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“INSA has implemented an innovative geospatial system to improve the monitoring of high temperature events using MODIS and SEVIRI data in Madrid”.

Climate change will affect human health, either directly, in relation to the physiological effects of heat and cold, or indirectly, for example, through altered human behaviours. An increase in some of these impacts has already been observed in Europe over recent decades (for example, the summer heat waves in 2003 alone are believed to have resulted in more than 70 000 excess deaths, Robin et al., 2008). Spain is one of the most affected European countries by the increase of temperature, with an observed variation between +1 ºC and +2ºC in the 1970-2004 time period (IPCC Climate change report 2007). In addition, climate change scenarios suggest that other not Mediterranean European Countries could be affected in the future by heat waves. As extreme events (i.e. Urban Heat Islands) become more frequent and spatially distributed due to climate change, weather related deaths and diseases could rise. In addition, population ageing is changing disease patterns, and putting pressure on the sustainability of EU health systems.
EUROSTAT estimates that by 2050 the number of people in the EU aged 65+ will grow by 70% whereas the 80+ age group will grow by 170%. Therefore, the challenge for policy-makers, at both national and EU levels, is to understand these climate change impacts and to develop and implement policies to ensure an optimal level of adaptation and mitigation. In EU countries, it is estimated that mortality increases by 1-4% for each one-degree rise in temperature, meaning that heat related mortality could rise by 30 000 deaths per year by 2030s and by 50000 to 110000 deaths per year by the 2080s (PESETA project report).

Therefore EU policies suggest that healthy ageing must be supported by actions to promote health and prevent disease throughout the lifespan by tackling key issues including environmental risks. In this context INSA has implemented an innovative geospatial system in order to:

  • improve the monitoring of high temperature events (air temperature and urban heat islands products) using a combination of satellite data, static multisource information (synthetic products), and an on-line platform (geoportal) for the product delivery. This service helps to reduce the impact of heat waves on human health and giving a near real time identification of population on risk, its location.
  • support both decision making and planning processes in the short-, mid- and long-term and improving the efficient allocation of health resources with the provision of synthetic products about affected population, high risk zones and related health infrastructures; with this information, socio-economic impact can be reduced.
  • support future urban planning indicating the location of the high risk zones which need mitigation actions and verifying the effects of these activities.

In order to achieve these objectives, INSA has dedicated internal R&D resources to the definition of remote sensing applications and development of processing algorithms to monitoring of high-temperature events in order to reduce their impacts on human health.

Urban Heat Islands (UHI) in the city of Madrid

Over the last century, the world has witnessed a huge growth in its population; this intense and relatively fast spread of the urban areas changes the characteristics of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. The anthropogenic activities induce changes in the physical characteristics of the surface (albedo, thermal capacities, heat conductivity, moisture) and have significant implications for energy budget (Oke, 1987). In metropolitan areas and more so in the city centres, the removal of natural land cover and the introduction of artificial materials, such as concrete and asphalt, modify the surface energy balance, resulting in an increase in surface temperature; in turn this creates an increase in sensible heat flux and a resultant rise in air temperature. In case of a heat wave, these factors usually associated with low wind speeds and high humidity put the population under strong thermal stress with dramatic consequences.

The above result in downtown areas being much warmer than its rural surroundings produces the Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon. The UHI are typically detected by ground stations using thermometers in order to measure air temperature in the canopy layer. An alternative method uses infrared radiometry from aircraft or satellite platforms, which observe the surface heat island or, more specifically, they see the spatial patterns of upwelling thermal radiance received by the detector and use it to estimate the surface temperature. An advantage in using satellite data with respect to ground-based observations is to provide more spatially representative measurements of surface temperature over large areas of cities.

Different approaches have been published in the last years in order to retrieve land surface temperature (LST) from satellite-derived radiances. Among these methods, the two-channel or split-window algorithms have been the most commonly used. The split-window algorithms take advantage of the differential absorption in two close infrared channels to correct for the atmospheric effects, describing the surface temperature in terms of a linear combination of brightness temperatures measured in both thermal channels. The algorithm’s coefficients depend on the atmospheric state and on the surface emissivity and they are chosen in order to minimize the error in the LST determination.

Numerous studies have been done to estimate these coefficients; but, sometimes fixed values are utilized, imposing significant errors to the results.

In order to employ a method for the evaluation of the UHI in Madrid with less uncertainty, INSA has developed a local and more suitable algorithm for the estimation of the UHI with MODIS and SEVIRI data (Fabrizi et al., 2011). This innovation method exploits the availability of air temperature data from ground-based weather stations in the study’s area for the calibration and validation of the model. The following figure describes the UHI algorithm workflow:


Figure 1: UHI workflow of INSA’s method
The UHI maps are generated automatically and provided experimentally by the INSA geoportal (www.insageoservices.com). The maps (Figure 2-3) contain semantic data (open street data, administrative data). The output product is a vector layer (shape file) including Air Temperature and UHI Spatial Extent and Intensity, as well the affected population (provided by the National Statistic Institute (www.ine.es)), high risk zones and related health infrastructures.


Figure 2: Urban Heat Islands in the city of Madrid with MODIS data in August 25th 2010 at 22:00 UTC (Google Earth).


Figure 3: Urban Heat Islands in the city of Madrid with MODIS data in August 25th 2010 at 22:00 UTC (Google Earth 3D).

Reference

  • IPCC: Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Edited by: Solomon S, Qin D, Manning M, Chen Z, Marquis M, Averyt KB, Tignor M, Miller HL. United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. Cambridge University Press:996.
  • Fabrizi, R., De Santis, A., Gomez, A. (2011) Satellite and ground-based sensors for the Urban Heat Island analysis of the city of Madrid. 10.1109/JURSE.2011.5764791
    Oke, T.R. Boundary Layer Climates, 2nd Ed.; Routledge, London, 1987; pp. 435
  • Robine, J., Cheung, S., Le Roy, S., Van Oyen, H., Griffiths, C., Michel, J.P., Herrmann, F., 2008. Death toll exceeded 70,000 in Europe during the summer of 2003. C. R. Biol. 331, 171–U175.


