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Andreas Veispak is the Head of Unit for Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth at the European Commission. His responsibilities include space-related data, user uptake, and new business models as well as international relations and outreach activities.

Firstly, Mr. Veispak, can you give us a picture of the current activities of your Unit, what you do and what is your mission?

The Space Data unit has been set up recently to reflect the fact that the Copernicus programme has become operational and that we increasingly need to focus on extracting as much value as possible from the data and information it delivers. So, if I was to summarise the mission of the unit in very simple terms, I would say that we have one overriding objective: to maximise the uptake and use of Copernicus (and space data more generally) among different user groups so as to fully exploit the societal and economic potential it offers.

More specifically, the unit is responsible for data policy, management, dissemination and access (essentially everything data related), for determining current and future user needs and promoting user uptake across different communities, for facilitating the development of new business models and stimulating innovation and new product/ service development in the downstream sector, for international relations of Copernicus as well as for communication and outreach activities.

The unit in this form is quite new, how does its mission fit with that of other units in DG GROW?

The overall mission of DG GROW is to develop the internal market in the EU, promote the competitiveness and innovativeness of European companies and to create the conditions for enterprises – particularly SMEs – to flourish and grow. Our unit’s objectives essentially mirror this overall mission and seek to apply it to the area of Earth Observation and space data. I mean this in the broadest sense as the innovative application areas for space data go far beyond the traditional space domain, including its combination with non-space data, and can cover sectors, which at first sight may not have much to do with space.

Consequently, we work together very closely with our colleagues across DG GROW. First and foremost, we work with our sister unit responsible for the Copernicus programme as our activities are intimately linked, we share the same objectives and we very much try to work as a single team. We also co-ordinate closely with other units in the space domain, such as our colleagues responsible for space policy and research or with those working on Galileo. Finally, we have close contacts with both the more sectorial units in DG GROW which can benefit from Copernicus data and information (raw materials and extractive industries are the first to come to mind) as well as those which are more horizontal (such as public procurement, innovation, digital and SME-related). This is only natural given that one of our main objectives is to bring the benefits of Copernicus and space data to other areas of society and the economy.

You have recently been appointed as head of this unit, what do you find has been your biggest challenge on taking over the reins?

I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of setting up the new unit, not least because we have an extremely motivated and hard-working team and because we work together with highly professional partners and stakeholders. It is always challenging to set up a new unit; in this case we operate on the boundaries of space, digital and numerous thematic areas, which means that often we enter completely new territory, try to look at approaches which have not really been tried before and for which there is no clear blueprint or guarantee of success. This implies a degree of risk and that’s probably the greatest challenge: to develop and apply a strategy without being sure whether and how it will work. The second challenge relates to the almost endless number of potential application areas for space data and information, especially when combined with other sources of data. Hence prioritisation and determining how to have the greatest impact with the means available becomes a key issue. This being said, it is also what makes the job so enjoyable.

Copernicus and “big data” have relevance for many other directorates in the EC, are you liaising with other DG’s and where do you see the main interest coming from?

In light of the digital dimension of Copernicus and its potential application across a variety of areas from the environment to transport to health to regional policy, co-operation with other DGs is essential. On data-related issues we work together closely with our colleagues in DGs JRC, CNCT and RTD. In particular, DG JRC has been of an invaluable help to us in analysing and developing our approach for data dissemination and access not to mention their involvement in the Copernicus land and emergency management services. With the public sector being the main user of Copernicus, we are also working on internal uptake by the other Commission services with a series of user DGs (e.g. MOVE, ENER, HOME, ENV, CLIMA etc.) to see how space data can best be used to help the development and implementation of their policies and what practical steps we can take to support this.

COPERNICUS

Copernicus is a European flagship programme; can you share your visión for what this means for Europe?

