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[Via Satellite 06-30-2014] Among the 30-plus small satellites carried into orbit by the most recent Kosmotras Dnepr launch was BugSat 1, the third prototype satellite for Argentinian startup company Satellogic. Emiliano Kargieman, founder and CEO of Satellogic and co-founder of Core Security, is actively planning the build-out of a constellation of hundreds of Earth imaging satellites.


“We are envisioning scaling up the constellation to hundreds of satellites, maybe on the order of 300 satellites; [this] will allow us to provide real-time imaging,” Kargieman told Via Satellite. “By 2015 we’ll have our initial constellation of satellites providing services and, by 2017, I hope to scale that up to the point where we can be near our mission of providing real-time imagery.”

Satellogic joins a growing list of entrepreneurial satellite companies such as Planet Labs, Dauria Aerospace and Skybox Imaging — which is being purchased by Google — that are planning extensive Earth imaging constellations. In 2013 Satellogic launched its first two prototype spacecraft, CubeBug 1 and CubeBug 2. Kargieman said the latest satellite, known as BugSat 1 or “Tita,” will validate the company’s work to both the market and investors.

“We’ve been implementing this incremental development approach toward building our satellite constellation. So, in the first two satellites we tested out part of the components that will be part of the final configuration. In this third satellite, this is the first prototype that is feature-complete, where we can test end-to-end not only the whole satellite platform, but also the payload,” he said.

The final satellites are planned to provide high-resolution imagery as well as video on a real-time basis. Satellogic began working with customers on co-developing applications for the service constellation, which it plans to start launching next year. Kargieman said part of the company’s plan to keep costs down while achieving the scale of hundreds of satellites is through keeping the satellite manufacturing process in-house.

“We are definitely using a lot of different tricks to focus on bringing the costs down so we can scale up. To start with, we are building the satellites based on commercial electronics and off the shelf components a lot of the time. Part of the trick is resorting to smarter software that we can run in the satellite because we have lots more computing power than traditional satellites have, and that allows us to relax a little on the requirements for the hardware,” he said.

The initial service constellation plans for 10 to 15 satellites in orbit and operating by the end of next year. A critical feature of these satellites is a mesh topology where each satellite will stay in constant communication with other members of the constellation. This allows the spacecraft to share the workload and regularly beam down images. Otherwise the rapid Low Earth Orbits (LEO) would limit contact with ground stations, shortcutting the goal of providing a near-constant stream of data.

“We think the ability to be able to monitor the Earth in real-time, to be able to quantify processes that are going on [a] day-to-day or minute-to-minute basis will give us an unprecedented ability to manage the resources that we have available in a much better way … and feedback we’ve been getting from customers we engage is consistent with that,” he said.

According to Kargieman, the latest prototype satellite will reach less than 2-meter resolution. Over time this resolution will increase based on customer input. He added that Satellogic is already working with customers across several different verticals. Common interests are monitoring the production and distribution of food, energy and natural resources. Satellogic expects data collected on these activities from space to become increasingly more valuable over the next 15 to 20 years.

Source

Skybox Imaging has been all over the news lately because of their innovative satellite imaging constellation which, when complete, will contain 24 satellites giving the capability to image sites multiple times daily. What potential applications will such a service inspire?

This is the central question for the European Space Imaging & Skybox Imaging High-Res Challenge being offered as part of the Copernicus Masters this year. Working together with European Space Imaging, Skybox is looking for new ideas for their constellation imagery that takes advantage of this new potential.

Since they are a company thinking outside the box when it comes to offering satellite services they are encouraging would-be participants to do the same. The unique aspect of the High-Res Challenge is that it is only seeking ideas not a finished product.
“We believe ideas are the driving force behind change and development in remote sensing. We hope to inspire candidates to think beyond the boundaries of the imaginable and take us into the unexpected future somewhere. We are looking to be surprised.” says Michaela Weber, Director of Sales & Marketing, European Space Imaging.

Get your proposal over the line

Last year’s winner Györk Fülöp offers some tips for prospective participants wishing to complete their European Space Imaging & Skybox Imaging High-Res Challenge proposals before the coming deadline.

You have already logged on and registered. You have filled in some information but are procrastinating about finishing the final details. The deadline is looming. With about two weeks before the close of the European Space Imaging & Skybox Imaging High-Res you know you want to get over the line to have the chance to win €20,000 of imagery.

For the home stretch Györk Fülöp offers candidates some tips on how to get their proposal over the line. He says…

  • “Keep it simple: Let your friend understand it over a cup of coffee!”
  • “Keep it on the target: Draw up the problem, illustrate it, and solve it!”
  • “Sleep on your answers: And next day review it before continuing!”
  • “Think out of the box and out of your head: Don’t stand in the main-stream, but judge your idea with somebody else’s eyes.”

