Skip to content

Stevenage UK, 29 September 2012 — British developer of geographic information systems (GIS) software, Cadcorp, has formed a partnership with the Belgrade-based geomatics specialist MapSoft Ltd. The 17 person company which was founded in 2002 by academics from the Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the University of Belgrade, is a respected supplier of software and services to the GIS market in Serbia and surrounding territories.

MapSoft will promote the Cadcorp Spatial Information System® (Cadcorp SIS®) software as a complement to MapSoft’s own data capture product which is widely deployed in cadastral offices, surveying and mapping agencies, local governments and utilities companies in Serbia, the Republic of Srpska, Macedonia, and Montenegro.

“We realised a number of years ago, that as a provider of geomatic solutions we needed to have available a whole range of geoprocessing capabilities and we set about identifying suitable products and companies” said Željko Cvijetinović , Managing Director of MapSoft. “We narrowed our search down to four suppliers, and Cadcorp was one of those. Cadcorp SIS offers the range of functionality we required and, very importantly for us, it adheres to open standards. Cadcorp employs a dedicated team of knowledgeable specialists and having confidence in the ability of a supplier to support us was critical for our selection.”

“The Serbian market for GIS – especially the municipal GIS market – is characterized by a multiplicity of different software systems and data formats” continued Mr. Cvijetinović . “Cadcorp is well-known for the ability of its products to coexist with other systems. We see Cadcorp SIS fulfilling a role for our customers not just as another GIS, but also as central repository capable of serving multiple systems and applications.”

Mike O’Neil, CEO of Cadcorp said: “In the short time we have been partners, MapSoft has already won significant business in the local government market. We look forward to building on this success with Mr. Cvijetinović and his highly-skilled team.”

MapSoft specialises in aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, topographic and cadastral surveying and mapping, and in delivering customised GIS solutions customised to their clients’ needs. The company has created digital orthophoto coverage for 35% of the land area of Serbia. Through a sister company, MapSoft is also engaged in vehicle tracking and fleet management.

For more information about Cadcorp and MapSoft visit www.cadcorp.com and www.mapsoft.rs

CONTACTS
Cadcorp, Richard Spooner, Marketing Manager
+44 1438 747996, richard.spooner@cadcorp.com
MapSoft, Željko Cvijetinović, Managing Director, Email Contact

Cadcorp

Cadcorp is a British software development company focused on geographic information system (GIS) and web mapping software. We offer a complete suite of products – the Cadcorp Spatial Information System ® (Cadcorp SIS®) – addressing all phases of spatial information management. Cadcorp SIS is available worldwide through a network of Cadcorp partners and through a direct sales team in the UK and Ireland.

Source

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) September 28, 2012 — TerraGo Technologies, an innovative provider of widely adopted geospatial collaboration software solutions, has expanded its global partner network with the addition of a reseller in Russia to meet growing demands and better serve customers in the region.

Hitachi Solutions, a TerraGo joint development partner and distributor in Japan, East Asia, China, Taiwan and Russia, recently partnered with Sibintek to distribute TerraGo® geospatial collaboration software in Russia. Based in Moscow, Sibintek is the largest provider of professional IT services in Russia and provides a full range of services in the field of IT outsourcing and maintenance, system integration, design and development of IT infrastructure, telecom services, and the supply of equipment.

“Sibintek is well-known for its unique, hands-on approach and proven methodology for IT services to leading geographically dispersed corporations, government agencies, and administrative structures,” said Richard McKay, TerraGo senior vice president of Sales. “TerraGo is confident that Sibintek, with its deep understanding of the distinctive needs of Russian customers, will be a valuable partner to meet Russian Federation customer needs and foster TerraGo’s continued global growth.”

TerraGo has an extensive ecosystem of business, technology and market partners. In addition to Sibintek in Russia and Hitachi Solutions in Asia, TerraGo GeoPDF®-based solutions are offered worldwide through its reseller network.