UNDERSTANDING SECTORS

From the point of view of geo-information, how can EO service industry better understand the oil & gas sector (business structure, strategy, potential growth technologies and prospects)?

There has been quite a close relationship between individual service providers and individual O&G companies, hence other companies in the industry never find out what particular services were required and confidentiality usually prevents us from communicating the exact services. In general it requires an effort on both sides to enhance the communication. If the Service Providers industry understands how the O&G industry works and what their work processes are, then they will benefit. This can be achieved through communication and working with people who know the industry. The Service Providers should be pro-active in creating new services, which can be seen as best practice and support business decisions or even improve on existing practices.

Could you please introduce how the industry collects, manages and utilises spatial information to help achieve its business goals? And what are the processes and workflows that support those geo-information activities?

There is quite a variety of models in the industry and each company applies its own solution, due to mainly historical reasons. In my company a ‘Geomatics’ team manages the data. From the initial ‘Can Earth Observation help? and if yes what should / could we use? ‘, to the collection request to the data storage; Geomatics is then also responsible for QC and delivering the products back out to the business units for their particular use. In other companies the individual projects collect and store the information (Earth Observation data, derived products, GIS info etc.) and hand it back to a corporate function at the end of the project activity. In other companies the entire service is outsourced to a service provider and handled independently. The final results and outcomes / products are returned to the company for use in the decision making process.

So there is no ‘One model fits all’ answer to your question.

OGEO

The goal of the OGEO is to enable more and better business between the Oil &Gas industry and Earth Observation services industries how were the first steps of this initiative? Why to focus on facilitate the dialogue between market sectors?

The initial contacts were facilitated by ESA and brought the representatives from the OGP (Int. Assoc. of Oil and Gas Producers) together and first discussions were carried out in late 2009. Since it looked like both sides had some information deficit about the other sector, bringing them closer together seemed like a desirable outcome for both. Better information leads to better decisions – better decisions lead to better business. Facilitating an improved dialogue seemed a logical consequence and the success of our workshops has proven that. From an O&G industry we want to better utilize already existing data, services and solutions; from the Service Providers side I have heard they would like to better know what the issues are in the O&G industry and where Earth Observation could help. Both of these require communication and dialogue.

What is today the status of the OGEO group? Are you satisfied with the progress that has been made so far?

We are an informal group, but like to align ourselves closer to the OGP committees and communicate through these. There are three main groups in OGP (Environment, MetOcean and Geomatics) using earth observation (remote sensing) in different ways. Bringing these groups together and giving them an insight in the possibilities the Earth Observation technology has to offer was already a good success and exposing the Service Provider’s directly to the different topics of interest seems also to make good headways. We are often stuck in our own small little world of problems. Exposing ourselves to other people using the same technology, but with different questions, the dialogue can be fruitful. We have achieved to stimulate some of this dialogue and in that sense the progress has been good and I am sure will continue strongly.

How do you envisage future activities under the OGEO umbrella? Will annual workshops raise awareness on what has been done and what has been achieved? How do you analyse the lack of response on the participation of oil and gas industry and these initiatives? What could be done more in the group to really set up the communication and exchange forum?

We hope that the initiative will continue and further activities will find the support of the participating groups. The two workshops held so-far have been a success and seeing the papers published will give a focus and raise awareness for the decision makers in the individual company. However to reach the decision makers and allow their company re-presentatives to attend and even speak at such workshops is the challenge. We have created the OGEO-Portal as an easy to use exchange forum of information – hence once people realize how beneficial that can be, I am sure we will see an increased utilization. Some companies see themselves as early followers, they wait and see what the big ones do and then follow suit. Some of the big ones – like ExxonMobil, BP, Total, and Shell are sitting at the table and pushing this initiative ahead. But these days there are also many events and travel budgets are getting tighter and tighter – hence to have combined events and attach them to an already existing Oil & Gas meeting will increase the O&G participation

Do there exist or could there be other dialogue mechanisms that could take place with the EO service industry?

Usually one has dialogue mechanism with one or more Earth Observation companies directly and is dependent on the information they provide. Often there is not enough time in the decision making process left to do a full background research on all available technology and applications. Hence one relies on the Service Provider’s information. But not always does an individual Service Provider offer all information – especially if they do not use particular sensors, software or technologies.

The OGEO Portal / Web-forum (see explanation below) was an idea to have a new form of communication and will allow us to create a dialogue on a different level and widen the approach and the opportunities to the Service Provider industry. I would encourage the uptake of this portal as a tool to help us improve on the current status.

What would you consider to be the measure of success of the OGEO group?

As for myself I would consider it a success if we can communicate our ‘success stories’, re-utilize existing solutions, maximize the use of existing data sets and not having to reinvent the same approaches over and over again in the O&G industry. We have already seen a number of benefits from creating this initiative – mainly through increased awareness and people talking to each other who would not have met otherwise. We have already come up with new ideas and hope to see some of these being reported in future workshops.

Sharing and Learning = Communication => Change => Improved business

COOPERATION & PARTNERSHIP WITH EO INDUSTRY

I understand, technology is seen as one of the key differentiators for oil companies, and an area in which the company can gain significant competitive advantage over its rivals, could you please comment on the relation with service providers, the main products and services using geo-information?