For me Copernicus is an excellent practical example of what the European Union and its Member States can achieve when we work together. Copernicus, Earth Observation and space in general is a natural area for co-operation at the European level: given the costs and the complexity involved, it makes sense to pool resources for mutual benefit and Copernicus is a very good example of this. As a consequence, Europe is well on its way to having a fully operational programme, which is a world-leader in its field and which will provide a constant stream of data well into the 2030s. This is not only a showcase for European technological excellence in space but also for products and applications derived from the data: products and information from the Copernicus services should provide us with a very good basis for different thematic applications. As importantly, Copernicus provides the planning certainty and predictability which different user communities – including the downstream sector – need to develop products and be able to rely on. When we consider that all this is made available on a free, full and open basis, I can only conclude that Copernicus represents an excellent example of a public good, which anybody can make use of and which offers opportunities many of which have probably not even been conceived of yet.

In a broader sense, when one considers that Copernicus encompasses both the space and digital domains, it is highly representative of two central pillars for economic and societal development in the 21st century. We are only at the very beginning of realising the potential it offers and Copernicus gives Europe a good position from which to benefit from these trends.

How do you foresee to ensure that the benefits stemming from the Copernicus programme are equally open to all European member states?

Copernicus has a free, full and open data policy and the data and information are already available to everybody across Europe meaning that everybody can already benefit. However, in light of the current and future volumes of data as well as the potential offered by combining Copernicus data and products with other sources of data, we are working on improving data dissemination and access. This is one of the key challenges of the unit and we are trying to – together with our partners in implementing Copernicus – upgrade the data dissemination and access system which would allow for quicker and easier access to the data and information as well as to the tools needed to exploit it.

EARSC represents the industry sector which delivers comercial services based on EO data. Companies have a strong interest that Coperncius can provide a lever for them to develop new business. How can we together ensure that the €7b already invested can deliver the expected increase in economic activity and jobs?

In my view, industry has a central role to play in ensuring that maximum benefits are derived from Copernicus. A significant part of our effort in the next years will focus on promoting the uptake of Copernicus data and products by the private sector to deliver further value-added products and services. The market for earth observation data is still quite young and much of the demand comes from the public sector. When we look at space-related markets as a whole (leaving the upstream sector aside for the moment), we see that a lion’s share of the value-added products and services pertain to telecommunications and satellite navigation with a much smaller role for earth observation.

The Commission, together with its Copernicus partners (ESA, EUMETSAT, the entities responsible for the services), is already delivering the essential: the data and information products. In the future, I see three main areas in which we are likely to act: first, improving the data dissemination and access system to facilitate the use of data by different users, reducing fragmentation and mutualising a part of the cost related to data exploitation and allowing for the development of new business models; second, measures to improve the development of innovation in the downstream sector be it through support to innovative ideas and companies, business development, the utilisation of a range of EU instruments from H2020 to COSME in this sector, improving the link between research and practical application, supporting the development of the necessary skills and competencies or supporting the internationalisation of European actors in third country markets; third, supporting demand by the end-users, particularly in the public sector to provide critical mass for rolling out innovative applications.

Access to the data and information coming from Copernicus is key, what plans do you have to improve Access to this by the private sector?

This is a key point as without a well-functioning data dissemination and access system, most other measures will not really be very effective. We are currently in the process of finalising our approach for the future together with the Member States and our partners in implementing Copernicus, but, in a nutshell, we will try to do two things: improve the performance of the existing conventional data dissemination system whereby the user can essentially discover and download the data; and increasingly start bringing users to the data by making Copernicus data and information available together with the necessary processing capacity and tools (most likely in a cloud environment) without users having to download it. Achieving the appropriate level of interoperability will also become key in this context.

In our recent position paper, EARSC has proposed to create a European Marketplace Alliance for EO Services as one means to help overcome the severe fragmentation of the sector which sees many small companies distributed throughout the EU Members States. In your view, how can this initiative best help the EC to meet the goals for Copernicus?

We are extremely encouraged to see an increased interest from private service providers and we very much welcome any initiative which helps to bring together supply and demand. I expect the key question and challenge for such initiatives will be the interaction between co-operation and competition. I also think initiatives such as the Marketplace Alliance can very much complement and fit with the approaches we are currently considering and we will seek to design any system in a way which not only leaves maximum room for industrial initiative but also allows to further build on it.

