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Airbus Defence and Space has installed its Street Factory 3D urban mapping solution at Rolta’s facility in Mumbai, thereby completing its processing capacities, based on two Pixel Factory processing suites already in use.


Next step in long-term partnership with the Indian multinational company Rolta
With the purchase of Street Factory, Rolta completes implementation of Pixel Factory suite

Launched in July 2012, Street Factory is a fully integrated solution enabling rapid and fully automatic processing of images from any aerial or street camera for the generation of a 3D textured database and distortion-free imagery. These realistic and precise data are used in 3D modeling and visualization in fields including urban planning, risk management, defense and telecommunications. This accurate process is fully automated and the imagery is produced within hours after acquisition, regardless of the sensor.

With the acquisition of the Street Factory system, Rolta becomes the second company after PASCO Corporation headquartered in Japan to own the complete range of geo-processing solutions offered by Airbus Defence and Space, allowing it to cover the entire range of geo-information data production (including DEMs, ortho images and urban3D models) derived from satellite and aerial data. Rolta is the first Indian company capable of automatically creating high accuracy 3D databases, even for dense urban areas.

We are very pleased with this contract which marks a fresh milestone in the long-term collaboration between Airbus Defence and Space and Rolta, which began in 2009 when the first Pixel Factory agreement was signed. The company now owns two Pixel Factory suites in Mumbai, where the Street Factory has also been installed.”
Bernhard Brenner Head of the Geo-Intelligence Programme Line at Airbus Defence and Space

Rolta is using these cutting-edge technologies extensively for large and sophisticated projects, especially in the Middle East.

We have been continuously introducing state-of-the-art technologies in our Enterprise Geospatial Information Solutions business line. The Pixel Factory software suite, today enriched with the Street Factory will enable Rolta to provide a very high end Digital Photogrammetry workflow that would ensure superior map products.”
K K Singh Chairman and CEO of Rolta India Limited

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FORSAT is a software platform for the extraction of 3D geometric information and automatic change detection from high resolution (HR) and very-high resolution (VHR) imagery from satellite optical sensors.

The FORSAT research project was co-funded by the national funding authorities of the participating countries under EUROSTARS and the European Commission. After project duration of 24 months the project was successfully finished with the final meeting and an associated user workshop on 02-03.10.2014, hosted in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The aim of project was to raise the current technological level of aerial imagery in combination with airborne laser scanning for forest cover mapping applications to a standalone satellite based monitoring capacity. Specifically, the project successfully aspired to transfer the existing precise processing capabilities of airborne techniques to VHR optical, stereographic satellite data, thereby providing a single source forest information solution.

Graphical user interface and main window of FORSAT software

FORSAT was developed as a 3D forest information platform and includes units for geometric and radiometric processing of satellite imagery and 2D/3D information extraction as well as 3D surface comparison for change detection. FORSAT supports most of the HR and VHR optical imagery like IKONOS, GeoEye-1, WorldView-1/2, SPOT-5, Pléiades-1A/B, etc. and can be easily updated to similar images from future missions.

Therefore, FORSAT is a powerful software capable to:

  • process mono, stereo as well as triplet images from common current optical HR and VHR satellites,
  • create ortho-rectified images,
  • generate 3D surfaces,
  • import and combine elevation data (e.g. LIDAR) to
  • calculate 3D differences and volume changes for
  • forest-related and other applications.
Ikonos 2001 (false colour image)
(© European Space Imaging / DigitalGlobe)
Pléiades 2014 (false colour image)
(PLEIADES © CNES 2014, Distribution Airbus DS)
3D differences visualized on digital surface model derived from Pléiades 2014 using FORSAT

Identification and assessment of deforestation caused by forest fire in Saittas, Cyprus and based on VHR satellite data of 2001 and 2014 using FORSAT

Ikonos 2001 (false colour image)
(© European Space Imaging / DigitalGlobe)
Pléiades 2014 (false colour image)
(PLEIADES © CNES 2014, Distribution Airbus DS)
Difference in heights visualized on ortho-rectified false colour image of Pléiades 2014.

