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Russia, September, 2014: Russian’s space agency Roscosmos is actively pursuing a new drive to lift embargo on sub-metre resolution imagery.

The agency held a meeting with President V. Putin and presented a draft resolution that permits public use of less than 1-metre imagery.

The Russian ministries of Defence and Economic Development are not far behind in championing the new initiative. The defence ministry has strongly advocated resolution restrictions should be monitored by lighter rules. It is also mulling the use of satellite imagery from commercial and satellites and those in overseas

Similarly the Ministry of Economic development is also implementing some measures to encourage lifting of ban on sub-metre imagery. In fact it has started work on a draft law ‘On the Remote Sensing of the Earth’ on remote sensing to achieve a streamlined process for end users to acquire remote sensing data.

Source Roscosmos
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(Sept) Ukraine: NATO released new satellite images that show Russian combat forces engaged in military operations inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine. The images, captured in late August, depict Russian self-propelled artillery units moving in a convoy through the Ukrainian countryside and then preparing for action by establishing firing positions in the area of Krasnodon, Ukraine.

“The images confirmed what NATO and its Allies had been seeing for weeks from other sources. Over the past two weeks we have noted a significant escalation in both the level and sophistication of Russia’s military interference in Ukraine. The satellite images released today provide additional evidence that Russian combat soldiers, equipped with sophisticated heavy weaponry, are operating inside Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” said Dutch Brigadier General Nico Tak, Director of the Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Management Centre (CCOMC), Allied Command Operations. These latest images provide concrete examples of Russian activity inside Ukraine, but are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the overall scope of Russian troop and weapons movements. Also released were images showing substantial activity inside Russia in areas adjacent to the border with Ukraine. NATO believes this activity is being conducted in direct support to forces operating inside Ukraine, and is part of a highly coordinated and destabilising strategy.

“Russia is reinforcing and resupplying separatist forces in a blatant attempt to change the momentum of the fighting, which is currently favouring the Ukrainian military. Russia’s ultimate aim is to alleviate pressure on separatist fighters in order to prolong this conflict indefinitely, which would result in further tragedy for the people of Eastern Ukraine,” added Brigadier General Tak.

Source: ACO NATO

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Germany, September 18, 2014: The obsAIRveYourBusiness project, funded by the European Commission (EC) will be started by bavAIRia and its partners GAF AG, DLR and Regio Augsburg Wirtschaft from Germany, Airparif from France, and the research networks CORILA and INNOVA from Italy.

The project will provide a customer-specific service for cities and regions by offering high-resolution air quality forecasts EC has given funding for this project in order to further develop the Copernicus downstream service obsAIRve. While obsAIRve already disseminates European-wide air quality information, obsAIRveYourBusiness will enhance the service with high resolution air quality model data for selected cities. An key aim of the project is to provide detailed air quality information on the city level. Using the latest mobile technology and numerical models, the service will translate environmental data into individually localised information for citizens.

The air quality service will deliver near real-time information via mobile apps and builds on experiences from the obsAIRve project and the European Copernicus programme.

Air pollution is one of the major health hazards faced by humans. A recent study by the WHO, released in March 2014, reports that air pollution resulted in around 7 million deaths in 2012. This is double the previous estimates and “confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental health risk”. As Europe is no exception in this regard, the European Commission has provided funding for obsAIRveYourBusiness in order to further develop the Copernicus downstream service obsAIRve (www.obsairve.eu) and thereby address specific stakeholders and potential customers of the service in Europe. While obsAIRve already disseminates European-wide air quality information, obsAIRveYourBusiness will enhance the service with high resolution air quality model data for selected cities.

obsAIRveYourBusiness focuses on dedicated mobile apps for selected cities in Europe. An important objective of the project is to provide easily comprehensible and detailed air quality information on the city level. Using numerical models and the latest mobile technology, the service will translate environmental data into individually localised information for citizens. Key air pollutants are ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. Information about and forecasting of these pollutants, as well as a general air quality index, will be accessible via each mobile app. In order to stay closely connected to the project stakeholders, workshops and user forums are planned throughout the project. This will allow the consortium to involve city representatives and other potential customers at an early stage in the service development and provide a platform to exchange information.

