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(Dec2012) On 12 December 2012, EUMETSAT’s MSG-3 satellite was declared ready to support the Meteosat operational services and renamed Meteosat-10. On 18 December, the dissemination of Meteosat-10 SEVIRI data and meteorological products has started to the wider user community via EUMETCast-Europe.

This is in addition to the National Meteorological Services in EUMETSAT’s Member and Cooperating States and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which have been receiving SEVIRI data and products since October. For EUMETCast users in Africa, a user station upgrade is being prepared which will be deployed over the coming weeks, ensuring Meteosat-10 data availability to users in Africa from January.

In the next two months, Meteosat-10 and Meteosat-9 will deliver full Earth scan image and meteorological products in parallel, with Meteosat-10 scheduled to become the prime operational satellite on 21 January after moving to 0º. Parallel dissemination will allow users to prepare themselves before Meteosat-10 takes over.

MSG is a joint programme undertaken by ESA and EUMETSAT. ESA is responsible for the development of satellites fulfilling user and system requirements defined by EUMETSAT and of the procurement of recurrent satellites on its behalf. Following the satellite separation from the launch vehicle, ESA also performs the Launch and Early Orbit Phase operations required to place the spacecraft in geostationary orbit, before handing it over to EUMETSAT for commissioning and exploitation. EUMETSAT develops all ground systems required to deliver products and services to users and to respond to their evolving needs, procures launch services and operates the full system for the benefit of users.

Launched on 5 July, MSG-3 is the third in a series of four geostationary satellites introduced in 2002. These spin-stabilised satellites carry the primary Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager, or SEVIRI. The prime contractor for the MSG satellites is Thales Alenia Space, with the SEVIRI instrument built by Astrium.

Source UN-Spider

Reducing the rate of biodiversity loss and averting dangerous biodiversity change are international goals.

However, there is no global, harmonized observation system for delivering regular, timely data on biodiversity change. Partners from the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) are developing – and seeking consensus around – Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) that could form the basis of monitoring programs worldwide. Read Full Paper and consult the GEO BON EBVs page here

Source

The effects of climate change, population growth and economic development in the Mediterranean are posing a threat to the water supply in the region. As part of ESA’s TIGER initiative, satellite data are supporting water management by identifying water resources.

The demand for water is growing around the Mediterranean and is especially crucial in areas that do not receive regular rainfall. This is especially true for the southernmost parts of Europe and the countries lying along the African coast and in the eastern Mediterranean Basin.

Owing to the increasing population, the demand for water is growing for drinking and irrigation, representing 70–80% of the water use in the region. To get a better grip on water management, satellites are increasingly acknowledged as indispensable tools for collecting information on available water resources and their use. This information is also necessary for planning infrastructure, such as where to build a dam, how to divert a waterway or manage a flood event.

The ten-year TIGER initiative exploits Earth observation technologies in order to respond to the urgent need for reliable water information in Africa. TIGER is currently collaborating with the Euro-Mediterranean Information System on Know-How in the Water Sector (EMWIS), organising water observation systems and building capacity in the Mediterranean region.

Read more ESA

_Source UN-Spider

In a recent article in Nature, Peter J. Webster, professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, underlines the importance of regional weather forecasts to avoid losses of live and property.

Hurricane Sandy was not as fatal as it could have been, thanks to accurate and long-range meteorological data and satellite imagery. However, the state of affairs is different in many developing countries. “Although only 5% of tropical cyclones occur in the north Indian Ocean, they account for 95% of such casualties worldwide”, states Webster.

While developing countries are theoretically able to access data from global weather-forecast models, they face several obstacles: poor internet connections, low budgets and insufficient capacities to extract regional forecasts from them. The author states that global partnerships could serve as a bridge between the providers of such information and the user community.

In this field there has been significant progress, for example in Bangladesh. Forecasts, produced in Europe and processed in the United States are integrated into the regional disaster-management protocol by local experts. Thanks to the implementation of a hazard-forecasting system as well as effective planning and training, people can be evacuated in due time. Moreover, farmers are now able to take the necessary precautions to save their crops and livestock. Based on a World Bank report, Webster estimates that every dollar invested in this system enabled saving as much as $40.

Source UN-Spider

GeoVille is executing the ESA project Diversity II together with Brockmann Consult.

The project is composed of an Inland Waters and a Drylands component, where GeoVille’s work covers the drylands part. Dedicated to the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD) and to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as users, the aim is to generate indices and indicators on the vegetation status and trends of 22 drylands regions worldwide.