Beside forest-related applications, FORSAT is also capable of detecting, delimiting and quantifying other changes like earthwork operations visualized above

In order to visualize the capacity and the benefits of FORSAT, six (6) case studies located in Austria, Cyprus, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey have been tested using optical data from different sensors. The results of the pilot applications proved that the platform can be used for different applications and would help forest managers and engineers, geomatics engineers, companies, local and regional authorities to extract 3D information from HR and VHR satellite information.

The very competitive price/quality ratio allows potential customers to use the optimum business model adapted to their real market service needs. Further details can be found on the Forsat fact sheet and the project website


Tel: +357 22447770
Fax: +357 22374988
Email
Web
GeoImaging Ltd. is a SME based in Cyprus, established in 2002 at Nicosia. The company offers scientific and professional solutions in IT and Geo-informatics. It is also active in R&D programmes, in EU & national funded projects and provides consultations services as well. GeoImaging goal is to support its clients and partners in the responsible and successful completion of projects. The products and services span state-of-the art knowledge and technology from spatial/image information acquisition, processing, analysis to representation and visualisation. The area of projects’ that Geoimaging is acting concerns Geo-informatics and IT in the broader extent, i.e. software development, mobile & web applications, GIS, cartography, geodatabases & data mining, photogrammetry & computer vision, remote sensing, imaging, 3D modelling.
GeoImaging Ltd. was the project coordinator of the FORSAT research project.

Tel: +43 512 562021
Email
Web
GeoVille Information System GmbH is a private sector enterprise located in Austria and is specialised in application production and services related to Earth Observation (EO) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications. GeoVille offers services in the fields of EO data processing, GIS operations, Geodata provision and distribution, Environmental applications and Management and consultancy.
The main thematic domains regarding EO and GIS applications comprise land use and land cover mapping; urban, regional and spatial planning; forestry; agriculture, infrastructure applications; environment; consultancy; cartography and promotion.
GeoVille’s mission is to provide turn-key solutions for spatial data management.

Tel: +41 44 6337068
Email
Web
4DiXplorer AG has started as a spin-off company of ETH Zurich (Switzerland), and now is an independent SME located in Zurich. 4DiXplorer offers advanced software and customized solutions for geospatial data acquisition and processing. The main areas of expertise are 3D high accurate processing of satellite, aerial, UAV and terrestrial images, reality-based virtual modelling of objects and environments based on image and laser scanning data. Thanks to the scientific knowledge and experiences gained through many years at ETH Zurich, 4DiXplorer proposes innovative software solutions, knowledge and technology transfer (courses and tutorials) and project consultancy. 4DiXplorer works in the international market, mainly focusing on Europe, Asia and North America.

Tel: +90 506 6834397
Email
Web
Ekinoks Surveying Software Engineering Ltd. Co. is co-founded in June 2011, in Istanbul (Turkey). It is a technology company providing advanced software, servicing and consulting in geo-spatial market and other markets related to surveying and 3D. The board members are qualified persons both in academia and in industry. The company has strong connection with universities and institutions. The motivation is to convert the scientific knowledge and experiences gained in the academia into commercial market values.

Tel: +34 954 21 90 13
Email
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Ingeniería Y Soluciones Informáticas S.L. (ISOIN) is a Spanish company working in Innovation and Technology fields, with a deep experience and a highly qualified background in ambient intelligence, GIS services, collaborative work and system integration within European projects. Our firm has a deep expertise in enterprise networks, and it is currently leading R&D activities in clusters, as the aeronautical cluster in Andalusia. ISOIN has potential contacts in South America, Spain and Europe due to its business activities.

Mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have commanded the 20-foot (6-meter) reflector antenna on NASA’s new Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) observatory to begin spinning for the first time. The partial spin-up is a key step in commissioning the satellite in preparation for science operations

Mission controllers sent commands to release the locking mechanism that prevented the observatory’s spun instrument assembly – the part that spins – from rotating during launch and deployment of the reflector. The spun instrument assembly includes the spin control electronics, radiometer instrument and reflector antenna.