obsAIRveYourBusiness offers numerous possibilities for Europe by preparing the air quality service for the market. It will enable cities, regions and other stakeholders to start using high-resolution data for air quality management within cities in order to raise the awareness of citizens or for integration into other applications. In acknowledging the importance of air quality to human health, the challenge is to combine data from various sources and provide an easy to use and meaningful service for citizens and cities. The obsAIRveYourBusiness project is funded by the European Commission as part of its Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and is part of the European Mobile and Mobility Industries Alliance (EMMIA). EMMIA aims to support European’s mobile and mobility industries using policy analyses and funding instruments.

Source: GAF AG

France, September 24, 2014: Sofradir, the leading French developer of infra red (IR) detectors, has introduced the the Next Generation Panchromatic detector (NGP), a 1024×1024 visible to short wavelength infrared (SWIR) Focal Plane Assembly.

NGP is the first European-made space-oriented megapixel array that space agencies can now consider for earth observation, earth monitoring, agriculture surveillance and even deep space studies.s

NGP’s 1k x 1k format is four times larger than existing Sofradir SATURN starring array IR product currently installed on observation satellites or spacecrafts.

Philippe Chorier, space department manager at Sofradir said, ““Sofradir is extremely proud to make the large format NGP 1024×1024 visible to SWIR detector available to our customers focusing on space applications.”

The new IR detector has also been selected for the SENTINEL-5 Earth observation mission.

Source Sofradir
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(6 October 2014) NASA’s newest Earth observing mission, the International Space Station-Rapid Scatterometer, or ISS-RapidScat, is collecting its first science data on ocean wind speeds and direction following its successful installation and activation on the exterior of the station’s Columbus module.

Ground controllers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston robotically assembled the RapidScat instrument and its nadir adapter, which orients the instrument to point at Earth, on Sept. 29 to 30. On Oct. 1, the instrument was powered on, its antenna began spinning and it started transmitting and receiving its first winds data. The team then began checking out the instrument, a process expected to take about two weeks. Checkout activities to date are proceeding nominally. Following instrument checkout, the team will perform two weeks of preliminary calibration and validation of science data. RapidScat will then be ready to begin its two-year science mission.

On Oct. 3, mission scientists processed their first winds data and produced their first uncalibrated images: a partial global map of wind speeds and a close-up image of what was then Tropical Storm Simon, brewing off the west coast of Mexico, showing its wind speeds and wind directions at approximately 7 p.m. local time.

“Most satellite missions require weeks or even months to produce data of the quality that we seem to be getting from the first few days of RapidScat,” said RapidScat Project Scientist Ernesto Rodriguez of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, which built and manages the mission. “We have been very lucky that within the first days of operations we have already been able to observe a developing tropical cyclone.

“The quality of these data reflect the level of testing and preparation that the team has put in prior to launch,” Rodriguez said. “It also reflects the quality of the spare QuikScat hardware from which RapidScat was partially assembled.”

RapidScat is the first science payload to be robotically assembled in space since the space station itself. Launched Sept. 21 from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle, RapidScat rode to orbit in the “trunk” of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft. The Dragon reached the station on Sept. 23, was captured by the station’s robotic arm and was then berthed at the station’s Node 2 Nadir, or Earth-facing, port.

Following inspections of RapidScat from cameras installed in the Dragon’s trunk and on the station’s robotic arm, ground controllers at Johnson Space Center used the DEXTRE manipulator on the station’s robotic arm to pluck RapidScat’s nadir adapter from the Dragon trunk on Sept. 29. An intricate set of maneuvers by the robotic arm then followed, leading to the adapter’s successful mechanical and electrical connection to the Columbus module’s External Payload Facility SDX site five hours later. The robotic arm was then released from the adapter.