Györk Fülöp won the European Space Imaging High-Res Challenge in 2013. His idea focused on adding value to environmentally friendly agronomic activities producing crops with a smaller ecological footprint, and certifying this activity. Regular observations via very high-resolution satellite data and radar images will prove if farmers’ activities use less ecological footprint. Györk currently receives European Space Imaging data worth and ongoing support.

Submissions are open worldwide until midnight Central European Time (CET) Sunday 22 July 2014. For more information: www.eusi-skybox.copernicus-masters.com

About European Space Imaging
European Space Imaging (EUSI) is a leading supplier of very high-resolution satellite imagery to customers in Europe and North Africa. It is the only European satellite data provider operating its own multi-mission capable VHR ground stations, enabling optimized collection strategies, flexibility and real-time weather assessments. Since 2002 the Munich based company has provided customers access to the most advanced VHR satellites and services available throughout their region. For more information, visit www.euspaceimaging.com
 
About Skybox Imaging

Skybox Imaging (Skybox) empowers global businesses to make better decisions with timely, high fidelity imagery and infinite analytics. By combining the power of web technologies and a constellation of high-resolution imaging satellites, Skybox is generating a unique data source describing daily global activity with timely, accessible, sub-meter color imagery and high definition video of the Earth. Founded in 2009, Skybox Imaging is backed by leading venture firms and comprised of internet and aerospace professionals. For more information, visit www.skybox.com

Few weeks after ESA’s Sentinel-1 launch, one of the first images from the satellite provided the means for mapping a Namibian flood, demonstrating the mission’s practical purpose and societal benefits as also featured in a press release by the European Commission and the European Space Agency on 8th May 2014.

In recent years, floods in Namibia have impacted hundreds of thousands of people, claiming lives, damaging the built environment, destroying agricultural lands and including consequential challenges like spreading waterborne diseases (i.e. malaria, cholera).

So far, flood extents could not be determined as monitoring from the ground is hampered by inaccessibility of affected areas. Also airborne-based monitoring proved to be challenging because of the cloudy weather conditions. However, the Sentinel-1 radar sensor provides all-weather, day and night cloud-free imagery enabling to acquire the flood extent in spite of bad weather conditions.

On 13th April, Sentinel-1 tuned in over Namibia capturing the flooding in the Caprivi plain from the Zambezi River. The open-source Water Observation and Information System (WOIS) of ESA’s TIGER-NET project (http://www.tiger-net.org), developed by GeoVille and GRAS DHI, was used to process the first S-1 data, extract the water body and create the flood map to be able to assess the flood extent. The data was downloaded and processed by TU-Vienna within less than three hours.

Thus, this monitoring capacity delivered data in near-real time, provided rapid response and supported the Namibian authorities in prioritising and planning emergency issues.

“As part of the good and ongoing cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture Water and Forestry, National Hydrological Services and the European Space Agency through TIGER-NET, Namibian has been privileged to be one of the first beneficiaries of the Sentinel- 1 satellite that was recently launched by the ESA.”
“The need for reliable and near real-time information is crucial in the field of operational hydrology for flood disaster management and mitigation. The recently launched Sentinel-1 satellite by ESA demonstrated that it has capabilities to acquire satellite data during rainy and difficult weather conditions and to monitor floods in near real time. Sentinel-1 depicted the mass inundation and flooding extent in the eastern floodplains of the Zambezi on 13 April 2014. This demonstrates how the use of satellite data can enhance and supplement operational hydrology in vast areas with limited accessibility and of trans-boundary nature.”
Pauline Mufeti, Head of Hydrological Services Namibia

For more information visit
See the EC press release
For more information on the TIGER-NET project

GeoVille Information Systems GmbH
Sparkassenplatz 2/ 315-325, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
phone: +43 512 562021 0
email: info@geoville.com

DHI GRAS-Geographic Resource Analysis & Science A/S
Geocenter Denmark, Øster Voldgade 10, 1350 Copenhagen K, Denmark
phone: +45 3532 2578
email: gras@grasdk.com

(April 2014) Hatfield Consultants has launched a new Land Monitoring service for mining, oil and gas and plantation resource developers to mitigate and manage environmental and social risks.