Ending March in the first step of a two-step procedure, the spun instrument assembly was spun up to its initial rate of five revolutions per minute (rpm), a process that took about a minute. Initial data indicate the partial antenna spin-up procedure went as planned.

Because of the large size (mass) of the spun instrument assembly and its relatively rapid angular acceleration during spin-up, SMAP’s spacecraft bus rotated in the opposite direction during this process to balance the angular momentum. It reached a peak rate of up to 11 degrees per second.

Once the spun instrument assembly spin rate stabilized at five rpm, the spacecraft’s reaction wheels quickly restored the spacecraft bus to a non-rotating, stable attitude. Onboard flight software then turned the observatory back to its science-gathering orientation, with the spin axis pointing straight down to the ground and SMAP’s solar array pointed toward the sun.

The observatory will remain in its current configuration with the spun instrument assembly rotating at five rpm for about three days to allow ground controllers to assess the observatory’s performance at this spin rate before proceeding to the next step. On March 26, after ground analysis of this first antenna spin-up step is completed, mission controllers plan to increase the antenna’s spin speed to its final rate of approximately 15 rpm.

The partial antenna spin-up follows a series of recent propulsive maneuvers by SMAP’s ground flight operations team to adjust the observatory to its final science orbit for mapping operations.

SMAP launched Jan. 31 on a minimum three-year mission to map global soil moisture and detect whether soils are frozen or thawed. The mission will help scientists understand the links in Earth’s water, energy and carbon cycles; help reduce uncertainties in predicting weather and climate; and enhance our ability to monitor and predict natural hazards such as floods and droughts

When fully spun up and collecting science data, SMAP’s antenna will measure a 620-mile-wide (1,000-kilometer) swath of the ground as it flies above Earth at an altitude of 426 miles (685 kilometers). This will allow SMAP to map the entire globe with high-resolution radar data every two to three days.

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Integrated monitoring solutions constitute a prerequisite towards risk mitigation and urban planning policies against soil subsidence and seismic motion, providing valuable knowledge and data for investigating the corresponding physical mechanisms.
The above concept lies between the main framework of actions of INDES-MUSA project aiming at the deployment of an innovative multi-sensor system for monitoring in a complementary manner ground deformation and seismic motion in subsidence-prone urban areas.

Impact

The combination of the project actions within the overall objectives of the project is expected to result in a well-documented and innovative Web-based pilot study for monitoring urban subsidence and seismic response in the selected sites towards an integrated product to end users for both urban hazard assessment studies and future development strategies in the context of an economic and risk mitigation benefit for the society. In this regard, the proposed advancement of a multi-sensor monitoring of natural hazards examined within the INDES-MUSA project, in conjunction to validated scientific results integrated in a Web-GIS platform, will provide a flexible template for future development of both institutional and commercial services with applicability over a broad range of potential market sectors in urban areas with similar risk mitigation needs. Additionally, the project is expected to have a direct benefit to the participating enterprises and research teams based on a profitable technical know-how or/and scientific personnel exchange between the two countries.

Concept

The main goal of the project is the establishment of integrated tools and models for large-scale multi-risk assessment in urbanized environments prone to ground subsidence and seismic action by means of innovative, multi-sensor and cost effective monitoring schemes. Risk and vulnerability of urban areas to the above natural hazards constitute an inherently spatial problem leading by definition to an emerging need for corresponding urban-scale and highly-accurate monitoring solutions that can be used by end users and decision-making policies for risk management, disaster preparedness, environmental resource management and urban planning in the future. The above concept becomes particularly valuable in the case of complex urban landscapes containing physically different typologies of residential structures, critical facilities and civil infrastructures. In this context, the INDES-MUSA project aims at providing readily available monitoring data in the form of spatial distribution models related to ground subsidence and seismic motion through a web GIS platform applied in properly selected urban sites in Greece and China respectively.

Lidar & Aerial flight

Technical Details

The Greek site under investigation is located in the region of Kalochori close to Thessaloniki port in North Greece, presenting great scientific and monitoring interest related to the examined natural hazards, thereby in agreement with the general objectives of the project.