Contrasting the US and Europe we see very different approaches shaped by the different market conditions. In the US, investment has been made using demand pull through the NextView and EnhancedView contracts with DigitalGlobe. In Europe the investment has been made in supply-side push through building infrastrastructure and public entities delivering the Copernicus Services. So far the role of the downstream supply side has been largely secondary. Can you explain your perspective on this and how we may move to a more demand-led approach?

I think we need a combination of both the supply and demand side. I don’t think it is entirely fair to say that the approach in Europe has only been public sector driven. Just as our industry are constructing the space and terrestrial infrastructure so also a part of the delivery of the Copernicus services involves private sector actors. Similarly, our industry is able to benefit from the research programmes financed by the EU. I do, however, take the point regarding demand, which is still very much public sector driven and dependent on public sector financing. We will try to mutualise some of the costs related to the exploitation of the data so as to enable the downstream sector to focus on providing value-added services and to encourage the creation of environments where EO data and information and be combined with a host of other data to develop innovative products. At the same time, we will also try to maintain and consolidate the demand from the public sector to provide critical mass and to help us deliver on essential services.

Can you say a few words about how you view Copernicus in the context of international co-operation? What specific measures are being taken in this respect.

International co-operation is central to Copernicus and historically there is a strong element of bi-lateral collaboration with Europe’s key partners in Earth Observation or in multi-lateral fora such as GEO. This makes a lot of sense as many of the societal challenges, which Copernicus was set up to help address (e.g. environment and security) are global in nature.

Broadly, our approach to international co-operation has three main objectives: maximise the uptake of Copernicus data and information, bring international data and expertise into the data management system in Europe on the basis of reciprocity and help promote opportunities for European actors in international markets. More specifically, we have concluded data exchange arrangements with the U.S. and Australia in 2015 and this year we are focusing on Latin America and Africa.

INDUSTRY & PROCUREMENT

In the US, the 2003 Commercial Remote Sensing Act has opened the market to private ventures leading to a number of new start-ups launching and operating EO satellites. By clarifying the boundary between the public and private sector with the simple principle that a commercial approach should be privileged whenever possible, the US government has liberated the private sector leading to new initiatives. Could you elaborate your thought on a possible European Commercial Remote Sensing Act?

I think it is extremely important for industry to have planning certainty and predictability in order to be able to plan investments into new products and services. Hence, I think it makes sense to bring clarity to what is a publicly provided service and what is left to the private sector and how the interaction between the two should take place.

Do you think it should be necessary to identify instruments that allow organising co-operation between EC DG-GROW and the EO industry sector in a more effective way? How do you perceive the role of EARSC in this respect?

I think it is essential for us to have an organised and structured discussion with industry and to be able to gain the industry’s views and feedback on the evolution and conditions in the market. We are taking steps to do this in a more systematic way and I think you are seeing evidence of this already. The Commission tries to achieve maximum inclusiveness when it consults with different stakeholder communities and we very much value EARSC as an interlocutor and the inputs which we have received through the different analyses and position papers.

FUTURE

Finally, looking to the future;

What do you see as being the biggest challenges facing you over the next few years?

I think there are two main challenges: first, improving and upgrading the data dissemination and access system for Copernicus and space data in general to improve its performance for users, to take advantage of the technological advances in ICT and to enable for new concepts of integrated data exploitation and value extraction to develop; second, to create the conditions for EO data and information to be increasingly used outside the traditional communities and to expand the size of the market for innovative products. You could summarise this as the challenge of being able to effectively bring together supply and demand side approaches in a coherent and inter-linked manner.

At the end of the interview, here is the opportunity for your final thoughts and how your activities could contribute to the future development of the EO geo-information service sector?

As I mentioned beforehand, Copernicus – with its full, free and open data policy – offers a unique opportunity for the EO services sector and we very much see our role as creating an enabling environment for industry to be able to take advantage of it. It is still a relatively small market largely driven by public sector demand but it does the have advantage of offering opportunities to conceive, develop and provide products and services which do not exist yet and for which there is a demand from different end users. This is, in my view, the main challenge for all of us.

Thank you in advance for the elements of contribution to the Interview and for sharing your thoughts and comments with the EOmag readers.