Headquartered in Atlanta, TerraGo has an office in Washington, D.C. dedicated to its federal customers, a Manhattan Beach, CA office from its recent acquisition of Geosemble Technologies to serve West Coast customers, and an office in the United Kingdom to serve customers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

About TerraGo Technologies

TerraGo Technologies geospatial collaboration software and GeoPDF maps and imagery are among the most widely adopted solutions to produce, access, update and share geospatial information and applications with anyone, anywhere. TerraGo solutions enable enterprises to extend, exchange and exploit geo-referenced maps, imagery, audio, video and other intelligence in connected or offline environments. Trusted by government agencies and businesses worldwide, TerraGo solutions increase the use of geospatial data throughout and between enterprises and the return on geospatial investment through greater organizational efficiency, productivity and responsiveness. Founded in 2005, TerraGo is privately held and is an In-Q-Tel portfolio company. For more information, visit http://www.terragotech.com.

Source

29 September 2012 [SatNews] The growth in the equipment side is driven by land-mobile units, but the UAV market will absorb the largest portion of commercial satellite capacity in the coming decade.

According to NSR’s newest market research report Government and Military Satellite Communications, 9th Edition, despite near term uncertainty driven by troop withdrawals and budgetary challenges, government and military demand for commercial satcom services looks solid in the long term. In fact the commercial industry will supply 68 percent more satellite capacity to government and military users over the next decade.

The U.S. and NATO allied nations troop pull-out from the Middle-East, coupled with severe budget situations, is certainly a major preoccupation for satellite services in the coming years. Government and military budget reductions will impact some markets more than others, but the short- to mid-term will see the most effects of these challenges.

However as recent events in Libya and Afghanistan have shown, the war on terrorism is not over and the next hotspot could well be North Africa. With more intelligence, surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) manned and unmanned aircraft to assist in this endeavor, increased mobility requirements and higher overall demand for agile and nimble systems at a lower cost will spur long-term revenues but at a slower rate than the past few years.

“The market performance in the short-term will be overshadowed by the pull-out from Afghanistan, but the bottom will certainly not fall out” stated Claude Rousseau, Senior Analyst for NSR and author of the study. “The total revenues grew by almost 10 percent in 2011 and despite questions today, the market should reach $9.7 billion from 1 million in-service units, while transponder demand is set to increase substantially due to UAVs and ISR missions” continued Rousseau.

While there are continuing needs for narrowband communications, demand for capacity is clearly moving towards broadband services with video and large data files as well as social media being strong drivers for bandwidth usage in all segments. The growth in the equipment side is driven by land-mobile units, but the UAV market will absorb the largest portion of commercial satellite capacity in the coming decade. As the U.S. shifts its military strategy towards Asia, there is an expectation that more satellite units and capacity will move to this region.

The report can be viewed here

(1 October 2012) Earth observation measurements shouldn’t be taken with a pinch of salt. ESA is comparing readings of sea-surface salinity from drifting floats to confirm the SMOS water mission’s measurements.

Since its launch in 2009, ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite has been helping us to understand the water cycle.

As with any Earth observation mission, it is important to validate the readings acquired from space. This involves comparing the satellite data with measurements taken directly in the water.

For SMOS, that means comparing its readings to data from floats or drifters that measure ocean salinity at different depths.

Argo floats

One of the major networks of in-situ drifters is Argo. The network, involving over 50 research and operational agencies in more than 30 countries, uses autonomous floats to collect temperature, salinity and deep current data.

With over 3500 active drifters, the Argo floats acquire in situ data in the upper 2000 m of the ocean.

These measurements are then directly compared to SMOS data, which in turn cover the global ocean and provide measurements of the salinity in the first centimetre of the sea surface.

SMOS provides measurements averaged over a surface of 40×40 sq km, but the difference of the size of the area measured and other influencing factors like background noise lead to differences between SMOS and Argo measurements.

“Since Argo measurements are taken much deeper than SMOS’s, the stratification of the upper layer of the ocean needs to be taken into account when comparing the two salinities in rainy regions,” said Jacqueline Boutin from France’s Laboratory for Oceanography and Climate (LOCEAN).

“For example, rain over the ocean will cause SMOS to pick up lower salinity readings than Argo.”

The advantage that SMOS has over the Argo floats is that the satellite provides a complete view of the global ocean every five days.

Argo measurements, on the other hand, provide punctual salinity data sampled at a lower resolution than SMOS every 10 days.

The higher precision provided by the Argo floats, however, complements the SMOS measurements.

Read full article
Source

(26 September 2012). Research undertaken by the University of Southampton and its associates in Venice has revealed that the sea surface temperature (SST) in coastal regions is rising as much as ten times faster than the global average of 0.13 degrees per decade.