The technology advantages for a competitive edge are mainly in the exploration, development and production areas of the business. In other sections it is less of an issue. However the nature of the business has always demanded a high level of confidentiality, between a Service Provider and the industry. However in areas like Health, Safety and the Environment, the O&G industry wants to show how well they do their business and how the excel in their engagements. In these areas we can share and benefit from each other’s developments and new services being offered. The main products and services still fall under the ‘baseline mapping’ and ‘ongoing monitoring’ categories, with some products going back in time and looking at historical analysis of local or regional areas.

In your opinion, what milestones in last two decades have made an impact in the growth of EO downstream products in the oil and gas sector? Please tell us about your opinion on the possible growth of the EO service industry within the oil and gas sector. What trends your foreseen?

In the last few years the biggest impact was the availability of the high resolutions satellite images of the order of 0.5 meter. Allowing regular images and no HSE exposure – as one would have with regular aerial photo surveys. The other milestone was the MODIS instruments and all the data products and research going with it. The other key technology especially for the offshore component of the O&G industry is the radar satellites in all their wavelength and pixel sizes. With the cloud penetrating capability and the inferferometric analysis options – this was / is ‘the’, but also constantly ‘evolving’ milestone in Earth Observation for our industry.

As for the trends:

  • Reliable timeline monitoring over varying seasons and multiple years
  • Sensor integration and improved use of the archives for enhanced baseline mapping
  • Improved forecasts and supply of near real-time services from Earth Observation data
  • Fast response services for any emergency requiring situational awareness information

EARSC are providing the secretariat for the OGEO group, are there other ways for us to help the EO services industry do business with oil and gas companies?

Yes – I think to encourage all the members to utilize the opportunity to enhance the dialogue with the O&G industry is important; to encourage the use of the OGEO portal by the members and contribute whenever possible. Invite O&G industry members to Earth Observation industry events and hence get a dialogue 1st hand. Allow best practise examples to be showcased and may be work them up as an industry – not just individual companies.

SERVICES

Images from remote sensing satellites have been used for geological and environmental mapping since the 70´s . Today, imagery from different sensors is being used to support exploration and production activities within the oil and gas industry…but which satellite sensors you will see relevant to your services? And what type of information can EO service providers supply your sector? what is the added value of those services?.

The relevance increases with availability – what good is a high resolution satellite sensor for regular monitoring if I only get one image / year – if I may exaggerate here a bit. And what about continuity – if we start a 10 year monitoring program now and satellite sensor xyz will be switched of in three years and there is no follow on instrument – the attraction of using this data is strongly diminished. Price will be an issue – of course – but more in the sense that the overall cost: data acquisition + processing + value add + delivery to end customer needs to be set in perspective to the perceived benefit. A cost / benefit analysis will always be carried out to determine the final value for the industry.

One service will be the value added products supply of more than one image and not just the individual data set + may be one, two or more products. Datasets of interest will be: fully calibrated, geo-located, change detection applied, 1st pass analysis carried out and derived products made into GIS compatible formats. In the industry we will not try to process raw data – like we did in the 70’s – we leave that up to the Service Provider’s, but we expect good quality, easy QC’able data. The three R’s: Reliable, Repeatable and Reproducible products is what we are after.

Another service is supplying the data / products / derived GIS layers via the Internet – directly into the customers internal Web application. May be even hosting the data, back-up and guaranteed access services included.

Innovation within the oil and gas sector is usually important, can we (EO service industry and oil and gas) do take actions to bring the research and industry in both sectors together?. Do you co-operate with industry to improve and innovate in terms of your products?

2nd question 1st: Yes we do – but I cannot speak for the other companies here. We try to ask one or more companies: have you done xyz before? are there any such products you can show me or do you have a similar data set available ? We take it from there and subsequently I can show my people internally on what we could work on to derive the new products for the tasks ahead.

As for the 1st question: Yes of course – and again I mention the OGEO portal, which is a space for forums and success stories and should be utilized. There is many questions, even in my own activity radius, where we could not find an answer to whether we could use RS or not. Facilitating direct discussions like we had at the recent workshop is also very helpful to allow new innovative ideas to be bounced back and forth and stimulate the Service Provider’s to come up with new approaches.

Let me finish with one comment here on innovation: it is often confused with Research & Development – we in the O&G industry want operational services – innovative operational services, but not necessarily innovative ideas that may require 2 years of development or reach a final product. We’d like to know about them and we may help to push along, but for the day to day business they are not so relevant.

FUTURE

At the end of the interview, here is the opportunity for your final thoughts on your vision for the future tasks ahead for the OGEO group?

The OGEO group should establish itself as an open dialogue community, but keeping in mind the individual interests of the different companies involved. We like to increase the interest inside the O&G industry and would like to see more and more Service Provider’s to become engaged. My vision is to allow maximum value creation for our industry from existing and future remote sensing data, products and services provided and to demonstrate to our own managers that Earth Observation – in its widest sense – can not only save time and money, but also will help to improve the way we do business in a world asking for more sustainability and increased accountability.

Do you have overall recommendations on the future development of the geo-information service sector, and would like to ask to give some hopefully positive messages to the members of EARSC.

The use of Earth Observation will only increase in the future and more and more opportunities will emerge. The amount of geo-located information, remote sensing data or other, has increased enormously in the last few years. Utilising intelligently the information contained in all of these together: Multi-sensor, multi-timeline, multi resolution will open new ways we can benefit from all the Earth Observation information out there.

On the service side: we need fast response capabilities, as well as detailed analysis of multi-year data sets. The spectrum is wide. May be different companies should work closer together – utilize common formats, allow their metadata headers to be read by each others software packages and deliver to a common industry wide accepted standard. Dialogue with the OGP (possibly through OGEO) could help here.

Would you like to give some message to the entrepreneurs interested in helping your company with his long term goals? What do you see as the biggest long-term challenges?

