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Airborne Technologies is proud to have obtained FIKI certification from EASA for the Vulcanair P68R.The aircraft type is thus approved for “Flights Into Known Icing” conditions.

Handover FIKI STC at the AERO in Friedrichshafen from left to right: Thorwald Buck (EASA ECS Expert), Wilhelm Jagritsch (ACG – Head of Airworthiness and Certification), Burkhard Jäger (Airborne Technologies – Head of Design Organisation), Trevor Woods (EASA – Certification Director), Wolfgang Grumeth (Airborne Technologies – CEO)

The complex modification of the basic aircraft with all redundant systems included a test flight programme with dry ice shapes, as well as natural ice flights in northern Scotland, to prove the de-ice capacity under most adverse conditions. All modifications for the special mission equipment such as EO/IR gimbal and the whole array of antennas for tactical radio and down/up-link, are covered by this STC as well. With this FIKI capability for a 2t-class aircraft, Airborne Technologies sets new standards with regard to dispatch reliability and safety of the customers.

Wolfgang Grumeth, CEO of Airborne Technologies, says: “The integration of special equipment into the different platforms goes meanwhile far beyond the simple installation of sensors. The complexity of systems and customer requirements makes it increasingly necessary to intervene in all areas. We are taking over more and more modifications previously assigned to OEMs. Besides FIKI we have recently certified TCAS II and P-RNAV/SBAS.

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(11 July 2018 – ESA) Following months of tests and careful evaluation, the first data on air pollutants from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite have been released. These first maps show a range of trace gases that affect air quality such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.

Launched on 13 October 2017, Sentinel-5P is the first Copernicus satellite dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere. It is part of the fleet of Sentinel missions that ESA develops for the European Union’s environmental monitoring Copernicus programme managed by the European Commission.

Philippe Brunet, Director of Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence at the European Commission, welcomed the release and accuracy of the new data, which has shone a light on air pollution on a global scale.

Copernicus Sentinel-5P carbon monoxide measurements in November 2017 show long-range transboundary air pollution transport from India to China. Launched on 13 October, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite has been used to map atmospheric carbon monoxide around the globe. The mission has a swath width of 2600 km, which allows the whole planet to be mapped every 24 hours. Thanks to its Tropomi instrument – the most advanced multispectral imaging spectrometer to date – Sentinel-5P can zoom down to the surface of Earth and deliver highly detailed and accurate data about the atmosphere. (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data, processed by SRON)

entinel-5P tropospheric nitrogen dioxide measurements over Europe, Africa, Middle East, and India from April 2018 (averaged) are shown here. Air pollution emitted by big cities and shipping lanes is clearly visible. Launched in October 2017, Sentinel-5P is part of a fleet of satellites central to Copernicus, Europe’s environmental monitoring programme. With a resolution of up to 7 × 3.5 km, Sentinel-5P’s Tropomi instrument can detect air pollution over individual cities. Tropomi also has the capacity to locate where pollutants are being emitted, effectively identifying pollution hotspots. (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data, processed by KNMI)

“These first data are another milestone for our Copernicus programme. They show how Sentinel-5P is set to make a real difference in monitoring air quality and highlight European Union’s contribution to combatting the global issue of air pollution.”

As poor air quality continues to prematurely claim the lives of millions of people every year, it is more important than ever that we find better and more accurate ways of monitoring the air we breathe.

Thanks to its Tropomi instrument – the most advanced multispectral imaging spectrometer to date – Sentinel-5P can zoom down to the surface of Earth and deliver highly detailed and accurate data about the atmosphere.

With a resolution of up to 7 × 3.5 km, it can even detect air pollution over individual cities.

This higher spatial resolution is key to what makes the data produced by Sentinel-5P so useful. Tropomi also has the capacity to locate where pollutants are being emitted, effectively identifying pollution hotspots.

Initial data have highlighted air pollution as emitted by big cities and ship lanes through measurements of nitrogen dioxide over Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India.

These new data also show the transport of carbon monoxide from India to China, and the closing of the ozone hole during 2017.