Researchers believe that this is partly as a result of a process known as the ‘urban heat island effect’; where regions experiencing rapid industrial and urban expansion produce vast amounts of heat, making the area warmer than its surroundings.

Professor Carl Amos of Ocean and Earth Sciences at the University of Southampton, will be making a speech at the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association’s Research & Management of Transitional Waters international symposium, in Lithuania on Thursday 27 September. He explains: “The urban heat island effect is a little considered problem with extreme consequences. Take London for example; the air temperature in the capital and the SST of the Thames is always warmer than it is in the rest of the UK. Similarly, in South Korea, an area which has seen rapid industrial expansion, the SST is rising at a rate of 0.26 degrees per decade – significantly higher than the global average. Two thirds of this rise is explained by local air temperature, which is largely driven by the urban heat island effect.”

The world’s coastal zone occupies 18 per cent of the world’s land mass and it is estimated that 1.6 billion people live in these regions world-wide. The coastal population density is three times the global average and this population is expected to increase 30 per cent by 2025, with trade and infrastructure at the coasts also increasing steadily. Research suggests that in coastal regions of high urban development, human activity is directly warming adjacent coastal waters and that this contribution to global warming at the coastal zones is equal to, or greater than, other factors such as greenhouse gasses.

Professor Amos, who is based at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) says: “The Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership Report of 2006 stated that the capacity to define and predict long-term coastal changes due to human causes is ‘unknown’ and confidence in results is ‘low’. This is a major barrier to planning for inevitable changes in coastal SST. Most of these changes at coastlines are caused by human activity, but as it is complex to consider these factors accurately, the official International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) figures do not take these coastal ‘anomalies’ into account.”

In Venice, with 22 million visitors annually and tourism a year-round source of income, the economy remains critically dependent on the city maintaining its status as one of the world’s most desirable destinations. Southampton’s research in Venice has highlighted the tension between tourism’s economic benefits and environmental repercussions. Analyses of seawater temperature trends in the Venice Lagoon have suggested an increase during winter months ten times greater than that predicted globally by the IPCC – a result directly linked to tourism.

Thousands of jobs and the Venetian economy rely on the survival of the fishing industry, which is dependent on the temperature of the coastal seawater in the Venice Lagoon. A rise in SST in the coastal zone reduces oxygen levels and displaces marine fish and associated nursery grounds, causing catastrophic fish kill phenomena. This research has helped predict the viability of clam fisheries and aquaculture habitats that serve the restaurant trade that caters for millions of tourists every year.

Professor Amos says: “The findings in Venice are the result of a 15 year partnership with the city, which are of great importance and have worldwide applications. Massive urbanisation of the coastal zones means urban heat islands represent an acute problem, particularly for the fishing industry and also for the maintenance of coastal infrastructure. The Thames, like the Venice Lagoon, is a major contributor to and casualty of the urban heat island effect. The consequences of the urban heat island effect need addressing urgently to secure the future of our coastal habitats.”

Notes for editors

  • The University of Southampton’s associates in the work at the Venice Lagoon are the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, the West Vancouver Marine Laboratory, ISMAR Venice, and the National Water Research Institute of Canada
  • For more information on the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association’s Research & Management of Transitional Waters international symposium, visit http://corpi.ku.lt/ecsa2012/?page_id=2
  • Source and gmes.info

California’s agricultural industry will be faced with making major amendments to farming methods and crop plantings as Earth’s climate continues its warming evolution.


“Climate change is stacking the deck,” biologist Stuart Weiss said in an article prepared by the nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting and KQED public radio.

It’s not going to happen overnight, according to scientists. But Weiss, chief scientist of the Creekside Center for Earth Observation in Menlo Park, is predicting a gradual temperature rise of nearly two degrees over the next 30 years affecting agriculture from the Napa Valley through the Central Valley to the Imperial Valley.

That doesn’t sound like much, but in critical growing stages it is huge.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported in 2010 that climate change poses a major risk to all of the nation’s agriculture, but California appears particularly vulnerable.

This in turn is causing the state’s largest industry to reassess its operation.

Source

[San Francisco Chronicle]

(26 September 2012) Emcore Corporation announced today that it has been awarded a solar panel manufacturing contract by Orbital Sciences Corporation for NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission targeted for launch in early 2016.

Solar panels populated with Emcore’s most advanced ZTJ triple-junction solar cells will power the ICESat-2 spacecraft manufactured by Orbital.

