed all NASA space qualification test requirements. In addition, the company’s flash-based SSR has exceeded 40 months of operation in orbit onboard SPOT 6 (2012), the first commercial satellite to deploy this technology.

Airbus Defence and Space flash-based mass memory products have also been launched on SPOT 7 (2014) and Sentinel-2 (ESA, 2015).

Compared to the previous SDRAM-based generation, this flash-based solution offers 60 percent better performance, is also 2.5 times lighter, 5 times smaller and consumes 3.5 times less power. Widely used in mass-market electronics, flash technology has now proven that it meets the very strict quality standards required for space missions fulfilling all requirements in orbit.

The company’s Solid State Recorders provide high capacity mass memories supporting high data rates with optional CCSDS File Delivery Protocol, (CFDP) support. Airbus Defence and Space continues to develop next-generation Solid State Recorders supporting the highest data rates needed for surveillance, Earth Observation and scientific applications.

Using advanced radar imaging, NISAR will observe and take measurements of some of the planet’s most complex processes. These include ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, and natural phenomena such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and landslides. It is a partnership between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation.

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(31.03.2016) Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) has signed an expanded satellite support agreement with duration until 2042 with the European meteorological organization EUMETSAT. The agreement has, with options, a total value of approximately 550 MNOK in the period from 2016 to 2042.

Kongsberg Satellite Services has signed an expanded and extended agreement for ground station support for the European meteorological organization EUMETSAT. EUMETSAT will install three new antenna systems at KSAT’s Svalbard facility and the systems will be maintained by KSAT. The systems are Ka-band and constitute new technology. Svalbard is particularly well suited for this due to the dry Arctic atmosphere.

The agreement covers maintenance and site operation for as much as five antenna systems, and the agreement has, with options, a value of 550 MNOKin the period from 2016 to 2042.
- This contract strengthens KSAT’s position as the world leading provider of ground station services. I’d also like to emphasize how important this contract is for the long term activity at our Svalbard facility, says KSAT President Rolf Skatteboe.

- It is important that we uphold business activity and settlement at Svalbard. KSAT is important for the local community, and I recognize that this contract supports the company’s activity at Svalbard, says Minister of Trade and Industry Monica Mæland.

The MeTop Second Generation (SG) is a continuation of the existing operational weather satellite systems, that are also supported by KSAT from Svalbard. MeTop SG is a six satellite system providing important information for everyday weather forecasting as well as long term prognoses.

READ ALSO: Kongsberg Norspace wins order with Airbus on MeTop SG

The service will be delivered form KSAT’s station at Svalbard and the activity will commence in 2016. This agreement strengthens KSAT’s position as the world leading provider of services related to satellite operation, control and data reception. With this agreement KSAT is the world’s largest provider of ground stations serving the operational weather satellite systems from both EUMETSAT and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA).

For further information, please contact: Rolf Skatteboe, President Kongsberg Satellite Services, Tel: +47 911 98 985.
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Sentinel-1A MEOS, Korea water resources, FFi, NSPO

This issue features the:

  • Sentinel-1A MEOS™ CollGS system delivered to
  • Finnish Meteorological Institute Sentinel-1A MEOS™ CollGS system delivered toFinnish Meteorological Institute
  • MEOS™ 5 m antenna for Kongsberg Satellite Services installed in Alaska
  • MEOS™ 3.8 m antenna and MEOS™ Polar system to
  • The Korea Water Resources Corporation
  • Frame contract with National Space Organisation (NSPO) Taiwan
  • Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI) -
  • MEOS™ 3.8 m antenna and MEOS™ CAPTURE HRDFEP

in addition to the upcomming events, latest contracts, newest upgradest and lates information from Kongsberg Spacetec.

You will find it here

- Airbus Defence and Space built C-Band radars will monitor the environment around the clock in all weathers
- Copernicus satellite Sentinel-1B set for launch on 22 April, 2016

Pre-launch preparations for the Sentinel-1B satellite, carrying an Airbus Defence and Space built radar instrument, are in full swing at Europe´s Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana. The satellite, which has Thales Alenia Space Italy as prime contractor, is set to be launched on 22 April 2016 by a Soyuz launcher.

Once in orbit it will join its twin, Sentinel-1A (launched in April 2014) to complete the Sentinel-1 polar orbiting constellation, which will significantly improve revisit and response times to provide continuous all-weather round the clock imagery for marine, land monitoring and emergency services. Working together, the Sentinel-1 satellites will image the entire planet every six days.

As an advanced radar mission, Sentinel-1 can image the Earth’s surface through cloud and rain and regardless of whether it is day or night. This makes it an ideal mission, for example, for monitoring the polar regions, which are in darkness during the winter months and tropical forests, which are typically shrouded by cloud.

Over oceans and seas, the mission provides imagery to generate timely maps of sea-ice conditions for safe passage, to detect and track oil spills and to provide information on wind, waves and currents. Over land, Sentinel-1’s systematic observations are used to track changes in the way the land is used and to monitor ground movement with exceptional accuracy. Moreover, this new mission is designed specifically to aid fast response during emergencies and disasters such as flooding and earthquakes.