The integrated nature of the monitoring scheme is provided by a combination of two Airborne Lidar Leica ALS60 missions for change detection purposes and production of an accurate 3D city model combined with the town planning data of the constructions in the urban, industrial, gas and oil tanks area next to the port, Airborne DMC frame camera RGBNIR data at 0.10 cm ortho production, mobile GNSS stations, a tide gauge and water level sensors for ground subsidence measurements complemented by permanent seven accelerographic and two GNSS stations for monitoring seismic motion. The above multi-sensor scheme is deployed as an innovative pilot study, based on available means, in properly selected urban site. Besides monitoring and data processing, soil subsidence and seismic motion are being investigated by means of pertinent methods of analysis that will be developed and adapted in an urban-scale sense aiming at a better understanding of the investigated hazard sources as affected by the urban environment.

Both recorded data and analysis predictions are integrated, combined and implemented towards the development of a research tool and they are made readily-available and accessible to the scientific community and local/national decision-making authorities through a properly designed Web GIS platform.


Study Area, Kalochori

Contact Info

  • Contact person : Betty Charalampopoulou
  • E-mail : mail@geosystems-hellas.gr
  • Participants in the project: GEOSYSTEMS HELLAS S.A. (coordinator) and the research institutes: EPPO-ITSAK, NOAIG.

Satellite imagery from the Syria conflict, UNOSAT Rapid Mapping Vanuatu, UNITAR-UNOSAT’s Geotag-X…

New UNITAR-UNOSAT Report – Four Years of Human Suffering – the Syria Conflict as Observed through Satellite Imagery

18 March 2015, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) has produced a report illustrating the immense human suffering endured by the Syrian people over the last four years as observed through satellite imagery. The Foreword of the report has kindly been written by Ms Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, UN OCHA. The report illustrates the hardship faced by the civilian population, including

· Impact on local economies through shut-down of markets;
· Destruction of power supplies;
· Destruction of schools and hospitals;
· Indiscriminate attacks on civilian population;
· Internally displaced and refugee populations;
· Cultural heritage and
· Humanitarian access.

Full article

UNOSAT Rapid Mapping Confirms Heavy Damage in Vanuatu

16 March 2015, Geneva, Switzerland – Amid discussions of disaster prevention going on at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, UNOSAT was scrambled by OCHA on 15 March in the immediate aftermath of colossal cyclone Pam, which hit the Vanuatu islands in the early hours of 14 March 2015. Within the same day of activation, UNOSAT requested the triggering of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters thanks to which the first imagery was received within hours during the same day.

Full article

UNITAR-UNOSAT’s Geotag-X needs your help!

UNITAR-UNOSAT’s Geotag-X (geotagx.org) is a pilot project of the three year Citizen Cyberlab research project. Geotag-X is a platform for crowdsourcing analysis of the media coming out of a disaster situation. As smartphones with cameras and geo-location capabilities become more accessible, more and more media is being created and loaded onto the internet in a disaster situation. With Geotag-X, we want to find a way of harvesting this media, categorising it, and extracting data that is relevant to the response and relief efforts. We want to go beyond binary questions about what is in a photo, and see if we can teach the crowd to perform detailed analyses of media that would normally require specialist skills and expertise. With this research we are attempting to answer questions such as “How much media comes out of a disaster situation?” “How can we effectively collect and categorise that media?”, “What information is in the media that could be useful to the relief and response effort?”, “How can we extract that information?”, “Can we teach the crowd to perform complex analyses of media using only online tools?”

Full article

UNOSAT Report on Damage to Cultural Heritage Sites in Syria calls for Scaled up Protection Efforts

23 December 2014, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR today highlighted a new and comprehensive report by its UNOSAT programme that has revealed large scale destruction and damage to cultural heritage sites in Syria, including UNESCO World Heritage Properties. The study, carried out by experts on Syria cultural heritage and UNOSAT satellite image analysts, reviewed 18 different areas inside which a total of 290 locations were found to be directly affected by the ongoing conflict. UNOSAT based its analysis on a combination of commercially available very high resolution satellite images, UNESCO reports, information from archaeological experts on Syria as well as traditional and social media.