About 15 hours later, the RapidScat team was back at work again, using the robotic arm to remove the RapidScat instrument itself from the Dragon’s trunk and install it onto the nadir adapter. The installation went so well that a process expected to take five hours was completed in just two hours and 20 minutes. Following this first payload-to-payload mate in the history of the space station program, RapidScat then began drawing its power from the space station for the first time. RapidScat is an autonomous payload that requires no interaction from space station astronauts.

RapidScat will boost global monitoring of ocean winds for improved weather and marine forecasting, including hurricane monitoring, as well as climate studies. From the unique vantage point of the space station, this space-based scatterometer instrument will use radar pulses reflected from the ocean’s surface from different angles to calculate ocean surface wind speeds and directions.

The ISS-RapidScat instrument is a speedy and cost-effective replacement for NASA’s former QuikScat Earth satellite, which monitored ocean winds to provide essential measurements used in weather predictions, including hurricane monitoring.

ISS-RapidScat is a partnership between JPL and the International Space Station Program Office at JSC, with support from the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Other mission partners include the Kennedy Space Center, Florida; NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama; the European Space Agency; and SpaceX.

ISS-RapidScat is the third of five NASA Earth science missions scheduled to launch into space within 12 months, the most new Earth-observing mission launches in one year in more than a decade. NASA monitors Earth’s vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth’s interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

(source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

According to Euroconsult’s newly published report, Satellite-Based Earth Observation: Market Prospects to 2023, 353 Earth observation (EO) satellites are expected to be launched over the next decade compared to 162 over 2004-2013.

This will result in $36 billion in manufacturing revenues over the period, an 85 percent increase over the previous decade. Organizations from 41 countries are expected to launch EO satellite capacity by 2023, compared to 33 over the previous decade. Government supply continues to grow strongly as more countries expand their portfolios of EO satellites to meet various policy needs. In addition, newcomers are launching EO satellite capacity to develop a local industrial base, create the building blocks for a space program, obtain greater autonomy in data acquisition, and/or meet local demand for data and services. As a result, investment in EO and meteorology programs reached a high in 2013 at $8.7 billion, a 13 percent increase over 2012. This represents the 8th year of continued investment growth, with EO remaining a primary concern for government space expenditures.

Commercial supply is also expected to go through a significant expansion, both from private sector initiatives (the expansion of fleets, and new entrants) and government commercialization of proprietary systems. New entrants such as Skybox Imaging have launched their first satellites, and others, particularly in the domain of commercial meteorology and environment monitoring solutions, could follow suit in the next decade. “With this expansion in commercial supply, differentiating positions of the operators will come to the fore, with trade-offs in ground resolution, revisit, geolocation accuracy, and data prices,” said Adam Keith, Director of Space & Earth Observation at Euroconsult and editor of the report. “Nevertheless, competition is increasing and with new entrants possibly pricing data and solutions very competitively, there is the potential for disruption in the market.”

COMMERCIAL DATA MARKET GROWTH STAGNATION DISGUISES OPPORTUNITIES

Supply of EO solutions continues to expand and diversify despite an overall slowing of commercial data demand; this slowing is a result of reduced U.S. government defense spending on commercial data compared to previous years. The commercial data market totaled $1.5 billion in 2013; this represents stagnant (0 percent) growth from 2012 as the impact of reduced U.S. government spending takes effect.

The level of the U.S. defense outlay however disguises growth elsewhere in the market, in particular in sales to non-U.S. defense users. The commercial data market to non-U.S. defense organizations totaled $560 million in 2013 and has grown at a 14 percent CAGR over the last five years. In order to meet this demand, commercial operators are successfully providing direct-access satellite contracts to defense users. Emerging enterprise markets are also expected to further develop, particularly location-based services and support to engineering and infrastructure projects.

