Skip to content

On Monday 16 February 2015, the High Representative / Vice President Federica Mogherini visited the European Union Satellite Centre (SatCen) – a Council Agency based in Torrejón de Ardoz near Madrid. The High Representative was hosted by the Satellite Centre’s Director Pascal Legai and met with SatCen specialists.

In his briefing, Director Legai underlined some key aspects of the EU Satellite Centre as a unique asset to support the decision making and actions of the European Union in the CFSP/CSDP (1) field, including EU Crisis Management missions and operations, under the operational direction of the HR. The human dimension of the SatCen operations was also stressed, with its 24/7/365 availability, near real time production – when data and imagery are accessible -, end-user focus and secured analytical and dissemination process.

The main users of the SatCen products and services are EU Member States, the (European External Action Service) EEAS, the High Representative team, the EU Intelligence Analysis Centre (IntCen), the EU Military Staff (EUMS), the Civilian Planning and Conduct Capability (CPCC), various CSDP missions and operations as well as the European Commission. The Centre’s users also include and international organisations such as the United Nations (UN), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Director Legai emphasised that, to face a growing and evolving demand, further development of SatCen will rely on COOPERATION, mainly with the Commission (Copernicus, Space Situational Awareness, Frontex), to concretely implement synergies and avoid duplications while building on the SatCen’s 20-year experience in the Earth Observation and space-security domains. In this context, the HR was informed about two important initiatives paving the way for increased cooperation with the Commission: shaping the role of the SatCen in the upcoming Copernicus service in support of EU external Action (SEA), and the consolidation of the cooperation with FRONTEX through an administrative arrangement on Border Surveillance activities.

The HR was also presented with concrete examples of products and services derived from analysis of satellite imagery and addressing current EU Security threats, in particular on geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) for border surveillance and refugee camp monitoring to support sizing of humanitarian aid needs (in the framework of SEA Copernicus activations performed by FP7 projects G-NEXT and G-SEXTANT).

(Source EU SatCen) and Copernicus

(1) Common Foreign and Security Policy / Common Security and Defence Policy

Depending on their needs, users can obtain these data either from the Copernicus services or directly from the Copernicus satellites.

Access to Sentinel-1A data
Data from the first Copernicus satellite (Sentinel-1A) launched on 3 April 2014 are available here.

Access to Copernicus satellites data (general)
Users interested in data coming directly from the Copernicus space component (the Sentinels satellites) can access them through the Sentinel Online portal operated by the European Space Agency (A specific section is dedicated to “Data Access” on this portal).

No registration is required for discovery and view services while it is a prerequisite to download Sentinel data. Registration is free of charge.

Note:

In addition to the data produced by the Sentinels satellites, Copernicus users can also have access under certain conditions to the data produced by other satellite missions referred to as Contributing Missions. Contributing Missions have been classified into five groups that reflect the characteristics of the main types of missions.

Most data provided by the different contributing missions are distributed by the European Space Agency (ESA). They take the form of datasets and are delivered to users through data access services. The delivery process relies on an operational system called the Coordinated Data access System (CDS).

Other space-based data are provided by the French Space Agency (CNES) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Access to Copernicus services data

Data are available through the web portals operated by the various Copernicus service lines:

Land-related data
Atmosphere-related data
Marine-related data
Emergency-related data

(Data are not yet available online for the Climate Change service and for Security applications, which are still in a development phase).

For the Land-, Atmosphere- and Marine-related services, anyone can have access to data but registration is mandatory. Registration is free-of-charge.

Source

For the time being, there is no common registration facility. Users interested in data coming from several web portals must therefore register on each web portal.

For the Emergency Management service, data production can be triggered only by “authorized users” but the maps produced by the service are available on the service web portal and can be downloaded without registering.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service and the Copernicus Climate Change Service, which are operated by ECMWF on behalf of the European Commission, will be implemented by a network of providers who will be selected through open invitations to tender (ITTs).

ECMWF is calling for independent experts in a number of scientific and technical areas to evaluate the proposals sent in response to the ITTs.

Experts will evaluate proposals remotely or at premises chosen by ECMWF using an online evaluation system. To qualify, experts will have to demonstrate relevant and considerable expertise and to sign a declaration of confidentiality and absence of conflict of interest.

For full details and to apply online, please visit the Call for external evaluators page

Copernicus website © EC

For procurements related to the the Copernicus Space Component and dissemination infrastructures please refer to the EU TED portal (http://ted.europa.eu/TED/browse/browseByBO.do) and the ESA tender information public system dedicated exclusively to the Copernicus-related Invitations To Tender (http://copernicus-emits.esa.int/) or the EUMETSAT tender information public system (https://eumits.eumetsat.int/).

The following contract opportunities have been opened or are planned to be opened in the context of the Copernicus Service and In-situ activities:

(Please note that the information on this site is provided for information only. For any formal information about these procurements, please refer directly to the EU TED portal (http://ted.europa.eu/TED/browse/browseByBO.do), the Procuring Entity respectively.)