BIO
Andreas Veispak, an Estonian, started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers working on and leading numerous projects across different sectors of the economy in fields related to economic development, strategic advisory, mergers & acquisitions, project finance, public-private-partnerships, due diligence and corporate recovery.
He joined the European Commission in 2005 where dealt with the automotive industry and was responsible for questions related to industrial competitiveness, energy and the environment. In 2010 he joined the team at Director General of DG GROW (internal market, industrial competitiveness, space – Copernicus and Galileo – entrepreneurship and SMEs). In the summer of 2015, he became the acting Head of Unit for Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth at the European Commission with responsibility for space-related data, user uptake and new business models as well as international relations and outreach activities.
Andreas was educated at the University of Oxford, UK, where he studied Modern History.

This ESA funded project will develop an EO broker application for the oil and gas sector


The consortium, consisting of Geocento, Kongsberg Satellite Services, Satellite Applications Catapult, EOmap, Jeobrowser and Globesar, are keen to ensure that they are engaged with the oil and gas community, so that the application is well aligned with industry needs, and with the EO service sector to ensure visibility of the service sector, with EARSC playing an important role in this respect.

The consortium are also looking to engage with specific individuals who would be willing and able to provide guidance on the requirements and design of the application, on behalf of the oil industry, on a regular but strictly time limited basis.

The application will be an interactive tool that enables industry users to explore how earth observation can be used in the industry, both to help extend the use of the technology across the industry, and to support existing users in making informed decisions about where, when and how the technology can contribute to activities and challenges.

The application will include useful technology such as multi-mission planning, access to image archive metadata, linked data and semantic search, but with much emphasis being placed on the use of techniques of design, search and visualisation that will make the tool intuitive and easy to use by those who do not necessarily have strong experience in earth observation.

The project will also build on previous work such as the EO4OG project outputs in terms of priorities and requirements. The application will be accessible via the OGEO portal and updates will be provided regularly via this portal.

Any individuals who would like to be involved in defining requirements for the application from within the oil and gas industry, or to find out more information, please contact Kim Charles Partington (kim.partington(at)geocento.com).

GAF AG is pleased to announce the successful system extension and training of more than twenty province officers. Hence provincial administrations can manage licenses for exploration and mining of common minerals through real time on-line access to the central repository of the Computerised Mining Cadastre System (CMCS).

The management of mineral resources and respective licenses is assigned to the Mineral Resources Authority of Mongolia (MRAM). A Computerized Mining Cadastre System (CMCS) was developed and implemented by GAF in 2010 with funding from the World Bank. With the adaptation of the new Law on Common Minerals in 2014, the existing system now got extended to enable the provincial administrations (Aimag) to manage applications and licenses through a modern, web-based, and GIS-enabled information system. The system is directly connected with the central data repository at MRAM headquarters in Ulaanbaatar.

The use of this system avoids problems of applications and licenses overlapping with areas restricted from mineral titling or with previously granted licenses. Processing of applications strictly follows the regulations and workflows stipulated by the law. This includes real-time communication between provincial administrations and the central government and consequently speeds-up the effective coordination between provincial administrations and the central government (MRAM). The system extension and associated training was realised with funding from the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Resources (BGR).

GAF has 20 years of world-wide experience in the institutional and technical establishment and reorganisation of mining cadastre authorities. This includes the provision of associated consultancy services and customised software solutions. The CMCS-online for Mongolia is based on GAF’s electronic Mining Cadastre framework eMC+.

About eMC+
eMC+ is GAF’s framework of choice for providing mining cadastre authorities worldwide with a complete package of administrative services in the management of mineral titles. The software platform is web-based and its responsive design supports a wide variety of devices, including mobile appliances. It is based on FOSS (free and open-source software), which ensures that no additional costs are incurred for third party licenses and associated maintenance. Thus, the total cost of ownership is fully transparent and there is no vendor lock-in.

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(Houston, TX, USA, 08 Feb 2016) Fugro and technology partner Areté Associates have successfully delivered near real-time, synoptic, surface current data to characterise Loop Current and Loop Current eddy conditions in the US Gulf of Mexico during a period of intense current conditions.