In 2023 the market for commercial EO data is expected to reach $3.6 billion (8 percent CAGR over 2014-2023). Regionally, the Asian markets, Latin America and Africa are expected to have strong growth profiles with expected growth at over 10% CAGR to 2023. Natural resources management, engineering & infrastructure, and again defense are expected to be the main application areas supporting growth.

MANUFACTURING EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES TO INCREASE, POSES DILEMMA TO THE INDUSTRY

Satellites launched from emerging programs will account for a growing part of the manufacturing market. Between 2004 and 2013, $1.9 billion of the total EO manufacturing revenues were derived from these programs; this is expected to increase to $4.4 billion between 2014 and 2023. Such programs, which may lack proprietary manufacturing solutions, are expected to be a key driver for the upstream industry looking to export solutions.

The majority of export activities to date have focused on lower-cost technology transfer missions to help develop a national industry and/or space program. Partnerships have been a successful mechanism to build up emerging manufacturers’ expertise. However, further countries have chosen to procure high-cost EO systems to meet more immediate national requirements, particularly for defense. For countries lacking a national manufacturing infrastructure, more direct procurement is required from existing “high-end” solutions. In this case, capacity building is dropped in favor of obtaining a high-performing satellite delivered in a shorter timeframe. The dilemma for the established manufacturers capable of designing “high-end” systems is whether they expand into the development of lower-cost solutions, or remain with high-end provision, despite the more limited number of export opportunities.

There is however already strong competition to address these opportunities as most major prime manufacturers look to expand their business. In addition, by 2023, 26 countries are expected to have full manufacturing capabilities (acting as a prime and/or integrator); this will add further competition in the longer term for the developing EO satellite export market.

For additional information, please visit http://www.euroconsult-ec.com/shop/

An unexpectedly high amount of the climate-changing gas methane, the main component of natural gas, is escaping from the Four Corners region in the U.S. Southwest, according to a new study by the University of Michigan and NASA.

The researchers mapped satellite data to uncover the nation’s largest methane signal seen from space. They measured levels of the gas emitted from all sources, and found more than half a teragram per year coming from the area where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet. That’s about as much methane as the entire coal, oil, and gas industries of the United Kingdom give off each year.

Four Corners sits on North America’s most productive coalbed methane basin. Coalbed methane is a variety of the gas that’s stuck to the surface of coal. It is dangerous to miners (not to mention canaries), but in recent decades, it’s been tapped as a resource.

“There’s so much coalbed methane in the Four Corners area, it doesn’t need to be that crazy of a leak rate to produce the emissions that we see. A lot of the infrastructure is likely contributing,” said Eric Kort, assistant professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences at the U-M College of Engineering.

Kort, first author of a paper on the findings published in Geophysical Research Letters, says the controversial natural gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing is not the main culprit.

“We see this large signal and it’s persistent since 2003,” Kort said. “That’s a pre- fracking timeframe in this region. While fracking has become a focal point in conversations about methane emissions, it certainly appears from this and other studies that in the U.S., fossil fuel extraction activities across the board likely emit higher than inventory estimates.”

While the signal represents the highest concentration of methane seen from space, the researchers caution that Four Corners isn’t necessarily the highest emitting region.

“One has to be somewhat careful in equating abundances with emissions,” said study contributor Christian Frankenberg at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “The Four Corners methane source is in a relatively isolated area with little other methane emissions, hence causing a well distinguishable hot-spot in methane abundances. Local or more diffuse emissions in other areas, such as the eastern U.S., may be convoluted with other nearby sources.”

Natural gas is often touted as more sustainable than coal and oil because it releases fewer pollutants when it burns. But when it leaks into the air before it gets to the pilot light, methane has 30 times the short-term heat-trapping effects of carbon dioxide.

Policymakers, energy companies and environmentalists alike are aiming to reduce methane emissions as a way to curb climate change. But pinpointing plumes-a first step to stopping them-has been a difficult task with today’s tools.