Full article

Citizen Cyberscience Wins Recognition for Innovative Social Technology

15 December 2014, Geneva, Switzerland – Crowdcrafting, a Web-based platform for citizen science used also to advance UNOSAT crowdsourcing research, has been selected for the 2014 Nominet Trust 100, a global initiative celebrating the ventures that are using digital technology to change the world for the better. The list is curated by a steering group comprising prominent digital and social entrepreneurs. Each year, the list brings together 100 of the world’s most inspiring examples of social innovation Nominet Trust is the UK’s leading social technology funder.

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(Munich / Clermont-Ferrand, 11 March 2015) CloudEO and PlanetObserver announce a new partnership signed on December 16, 2014. PlanetObserver geospatial data are now available as streaming and OGC web services through CloudEO’s cloud platform.

Without any data handling, customers can integrate PlanetObserver satellite imagery and terrain products into their remote sensing and GIS solutions. From CloudEO Store, customers can select between a 1 year web access as a streaming service or flexible time licenses for use on CLOUDEO platform and save up to 98% on the standard price.
Three global imagery and elevation datasets produced by PlanetObserver are already available on CloudEO´s platform:

  • PlanetSAT 15: High-quality natural color imagery base map
  • PlanetDEM 30: Digital elevation model offering accuracy and global coverage
  • PlanetDEM 90: Unique global reference elevation dataset

“With our offering on CloudEO, we can provide our existing and potential new customers with a service that allows them to easily stream geodata into their applications”, says Laurent Masselot, CEO of PlanetObserver. “Our new cooperation with CloudEO is a great endorsement for our users as they will be able to use our data and services provided by CloudEO partners on a pay-per-use basis.”

Ursula Benz, COO of CloudEO summarizes, “We are convinced that our customers will enjoy the easy access to these unique global datasets available through our Cloud Services. Processing these data on CloudEO platform will enable a quick production of value added products – without any need of data and software administration and IT provisioning.”

About PlanetObserver
PlanetObserver offers a full range of value-added geospatial products: global imagery mosaics in natural colors with a unique visual quality, global and accurate Digital Elevation Models, and aerial photography of France and any places in the world. All products are developed internally, backed up by PlanetObserver’s know-how in geospatial data processing and over 25 years of technological expertise. PlanetObserver geospatial data are perfect for numerous commercial, military and consumer applications, ranging from web-mapping to 3D visualization and simulation solutions, moving map apps, cartographic mapping to audio-visual production. www.planetobserver.com

About CloudEO
CloudEO – the unique portal for all those who create, interpret and use geodata. CloudEO offers to its customers a secure and highly scalable geo infrastructure to develop, produce and market geo services. It brings data, software and processing power together within a private cloud service and a certified hosting environment. Within CloudEO’s geo collaboration platform content providers, software developers, service providers and geodata users become partners within one ecosystem providing affordable geo services for commercial applications.
www.cloudeo-ag.com
http://store.cloudeo-ag.com/

Press Contact:Dr. Sonja Sulzmaier. press@cloudeo-ag.com

When satellite companies talk about the imagery they capture, they play up how you can see big, human-made things: planes and trains and parking lots. Sometimes they might mention, too, how important sky pictures are to foresters or farmers.

But as I’ve seen more and more projects that involve imagery, I’ve been struck by the non-human things you can see. Specifically, the animals.

At least two projects have glimpsed individual creatures at “commercially available” resolutions, about the same level as you can see on Google Maps.

Source

Peru’s first Earth observation satellite will share a ride to low Earth orbit with four small Skybox Imaging satellites planned to launch next year on a European Vega rocket.

Built by Airbus Defense and Space for the government of Peru, the 450-kg (990-lb.) Perusat-1 is a high-resolution optical remote-sensing satellite designed to operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit.

Managed by European launch consortium Arianespace, the launch of PeruSat-1 and its four Skybox co-passengers is set for 2016 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

Arianespace Chairman and CEO Stephane Israel says the agreement is the third that the launch services company has signed for Vega this year. It follows the Skybox agreement announced at the Satellite 2015 show in Washington last week, a deal that marks Vega’s first U.S. customer.