Harry Förster from the Netherlands Space Office explains, “Sentinel-5P further enhances existing and initiates new European applications in this area because the very high resolution of Tropomi is simply unprecedented.

“In combination with the improved sensitivity of the detectors we now have a spectrometer that is about 10 times better than its predecessor.

Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, added, “I am proud that we now have a state-of-the-art measuring instrument that allows us to capture high-quality data on the atmosphere worldwide, and to do this more accurately than ever before.

Claus Zehner, ESA’s Sentinel-5P mission manager, affirmed, “We often hear about climate change and the depletion of the ozone layer when we consider why we need to monitor the atmosphere.

“But air quality is also a huge global problem. It affects the health of humans and affects agriculture and the economy in general.”

Having completed its commissioning phase, Copernicus Sentinel-5P data is now available to all, free of charge.

From policy makers and environmental agencies to scientists, users have access to data that ultimately help to better forecast and mitigate air quality problems.

Copernicus Sentinel-5P will also contribute to services such as volcanic ash monitoring for aviation safety and warnings of high level UV radiation.

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On the afternoon of May 22, a sudden light filled the sky and the SpaceX rocket carrying the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On mission, or GRACE-FO, soared into orbit on a mission to continue the legacy of the original GRACE spacecraft duo.

Illustration of GRACE-FO on orbit. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Their goal: help to address global transformation by monitoring changes in the distribution of Earth’s mass, in particular in the form of water.

Fundamental to the measurement is a pair of JPL Microwave Ranging Instruments with transceiver assembly components built by SSL. With one on each of the two GRACE-FO satellites, they together measure micron level changes in the distance between the satellites caused by small variations in the gravitational field resulting from mass variations on Earth.

The original GRACE spacecraft duo launched in 2002 and worked to track and monitor these movements to understand the fluctuations in how water travels and is stored throughout the planet. Similar to the original GRACE mission, GRACE-FO relies on the Microwave Ranging Instrument with SSL-built components to accurately measure their separation as they circle Earth approximately 137 miles apart, but also will demonstrate an experimental Laser Ranging Interferometer that should cut down the noise and more accurately assess the separation changes between the two spacecraft.

By measuring variations in gravity over Earth’s surface and producing a new map of Earth’s gravity field every 30 days, GRACE-FO will bring clarity to how the planet’s mass distribution changes from month to month which is primarily due to water moving from one place on Earth to another. With these precise measurements of water migration, the mission provides a global perspective on transformations in groundwater storage and loss for use in water management, especially in the largest ground water reservoirs that are relied upon by much of the world’s population for reliable and predictable water resources. I commend NASA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for their commitment to maintaining data continuity from GRACE, enabling researchers around the world to continue providing valuable insights into the nature of our planet.

This image shows the land water storage anomalies in July 2017, as observed with the GRACE satellites. Blue colors indicate below-average terrestrial water amounts, while red colors show above-average water amounts. Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

SSL and the other Maxar Technologies businesses, DigitalGlobe, MDA and Radiant Solutions all have a commercial mindset that drives our success in contributing next-generation space solutions to enable global transformation. Our collaboration with NASA and JPL is closely aligned with Maxar Technologies’ and SSL’s purpose of building a better world and enables us to continually demonstrate our unparalleled capacity to provide commercial technologies that enable Earth science missions such as GRACE-FO.

The results of the original GRACE mission were revolutionary to Earth systems research. Now the gravity field data gathered by GRACE-FO will improve lives through better predictions of water availability and higher-quality information on how to use and manage our planet’s valuable resources. It is always an honor to partner with NASA and JPL to expand our knowledge of the universe and protect our planet.

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Airbus, Orange Business Services and Capgemini launch the collaborative platform sobloo to pave the way to a new era of exploitation of Earth Observation (EO) data

To citizens, businesses and organisations from all over the world, sobloo allows easy access to all Copernicus data/information and to additional EO and Non-EO data collections

Baveno, 21/06/2018 – At the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the European Union’s Earth Observation programme Copernicus in Baveno (Italy), Airbus and its partners Orange Business Services and Capgemini officially launched sobloo, a Copernicus Data and Information Access Service (DIAS).