ICESat-2 builds on measurements taken by NASA’s original ICESat mission. ICESat was the benchmark Earth Observing System mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. Data from ICESat, which was in orbit from 2003 to 2010, revealed thinning of the world’s ice sheets. ICESat-2 will use precision laser-ranging techniques to measure the topography of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and the thickness of sea ice.

“This award for ICESat-2 continues the strong partnership between Orbital Sciences Corporation and Emcore,” said Brad Clevenger, General Manager of Emcore’s Photovoltaics Group. “Our proven manufacturing capability, technology leadership and solar panel reliability make Emcore the supplier of choice for demanding spacecraft power systems.”

Emcore is the world’s leading manufacturer of highly-efficient radiation-hard solar cells for space power applications. With a Beginning-Of-Life (BOL) conversion efficiency nearing 30% and the option for a patented, onboard monolithic bypass diode, Emcore’s industry-leading multi-junction solar cells provide the highest available power to interplanetary spacecraft and earth orbiting satellites.

About Emcore

Emcore Corporation offers a broad portfolio of compound semiconductor-based products for the fiber optics and solar power markets. Emcore’s Fiber Optics business segment provides optical components, subsystems and systems for high-speed telecommunications, Cable Television (CATV) and Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) networks, as well as products for satellite communications, video transport and specialty photonics technologies for defense and homeland security applications. Emcore’s Solar Photovoltaics business segment provides products for space power applications including high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells, Covered Interconnect Cells (CICs) and complete satellite solar panels.

About Orbital Sciences Corporation

As the industry leader in small- and medium-class space and rocket systems, Orbital Sciences Corporation provides a complete set of reliable, cost-effective products including satellites for Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO), communications and broadcasting, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft that perform remote sensing and scientific research, spacecraft used for national security missions, and planetary probes to explore deep space. In addition, Orbital provides full service engineering, production and technical services for NASA, DoD, commercial and academic space programs.

(source: Emcore)

(27 September 2012) Spatial Energy has signed a strategic reseller agreement with Astrium Services in Chantilly, Va. This agreement establishes Spatial Energy as the first global reseller of Astrium products and services to the worldwide oil and gas industry.


“Astrium Services is the only geo-information data provider today with a full spectrum of satellites acquiring multi-resolution optical and radar imagery from which a variety of products and services are derived, including elevation data, global oil seeps, and geologic studies,” said Bud Pope, Spatial Energy President. “A key advantage of Astrium Services is the large capacity of high resolution imaging open to the commercial market, resulting in faster acquisitions and deliveries.”

With the full range of Astrium Services’ products and services catalog added to the Spatial Energy content offerings and available through its Spatial on Demand cloud-based service, the Colorado firm is better positioned to provide oil & gas customers with detailed geospatial information throughout their entire exploration and production workflows, while benefiting from favored pricing and global oil/gas licensing.

“Spatial Energy is a recognized energy industry leader providing geospatial solutions to global oil and gas enterprises,” said Greg Buckman, Head of Astrium Services’ GEO-Information team in North America. “The breadth and scope of Spatial Energy’s services make it an ideal partner for Astrium to work with in serving the global energy industry.”

Astrium Services operates a constellation of Earth observation satellites unparalleled in the commercial market. Astrium Services’ entry into the high-resolution imagery market came in late 2011 with the launch of Pleiades 1A, acquiring 50-cm images. A twin satellite, Pleiades 1B, is scheduled for launch this year. Launched in September 2012, SPOT 6 captures wide-area optical imagery at 1.5-meter resolution and will be joined in orbit by SPOT 7 early 2014.

“Pleiades 1A, Pleiades 1B, SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 will operate in a 90-degree phased orbit allowing for multiple acquisitions of a geographic area within a 24-hour period. The constellation is highly reactive thanks to multiple tasking plans per day and a tasking time of only four hours,” said Spatial Energy’s Pope. “No other satellite constellation offers repeat coverage within the same day on such short notice.”

In addition to the optical SPOT and Pleiades imaging satellites, Astrium Services operates two synthetic aperture radar satellites, TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X. Capable of acquiring highly accurate elevation data of the Earth’s surface, both onshore and offshore, these radar platforms generate derived information for Astrium’s Global Seeps Database, Onshore Geologic Studies, and GEO Elevation products, all now available through Spatial Energy.