Think outside the square! Many years ago I was told – you cannot merge radar and optical data … ‘They see different things’ – but they both describe the properties of the same patch of land we are investigating – So why not I asked then ?
Now we even merge different spatial resolutions or timeline data. Don’t take a: ‘That can’t be done’ for the final answer!

If you find out what we do and what we need to do in the O&G industry – then there is a good 1st step achieved and subsequently you will be able to see the challenges we face. If you can come up with a service: that can save on resources, both people or expenditure; that can improve the way we do business on the health and safety side ; that can help us to lower our environmental footprint and minimize the environmental impact we have – your service or product is of interest to us as an O&G company. I have left out exploration – which is still happening – so do not exclude that in you list of ideas.

The biggest challenge for me is the continuity – but this time not the continuity of the sensors, but that of the information we can and have derived, the knowledge we gained and the conclusions we have come up with. People move around much faster, decision making is often influenced by short term outcomes and any achievements from last year will need to be re-negotiated again in the next. Best practise demonstrators and success stories will allow us to document that. With an improved dialogue and enhanced communication we can overcome this continuity issue – since the whole community acts as the technology / applications memory.

Dr. Peter Hausknecht, studied Geophysics at LMU university in Munich, before starting his career as a remote sensing professional at DLR-German Aerospace in the former Optoelectronics Institute under Prof. Lanzl. A two year study leave in Australia with CSIRO – Exploration and Mining had him collect enough data for a PhD submitted in Geoscience at LMU University under Prof. Bodechtel doing active thermal infra-red laser spectroscopy for mineral exploration. Working for 7 years at DLR in projects like the space camera MOMS and the airborne hyperspectral system DAIS rounded his qualification as an optical remote sensing specialist. After moving to Australia he joined World Geoscience in Perth and helped to develop the worlds first full wavelength range airborne spectrometer called ARGUS, comprising of hundreds of spectral channels from the Visible to the Thermal Infrared. With HyVista Corp. he spent subsequently 5 years to promote and deploy the HyMap hyperspectral sensors all over the globe. In early 2007 he joined Woodside Energy Ltd in Perth, Australia’s larges Oil and Gas company, in a role as co-ordinator for the GIS and Mapping team and subsequently as co-ordinator for the remote sensing activities in the Geomatics team. Since then he has conducted many successful projects in the remote sensing / earth observation space for Woodside. He is a member of a few professional associations, lectures occasionally at Murdoch University in Perth and is internationally active in OGEO since 2009, where he was elected chairman of the OGEO interest group in 2011. He looks back on over 25 years in the remote sensing and geospatial industry in various roles and using multiple technologies. Peter has always stayed a strong supporter of hyperspectral remote sensing as a tool to improve earth observation and take it to the next level of knowledge gathering, be it from satellite, airborne or as a close range sensing tool

Thank you in advance for the elements of contribution to the Interview and for sharing your thoughts and comments with the EOmag readers.

Eomag!28_Interview with Peter Hausknecht Chairman Ogeo WG & Woodside Energy Ltd.pdf

In November, I was invited to Warsaw to participate to a workshop (1) on the use of satellite applications by non-space SME’s. It was an interesting, well-attended meeting focused on satellite applications as a driver for business innovation in small and medium enterprises coming from sectors other than “space” i.e. transport, retail, agriculture, construction, manufacturing etc. It had the goal to inform SME’s of the potential opportunities and provide feedback to the decision-takers and policy makers on the support SME’s need to pursue them. I was there to represent and present the capabilities of the EO services sector. SME’s in Europe represent the vast-majority of businesses and provide two-thirds of Europe’s jobs. They have a crucial role to play in the European economy particularly in the times of a crisis. …

Hence, for some time now, SME’s have been recognised by policy makers as deserving of special support and I think now and for EARSC this is particularly true. For two reasons: the role of SME’s in generating employment growth is increasingly being recognised and the structure and dynamics of our sector where SME’s dominate.

The Kauffman institute recently published a paper (2) showing how new companies are responsible for most net job creation. The analysis, based on extensive data available in the US, looks at the age of companies (years of existence) relative to the net new jobs created between 1992 and 2005. It shows that, in the United States, on average 3million net, new jobs were created by companies in their first year of life against 350,000 net, new jobs for all other companies (ie more than 1 year old out to those centuries old). Of course there is in reality a large turnover of jobs and what it is showing is that older companies are shedding as many jobs as they are creating. Nevertheless, the importance of new-start-ups is striking and this finding is very significant for policy towards SME’s.

And of course, most companies in the EO sector are SME’s (ie less than 250 employees). From the last survey carried out in 2008, 90% of the companies have less than 60 employees. Indeed we see a very dynamic sector which is changing rapidly, with new companies entering all the time. It reflects a healthy situation where new start-ups are readily created to grow or to be acquired if successful. We very much hope to update these figures with a detailed survey during the course of 2012.

The Warsaw conference concluded that SME’s represent an important end-user community for satellite applications. However, lacking resources, they are often not aware of the potential coming from satellite applications and more is needed to raise awareness. Three concrete strategies were discussed in the round table:

  • to encourage and facilitate the sharing of experience and the exchange of best practice,
  • to highlight the business case through success stories, and
  • to improve the dialogue between the end-user SME’s and the service providers.

The Warsaw workshop concluded on the importance of policy shaping to help SME’s. Frank Baumeister who is head of sector policies at the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium Enterprises, spoke about the importance of “understanding each other” and “speaking the same language”; a view repeated by Colin Hicks, President of Eurisy. This is a recurring theme; to raise awareness and to improve dialogue and is one key element of our strategy to develop links between different communities for example with the oil and gas community -OGEO. Here the goal is to help the EO services industries and the oil and gas companies to communicate better. I will return to this in a moment.