Source

The 7 edition of Ogezine has been launched. It brings two interesting success stories on Surface geological mapping: Gulf of Suez, Egypt and Oilfield performance study: Ghawar oilfield (Saudi Arabia)


OGEOzine7.pdf

Full text (ONLY for subscribers)

As we have announced previously, the Portal is being upgraded this week to bring new and better functionality to this Community tool.

The look and feel will remain the same although the editing interface will alter. We shall provide specific details once the upgrade is completed.

@ for registered users: If you find any pages which look a bit strange, then please let us know about them so that we can put them right. You can contact the administrator.

We apologise for any inconvenience

(25th February 2015) A James Cook University researcher in Cairns has completed detailed 3D depth maps of Australia’s Coral Sea reefs, shedding new light on the likely distribution of coral diversity and sea life in the area.

Dr Robin Beaman, from JCU’s College of Science, Technology and Engineering, said mapping the reefs and their underwater landscape had always been a challenge, because their remote locations and shallow nature made it difficult to use modern surveying techniques, such as vessel-mounted echo sounders.

Instead, Dr Beaman worked with the German Earth observation company EOMAP and used satellite imagery to develop 3D bathymetry (or depth) data over a large group of Coral Sea reefs.

“These reefs lie in clear, sunlit waters, so the Landsat8 images were able to provide high-resolution data to a depth of about 50 metres,” he said.

“By refining the satellite data and merging it with existing data, I’ve produced 3D depth maps for these reefs and atolls. That gives us a much more detailed picture than was previously available.”

The project focussed on the reefs and atolls within those waters of the Coral Sea that fall within Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone, also called the Coral Sea marine Reserve.

While many of the largest reefs had been progressively mapped by the Royal Australian Navy using their LADS airborne lidar bathymetry system, there were still large areas of shallow reefs with no detailed depth data over them.

“The Flinders Reefs, about 230km offshore from Townsville, were an ideal place to start, being close to the Australian mainland and lacking an accurate 3D map,” Dr Beaman said.

“These are atolls that grew upwards from tilted continental blocks created when Gondwana was breaking up. The 3D images we now have of North and South Flinders Reefs are really stunning, showing classic atoll shapes with a shallow coral rim around a deeper lagoon.

“With this new 3D information we can now better predict where coral diversity is located around the edge of these reefs, because we know where we’re likely to find the shallow and deeper coral communities,” he said.

“That information will help marine researchers to plan future scientific expeditions, and it will help managers of the various conservation zones determine what other marine life they can expect to find there.”

Dr Beaman hopes the maps will be a valuable resource in the ongoing discussion as to what levels of protection should be given to different areas of the Coral Sea Marine Reserve.

More broadly, oceanographers could use the 3D data to more accurately model how oceanic currents move over and past these reefs before reaching the Great Barrier Reef.

North-westerly view of the Flinders Reefs in the Coral Sea. Depths are coloured red (shallow) to purple (deep), over a depth range of about 50 metres. Bathymetry data © (2015) EOMAP Bathymetry

Source

(31 March 2015) IKONOS outlived many of its younger siblings but today it is time to say goodbye.

After 15-plus years of successful service, DigitalGlobe made the decision to end the IKONOS mission. IKONOS was the world’s first sub-meter commercial earth imaging satellite, kick-starting what would become a multi-billion dollar industry for high resolution satellite imagery and geospatial products and services.

Built and launched by Lockheed Martin, IKONOS exceeded its initial life expectancy by nearly three times, collecting 599,754 images that contributed 408 million sq. km.—more than 8 times the surface of the globe—to the DigitalGlobe ImageLibrary. IKONOS archive imagery, dating back to 1999, provides the longest historical record of high resolution commercial satellite imagery and has greatly contributed to the understanding of our changing planet.

We remember IKONOS through some of its best shots…images that helped us change our view of the world.

Source

(Munich, 18.03.2014) European Space Imaging announced today that they are now able to supply 30 cm imagery from the WorldView-3 satellite for European and North African customers wishing to use the most sophisticated very high-resolution satellite imagery on the market. This is made possible through their strong partnership with DigitalGlobe and the WorldView Global Alliance.

Access to the world’s highest resolution commercial satellite imagery captured by WorldView-3 satellite will improve decision making, enable more efficient operations, and enhance a variety of applications for customers in the civil government, defense and intelligence, energy, mining, and global development sectors.

“We are happy to be able to offer our European and North African customers access to this cutting edge imagery,” said Adrian Zevenbergen, Managing Director, European Space Imaging. “Also, as it is competitively priced against aerial imagery we believe it will contribute to greater understanding and analysis for users who decide to explore its potential”.