For more information please visit the project website

Source Geoville.org

Situational Awareness System (SAS) for SOS Children’s Villages is a project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to establish a satellite-based system allowing timely access to geospatial information.

Within the project the system provides information products to support SOS Children’s Villages International in their site development, monitoring, controlling and management as well as to assist fundraising activities and to increase resource efficiency.

SOS Children’s Villages is an international non-governmental social development organisation that makes child care, education, and health care available to children and their families directly, and helps to improve policies and practices of the state. The European Space Agency is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

SAS is developed and operated by GeoVille Group. GeoVille Group is a private sector enterprise specialised in satellite Earth Observation and derived geo-information products and services. Offices are located in Austria and Luxembourg.

The latest generation of very high resolution satellite data will be applied to serve situational awareness requirements of SOS Children’s Villages International. A geographic information system approach will allow further analysis, derivation and provision of sector specific information products.

The situational awareness system will focus on the following key target areas:
1. Timely identification of suitable sites for construction
2. Operational monitoring of construction progress
3. Community development monitoring around SOS children’s villages4. Delivery of situational awareness information in the aftermath of crises

The products will be provided by GeoVille Group in the form of digital maps and reports and easily accessible over the Internet and mobile devices for SOS Children’s Villages staff in headquarters and in the field. “GeoVille Group will merge satellite data with cutting edge technology for out of Europe timely children’s security monitoring”, said Christian Schleicher, SAS Project Leader.

“SOS Children’s Villages is active in 133 countries. It works with disadvantaged families and their communities in order to prevent crises that can lead to family separation. Around 80.0000 children who have lost parental care are provided with a caring, loving, and secure family environment. Each year several new locations for SOS Children’s Village programmes are under development. With the help of SAS and satellites we will be able to make more informed decisions in site selection and management. Most importantly satellite derived information will assist to react more quickly in the aftermath of natural hazards”, explained Michael Spuller, Construction Commission Director.

“We are pleased to be working with SOS Children’s Villages and have the opportunity to demonstrate that the European Space Agency and European earth observation satellites can bring useful and needed information to support their important work in helping children and developing communities around the world”, said Volker Liebig, Director of ESA Earth Observation Programmes.

Source

(Dec 2012) According to the 2012 World Disasters Report, recently released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), over 72 million people are forcibly displaced due to a range of complex drivers including conflict and violence, disasters, political upheaval and even by large-scale development projects. An estimated 20 million among these migrants are living in a state of prolonged displacement.

The World Disasters Report is in its 20th issue and over the past two decades has covered topics such as ethics in aid, neglected crises, public health, HIV and AIDS and urban risk. This year’s World Disasters Report focuses on forced migration and on the people forcibly displaced by crises, violence, climate change and development projects, whose numbers are increasing each year.

The report includes reference to the value of satellite imagery analysis and mentions in Chapter 7 the work done by UNOSAT in the area of human security and emergency response. UNOSAT has become increasingly popular with the international community since 2000 especially because of its Humanitarian Rapid Mapping Service. In 2010 the UNOSAT team started a planned investment of over 1 million USD to expand its research and applications to the area of human security, including the monitoring of populations displaced by conflict and disasters. Since then UNOSAT has been active in a range of humanitarian and human rights instances upon request by UN agencies, Commissions of Enquiry and Panels of Experts established by the UN Secretary-General. In the case of the Syrian crisis for example, UNOSAT helps UNHCR monitor several camps in neighboring countries which have been sheltering Syrian citizens escaping the violence in their country.

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(© Copernicus.eu website) (Nov 2012) The “Copernicus Observer” is a e-magasine that will report every three months on Copernicus-related activities through three main sections


  • In the field, presenting concrete achievements;
  • Business Corner, addressing the development of the Copernicus market;
  • In motion, presenting ongoing activities such as R&D projects.

The magazine will also include a list of key events (e.g. workshops, conferences) relevant to Copernicus.

The first issue of the magazine, which was published before GMES was renamed “Copernicus” and was therefore issued under the name GMES Observer” (November 2012), is now available here. In this first issue, a specific focus was put on the following main topics:

  • First six months of activity of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service – Mapping;
  • “Eye on Earth” portal of the European Environment Agency;
  • European Space Expo, the interactive exhibition on space applications.

Copernicus.eu website)