The research team demonstrated a new approach to finding leaks. They used a satellite instrument-the European Space Agency’s SCIAMACHY-to get regional methane measurements over the entire United States.

They ran the data through a mathematical model to account for mountains and valleys, which can trap methane. That’s how they identified the anomaly at Four Corners. Then they zoomed in on that region and ran another mathematical model to control for wind, to make sure that didn’t negate the original signal. It didn’t.

“We didn’t know this was a region we should look at. We found it from space,” Kort said. “We’ve demonstrated that satellite measurements can help identify, locate and quantify anomalous methane emissions in regions that are unexpected.”

Methane gets into the atmosphere from both natural and human-made sources. Wetlands and landfills release it, as do certain bacteria. Agriculture is a big contributor. So are gas and oil drilling and distribution. Inventories such as those the EPA compiles make estimates based on measurements from a sampling of these sources.

In previous work, air measurements from planes and a sparse network of monitoring towers have revealed that the inventory-based numbers are coming in low-roughly 50 percent low. But towers and planes can’t see everywhere to figure out exactly where all the methane is coming from. With limited observations there can be blind spots, the researchers say.

This study used satellite data from 2003 to 2009. In later years, they were able to validate the satellite measurements with a year of ground-based data.

SCIAMACHY is no longer operating, so there aren’t equivalent satellites to provide this information for other parts of the world. For the Four Corners region, Kort will be taking readings from an airplane next year, to get even closer to identifying the leaks.

“Source:“http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Space_based_methane_maps_find_largest_US_signal_in_Southwest_999.html

The UK Space Agency has published its biennial study into the progress of the UK space sector.


‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ reveals that the sector continues to soar and is currently worth Pounds 11.3 billion to the UK economy, growing at over 7% per year, employing over 34,000 people and supporting a further 65,000 jobs in other sectors.

Speaking at the Royal Aeronautical Society Strategic Choices for Space – President’s Conference 2014, Minister for Universities, Science and Cities Greg Clark announced the publication of the report and said:

“The UK space sector makes an impressive contribution to the UK economy and has consistently done so over the last decade, virtually doubling in size in financial terms since 2006.

“These figures show that the UK is well placed to meet our ambitious target of 10 per cent of the global space market by 2030. Co-operation between the public and private sector is the foundation for this continued success.”

‘The Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ allows the UK Space Agency to track the progress of the sector and serves as a metric against its ambitions and the targets set in the Space Innovation and Growth Strategy. The latest figures reflect well on the past two years of strategic investment by government in key technological innovations.

Through strategic investment, improved policy and stronger international collaboration in areas with the potential for further growth and high economic return, The UK Space Agency is working to build a supportive environment for the commercial space sector and enabling the UK to fully exploit a growing market for space data and technologies.

Source

Satellite and drone images are increasingly being used as evidence in court. Now two experts in the field have started a specialist agency

IN THE middle of a boundary squabble with your neighbour? Want to find out who is dumping waste near your house? You need to call the space detectives.

Satellite imaging specialist Raymond Harris and space lawyer Raymond Purdy – both at University College London – have just launched Air & Space Evidence Ltd of London, the world’s first space detective agency.

The pair intend to use their combined experience of space-based photographic databases and Earth observation privacy law to ensure that people can wield authentic imagery that stands up in court.

They want everyone to have the chance to use space imagery to settle legal disputes, from homeowners disputing garden boundaries to businesses fighting vehicle theft. Insurers might find it useful in investigating fraud and councils in tackling environmental assaults such as waste incineration or illegal logging and quarrying. And it won’t cost much more than having your house surveyed, Harris says.

It might seem a simple matter for someone to use Google Earth, say, or Microsoft’s Bing images to obtain evidence to support their case. Why would they need space detectives? But it is not so simple. Finding the right pictures means trawling through huge databases of historical satellite data, and lawsuits involving such approaches frequently fail.

“Trials have been collapsing because courts cannot be convinced of the authenticity of image data,” says Purdy. For instance, people cannot be sure a given satellite was working on the day in question, or that the area of land imaged is actually the land at issue.