Effective Land Monitoring is a dynamic and continuous process of managing environmental and social risks, ideally supported throughout project development with information derived from satellite remote sensing. Through Land Monitoring, Hatfield supports the development of effective environmental and social management systems and ensures that Land Monitoring systems:

  • Are appropriate to the nature and scale of the project
  • Support sustainable environmental and social performance
  • Improve financial, social, and environmental outcomes
  • Are integrated with on-the-ground biodiversity and social assessments

How it Works

In contrast to conventional land change maps that can take months to be produced, Land Monitoring uses new satellite remote sensing systems to provide more frequent, high resolution satellite images. Our image processing systems use the baseline habitat data of your project area and new satellite images. Our change detection system integrates knowledge of seasonal habitat change to ensure we identify, extract and report information important to your operations. Changes are identified and the baseline habitat information is updated. Maps and data are delivered in a fraction of the time through the Land Monitoring website or data streaming.


Hatfield Land Monitoring Services

To learn more, visit the website

About Hatfield Consultants

Hatfield Consultants is a pioneer in the field of environmental services with a 40-year history of providing innovative solutions to complex environmental challenges. Hatfield conducts environmental and social baseline studies and monitoring around the world, including North and South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Land Monitoring is an essential component of our activities to support responsible resource development. Our track record includes successful completion of baseline studies, environmental assessment, and ongoing monitoring in a number of resource development sectors.

For more information:
Dr. Andy Dean, PhD.
Partner & Senior Geomatics Specialist
HATFIELD CONSULTANTS PARTNERSHIP
E-mail: hcp@hatfieldgroup.com
Tel.: +1-604-926-3261
Toll-Free: +1-866-926-3261

Summit on Earth Observation Business. 11-12 September 2014, The Westin, Paris.
With such a high-level program, the Summit attracts over 200 senior-level EO community representatives from all world regions, making the event an ideal opportunity to network, discuss local and global market issues and do business with international partners. The program will cover all levels of the value chain, from manufacturers to end users, and with focuses on particular regions, ensuring a one-stop-shop for all the information you need for your development.

Senior Executive Speakers Announced for the Summit on Earth Observation Business

We are pleased to announce the 6th Summit on Earth Observation Business (SEOB), which will take place on September 11 and 12, 2014 at the Westin Paris, as part of the World Satellite Business Week.

The unique international forum for the EO community

With such a high-level program, the Summit attracts over 200 senior-level EO community representatives from all world regions, making the event an ideal opportunity to network, discuss local and global market issues and do business with international partners.

  • 200+ top management and senior government officials
  • 40 high-level speakers
  • The entire value chain
  • 30+ countries
  • All world regions

Key topics will be discussed

The program will cover all levels of the value chain, from manufacturers to end users, and with focuses on particular regions, ensuring a one-stop-shop for all the information you need for your development. The success of this event grows every year and we are pleased to announce a selection of our confirmed executive-level speakers that come from all world regions and cover all levels of the value chain.

  • State of play and prospects for the EO sector
  • Leading high resolution EO operators: Adapting to market changes
  • User Forum:
    • Location Based Services
    • Energy
    • Environment
  • Access to space – current and future solutions for EO systems
  • Adapting requirements to new defense and security missions
  • New solutions from data to video
  • Regional Focus: Middle East & Africa
  • EO operators innovating to broaden the data market with new offers
  • Manufacturers: strategies for satellite to end-to-end solutions
  • Priorities of Asian civil government agencies
  • Data and service distribution strategies

Please have a look on our summit website
Euroconsult 6th SEOB 11-12 Sept .pdf

EARSC is a non-profit-making organisation created in 1989 with the mission to foster the development of European Geo-Information Service Industry. Our main objective is to stimulate a sustainable market for geo-information services using EO data. Today, EARSC has 70 members in 23 countries, and is a recognized association both in Europe and worldwide.

EARSC represents the European providers of geo-information services creating a network between industry, decision-makers and users. We consider that the market is at a crucial stage of development as Earth observation becomes more frequently used by society and adds positive value to our daily lives.

Nevertheless, there are many issues, opportunities and threats facing industrial actors and, through a small secretariat, EARSC informs and involves its members though its website and newsletters, through the provision of web-tools, as well as organizing events.

Members tell us that they appreciate the opportunity to network with other similar companies/organizations and that this helps them develop new business opportunities as well as exchanging on best practices. They also like the regular flow of information as well as the knowledge that EARSC is able to influence EU and ESA policy when it is important for the sector.