About Astrium

Astrium is the number one company in Europe for space technologies and the third in the world. In 2011, Astrium had a turnover close to EUR5 billion and 18,000 employees worldwide, mainly in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands.

Astrium is the sole European company that covers the whole range of civil and defense space systems and services.

Its three business units are: Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure; Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment; Astrium Services for comprehensive fixed and mobile end-to-end solutions covering secure and commercial satcoms and networks, high security and broadcast satellite communications equipment and systems, and bespoke geo-information services, worldwide.

Astrium is a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defense and related services. In 2011, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of EUR 49.1 billion and employed a workforce of over 133,000.

About Spatial Energy

Spatial Energy provides the world’s best collection of energy-specific imagery, imagery analysis and online enterprise imagery and data management services for oil and gas companies operating globally. Over 50 of the Top 100 oil and gas companies worldwide use Spatial Energy to increase speed to drilling, maximize production, lower costs and monitor and protect their assets.

Imagery is available on demand from our data archives, by tasking satellites and aerial providers, by speculative collection and by hosting corporate imagery. Our data is tailored for use within geological and geophysical desktop applications, as well as web applications and geoportals. Our Enterprise Remote Sensing Solutions (ES2) provides one source for a full range of remote sensing services. We offer subscription programs such as the Spatial Energy Partner Program (EPP), BasinWatch and Spatial on Demand to provide simplified, cost effective access to acquiring and managing imagery as a corporate asset.

(source: Spatial Energy) and Astrium Services

(27 September, 2012) By Peter B. de Selding, PARIS — A high-ranking European Commission official on Sept. 27 told users and builders of satellite Earth observation systems that they should abandon hope that the commission will fund a multiyear environment-monitoring program at previously proposed levels.

The official said Europe’s Earth observation community should become less satellite-centric and adapt to a world in which unmanned aerial vehicles, crowd sourcing and other in-situ observation techniques make satellites less indispensible than they once were.

In remarks here at the Space Days conference organized by Liege Space Center and Wallonie Espace, a grouping of regional space companies, Jean-Paul Malingreau said placing satellites at the center of an Earth observation effort is yesterday’s thinking.

Malingreau, adviser for scientific foresight and policy anticipation to the director-general of the commission’s Joint Research Center — a big user of satellite Earth observation data — said Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program will almost certainly shrink from its expected funding level.

The commission, which is the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union, had proposed that GMES receive 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in the commission’s next seven-year budget program, which begins in 2014.

Faced with budget pressure, the commission subsequently proposed that GMES be funded by some separate mechanism outside the seven-year package. How that would work remains the subject of debate as the commission and European Union member states debate the funding package.

The 20-nation European Space Agency (ESA) has developed the GMES program’s flagship Sentinel satellites. ESA and the commission together have already spent some 2.4 billion euros on the space component of GMES, while other monies have been committed to spurring a broad array of GMES services.

The commission is expected to settle on its final seven-year budget by early 2013 at the latest. Despite more than a year during which members of the European Parliament, ESA and individual European governments protested the removal of GMES from the seven-year package, the program’s status remains unclear.

Malingreau cautioned that he has no direct role in determining what happens to the program. He expressed some optimism that “things are happening” at the commission with respect to GMES, but that the final package “will not be as grand as the original idea.”

“It is not zero or one, or a decision to do GMES or not,” Malingreau said. “Everyone initially was depressed, as though they had confronted a wall,” when the commission removed GMES from the multiyear funding package. Now people are seeing a way around the wall. … But maybe [funding] will not be on the scale that we dreamed.”

Sitting on the same panel, ESA’s Josef Aschbacher was visibly discomfited by Malingreau’s remarks, and said there is good reason for GMES backers to be concerned about the commission’s inability to move on the issue.

“I don’t think it’s guaranteed at all” that GMES will receive the kind of support that had been expected, said Aschbacher, who is head of ESA’s GMES Space Office.

ESA had already tried to pressure the commission by saying the agency, which owns the first Sentinel satellites until they are in orbit — then the commission becomes the owner — would refuse to launch them unless the commission committed to financing their operation.

ESA subsequently agreed to launch the first Sentinel in mid-2013, and to prepare for the launch starting now, without any such commitment. ESA officials said they could not conceive of a situation in which the same European governments that spent some 3 billion euros to develop a system later decide not to use it.