Copernicus is the most ambitious Earth Observation programme to date providing accurate, timely and easily accessible information to improve the management of the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security.

To foster data dissemination and address a strong need for simplification, the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) decided to launch DIAS in order to offer users the capability to exploit Copernicus data and information without having to manage transfer and storage on their own computer systems.

sobloo: a highly experienced consortium led by Airbus, Orange Business Services and Capgemini

sobloo is designed to broaden and diversify the Earth Observation ecosystem by providing easy access to all Copernicus data and information to the scientific community, general public, entrepreneurs and start-ups who wish to process the data to provide their own Copernicus based services. As a collaborative platform, sobloo aims to expand and diversify the data collection (Earth Observation commercial imagery, thematic layers, mobile, IoT, etc.), foster interactions and innovation, establish a sustainable economy and further develop the European cloud.

The sobloo platform has been designed to suit all types of users’ profiles with different entry points and capabilities. It is an open geospatial community for people looking for data and related services, as well as developers looking for a dedicated environment to create new applications. Truly collaborative and innovative, sobloo offers the opportunity to co-create and mutually enrich the platform. Early adopters have already started to use sobloo and give their feedback in order to improve the overall user experience for the future community. Today’s platform opens to first functionalities and datasets; in the coming months, it will evolve to integrate more Earth Observation and geo-information layers, analytics and a full offer of services.

The services of sobloo already include APIs (Application Programming Interface) and connectors to smoothly access a rich data catalogue, cloud-based resources with large storage and impressive computation power, generic cloud managed services, dedicated EO tools and platform toolbox to set up a convenient development environment.

sobloo was created with the aspiration to improve data access and facilitate data sharing. Its services are based on a cross-fertilization principle. The platform allows users to benefit from a large services catalogue on several activities domains. sobloo gives access to a development environment offering both the simplicity and the performance of today’s cloud technologies.

sobloo’s easy-to-use marketplace provides a high visibility for users’ solutions and supports commercialisation through a variety of managed services and convenient billing.

“Airbus has been a strong partner of the Copernicus programme from the very beginning and I am glad to see our adventure continues with sobloo, the Copernicus DIAS platform we are launching with our partners Orange Business Services and Capgemini. As prime contractor, we are committed to providing a reliable tool to simplify the data access for European citizens and boost the creation of new business models based on Earth Observation,” said Mathilde Royer- Germain, head of Earth Observation, Navigation and Science at Airbus.

“Orange Business Services is proud to provide its global public cloud solution based on Flexible Engine for sobloo. This platform will allow to create new services and applications around the Copernicus information and push the Earth Observation further,” said Stefan Kanis, Chief Executive Officer of Orange Cloud for Business, Orange Business Services’ cloud entity.

“Industry is increasingly starting to recognize the benefits of Earth Observation data. Satellite imagery can be used across all industry verticals. It is a fully-fledged component of the data revolution for all our customers,” says Denis Dallez, Space Segment Manager within Capgemini. “Capgemini’s role in sobloo is to support industry and the public sector to harness and apply the power of Earth Observation data and beyond. We will be leveraging Group’s extensive digital capabilities to help our customers expand their business and unleash further innovation.”

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Paris, 21 June 2018 – Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces that its new Earth Observation (EO) Platform, officially named Mundi Web Services, is now live and being used by several clients. This platform is supported by a newly-created consortium, composed of DLR, e-Geos, EOX, GAF, Sinergise, Spacemetric, Thales Alenia Space and T-Systems, which is led by Atos, on behalf of the European Commission and ESA (European Space Agency).

Mundi gives users and companies unlimited, free and complete access to real-time geo Copernicus satellite data and enables them to combine it with their own data and tools, to build new innovative products and services that integrate accurate and real-time information from satellites. It can be used across a broad range of sectors and markets such as manufacturing, insurance, utilities, agriculture, forestry, urbanism and emergency services. The platform additionally provides access to sophisticated processing tools, resources and infrastructure, thus offering companies a single Cloud-based one-stop shop to bring added-value services to market quicker.