The new ROCIS (Remote Ocean Current Imaging System) was deployed on its first operational project, in the US Gulf of Mexico. Over the course of the five-month programme, Fugro surveyed currents over a distance of more than 125,000 kilometres – the equivalent of 3 times around the world.

ROCIS is the first commercially available system of its kind and represents a step change in technology for mapping surface current conditions over a wide area of ocean for current sensitive offshore operations. Optimising recent advances in remote sensing and aerial survey, Fugro and Areté Associates developed a system that uses a combination of digital camera technology and highly accurate positioning systems, together with advanced algorithms, to derive surface currents from wave spectra measurements. It can be installed on a suitable survey aircraft, together with an inertial navigation system augmented by Fugro’s Starfix® satellite positioning system.

Current data are reviewed in real-time on board the aircraft, providing continuous assessment of data quality and the location of strong currents. Within an hour of the aircraft landing the system produces a “quick-look” map of the currents over the area while processed data files are available a few hours later. During the programme ROCIS data supported day-to-day operational planning and enhanced the accuracy of 3D hydrodynamic current forecast modelling.

The key technical benefits of ROCIS are the near synoptic, wide area, high resolution, high integrity surface current measurements that allow sub-mesoscale circulation to be measured and monitored. During a four-hour flight the system can survey ocean currents at 250-metre intervals over a track of 900-1,100 kilometres. To map currents over a similar distance using traditional methods would take a combination of four vessels 24 hours. Given sufficient daylight hours, two ROCIS flight missions can be conducted each day.

ROCIS services can be provided to single or multiple clients to monitor offshore current conditions over specific locations or a broad area. The system can also provide support in emergency situations such as oil spill and search and rescue, as well as in oceanographic research programmes.

Fugro and Areté Associates are working on further development of the ROCIS system and services, including the use of expendable probes and the incorporation of additional airborne sensors. In 2016 Fugro will add a second ROCIS unit to further enhance its support of offshore operations.

ROCIS is showcased amongst Fugro’s innovations in the 2016 #AskFugro programme: www.fugro.com/ask

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The UK plans to capture 10% of the global space market and tech startups are being targeted for investment

The UK has big ambitions for its space sector. The Space Innovation and Growth Strategy, has set a goal of capturing 10% of the global space market by 2030 (up from about 6.5% in 2010, when the plan was published). That amount would represent about £40bn of space-related revenues. The plan relies on the growth of small businesses in the sector.

Matt Perkins, who was the chairman of the UKspace (the space trade association) between 2013 and 2014 and now represents its SME forum, says: “We have a relatively small number of very big players in the UK who are involved in space, and we need to get a few more to be able to achieve the growth targets that we’ve identified.” As such, tech startups (both in and outside of the space sector ie technical businesses whose expertise could be applied to the industry) are being targeted with investment.

Most recently, the UK Space Agency awarded a business group in Durham £50,000 to set up a space technology incubator. Business Durham, which promotes economic development on behalf of Durham county council, will be overseeing the incubator in North East Technology Park (NETPark). Simon Goon, Business Durham’s managing director, says the area has proven its expertise in the space industry by nurturing a cluster of around 30 space-related startups. “They’re not all traditional space companies, some are more general tech companies,” he adds.

Oxfordshire is another region of growing activity in the space sector. Space technology business Oxford Space Systems, has shown the potential for attracting backers in the area. It launched in January 2014 after receiving £150,000 investment from Innovate UK, (the UK’s innovation agency) conditional on raising matched funding. It obtained this by winning another £500,000 from Longwall Ventures, a venture capital firm.

Mike Lawton, founder and CEO, a serial entrepreneur who previously worked in the biofuels and food and drinks industries, says of space tech: “I’m attracted to the sector because I think it’s a bit of a wild west at the moment: there’s a lot of unchartered territory.”