“It’s like buying a car and having it delivered to your door and then deciding not to pay for gasoline and insurance,” Aschbacher said. “This is crazy.”

GMES was supposed to follow a model that ESA has established with Europe’s Eumetsat meteorological satellite organization of Darmstadt, Germany. ESA designs and pays for most of the first models of new-generation Eumetsat satellites, with Eumetsat in a minority investor’s role. Eumetsat then takes charge of the financing and operations of subsequent models.

Roberto Aceti, managing director of Antwerp Space, a unit of satellite builder OHB AG of Bremen, Germany, said ESA appears to have no problem winning support for meteorological satellites. He said GMES is running into trouble because neither industry nor the commission has created GMES-related services that are so highly valued that governments find the money for them.

“These services are not as mature as meteorological services,” Aceti said. “That is why there is confusion on how to fund GMES. The question is: Why are these services not maturing at the speed we had hoped? The commission needs to be the anchor tenant for GMES, but both the commission and industry need to interrogate themselves.”

RELATED ARTICLES

ESA Agrees To Press Ahead with 2013 Sentinel Launch
European Union Defers GMES Funding Decision
ESA, European Commission Near GMES Funding Rubicon
ESA’s Dordain Restates Sentinel Launch Cancellation Threat
New Pressure To Add GMES Back to Long-term Budget

Source SpaceNews

Indra has closed with the European Space Agency (ESA) the definition of the requirements for the system that will manage the Spanish satellite Ingenio.

The technological company leads the development, implementation and start-up of the ground segment for the future Spanish ground-based optical observation satellite, which will be ready to enter into service in 2015. With this important milestone, Indra, along with the consortium, firmly undertakes the review of the preliminary design for the second half of the year.

This past December, the Ministry of Industry awarded Indra a contract to lead the project. As a result, Indra, as the leader of the Spanish industry, is responsible for the integration, installation, testing and start-up of the ground segments for the two satellites in the Spanish National Earth Observation Programme (PNOT): the Ingenio optical satellite and the Paz radar satellite. This is the most complex Earth observation programme that has been carried out in Spain to date.

The requirements defined by Indra and approved by the ESA (the agency which Spain has entrusted to supervise the project) for the future Ingenio Ground Segment establish a system comprised by three centres located in Madrid, the Canary Islands and the Arctic. The main centre will be located at the INTA facility in Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid). This centre will have the complete functionality to plan and manage Ingenio flight operations and to process the data transmitted by the satellite, including information for its administration as well as the data collected by the opto-electronic sensor it carries. Indra will install the second control centre, which will act as a backup, in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria. It will provide the main Torrejón centre with additional capacity for receiving satellite data. It will also include the flight operations management functions that are necessary to guarantee the satellite’s control in any situation. Lastly, there will be access to a centre in the Arctic at a location that has not yet been determined. It will be used to send and receive information to and from the satellite. Its high latitude position will favour frequent contact with the satellite.

Image production will take place in Torrejón. Indra will lead the implementation of the system that manages and processes the data obtained by the opto-electronic sensor carried by the satellite. The main ground segment will handle end-user requests, plan the mission in order for the satellite to take the requested images, and once the telemetry is received, it will process the data in order to prepare, disseminate, archive and catalogue the images.

The system will have a specific interface for interacting with users and another adapted to providing access to users of the GMES Global Monitoring Environment and Security programme. GMES is the programme that will give Europe the ability to observe the Earth for operational applications. Connecting Ingenio to the constellation of GMES satellites will facilitate collaborations with other European nations and the international community. Indra has participated in the GMES programme for more than ten years developing Earth observation services.

The images that Ingenio takes from space will reinforce the prevention of and ability to respond to natural disasters, fires, floods and spills in the sea. It will also help to better manage the occupancy and use of land, among other applications. Scientific and research centres, institutions and various state administrations will benefit from this tool that can be used in a coordinated manner with Paz.

About Indra

Indra has more than 25 years of experience in the space industry and it is the Spanish leader in the development and implementation of ground segments. The company has undertaken emblematic projects such as the implementation of the Spanish user segment for the Helios I and II satellite programme and for the SMOS satellite, as well as the implementation of the Spanish user segment for the Pleiades satellite constellation. It has also completed the advanced processing centre that generates high level SMOS data in addition to the image operating centre for military applications (SIGESTREDI), among other references.

Source SatNews

more articles related spacenewsfeed