Like Sentinel-1A the “B” satellite carries the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Antenna Subsystem (SAS) which will be able to acquire an immense amount of data due to its continuous operation capability. The 12.3 meter antenna is made up of five panels. Four of them are folded sideways onto a support frame during launch and will be deployed in orbit.

Integrated on these panels are 280 dual polarized small transmitters delivering a total RF signal of just over 5 kW. These transmitters and their associated receive elements are supplied by Thales Alenia Space and are implemented as transmit/receive multichip hybrid modules integrated into Electronic Front-End (EFE) equipment. Controlling these 280 transmitters individually provides an electronic steering capability of the overall radar beam. By steering the beam across the observation track in a series of 80 km wide strips next to each other on the ground, a medium resolution image for wider swaths of up to 400 km can be assembled. The high transmit power presented a thermal design challenge in addition to the already complex mechanical design task of creating the required highly stable structure of the 800 kg antenna.

The antenna is driven by the SAR Electronics Sub-system which provides the signal processing, timing and system control, creating highly stable radar signals and precision beam orientation. The instrument has been designed to ensure a 2.5 m pixel positioning accuracy on a 400 km wide target nearly 1000 km away on the ground while travelling at 7 km per second. This was achieved with a sophisticated mechanism for extremely accurate real-time orbit position prediction, and very precise timing knowledge to synchronize the SAR image acquisition.

To deliver the radar part of the mission’s performance, the Space Systems teams built and tested at Friedrichshafen (Germany) a 12.3 m x 0.9 m antenna, electronically integrated with the SAR Electronics Subsystem designed in Portsmouth (UK).

The two flexible and powerful SAR instruments, were developed by Airbus Defence and Space which has a long history of designing and manufacturing Earth observation radar instruments for the European Space Agency, ESA. As well as having had overall industrial responsibility for the European ERS-1/ERS-2 satellites launched in 1991 and 1995 respectively and Envisat launched in 2001, Airbus Defence and Space has also developed and built the AMI (ERS), ASAR (Envisat) and ASCAT (MetOp) radar payloads. On top of this, Airbus Defence and Space has been the prime contractor for the German TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X radar satellite projects. In December 2015 Airbus Defence and Space signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space to build two further SAR-instruments; namely Sentinel-1C and Sentinel-1D to ensure Copernicus radar data beyond 2029.

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The 1st European Geospatial Business Summit will be organized alongside Geospatial World Forum starting from May 23-26, 2016, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The summit attempts to bring together leaders of European geospatial business and stakeholders and facilitate collaborative business transactions in a two-day event.

The event will witness 7 exciting sessions comprising of 45 speakers from the region.The platform is shaping up to be a unique and exclusive platform that’ll demonstrate the evolving geospatial business models and offer European geospatial professionals and companies the opportunity to learn, collaborate, and optimize their business dimensions. The summit promises to be an interactive platform to share experiences and learn from like-minded peers.
There are numerous reasons why you should be present at the event. Here’s a few reasons why you should block your calendar for May 24 – 25, 2016

  • Insights on geospatial business trends and opportunities in Europe
  • First-hand information on expanding European business outreach to international market
  • Discover the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of establishing start-ups in Europe
  • Showcase of the latest technology trends in Europe

As part of our campaign towards developing this platform, Geospatial Media and Communications has been undertaking market research activities in the form of survey questionnaires and round-table discussions in major cities across Europe. The findings of these activities will be summarized in a ‘Geospatial Business Outlook Report’, which will be produced and distributed to the delegates at the European Geospatial Business Summit. Click here to participate in the survey.

NEW DELHI — India will launch its new Earth observation satellite, Cartosat-2C, in May, in an effort to boost the country’s military reconnaissance and surveillance capability.

The observatory, along with 21 other satellites, will be lifted by India’s indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-CA) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota in south India. It will be placed in a Sun-synchronous polar orbit with a perigee of 200 km (124 mi.) and an apogee of 1,200 km above the Earth’s surface, according to an official at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

The satellite, which was built at ISRO’s Space Application Center (SAC) in the western city of Ahmedabad, was moved to ISRO’S Satellite Center (ISAC) at Bengaluru in south India two weeks ago after undergoing several rounds of tests and evaluation. “All tests have turned out to be successful,” the ISRO official says.

India’s first dedicated military satellite, CartoSat-2A, was launched in 2007. Cartosat-2C will be a dual-use satellite, performing disaster monitoring as well as surveilling enemy missile sites.

The 690-kg (1,520 lb.) satellite is equipped with a panchromatic camera and a high-resolution multi-spectral instrument. With a resolution of 0.65 meters, an upgrade over the 0.8 meter camera of Cartosat-2A, Cartosat-2C can spot even smaller objects from space. The camera can not only capture high-resolution images of disputed border and coastal areas, but also record videos of crucial targets from space and transmit compressed versions to the ground.

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