“The launch of the Mundi Web Services platform marks a significant milestone in Atos’ investment in Big Data, analytics and AI platforms for Space applications, through our Atos Codex offerings” says Stéphane Janichewski, Head of Defence & Aerospace Market at Atos. “These platforms will enable companies to deliver new services for the digital economy, which will provide value for society in order to address some of the greatest challenges we face today such as climate change and resource scarcity.”

Mundi is one of the five DIAS (Copernicus Data and Information Access Services) cloud-based platforms, which are officially launched today by the European Commission to EU institutions, ESA and representatives from the industry at the ‘Baveno+20 – From GMES to Copernicus and Beyond’ in Baveno, Italy today, on the 20th anniversary of the Copernicus Programme, the world’s largest single Earth Observation program.

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The European Space Agency (ESA) invites 20 committed developers to its Space App Camp,
a free event scheduled for 17-24 September 2018 at ESRIN, ESA’s Centre for Earth
observation (EO), in Frascati, Italy.

Oberpfaffenhofen, 21 June 2018 – Big data from space – such as the EO programme Copernicus and its Sentinel satellites – provides tremendous amounts of data to many industry sectors. This big data from space offers countless opportunities in connection with mobile apps: From space, our planet’s atmosphere, land, and water can be continuously monitored for multiple application fields.

To make EO data and services accessible to a wide range of citizens, ESA’s Space App Camp from 17-24 September 2018 in Frascati, Italy, invites developers from across Europe to exchange new ideas with like-minded people and tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges. There’s a special treat to boot, with ESA taking care of food & beverage, hotel and flight expenses. Interested developers are able to register online as individuals or teams (of up to four people) at www.app-camp.eu/frascati until 30 July 2018. The selection criteria will include the applicants’ previous programming work. The winner or winning teams will receive a EUR 2,500 cash prize and the opportunity to apply for further incubation at one of the ESA Business Incubation Centres (BIC’s).

The ESA App Camp objective is to introduce app developers to Copernicus, creating awareness for the numerous possibilities EO data offers to enrich mobile apps. Participants learn about the many ways how big data from space can be utilised in mobile apps, using a dedicated API for EO data. Additionally, they will make contacts all over Europe and gain insights into how ESA operates.

“The ESA Space App Camp created the opportunity to get EO experts, developers and application experts in the same place working on a common idea. This is fantastic! Therefore, we strongly advise young innovators to join the Space App Camp, meet fellow visionaries and start developing their business ideas based on EO satellites,” explained Daniele De Vecchi, CTO, Ticinum Aerospace.

Ticinum Aerospace, with its app called Saturnalia, was the winner of the Space App Camp 2016, demonstrating how EO can play a foreground role in different fields. Ticinum was inspired by the landscape in Frascati and designed a system to monitor vine growth from space and from ground, based on key parameters like temperature, soil moisture and vegetation status. Recently Ticinum Aerospace signed a partnership agreement with Terre d’Oltrepò, a consortium of 800 grape growers, delivering around 43,000 tonnes of grapes turned into wine.

Since its inception seven years ago, about 420 developers from 30 countries have applied for the Space App Camps, and more than 45 apps have been developed. Working in teams, they will be tasked with developing innovative apps and feasible business models for one of five subject areas: smart farming, sustainable development, future living, smart cities and digital transport.

About AZO

AZO Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen is an international networking and branding company initiating the most important space-related innovation competitions with more than 15,000 participants, over 200 industrial & public – and 400 international stakeholders. The Masters Series, presented by AZO consists of European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC), Copernicus Masters, Space Exploration Masters, and INNOspace Masters. AZO has been supporting entrepreneurship with more than 130 company foundations to date and the creation of 1,800 high-tech jobs in Bavaria with an annual turnover of about EUR 150 million.

Additionally, AZO runs a very successful business angel network which invested more than EUR 130 million Venture Capital in 2016/17 as well as the ESA Incubation Centre (ESA BIC) Bavaria. For more information,
please visit www.azo-space.com.

On the 26th June 2018, Sinergise was presented with the EARSC Company Achievement Award during the Association’s Annual cocktail, held in Brussels.