For our members, the annual membership fee (only 750€/year for small enterprise) is a cost-effective way to stay informed and promote their company among other market sectors and communities. Full details of EARSC membership including fees can be found on the web-site or the nature of our membership

Newsletter #April has been launched


ELECNOR DEIMOS Imaging (DMI), which has been awarded the “Newcomer Earth Observation Operator of the Year” at Euroconsult’s Earth Observation Business Week in Paris in September 2013, is a private Spanish company specialized in complete end-to-end design, implementation, operation and commercial exploitation of Earth Observation Systems. DMI owns and operates the DEIMOS-1 multispectral satellite, with 22m GSD over a uniquely wide swath of 650 km, allowing rapid and multitemporal coverages of large areas. The company will add the new DEIMOS-2, a very-high resolution multispectral satellite with 75-cm pan-sharpened imagery, to its EO system by mid-2014.

ELECNOR DEIMOS Imaging (DMI) is a private Spanish company, whose mission is to become one of the world leading providers of Earth Observation data and remote sensing applications. DMI is the company devoted to Earth Observation within ELECNOR DEIMOS, the technology division of Elecnor, one of the largest Spanish industrial corporations. Specialized in the design, implementation, operation and commercial exploitation of Earth Observation Systems, DMI is focused to the development, generation and delivery of remote sensing products and services. DMI is also a reseller of data from third party missions, including UK-DMC2, RapidEye and the Kompsat 2/3/5 series. DMI has been awarded the “Newcomer Earth Observation Operator of the Year” at Euroconsult’s Earth Observation Business Week in Paris in September 2013.

ELECNOR DEIMOS Imaging owns and operates DEIMOS-1, the first Spanish Earth Observation satellite. Launched in 2009, it collects a 650km swath of 3-band, 22m resolution imagery. The DEIMOS-1 satellite, member of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), is among the world leading sources of high resolution data. DEIMOS-1 provides, among other things, yearly coverages of Africa to the European Copernicus programme, bimonthly coverages of US lower 48 states to the US Department of Agriculture for crop season monitoring, and monthly coverages of Spain to the Spanish government.

ELECNOR DEIMOS Imaging will add the new DEIMOS-2 satellite to its EO system by mid-2014. DEIMOS-2 is a very-high resolution, agile satellite capable of providing 4-bands multispectral and 75-cm pan-sharpened imagery, with a 12-km swath. The whole end-to-end DEIMOS-2 system has been designed to provide a cost-effective and highly responsive service to cope with the increasing need of fast access to very-high resolution imagery. Its ground segment, which includes three receiving/commanding ground stations in Spain and Norway, has been completely developed in-house by Elecnor Deimos.


Deimos1 & Deimos-2

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

24/7/365 Service: Highly responsive, reliable and fast service for rush tasking, delivery and processing of DEIMOS -1 and DEIMOS -2 satellites

Ground Receiving Stations: Direct and Virtual Receiving Stations available, providing easy, fast and cost-effective access to large amount of data obtained from high-frequency coverages.

Rental of satellite capacity: through tailored rental schemes, the user is provided direct access to the Mission Planning System, and can directly task the satellite.

Continent-wide, high-resolution coverages: DEIMOS-1 is optimized to generate high-resolution, frequent coverages over very large areas, such as countries or continents.

  • Powerful source of geo-information
  • Immediate availability
  • Framed to match your area of interest
  • Attractively priced
  • Fast integration into your GIS and Google Earth Enterprise solutions, fully compatible with your referenced databases
  • Ideal for land cover/use classifications and crop related studies


DEIMOS-1 2011 Mosaic of Sub-Saharian Africa

Very-high resolution imagery: the Kompsat-2, 3 and 5 and, from Q2 2014, the DEIMOS-2 satellite, provide a unique virtual constellation with both optical and radar satellites which assures frequent revisit of any spot on Earth, at different local times.

Tailored VAP Products and Services:

  • DEIMOS-1 Flood Mapping Services, including pre-flood imaging, emergency activations, post-flood imaging, retrieval of flood maps and corresponding statistics. Thanks to the large size of DEIMOS-1 images and its low revisit times, the status of a certain area can be evaluated before, during and after the flood event.
  • DEIMOS-1 Fire Mapping Services, including imagery prior, during and post the fire event, emergency activations, retrieval of fire maps and its statistics, and further recovery evolution on burn scars in the short and medium term periods.


Forest fire of La Jonquera, Spain, July 2012: DEIMOS-1 natural color and multiemporal imagery

  • Vegetation Indexes: including NDVI, SAVI, IPVI, MSAVI2, GEMI among others more ellaborated, like LAI and FPAR. Related to plant phenology, water balance, CO2 exchange and net productivity, they represent key vegetation biophysical properties.