We have also recognised the importance of speaking the same language as we have started to open up the new marketplace tool – eopages (www.eopages.eu). The issue has been to adopt a common language so that potential customers seeking services are not bamboozled by a vast array of names for the same service offering from different suppliers. We are in the process of preparing a taxonomy which is being reviewed by the EARSC working group on Industry Best Practice. This will form the basis both for eopages and for the industry survey and we hope will make a valuable contribution to clarifying the EO services market.

For the EO services companies, note that Eopages is now being populated – if you wish to have your company listed then contact Monica – and is being promoted regularly. We shall do even more once the market and services structures are consolidated according to the taxonomy. For potential customers, take a look and bookmark the site. We hope it can be useful now; we believe it will be very useful in the near future.

The OGEO Portal is also coming alive. After the very successful 2nd Oil and Gas workshop held in Frascati in early December it is being progressively opened to more companies from both communities. As indicated earlier, the goal is to help improve understanding between the EO services sector and the Oil and Gas sector. If you want to know more then go to www.ogeo-portal.eu. The workshop had close to 250 people registered with around 180 attending. It brought together EO service providers and oil and gas experts as well as geologists – as it was organised within the annual Geological Remote Sensing Group meeting. Much of the richness of the meeting came from this unique combination of people able to exchange; a facility that was openly appreciated and welcomed by many attendees.

It is now just one year since I took over as Secretary General of EARSC. It has been an exciting year for me both professionally and personally. I have had no regrets at leaving the big company environment for an independent life. I am extremely pleased to be in a position to help the EO services sector develop. It is a critical time for GMES (how many times can we say that? I recall a similar story for Galileo nearly 10 years ago!). We shall continue to focus on new ideas and trying to create new opportunities for EARSC members. I am always pleased to meet with companies from the sector whether members or potential members 😉 and it only remains to wish everyone a happy and successful new year for 2012.

Geoff Sawyer
EARSC Secretary General

(1) Growth and Competitiveness using Satellite Applications – practical approaches for non-space SME’s ; Eurisy in partnership with Unicorn

(2) The Importance of Start-ups in Job Creation and Job Destruction, Tim Kane, Kauffman Foundation July2010

Eomag_Editorial, Issue28_Winter-2011-2012.pdf

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) is recommending that the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) move the procurement process for geospatial technology under the auspices of the General Services Administration (GSA). Why? The NGAC has deep concerns about how well the FGDC has performed its statutory duties. This article provides information on the NGAC’s additional warnings and “barriers to success” for the FGDC.

At an October 2011 meeting, the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC) discussed recommendations that the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) move the procurement process for geospatial technology under the auspices of the General Services Administration (GSA). Recognizing that the GSA has a “history of providing common solutions and services across the government,” the NGAC also recommended that a new initiative, Geographic Information Services (GIS) for the Nation (recognized by Congressional Research Service), “should combine the current FGDC support for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure with the functions of the Managing Partner for the Geospatial Platform.”

In a letter to the NGAC dated December 22, 2011, Anne Castle, chairperson of the FGDC and assistant secretary for Water and Science at the Department of Interior, revealed that “the General Accountability Office (GAO) is initiating an evaluation of Federal initiatives aimed at coordinating investments in geospatial data – specifically, activities coordinated by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) and OMB [the Office of Management and Budget]. The evaluation is being conducted at the request of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.”

In its most recent findings, the NGAC expressed deep concern over how the FGDC was performing its statutory duties under the OMB A-16 Circular. The NGAC questioned whether the FGDC could “account for the costs of acquiring, coordinating, and managing geospatial information” and whether the FGDC is doing its job of “coordinating with the state and local entities that have an increasing stake in geospatial information.”

The NGAC pointed to a number of “barriers to success” for the FGDC, not the least of which was “political discord that inhibits development of new initiatives,” a “lack of interest in common data buys and/or licenses,” and an “absence of senior level commitment to the goals of the FGDC.” The NGAC hence suggested that “successful environments cannot be driven solely by top-down approaches” and that “unfunded mandates and supposedly one-size-fits-all solutions are not popular.”

Other barriers cited within its October report to the FGDC included these specific issues:

  • Lack of enforcement of OMB Circular A-16 responsibilities
  • Lack of federal government regulatory authority to acquire geospatial data from state, local and tribal partners
  • Legal constraints, such as Title 13, that inhibit data sharing between the Census Bureau and local partners
  • Poorly structured programs that do not recognize the value of geospatial data or linkages to the other programs (Broadband Mapping)
  • Lack of financial incentives to promote data creation partnerships such as Imagery for the Nation (IFTN), Transportation for the Nation (TFTN) or Parcels for the Nation (PFTN)

The NGAC recommended four basic approaches for development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI):

  • Adopt a funding formula that provides resources to all participants on a non-competitive basis, coupled with grants of sufficient size and duration to achieve expected outcomes.
  • Fund projects that are of a sufficient scale to provide well-designed empirical tests of the hypotheses underlying the NSDI goals, and allow for adequate documentation and dissemination of results.
  • Initiate future partnership programs by the FGDC conceived in the context of all relevant partnership programs; should be designed to augment and leverage them to achieve maximum impact.
  • Develop metrics that can be used to monitor long-term progress in the adoption of the principles and programs of the NSDI among agencies at all levels of government.

The NGAC believes the GeoPlatform development process provided an apt template for future public/private partnership ventures. It set an example of the synthesis of “vast information assets of the Federal, State, regional, local, and Tribal governments, the private sector, academia, and citizens to provide the on-the-ground situational awareness required to make wise decisions.”

In summary, the NGAC saw many areas where the FGDC has lacked coordination and success in fulfilling its primary mission. The committee expressed a need for change, specifically in the area of budgetary control. The October meeting summary stated, “The NGAC believes there is a need to reconfigure, focus, reposition, empower and authorize the FGDC as the national lead for developing, managing and assuring Geospatial Information Services for the Nation … These services are critical to support the development of information products required by the public sector, and form the basis for the Geospatial Platform and the implementation of A-16 Supplemental Guidance.” The NGAC will provide additional analysis on the matter in a report titled “Innovative Strategies for Geospatial Partnerships,” expected at the end of January 2012.