Oxford Space Systems’ equipment is used in satellites, it includes antennas for data communication and boom systems – which allow tech (such as a magnetometer for measuring the potential for earthquakes) to be extended outside the satellite and into space at various distances. These sensitive measuring instruments need to be pushed out into ‘clean’ space and away from the noisy electrical environment of the spacecraft. Oxford Space Systems is part of a wave of companies that are fuelling a revolution in the sector, called ‘New Space’.

These new space tech companies are building smaller satellite systems, often using off-the-shelf components, which are far cheaper to make than previous systems. This has made using satellite technology more accessible for a range of organisations, from energy companies to agriculture businesses.

Glasgow is another thriving area for space tech. It hosted the first UK Space Conference in 2013 and the University of Glasgow helped to develop the LISA Pathfinder – a vital piece of equipment used in a recent European Space Agency project.

With access to highly trained engineers – there is a high proportion of graduates and post graduates with experience relevant to the industry in Glasgow – and capital, the city also attracts space entrepreneurs. In 2005, Craig Clark set up satellite manufacturer Clyde Space in the city. He used the proceeds of a house sale and investment from friends and family (in 2010 the business also received funding from private equity firms Nevis Capital and Coralinn). Clyde Space’s satellites are called cubesats, which are about the size of a loaf of bread.

Clark says: “If you go back 10 years and there was an entrepreneur who wanted to start a space data company, they would need to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, whereas you can now have the same entrepreneur, the same idea for data, and you only need to raise maybe $20m-$30m (£14m – £21m).” Clyde Space’s turnover for this financial year (2015/2016) is expected to be about £5 million, a £2 million growth on the previous year.

Manufacturing satellites and other hardware is termed the ‘upstream’ side of the space industry. However, the majority of growth is expected to come from the ‘downstream’ side: creating applications using data collected from space to provide information to customers.

One business exploiting the growing demand for satellite data is Earth-i, based in Guildford, Surrey, which went into business last September, backed by private equity funding. Earth-i collects data from three high definition earth imaging satellites that Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), a satellite manufacturer, launched last year.

The cameras on the satellites take pictures and store these as data onboard the satellites. When the satellites next pass over a ground station – a satellite dish on earth – they transmit the data to that dish. Earth-i analyses the data and then extracts specific information requested by clients. These clients include analysis firms like Rezatec, which requires the data for use in agricultural and environmental monitoring. A farmer might want them to track the health of vegetation, to see where fertiliser should be applied, for example.

Steve Young, Earth-i’s, director of sales and business development, says it’s a good time to be working in the UK space industry. “We’ve stepped into the opportunity gap, underpinned by support from government and the growing demand for satellite derived information and services worldwide.”

With the proven demand and earning potential for space-related tech, funding opportunities are on the rise. Seraphim Capital, a UK-based venture capital firm, is preparing to launch the world’s first venture fund focused on the space sector of £83m. It will be backed by capital from seven large players in the industry, as well as the British Business Bank, and supported by the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency.

Mark Boggett, managing director at Seraphim Capital, says: “You can build a global company [in the sector] focused on a particular vertical [such as agriculture or security] for a relatively low amount of equity – that’s really attractive to venture capitalists.”

The space sector is reaching a tipping point where the market understands the potential for smaller satellites, says Brian Aitken, a partner at Nevis Capital, one of the investors in Clyde Space. “[The combination of] technical expertise, UK government support for export and the growth rate of the market should create a healthy environment for UK companies to flourish.”

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DHI GRAS had the pleasure to welcome the Director General of European Space Agency (ESA), Jan Woerner and his delegation accompanied by delegates from the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.

During the visit we presented the long and successful relationship we have had with ESA. Earth Observation data is widely used within DHI’s business areas and we used the opportunity to demonstrate examples of our projects using Earth Observation within the domains of water resources, sustainable development and environmental impact assessment. With the launch of the Sentinel satellites, ESA satellite data is becoming increasingly useful within our business areas.

The visit also gave us the opportunity to appreciate the work ESA has been doing in developing the market for Earth Observation services through various initiatives which we have actively taken part in over the past 10 years.

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Deimos Space UK is among the presenters at the ESA 2016 conference on Big Data from Space (BiDS’16). Jose J. Ramos will be speaking about how to save money and increase performance deploying big EO data systems on the cloud using technology developed in the ENTICE Horizon 2020 project (http://www.entice-project.eu).