“With this third launch contract since the start of the year, Vega consolidates its leadership in the export market, for both governmental and commercial missions,” he said. “We are extremely proud and honored to be able to serve the Peruvian government through this upcoming launch.”

With PeruSat-1, the Peruvian defense ministry becomes the launch customer for the Airbus AstroBus-S spacecraft bus, which the company says uses technologies that combine performance with shortened production cycles by incorporating know-how gleaned from work on other high-resolution remote-sensing spacecraft.

“The reliability of this platform is the result of the expertise acquired through the development of more complex variants,” the company said in a March 26 statement. These include the French Pleiades and SPOT 6 and 7 remote-sensing missions, Spain’s Ingenio Earth observation satellite, Kazakhstan’s KazEOSat-1 and the Sentinel-2 environmental monitoring mission developed under the European Union’s Copernicus program.

PeruSat-1 is also the first program developed by the “Projects Factory,” a new and more integrated organization in the space systems unit at Airbus Defense and Space.

“This new way of working brings down development and construction lead times for satellites up to 500 kg and optimizes their costs, without impacting quality in any way,” the company says.

Airbus says PeruSat-1 will be delivered within two years of contract signature, which was completed in April 2014.

“When we finish the satellite it will be a record delivery time for such a powerful satellite observation system,” said François Auque, head of space systems at Airbus. “And we are able to deliver to our customer thanks to the use of this new, optimized platform, called AstroBus-S, and applying our ‘Projects Factory’ organization. By integrating all our know-how related to platform, instrument, and ground segment in this way, we are creating a game changer with which we aim to win new markets following PeruSat-1.”

PeruSat-1 will also benefit from the experience gained with the Naomi family of optical instruments developed at Airbus Defense and Space. The technology uses silicon carbide (SiC) optics and structures, multiple-line detectors, integrated focal planes and ultra-compact optical configurations, the company says.

Source

[SatNews] The UK Space Agency this week (March 26, 2015) announced seven new space projects that will see UK companies working with international partners to develop satellite technology in emerging economies.

From telecommunications delivered by low-cost CubeSats to e-finance solutions and access to maternal health in remote locations, the seven new projects, funded through the International Partnerships Space program (IPSP), will demonstrate how UK satellite, or space, technology can provide societal and economic benefits to countries that do not currently have such capabilities.

The seven new projects are an excellent example of how the IPSP program is generating new opportunities for UK industry to operate with both emerging and established space-faring nations and supporting UK companies to become trusted partners to provide high-tech exports. It is a two-year, £32 million program established and led by the UK Space Agency. This latest announcement is the result of the first call for projects, all funded to March 2016.

UK satellite data and cutting-edge space technology plays an ever increasing role on the international scene in both the economies of major and established space nations as well as in the development of emerging space nations.

In the UK we take for granted the services we receive as a result of space infrastructure such as seeking a weather forecast, planning our journey into work, managing our businesses online or accessing data at the touch of a button. However, for many in emerging economies, basic services such as communication infrastructure or local mapping are simply not available to them. Satellites in space often provide the only communication options in many countries in the world, particularly in places like sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, environmental monitoring from space can make a valuable contribution to resource management and response to environmental crises which can be particularly challenging owing to extreme environments and harsh conditions for agriculture and water management. Monitoring from space satellites can also support longer term climate mitigation and adaptation programs.

Space also has the potential to inspire young people from even the most difficult backgrounds to dream of a job as a scientist or engineer. This program will help build in-country capacity and capability to undertake research and innovation to solve societal challenges and grow economies.

Dr David Parker, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said, “These new international partnerships not only illustrate the breadth of UK expertise in space technology but prove that international collaboration can provide many new business opportunities for our highly skilled space companies while supporting vital areas of space activity such as Earth observation and telecommunications. By sharing our expertise in space technology we can also share the considerable economic and social benefits that it provides.”

The seven new IPSP projects are:

1. Project: iKnowledge
UK Lead Supplier: Avanti Communications Ltd
International Partner: The Tanzania Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF), the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) and Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organization (TIRDO)

Avanti Communications will deliver a major ICT infrastructure and e-learning program to teachers across Tanzania.