Nominations for the award were collected from EARSC members who then vote and the winner has been selected by an international, independent jury of EO sector representatives.

Sinergise demonstrated successful development of EO services for a target market (sector or geographic), a strong contribution to a defining European programme (Copernicus and ESA projects) and has exhibited 54% revenue and 27% employment growth in the last year.

EARSC and a prestige jury have thereby recognised Sinergise as one of the company’s that has made the most significant contribution to the development of the Earth Observation sector in Europe.

Grega Milcinski, CEO of Sinergise, stated “We could not have been happier about how things are evolving. We have entered the space market two years ago by demonstrating a novel way to manage petabytes of EO data in the cloud and today Sentinel Hub users process almost two million requests every day. This award is an important external affirmation of our business case, which would not have been possible without superb Sentinel data and its free and open policy. We are looking eagerly into the future, with DIAS platforms and even more data! EARSC and its members have already proven to be a valuable support in our activities and we hope to continue great cooperation in coming years as well.”

About Sinergise:

Sinergise is a SME from Slovenia with extensive expertise in developing advanced geospatial information systems based on web technology. The team has successfully completed several country scale projects related to support in agriculture and land administration in Europe and Africa. In 2016 Sinergise established satellite imagery processing engine in the cloud, Sentinel Hub, which won Copernicus Masters award the same year. It now powers several tens of earth observation applications in Europe, Africa, US and Australia and at this moment processes two million requests every day, crunching more than quadrillion satellite imagery pixels from Sentinel, Landsat, MODIS and other missions.

In 12 years of operations Sinergise built solutions for large governmental clients in Europe (United Kingdom, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey, Macedonia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, Moldova) and Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Mauritius), almost all of them still being supported nowadays. Altogether there are more than 2 million people annually using Sinergise’s tools and its technology helps to manage more than 50 million property records and more than 500 million EUR of transactions annually.

The EARSC competition “European EO product of the year” rewarded a company which has developed a product which will support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at national, regional and/or local levels, and the monitoring and reporting against the global indicator framework.

On the 26 June 2018, during the EARSC Annual Cocktail, the Award this year went to Dust Frequency Maps (DFMs) by SILEX CLOUDS which provides an historical analysis of Dust storm occurrences over the last 12 years. It is focused mainly in MENA region and oriented to assist the management of PV Solar Parks under dust/sand conditions that daily affect the performance of solar panels energy projections and effective production.

The Dust Load Index use the base of historical/statistical analysis from the processing of thermal bands, evidencing an estimation of dust charge.

This product will support SDGs related to Energy (improving the efficiency in the management of the renewable energy infrastructures and best potential locations), Climate Change (identifying changing weather patterns and with the full DMS the real time monitoring of extreme dust storm events) and finally sustainable cities & communities (by helping to deal with challenges related to cities infrastructures and services, as transport system)

This innovative product seeks to support informed decisions leveraging EO, with analysis/models. Data for validation of nowcasts/forecasts contributing to measure and monitor progress in SDGs addressing developing countries.

Pablo Marzialetti “As a CEO of Silex Clouds S.R.L. I’m very glad and honoured that our solution on Dust Frequency Maps was recognized by EARSC and rewarded with the ‘European EO Product Award 2018’. I strongly believe that our service could support the accomplishment of the 2030 SDGs. I am convinced that this noticeable award will leverage our company, and that EARSC endorsement will enable us to bring our solution to its Final Users. Overall it is very innovative products for the MENA countries”

About SILEX Clouds:
The SILEX Clouds project is centered on the provision of valuable information derived from complex satellite image processing techniques and GIS procedures, in near real time (NRT) and in interoperable formats. More info at www.silexclouds.com

The overarching objective of the IDEEO project is the creation of a new European partnership which will promote internationally the use of European Earth Observation capability in different sectors such as marine, agriculture, energy etc. In order to meet the expected impacts specified by the Call.
Now you can follow the project on different platforms!

Follow IDEEO on twitter and LinkedIn!

Get monthly updates & news about how EO supports agriculture & maritime as well as the internationalisation of European earth observation companies.
Sign-up “here“http://eepurl.com/ducsPP