DEIMOS-1 natural color image of irrigated crops in Corcoran, CA, June 2012

RELEVANT PROJECTS

ELECNOR DEIMOS Imaging has gained a strong experience in product development and delivery to public and private customers worldwide. Among its main projects:

  • Provision of Deimos-1 data for USDA annual campaign in US. Biweekly coverage of the CONUS area with Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2 has been delivered to USDA during the 2011, 2012 and 2013 crop seasons, and used for the generation of crop type maps and crop monitoring services.


DEIMOS-1/UK-DMC2 coverages of the US during 2011 and 2012 crop seasons

  • Provision of cloud-free coverage of Africa with Deimos-1 for GMES/Copernicus Data Warehouse CORE Service. Deimos-1 data collected in 2011 and 2012, and covering all countries of Sub-Saharian Africa, has been delivered to ESA to be used in the frame of GDW.
  • Provision of Deimos-1 data for FARMSTAR service in France. DMI manages yearly a campaign to monitor the French agricultural areas with Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2, and delivers data to AirbusGeo which provides the FARMSTAR service to farmers nationwide.
  • ISAC, Information Service on Agricultural Change (FP7): set up of a service for crop monitoring, damage and risk assessment based on high resolution Deimos-1 and Landsat images. Demonstration countries are Spain, Belgium and Ethiopia. Target users are the insurance sector and the food security sector (micro-insurances and early warning).
  • AGRICAB (FP7): AGRICAB builds on Geonetcast, connecting satellite data and predictive models in the context of GEO (Group on Earth Observations).


Examples of DEIMOS-1 crop monitoring service

POINT OF CONTACT
ELECNOR DEIMOS Imaging
Parque Tecnológico de Boecillo, Edificio Galileo, Modulo Gris, 103
47151 Boecillo (Valladolid)
Spain
Phone: +34 983 548 923
comercial@deimos-imaging.com
www.deimos-imaging.com

(3 April 2014) Today’s liftoff of the latest Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft ultimately will lead to more data flowing into NOAA’s weather models that produce life-saving forecasts, according to the agency’s top satellite official.

The DMSP-19 spacecraft launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 7:46 A.M. PDT aboard an Atlas V rocket. The satellite is undergoing a series of early on-orbit systems tests and is expected to be ready for operational use in six weeks.

Since the mid-1960’s, the DMSP’s low earth-orbiting satellites have provided the military and civilian communities with important and reliable environmental information. Each DMSP satellite has a 101-minute orbit, circling between the North and South poles and providing global coverage twice a day. The last DMSP spacecraft was launched in October 2009.

Data from these satellites can help identify, locate and determine the intensity of severe weather, including hurricanes. DMSP spacecraft also can be used to form three-dimensional cloud analyses, which are the basis for computer forecast models to meet unique military requirements.

“For years, NOAA has used DMSP data for operational weather forecasting, which has added to NOAA’s continuous, robust stream of satellite data for a Weather Ready nation,” said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.

Additionally, DMSP satellites provide imagery of environmental features including clouds, bodies of water, snow, fire, and pollution in the visual and infrared spectra. The scanning radiometric instruments record information which helps determine cloud type and height, land and surface water temperatures, sea surface currents, ocean surface features, ice, and snow. The satellite data collected and downlinked to the ground stations are processed, interpreted by meteorologists, and used in planning and conducting U.S. military operations worldwide.

The primary command and control of the satellite is jointly managed by NOAA and the Air Force 50th Operations Group Detachment 1, both operating out of the Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md. Operations are also supported by a back-up facility located at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., under the leadership of the 6th Space Operations Squadron.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our other social media channels.

(source: NOAA)

Providing Earth Observation and webGIS tools to locate and monitor underwater archaeological sites in coastal zone.

The monitoring of the underwater cultural heritage is a priority of Public authorities (e.g. Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Institutions and local entities) that deal with conservation and restoration activities. These public bodies need cost effective, reliable and systematic survey techniques and means to accomplish their mission and everyday work.

The ITACA (Innovation Technologies and Applications for Coastal Archaeological sites) project aims to prove a management system for underwater archaeological sites in coastal regions. The discovering and monitoring service uses innovative satellite remote sensing techniques combined with image processing algorithms. The project develops a set of applications integrated in a system that pursue the following objectives:

  • Search and location of ancient ship wrecks;
  • Monitoring of ship wrecks, ruins and historical artefacts that are now submerged;
  • Integration of resulting search and monitoring data with onsite data into a management tool for underwater sites;
  • Demonstration of the system’s suitability for a service.

ITACA project is coordinated by Planetek Hellas E.P.E.
http://www.planetek.it/eng/itaca


Figure 1. Ship wreck recorded using side-scan and processed