The iKnowledge program will equip up to 250 schools in rural and underserved areas of Tanzania with ICT infrastructure. This includes broadband Internet via satellite, alongside provision of ICT training and educational content for teachers to apply straight to the classroom. Powered by resilient Ka-band satellite technology, delivery will be supported locally by technology NGO CamaraEducation Tanzania and service provider Infinity Africa Network Ltd. The iKnowledge project will improve quality levels of teaching in rural and remote areas in core curriculum subjects, alongside advancing teachers’ digital literacy through a sustainable training model. The system is also dual-use, and when not in use by schools, can be used by the local community, providing broadband connectivity for business and social uses.

2. Project: SBAS Africa
UK Lead Supplier: Avanti Communications Ltd
International Partner: South African Space Agency, Ghana Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Agency for Aerial Navigation Safety in Africa and Madagascar

Avanti Communications working with the South African Space Agency will deliver a crucial air navigation project in Africa, SBAS-AFRICA, powered by satellite technology.

Africa has just 3 percent of global air traffic, and yet air accidents in Africa account for roughly 20 percent of the worldwide total. The SBAS project will demonstrate potential improvements in flight safety which can provide socio-economic benefits to the continent. The SBAS-AFRICA project will help demonstrate the benefits in the adoption of GNSS-based flight operations, positively influencing the evolution of aviation safety in Africa.

3. Project: Outernet Partnership for International Development
UK Lead Supplier: Clyde Space
International Partner: Outernet Inc.

Clyde Space and American company Outernet have partnered to develop a telecommunications service that can be offered via a constellation of low-cost cubesat satellites. Such a constellation could revolutionise the provision of low cost broadband to remote regions of the world by providing and developing a mass producible CubeSat at a far lower cost than is currently available. Clyde Space’s CubeSat expertise will help Outernet to push forward with this unique project to supply a low cost alternative to traditional telecommunications infrastructure.

Reaching people in all parts of the world with critical information requires employing multiple broadcast technologies. CubeSats in low-Earth Orbit are an important part of that plan. Specifically, the CubeSats that Outernet will receive from Clyde Space will allow for the development of cheaper user-end receivers and will help Outernet achieve hardware independence by owning its own space assets. Clyde Space will get the opportunity to demonstrate their CubeSat capability whilst enabling the Outernet project to pursue its goal of offering a near continuous broadcast of humanitarian data to those most in need.

4. Project: I-Sat Connection: Realizing the critical role of mobile satellite in the creation of inclusive digital economies.
UK Lead Supplier: Inmarsat
International Partner: Equity Bank Group, Kenya and Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA)

Inmarsat, working alongside their international partners, will use their mobile satellite capabilities to deliver tangible economic value from the UK to accelerate economic growth in Africa.

Working with Equity Bank Kenya, Inmarsat will increase connectivity to drive inclusive digital services at over 200 locations across Kenya.

By partnering with MAMA, maternal and child health services will be brought to 50 physically and technologically disconnected rural communities in remote locations

As well as their primary use, both projects will also be used to enhance local economies by providing broadband Internet access to the local communities with all the associated benefits this will bring. The Satellite Applications Catapult will be working alongside Inmarsat, connecting UK applications experts to these remote users in order to provide information services designed to grow and enhance these emerging markets. Through this overarching research framework, Inmarsat and the Satellite Applications Catapult, will significantly advance the knowledge base for delivery of successful satellite-enabled services in developing and emerging markets

5. Project: Oceania Pacific Recovery and Protection in Disaster (RAPID)
UK Lead Supplier: Stevenson Astrosat
International Partner: Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology, Malawi Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Newsat Ltd, Bushfire and Natural Hazards Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) and the Space Environment Research Center (SERC).

The Recovery And Protection in Disaster (RAPID) system is designed to provide a vital link between critical satellite imaging information and ‘in the field’ emergency responders making crucial decisions during and in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Huge amounts of useful data are produced by satellites every day that can be used to mitigate the impacts of climate change and natural disasters—these impacts not only include the direct threats to the general public’s immediate safety but also in the aftermath the damaging effects on a nation’s economy. RAPID is designed to get this information to where it is needed and to who needs it—this connectivity will allow smart decisions to be made to protect lives and get the local economy working as rapidly as possible after an event.