EDITOR’S UPDATE – January 4, 2012: Dr. David Cowen, co-chairman of the NGAC, wrote to me to provide additional clarification to this report in particular that some of the challenges facing the FDGC were noted in a report by the Congressional Research Service (pdf). His are comments are as follows:

  • The most important [clarifications] are that NGAC is still discussing the final recommendations that will be included in the innovative strategies report. The report will be discussed at the public meeting on January 12 and the final report with recommendations will be released shortly after the meeting.
  • The list of barriers is the working opinion of the subcommittee – it may be revised in the final report
  • In terms of quoting the Congressional Research service – we certainly thought that their observations are worth noting – I am sure the GAO has already read the CRS report.

Source Directionsmag

Discover ESA’s ice mission, track it in real time and obtain the latest measurements with the new CryoSat application. CryoSat is measuring the thickness of polar sea ice and monitoring changes in the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica.

The CryoSat iPhone and iPad application – or CryoSatApp – is now available at Apple’s App Store.

CryoSatApp’s main menu provides access to four sections: mission description, a 3D model of the satellite, position tracking and data visualisation.

In the first section, users can easily find information on the CryoSat mission, including images, videos, archived news and an overview of how CryoSat obtains and delivers data.

The 3D model feature allows users to zoom in on how the satellite is built and discover its instruments – such as the radar altimeter for measuring ice thickness.

Information on CryoSat’s current position is automatically updated, including its visibility over selected ground stations. Users can also track the satellite’s position in relation to the iPhone or iPad’s geographical location.

But it’s the data feature that makes this app unique. Not only does it give access to all of CryoSat’s measurements, it can help you visualise the ice sheets by providing a vertical profile over the area.

All geophysical parameters stored in the CryoSat products can be easily displayed at the touch of your fingertips as soon as they are generated on the ground. Users can select the day and orbit from which they want to extract the data, and view Earth’s ice profile from that orbit.

This is a remarkable tool for students and scientists engaged in using CryoSat products.

ESA has a new Earth Observation Data Policy, which allows for free and open access to satellite data.

Since its launch in April 2010, CryoSat-2 has been collecting data to improve our understanding of the relationship between ice and climate.

In June 2011, the first map of Arctic sea-ice thickness was unveiled. The satellite will continue to monitor the changing ice for years to come.

Source ESA

Opportunities expected from satellite export & international data sales by Euroconsult

Paris and Montreal, October 20, 2011 – Despite ongoing budget cutbacks and measures of fiscal restraint, governments will continue to drive the Earth observation (EO) industry over the coming decade through new satellites and a growing demand for data. According to Euroconsult, the leading international research and consulting firm specialized in the satellite sector, the expansion in EO satellite missions impacts the entire value-chain, from manufacturing to data supply and services for an ever-growing number of end-users. Geographical expansion will also play a role in future growth as new government initiatives emerge and commercial data distribution networks proliferate across the globe.

As reported in the new report, “Satellite-Based Earth Observation, Market Prospects to 2020,” EO commercial data sales reached $1.3 billion in 2010. Optical data represented 83% of overall sales, with the remaining 17% from SAR. The majority (60%) of data revenues in 2010 were from very high resolution optical systems to support a predominantly government defense customer base. In 2010 the U.S. government through the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) remains by far the single largest user of commercial data.

Data sales are expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% over the decade, reaching nearly $4 billion by 2020 with very high resolution datasets remaining the primary supply source. Although slower growth is expected in the short term following delays reported by leading operators in establishing key defense and enterprise contracts due to tightening budgets, long-term prospects for commercial data sales remain. Again, governments are expected to constitute most of the demand base, thanks to ongoing defense requirements, however the customer base is expected to diversify with growing demand from non-US defense agencies in order to support their image intelligence (IMINT) requirements. This will be supported by further increased data demand from key private sector end users, in particular oil & gas and developing location-based-services solutions.

Competition for the sale commercial data is also expected to increase. The number of high-resolution imaging satellites in operation offering commercial data is expected to nearly double over 2010-2015 as both new private enterprise and government systems offering commercial solutions enter the market. In addition existing commercial operators will replenish and expand their fleets in order to increase image collection capabilities. Through this growing competition and the need to expand their client base, both commercial and government operators will continue to develop mechanisms and networks for data distribution to tap into the growing demand for data and gain a return on investment. ”Operators are developing mechanisms to provide data to a global client base – through providing direct access to their proprietary satellites, developing online services and expanding distribution networks,” said Adam Keith, Director of Earth Observation at Euroconsult. “Each has its role to play with differing client typology showing preferences for various delivery mechanisms.” In particular a proliferation of distribution agreements for data resale between operators and local service providers is occurring, especially in those regions (such as Southeast Asia and Latin America) which do not have significant high resolution capacity in order to serve growing demand for data and services locally.

Government investment into the sector reached $5.9 billion in 2010 and is set to remain high with environment monitoring, natural resources monitoring and defense at the top of policy agendas. That said, most leading agencies (especially in the US and Europe) have to deal with a complex budgetary environment resulting in uncertainties over future programs. Emerging EO programs will continue to represent a major driver for government investment as over 40 countries are forecast to launch EO satellite capacity by 2020.

251 EO satellites are set to be launched_1_ over the next decade representing a manufacturing market value of $21.6 billion_2_ , a 27% increase compared to the previous ten years. Manufacturing revenues from the aforementioned developing and emerging regions will nearly triple accounting for 18% of the market. As these countries often lack an established satellite manufacturing infrastructure, this growth will translate into significant export opportunities for established manufacturers, either in the form of direct procurement contracts or technology transfer agreements.