ENTICE “dEcentralised repositories for traNsparent and efficienT vIrtual maChine opErations”aims to decrease the delivery and deployment times of large virtual machine images using a federated Cloud infrastructures made by novel virtual machine (VM) repository and operational environment named ENTICE. On this project Elecnor Deimos research focuses in the development of future internet technologies to improve Earth observation services.

ENTICE has brought together a collection of three commercial use cases in the realms of energy management, cloud orchestration and big data. Companies dealing with Earth observation data, Cloud service providers and multi Cloud ecosystems will be able to optimize Virtual Machine (VM) images to effectively use Cloud resources and virtualised environments for their computing and data processing needs, trying to overcome the issues they had before:

● Manual, error-prone and time consuming VM image creation
● Monolithic VM images with large deployment and migration overheads
● Proprietary un-optimised VM repositories
● Inelastic resource provisioning
● Lack of information to support effective VM image optimization

In the Earth observation industry, processing and distribution of big space data still presents a critical challenge: the treatment of massive and large-sized data obtained from EO satellite recordings. Remote sensing industries implement conventional on-site infrastructures to acquire, store, process and distribute the generated geo-information. However these solutions do not cover sudden changes in the demand of services and the access to the information presents large latencies.

Elecnor Deimos will improve the following Earth Observation services and highly reduce the costs associated with on premises deployments:

● Acquisition of raw data: when the imagery data is ingested from the satellite into the ground station, the system is notified and the ingestion component automatically ingests the raw data into the cloud for processing.

● Processing of the raw data: once the data is ingested, it is processed in the product processors. There are several processing levels.

● Archiving and cataloguing geo-images: the different products obtained from the processing of raw data are archived and catalogued in order to provide these images to end users or to provide high-added value services.

● Offering user services: this is the front-end of the system. It allows end users to select which product they want to visualize or to download.

By using ENTICE environment, it is expected to highly decrease the delivery time of the satellite imagery to end users and therefore to improve their accessibility, increasing the competitiveness of the EO industries. It will be possible thanks to the ENTICE environment, which will drastically reduce the required time for the creation and the deployment of the VMs. This will allow to support high demanding changes adjusting the infrastructure to serve these overloads, taking advantage of the flexibility and lower time provided by the ENTICE environment.

SOURCE: Innovate UK & ENTICE & Elecnor Deimos
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08-Apr-2016 London, by SoilEssentials Ltd. The leading, award-winning, Scottish precision ag specialists based at Hilton of Fern, near Brechin in Angus have chosen Cereals 2016 to launch the new version of their product – EssentialsMap. First launched in 2012, EssentialsMap is an intuitive online farm mapping system allowing customers to manage spatial farm data such as soil sampling, yield mapping and variable rate map production. The new version takes advantage of the wider availability and lower cost of Earth Observation (EO) data to develop this effective online tool.

The brand new cloud-based version takes the user into a unique online environment giving unparalleled data retrieval capability and access to imagery. The EssentialsMap development was co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) in an integrated applications R&D project named KORE (Knowledge, Observation, Response, Evaluation) and sees several complementary services integrated into a unified farm management solution. EssentialsMap is the first cloud-based farm management system to be integrated with Trimble‘s Connected Farm which allows variable rate application maps to be sent directly to the user’s Trimble console without using a USB stick. SoilEssentials are delighted to have collaborated with ESA alongside satellite data processing experts- Deimos Space UK Ltd and drone solutions company – G2Way.