In addition, many customers who were previously reliant on aerial imagery can now benefit from the improved economics, global availability, and faster refresh rate that European Space Imaging can provide with its 30 cm satellite imagery. Imagery of this resolution was previously only available from aerial platforms, which are difficult, costly, or impossible to access in many parts of the world.The 30 cm imagery products are also a rapid and affordable alternative in locations where aerial imagery is readily available. New imagery orders can be delivered on timescales of days or weeks, as opposed to months, in many cases, and customers can also leverage a rapidly growing volume of available 30 cm archive imagery.

“Today marks a significant milestone for our customers, who will now benefit from a level of image quality that has never before been available from commercial satellite providers,” said Hyune Hand, DigitalGlobe’s Senior Vice President for Product Marketing and Management. “These products will further enable our customers to save lives, resources, and time, propelling us toward our purpose of Seeing a better world™.”

The suitability of 30 cm satellite imagery for aerial imaging applications is confirmed by the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS), which is used by the imaging community to define and measure the quality of images and performance of imaging systems. DigitalGlobe’s 30 cm imagery achieves a rating of NIIRS 5.7, meaning it can resolve objects on the ground such as above-ground utility lines in a residential neighborhood, manhole covers, building vents, fire hydrants, and individual seams on locomotives.

DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 is the first and only commercial imaging satellite capable of collecting imagery with 30 cm ground sample distance — five times the detail of the company’s nearest competitor.

The satellite also features unique shortwave infrared (SWIR) capabilities that will enable new applications such as seeing through smoke and haze, identifying minerals and man-made materials, and assessing the health of crops and vegetation.

The SWIR imagery that the satellite collects has never before been available to commercial customers with this level of spatial and spectral resolution, and it will provide unique value to users in the energy and mining industries, as well as others. Today DigitalGlobe launched a beta program for 7.5 m SWIR imagery, working with partners, customers, and users to explore new uses for this capability.

“Companies should be exploiting the competitive advantages of the WorldView-3 data to look for potential ore-related alteration that will have been missed by the previous satellites used for alteration mapping,” said Dan Taranik, Managing Director of Exploration Mapping Group, a service provider to the global mineral exploration industry. “Detailed inspection of remote areas on the peripheries of alluvium or younger volcanics would be a competitive advantage that could help reveal concealed deposits.”

To see product samples and learn more about 30 cm imagery, please visit us here

About European Space Imaging
European Space Imaging is the leading supplier of very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery across Europe and North Africa. They are the only European satellite data provider operating multi-mission capable ground stations, enabling optimised collection strategies, flexibility and real-time weather assessments. Since 2002 European Space Imaging has continued to provide access to the most advanced VHR satellites available and services to customers throughout their region.

About DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe is a leading provider of commercial high-resolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions that help decision makers better understand our changing planet in order to save lives, resources and time. In January 2013, DigitalGlobe and GeoEye combined to become one DigitalGlobe, creating a company capable of providing greater value to customers through an integrated constellation and a broader set of products and services. For more information on the combination and its benefits, visit www.digitalglobe.com

(Feb 2015) NLR makes satellite data more easily accessible

NLR developed infrastructure for the European Space Agency (ESA) that allows users to more easily and efficiently find, order and download Earth observation images from ESA satellites. The initial tests of this (prototype) infrastructure were recently successfully completed.

Given the ever-increasing streams of satellite data, it has become increasingly important to provide users with easier access to all of this data. The ESA project, ‘Decision Support and Real Time EO Data Management’ (DREAM), contributes to this endeavour.
The aim is to develop interfaces for planning, ordering, and accessing data from the ESA Earth observation missions. The representative users for this data are EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency) and EUSC (European Union Satellite Centre), which will use the data to monitor oil spills at sea and support anti-pirate patrols, for example.

Regional Reference Server

Making the accessibility of satellite data efficient plays an important role in the automation of processes. For this, standards are needed to establish how the data can be searched for, and how the data can be ordered, downloaded and formatted. NLR works on this within the Regional Reference Server (RRS), which focuses on supporting commercial service providers when ordering and procuring Earth observation data. To this end, NLR collaborates with BMT ARGOSS and HERMESS, which are value-adding companies situated in the Geomatica Business Park.

NLR has developed an interface for the Regional Reference Server, which can more easily supports users, by hiding all the complex standards. HERMESS, for example, uses radar and optical satellite images to monitor the ice conditions in the Caspian Sea. Following a simple search for satellite data, HERMESS can immediately place an order. When, after a certain amount of time, the data automatically becomes available in the RRS, it is included in HERMESS’ processing chain without the need for further intervention.

In short, NLR’s contribution to the major DREAM project has resulted in a prototype infrastructure that allows users to more easily and efficiently find order and download Earth observation images from satellites. This infrastructure, and the acquired experience, assists NLR in developing future infrastructures focusing on Earth observation-based products and services. Commercial service-providing companies are thereby supported in automatically processing the huge amounts of satellite data provided by ESA’s Sentinel mission and the missions of other parties.

Source