Report Profile

Satellite-Based Earth Observation, Market Prospects to 2020 is the only report providing industry forecasts, assessment of business opportunities and analysis of the entire value chain for this growing segment of the satellite industry. Now in its 4th edition, this exclusive report contains exhaustive benchmarks of governments and commercial players. The report includes forecasts for commercial imagery and satellites to be launched (commercial, civilian government) as well as a comprehensive assessment and analysis of commercial operators & distributors (financing mechanisms, capacity); government programs (focus & strategy, the move towards commercialization, emerging initiatives); drivers and risks facing the industry and a complete analysis of the value chain.

About Euroconsult

Euroconsult is the leading international consulting and analyst firm specializing in space applications, communications, and Earth observation. Euroconsult provides strategic consulting and analysis, develops comprehensive research reports and forecasts, and organizes events including the annual World Satellite Business Week, the industry’s leading executive-level gathering, including the Symposium for Earth Observation Business (www.satellite-business.com). With more than 25 years of experience Euroconsult has over 560 clients in 50 countries, including leaders throughout the satellite industry; satellite operators and service providers; government agencies; satellite manufacturers and launch service providers; equipment providers and integrators; media and broadcasting companies; and banks and investors. The company has completed 500 satellite-related consulting projects. Euroconsult is based in Paris with offices in Montreal and Washington, DC. www.euroconsult-ec.com.

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1. Excluding 47 meteorology satellites
2. Excluding meteorology revenues

www.euroconsult-ec.com
Media Contact:
Andrew Smith (Montreal)
+1 (514) 903-1001
smith@euroconsult-na.com

Earth Observations for the Social Benefit of the Balkans – Post GEO Workshop

OBSERVE, BALKANGEONET and EGIDA FP7 projects organized 18-19 November, 2011 the Post GEO Workshop in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop attracted 88 experts, stakeholders, local policy makers and academics that had the opportunity to get informed on the latest developments regarding International and European Earth Observation developments and participate in vivid debates on the future of EO in the Balkans.

Description of the event

Balkan countries do not have a coherent and continuous approach towards the challenge of implementing integrated Earth Observation (EO) applications in environmental monitoring and management. The defect in the implementation of EO applications and their use in the environmental decision making are manifested through the limited synergies among national and regional institutions, ineffective technological means and discontinuous record of participation to international organizations and committees. On the other hand, the increasing importance of a common approach towards effective environmental monitoring practices, for the benefit of the societal web of the broader Balkan region, calls for immediate action, setting as a starting point the built up of regional institutional capacity and spillage of technology transfer.

The Post-GEO Workshop had the following aims

  • Inform audience on EO activities with focus on European institutions (aims, actions, near-term future plans).
  • Exchange views on how the above relate to EO activities in Southeastern Europe.
  • Inform speakers and leading EO institutions on needs regarding EO in Southeastern Europe.
  • Build-up acquaintances, networks and co-operations, with focus on Capacity Building and more extensive use of EO in Southeastern Europe, incl. possible contributions of related EU projects in European activities.

The Post-GEO Workshop was held in Conference Center of Maçka Campus of Istanbul Technical University (in turkish – “ITU Maçka Sosyal Tesisleri”), located in the centre of Istanbul – Maçka (exact pronounciation – “machka”) district, just near the Taksım Area. The accommodation of participants will be organized in nearest hotels in Taksim Area.

You can download the event program here geo workshop agenda.pdf

Presentations and Workshop results

The three FP7 projects (OBSERVE, BGNet, EGIDA) should closely cooperate for the recognition of existing gaps as for Science and Technology roadmaps proposed by European and international initiatives, like INSPIRE and GEO GEOSS. EGIDA presented a Methodology as a possible starting point. In addition the initiatives should exploit and Brokering approach (developed in the context of the FP7 EuroGEOSS project) with existing networks and training activities/initiatives (GEO, ISPRS, IEEE, etc) and Consider also existing international standards and available technologies (e.g. ISO/OGC, INSPIRE, EuroGEOSS Broker, etc.).Finally, possibilities of seeking common funding opportunities for Horizon 2014-2020: Research/Innovation/Education on EO and space related were discussed.

Workshop results and conclusions will be presented in details in the deliverable of OBSERVE project D3.3. In addition all workshop presentations can be downloaded from our Knowledge Base Repository at www.observe-fp7.eu

Promoting use of Earth Observation Data for the social benefit of the Balkans

Objectives of the Competition

Participants from the Balkans are invited to analyse given air quality data sets and to report their findings to the organizers of the competition. The analysis results shall describe typical phenomena that are contained in the data such as pollution levels, their spatial relationships, temporal evolutions, etc.

Every participant is given access to a time series of air quality data that cover the entire Balkan region. Our aim is to acquaint the participants with data that shall be interpreted from different perspectives such as local and temporal phenomena, intensity variations, observed patterns, etc. The individual findings shall then be submitted to the organizers of the competition as a written report. A committee will assess the submissions and select a first prize winner and two runner-ups.

We expect to attract interest from academia (in particular, students) as well as from individuals being employed by institutions that want to learn more about the potential of Earth observation data for the Balkan area.

The prize winners will be given the opportunity to present their results during the final event of the OBSERVE project that will be organized October 2012 in Thessaloniki, Greece. Travel funding (air tickets, accommodation and registration fee, for OBSERVE’s final event in Thessaloniki) will be offered to the prize winners by the OBSERVE project.

Furthermore the prize winners’ contributions will be published to SEE-J-EOG (South-Eastern European Journal of Earth Observation and Geomatics).