The KORE project developed a platform to combine EO imagery from a variety of sources including ESA’s new Sentinel series of satellites, UAV imagery and tractor-mounted sensors to guarantee the availability of remote-sensed data, regardless of weather and cloud conditions. This remote-sensed imagery is captured at a range of scales from centimetre level from UAV’s, 1 to 20 metre for Satellite imagery and tramline width for tractor-mounted sensors. The appropriate EO data is retrieved specifically for the agriculture industry and opens up a new dimension for agronomists and farming companies to increase their land knowledge and offer a unique service to their clients through the EssentialsMap product. Challenging projects like these continually push the boundaries in this fast-moving industry and SoilEssentials stand at the front of the queue to get involved and progress. Managing Director of SoilEssentials, Jim Wilson explains, “Our aim with the KORE project and the new version of EssentialsMap was to create a unique white box web platform for agronomists to rebrand and tailor to their, and their customers’ own needs. We also wanted to dramatically improve the reliability and usability of remote-sensed imagery and we have achieved that with the seamless integration of multiple providers of satellite imagery, UAV images and tractor mounted sensors.”

Michael Lawrence, Business Development Director of Deimos Space UK Ltd tells us “Our experience in managing and processing large volumes of EO data has enabled us to combine EO data and UAV data to feed the analytic tools in the new version of EssentialsMap.”

“By using micro unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) to produce timely high resolution earth surface imagery we support users that require images to observe the key stages of the crop growth cycle,” says Keith Geary, founder of G2Way, “and on the occasions where there are feasibility issues regarding satellite acquisitions due to cloud cover, existing users of EO can also be supported through this avenue.”

Visitors can find SoilEssentials on stand 321 where they will be delighted to talk to you and where you have the opportunity to preview this exciting new farm management solution.

The SoilEssentials expertise lies where technology and good farming practice merge, providing practical solutions designed primarily with agricultural efficiency in mind. With an extensive product and service portfolio, SoilEssentials complement this with their status as authorised Trimble dealer for Northern UK.

About Elecnor Deimos UK branch:

Deimos Space UK Ltd, based in Harwell, near Oxford, has extensive experience in design, engineering and systems integration in the aerospace, satellite systems, remote sensing, information systems and telecommunications network sectors and is involved in the majority of ESA programmes including exploration, Earth observation, satellite navigation, launchers and human space flight.

About G2Way:

G2Way Ltd is a geospatial technology company based in Nottingham and was created to develop global two-way communications and navigation.

About European Space Agency:

The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

Source: Cereals Event & KORE ESA co-funded project & Elecnor Deimos UK
For further information regarding Elecnor Deimos UK Earth observation applications contact Michael Lawrence, Business Development Director e-mail: michael.lawrence@deimos-space.com

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The two major challenges covering all of these themes are the preservation of environmental resources and ecosystems, and universal access to water (mainly for drinking) and sanitation. In this context, CNES has been commissioned to support the development of satellite applications and services in the field of water, in particular.

These products and services will rely on all satellite missions that generate relevant data on water. This currently includes Sentinel-1,2,3 Pleiades and Meghtropiques. For the future, the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission is awaited with great interest. SWOT will enable global coverage of inland waters and provide spatio-temporal variations in the water height of rivers and lakes. In the meantime, the Sentinel-3 altimeter will provide measurements on inland waters that are more accurate than those of most previous altimetry missions.Sentinel-3, with its SRAL instrument, will enable more precise characterization, and will complement the JASON missions while awaiting the global coverage to be provided by the forthcoming SWOT mission. The Sentinel-3 altimeter is now highly anticipated for the study and management of inland waters. Its data will be integrated in the Copernicus Global Land Services platform, which will offer free, open, online access to hydrological data acquired from space. CLS, alongside CNES, LEGOS, CESBIO and many other partners, is working to optimize the acquisition, processing, distribution and exploitation of these hydrological data.

Thanks to Sentinel-3, the other satellite missions we use and our expertise in altimetry (measuring the height of water), when flooding occurs, we are able, for instance, to monitor the water level in order to anticipate flooding of infrastructure located further downstream. This is what we did for one of our customers. A major flood of the Benoué River had serious consequences for local populations and infrastructure. Our customer, who had infrastructures in the Niger Delta, wanted to know whether the flood was over and whether it could return to its plants without putting its employees in danger. The satellite altimetry data we analyzed showed that most of the water located upstream had already flowed downstream, and that the floodwaters were in the process of receding. This information was vital to our customer for managing the site. With Sentinel-3, we will be able to perform this kind of monitoring on smaller tributaries and area not yet covered.

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