For disaster response, Stevenson Astrosat are using UK skills and supply chains to support vulnerable regions with suitable satellite based communications, potentially saving lives and assets in a region where cable and fibre is lacking and where disasters are all too common. For critical infrastructure, Stevenson Astrosat are using UK skills and supply chains as well as their innovative EO systems and partnerships (with end/user customer facing products) to reach highly valuable, critical infrastructure providers with a considerable commercial and socio-economic advantage.

6. Project: Enabling Kazakhstan’s Earth Observation Capability. Collaborative and Autonomous Mission Operations System for KazSTSAT
UK Lead Supplier: Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL)
International Partner: Ghalam LLP

SSTL and Ghalam LLP in Kazakhstan are jointly developing the KazSTSAT small satellite mission. The IPSP grant will aid in the development of an autonomous and collaborative Mission Operations system in partnership with Ghalam LLP to handle the high volume of Earth observation data that will be downloaded from the spacecraft’s SSTL SLIM6 Imager, enabling the full research and commercial data provision of the mission to be realized.

In addition, the project will also provide the Kazakh engineers from Ghalam LLP with real data from another of SSTL’s satellites, UK-DMC2, so that they can gain experience of working with the Earth observation data via a virtual ground station ahead of the launch of KazSTSAT.

The KazSTSAT mission is a collaboration between Ghalam LLP of Kazakhstan, SSTL, and UK based DMCii, an image processing company. The spacecraft, due for launch in 2016, will demonstrate a number of new technologies, and will also fly a standard SSTL SLIM6 imaging camera, capable of providing an image data throughput in excess of seven0Gb per day.

7. Project: Collaborative development of radiometer components for meteorological Instruments
UK Lead Supplier: Teratech Components Ltd
International Partner: Xi’an Institute of Space Radio Technology (CAST Xi’an)

STFC-Ral spin-out Teratech Components Ltd have partnered with CAST Xi’an, a major Chinese spacecraft instrumentation supplier, on the collaborative development of instrumentation for the next generation of weather forecasting and disaster management satellites. This partnership will open access for both partners to the emerging international market place for satellite technology, providing a major export opportunity for a UK supplier and encouraging Chinese investment and future UK-China collaboration in the new field of terahertz technology and its associated applications.

Teratech Components Ltd has a unique fabrication facility in the UK and is one of very few European companies supplying air-bridge Schottky diodes for use at terahertz frequencies.

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Landsat 8 data is available for anyone to use via Amazon S3.

The Landsat program is a joint effort of the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. First launched in 1972, the Landsat series of satellites has produced the longest, continuous record of Earth’s land surface as seen from space. NASA is in charge of developing remote-sensing instruments and spacecraft, launching the satellites, and validating their performance. USGS develops the associated ground systems, then takes ownership and operates the satellites, as well as managing data reception, archiving, and distribution. Since late 2008, Landsat data have been made available to all users free of charge. Carefully calibrated Landsat imagery provides the U.S. and the world with a long-term, consistent inventory of vitally important global resources.

AWS has made Landsat 8 data freely available on Amazon S3 so that anyone can use our on-demand computing resources to perform analysis and create new products without needing to worry about the cost of storing Landsat data or the time required to download it.

Learn more about how Landsat data is used on NASA’s Landsat Science site

Accessing Landsat Data on AWS

All Landsat 8 scenes from 2015 are available on AWS along with a selection of cloud-free scenes from 2013 and 2014. New Landsat 8 scenes are made available on AWS within hours of production.

Landsat on AWS makes each band of each Landsat scene available as a stand-alone GeoTIFF and the scene’s metadata is hosted as a text file.

The data are organized using a directory structure based on each scene’s path and row. For instance, the files for Landsat scene LC81390452014295LGN00 are available in the following location: s3://landsat-pds/L8/139/045/LC81390452014295LGN00/

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