The space detectives will use their expertise in commissioning space images to order, and their familiarity with the databases of space image suppliers like Digital Globe of Longmont, Colorado. “We can make a difference by ensuring space images have audit trails that stand up,” says Purdy.

“Because it is always possible to modify a digital image, you need strong archiving procedures plus information on when it was captured and what happened to it subsequently,” says Harris. “We know how to do that.”

The pair have a track record as expert witnesses in satellite imaging cases. Purdy, for instance, advised on a case in which illegal waste incineration had ruined a large chunk of pristine land. “When I showed space imagery to the judge and they saw the extent of the damage it gave them a new perspective. That led to a harsher sentence,” he says.

In cases where images with greater resolution are needed, the pair plan to use aerial imagery from drones, provided local aviation and privacy laws permit. Such cases might include a suspicious spouse checking licence plates to see if a car belongs to their partner, or an insurer checking a car is parked off-road as claimed.

But most of the work will involve images taken by orbiting satellites, especially as recent earth observation start-ups like Planet Labs and Skybox Imaging make inexpensive space imagery more widely available.

Paul Champion, a private investigator based in Cardiff, UK, and a governor of the Association of British Investigators, says the notion of space-based detection is fascinating. “It’s an innovative idea. Investigators will really welcome the ability to identify when an incident occurred using before and after satellite or aerial images.”

“There is a need for space detectives,” says Joanne Wheeler, a space lawyer at Bird & Bird in London, because finding the right pictures takes a lot of work. “If you are looking for imagery in the past it is difficult to find exactly what you are looking for,” she says.

Wheeler has sought satellite imagery as evidence in three cases – a murder, assessing the progress of a bridge build, and checking on the completion of a mine. For the murder case it was impossible to find images that covered the few hours she needed. Her team had similar problems on the bridge case, but Wheeler says someone with more specialised knowledge might have done better. “If you know what you might want, a space detective agency would be a great service.”

This article appeared in print under the headline “The space detectives”

Source

[SatNews] Coming this month from NSR is the analysis firm’s Satellite-Based Earth Observation (EO), 6th Edition, report.

The dynamic market for satellite-based imagery has been driven to new heights with more constellations and powerhouses such as Google acquiring small satellite operator SkyBox. To say that the Earth Observation market is an accelerated path to growth is an understatement as major changes are taking place across the value chain. The 6th Edition of Satellite-Based Earth Observation (EO) continues NSR’s industry-leading analysis of future growth in this industry globally. From data to information products through to value-added services, EO6 offers a comprehensive analysis of this rapidly developing market and the unique context of each vertical and region.

This new edition includes analysis of six different vertical markets across five regions for three different instrument resolutions for both optical and SAR imagery. The study takes an in-depth look at Defense and Intelligence, Managed Living Resources, Energy and Natural Resources, Industrial, Services and Public Authorities segments to offer a complete assessment and forecast of revenues for all regions over the next ten years. The report answers critical questions regarding Satellite-Based EO:

  • What will be EO market size in the next 10 years?
  • How will each vertical market evolve?
  • What are the effects of budget cuts on satellite imagery?
  • What is the impact of satellite constellations with hundreds of small and nano satellites planned?
  • What is the impact on distribution of cloud-based delivery?
  • What will be the revenues from data, processing and information products?
  • What will be the impact on the market and take-up of very-high resolution optical imagery?
  • How will free data affect market for EO products?
  • What are EO satellite operators’ market share by vertical and by region?
  • What will be the evolution of imagery pricing?
  • Which demand will grow the most across regions?
  • What will it take to thrive as an EO satellite operator?
  • What will drive evolution of information products and value added services?

Satellite-Based Earth Observation (EO), 6th Edition includes completely updated assessment and hundreds of graphs and thousands of data points on this evolving market to help readers evaluate demand trends by region and globally in the coming decade.