Download the detailed guidelines for the OBSERVE competition and join us in Thessaloniki 2011. Detailed information regarding the competition can be downloaded from our website: www.observe-fp7.eu

Important Dates
Submission Deadline:30-04-2012

Join our Competition and present your results during the final event in Thessaloniki, Greece in October 2012 for free.

The nine societal benefit areas (Agriculture, Biodiversity, Climate, Disasters, Ecosystems, Energy, Health, Water, Weather), identified by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) member states, clearly shows that Earth Observation is here only to benefit the citizens.

This global effort can be traced in International Organizations and Initiatives like GEO (Group on Earth Observations), GEOSS Global Earth Observation System of Systems), CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites), and so on.

European Union lists its EO priority actions: satellite navigation, space for the benefit of the environment and the fight against climate change, secure space, and space exploration.

Therefore a global picture of EO industry is progressing with actors, such as:

  • (a) Providers of EO data, who are either public institutions or commercial enterprises;
  • (b) Users of EO data, who are either institutions, companies, or the general public; and
  • © Sources of EO data, which are either sensors/instruments, models/simulators, or databases.

The major effort is to provide timely, accurate and costly data for Land monitoring, Marine environment monitoring, Atmosphere monitoring, Emergency management, Security, and Climate change with the use of aerial-and satellite-based EO. And this requires, on one hand, user consultation, followed by algorithmic studies, processing activities, and validation efforts to convert satellite data and calibration constants into physically realistic information; on the other hand, a common processing approach guarantees the long term generation of consistent and traceable results.

Finally, ICT technologies emerged and provided the infrastructure for Open Geodata Standardization, uniformity in data (e.g. EU INSPIRE Directive) and wide availability of data sources through Geo portals (e.g. UNEP Geodata, FAO Geo-network, ICSU World Data System, EU INSPIRE Geoportal, EEA Urban Atlas, etc.)
Balkan countries, on the other hand, do not have a coherent and continuous approach towards the challenge of implementing integrated EO applications in environmental monitoring and management. The defect in the implementation of EO applications and their use in the environmental decision making are manifested through the limited synergies among national and regional institutions, the lack of substantial infrastructure, ineffective technological means and discontinuous record of participation to international organizations and committees.

The South-Eastern European Journal of Earth Observation and Geomatics (SEEJoEOG) aims at offering a scientific forum to experts from South-Eastern Europe, in order to enhance the scientific dialogue, fill the existing gap in policies and applications, build-up acquaintances, establish networks and co-operations and contribute to regional capacity building.

For this reason it is free, open-access, e-journal to all; both authors and readers.

Our major concern is not to exclude anybody from this effort. All stakeholders of EO research, industry, academia and policy making, either situated or having interest in the region of SEE, are welcome to contribute and cordially invited to support our effort.

The Aristotle University is gratefully acknowledged for offering this free service to our scientific society.

24 – 27 September 2012. Edinburgh International Conference Centre, United Kingdom

SPIE Remote Sensing, the premier European meeting focuses on recent breakthroughs in atmospheric and earth surface sensing, next-generation satellites, SAR image analysis and techniques, image and signal processing, and more. In 2012, the 19th SPIE Remote Sensing as well as the collocated SPIE Security + Defence will be held from 24 – 27 September at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Scotland, UK. Both events are supported by Scottish Enterprise, Selex Galileo, and Thales as well as a number of cooperating organizations such as EARSC, and the Scottish Optoelectronics Association. For more information on abstract submission and how to participate in the exhibition, please visit http://spie.org/remote-sensing-europe.xml

Call for Papers 2012, the premier European meeting focuses on recent breakthroughs in atmospheric and earth surface sensing, next-generation satellites, SAR image analysis and techniques, image and signal processing, and more.

Abstracts are due by 2 April 2012
Call for Papers Information:

Papers are being accepted in these areas:

  • Remote Sensing for Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Hydrology
  • Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, Coastal Waters, and Large Water Regions
  • Sensors, Systems, and Next-generation Satellites
  • Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere
  • Optics in Atmospheric Propagation and Adaptive Systems
  • SAR Image Analysis, Modeling, and Techniques
  • Image and Signal Processing for Remote Sensing
  • Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications
  • Lidar Technologies, Techniques, and Measurements for Atmospheric Remote Sensing
  • High-Performance Computing in Remote Sensing
  • Special Joint Session on Remote Sensing and Natural Disasters: Remote Sensing 2012
  • Special Joint Session on Airborne Remote Sensing: Remote Sensing 2012

Submit your abstract today. We look forward to your participation.

SPIE Remote Sensing is co-located with SPIE Security + Defence. Collaborate on topics of mutual interest with your peers at these premier events.

SPIE Remote Sensing is managed by SPIE Europe.

Geospatial World Forum 2012 scheduled to be held from 23-27 April at RAI Convention Centre, Amsterdam is one of the biggest and most comprehensive conferences in the geospatial domain for the year. With participation of over 2000 delegates from 100+ nationalities representing the different stakeholder communities of geospatial domain, Geospatial World Forum will aim at raising the profile for the industry and bridging the gap between geospatial with other sectors vital to the world economy.

Hence, the theme of the conference chosen for the year is “Geospatial Industry and World Economy” through which the conference will address the utility of geospatial technologies in various industries that contribute to the world economy.

The conference will offer an unmatched opportunity for knowledge sharing. 400+ speakers of eminence from across industry domains shall converge on a single platform to address global concerns and provide valuable insights into the geospatial industry. To know more about the speakers visit http://geospatialworldforum.org/2012/speakers.htm

Important dates to remember:

January 31st, 2012 – Deadline for Early Bird registration discount for Geospatial World Forum. Save Euro 200 by registering before the deadline at http://www.geospatialworldforum.org/2012/registration/regfee.htm

For more details about the event please visit www.geospatialworldforum.org