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We are pleased to announce the appointment of Adrian Bohane as CEO of TRE Canada.

He will be responsible for the ongoing growth and business of TRE Canada, working from the company’s offices in Vancouver, Canada. He is succeeding Brian Young who has now retired from the business.

With a background in geophysics and having previously worked at Egeos and MDA Geospatial Services, Adrian brings extensive experience in the Earth Observation field to TRE Canada. During the past 20 years, working in the business side of the earth observation and satellite sectors, his focus has been on both the value adding and data distribution sides of the business.

TRE Canada Inc is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Tele-Rilevamento Europa TRE srl, of Milano Italy, a global leader in advanced InSAR technologies. The company provides a remote sensing service in monitoring ground movement over large areas, remotely, to North American clients operating in the public and private sectors.

Adrian can be contacted at adrian.bohane_at_trecanada.com
or by phone at +1 604 331 2512.

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… US and Turkish distributors, German mosaic, Collaboration with EFTAS, Images in France, …

East View Cartographic Complements RapidEye’s U.S. Distributor Team (Januar 14,2011)

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NiK Joins RapidEye’s Turkish Distributor Team (January 5, 2011)

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VIASAT GeoTechnologies Added to RapidEye’s Canadian Distributor Team (English) (December 22, 2010)

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RapidEye German Mosaic Now Available (English) (December 21, 2010)

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EFTAS and RapidEye Extend their Collaboration in Supplying Satellite Imagery (English) (November 2, 2010)

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RapidEye Images The Complete Territory Of France For Cemagref Through Its Partnership With Geosys (English) (October 19, 2010)

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The 2010 edition of the Earth Observation Handbook – just released and available online – provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive overview of existing and upcoming satellite missions, their instruments and measurements of more than 30 space agencies worldwide.

Prepared under the auspices of ESA on behalf of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), the report features details of 267 Earth-observing satellite missions and 785 instruments that are currently operating or planned for launch in the next 15 years.

The handbook, researched and written by Symbios Spazio, is the cornerstone of CEOS’s efforts to coordinate the planning of these satellite programmes in order to minimise gaps and overlaps in global observations and to maximise data in order to address the most critical requirements needed to benefit society such as climate change information.

CEOS provides this information online to promote awareness of the capabilities and potential of Earth observation satellites. The handbook, and the electronic version known as the CEOS Missions, Instruments and Measurements (MIM) database, is always keenly anticipated by the space community for its insights into trends in remote-sensing programmes.

The full contents of the 2010 EO Handbook are available on-line at www.eohandbook.com.

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…floodings in Australia…

Cubbie Station, located along the Culgoa river in Australia, is a large privately owned and licensed irrigation property. It consists of over 28km long water storage dams. From Cubbie station crops such as cotton and wheat are irrigated in the region of the Murray Darling river system. This image shows the station at the height of the current flooding. The Cubbie Station website shows a model of flood progress over the site.This photo was taken on January 13, 2011 in Queensland, AU.


UK-DMC2 Image © DMCii, 2011. All rights reserved. Flooding at Cubbie Station, Queensland, Australia

Extracted from DMCii Flickr photostream

News from November and December


December

PCI Geomatics Awarded Contract for its GeoImaging Accelerator Aerial (GXL-A) Technology

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, has announced it has been awarded a contract to deliver a GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) Aerial processing system to an undisclosed aerial surveying firm. The GXL Aerial system will allow the customer to orthorectify and mosaic thousands of UltraCam images per day through the power of distributed processing that leverages Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The adoption of this technology will result in significantly increased throughput and reduced production costs for this customer.
GXL Aerial was developed in cooperation with Microsoft’s Photogrammetry Division, Vexcel Imaging GmbH, to extend the UltraMap workflow and create ortho-mosaic data from level 3 UltraCam data.

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November

PCI Geomatics Awarded Contract for its GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) Technology in Asia

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, has announced it was awarded a contract to deliver a GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) Satellite processing system to a key customer in the Asia Pacific region. The $700,000 (USD) contract represents a major win for PCI Geomatics as it continues to bolster and solidify its presence in Asia and on the world stage.

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PCI Geomatics Appoints Dr. Alan Moses to the Board of Directors

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geoimaging software and systems, has announced the appointment of Dr. Alan Moses, the son of Dr. Robert (Bob) Moses to the PCI Board of Directors.

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PCI GEOMATICS APPOINTS PRESIDENT AND CEO – Terry Moloney

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, has announced the appointment of Terry Moloney as its new President and CEO succeeding Dr. Robert Moses.

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(Nov 2010) Thales Alenia Space, the Prime Contractor, and its partner OHB-System, today announce the signature of an Authorization To Proceed (ATP) with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system.

This program, co-financed by the European Space Agency and the European meteorological organization Eumetsat, will guarantee access to space data until 2037.

After a long and tough competition, this contract is the result of a rigorous selection’s process made by ESA and Eumetsat.

MTG is a six-satellite system of four imaging satellites carrying imaging and lightning detection mission as well as two sounders satellites providing infrared and ultraviolet capabilities, for both climate and meteorological applications. The launch of the first MTG imaging satellite is currently planned in 2017, marking the beginning of the in-orbit lifetime of the imagery mission, followed by the launch of the first MTG sounding satellite in 2019. The MTG mission will improve significantly the operational services delivered to the European Meteorological services which are the final users.

The sounding satellite will provide unprecedented information on water vapour and temperature profiling. It will also embark the Ultraviolet, Visible and Near-Infrared Sentinel-4 instrument covering Europe and providing atmospheric chemistry and air quality information contributing to the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) initiative.

“Today’s signature confirms our commitment, as a Prime Contractor, to addressing the multifaceted challenges of very high performance requirements and of the operational nature of the mission, requested for the European Meteorological services” said Reynald Seznec, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “We are extremely happy and proud to meet the challenge of building the most ambitious geostationary satellites ever developed in Europe, and thank ESA and Eumetsat for their confidence.”

In addition to its Prime contracting role, Thales Alenia Space is in charge of the imaging mission, providing the four imaging satellites and their main instrument. OHB-System is in charge of the sounder mission, providing the two sounders satellites while its sister company Kayser-Threde provides the atmospheric sounders instrument. Furthermore, OHB-System will develop the six satellites’ 3-axis stabilized common platform.

“This contract shows the bright side of our French-German team building for the benefit of this European programme, combining the right complementary skills in order to provide the best value for the customer” said Berry Smutny, President and CEO of OHB-System AG. “We thank ESA and Eumetsat for the confidence to build, integrate and test the two Sounder satellites in Bremen, and DLR for their utmost support and trust in OHB-System.”

Thales Alenia Space has developed the full range of skills and expertise needed for space-based meteorology over the last 30 years. The company built all 11 first and second generation Meteosat satellites, and has logged extensive experience in managing industrial consortiums, developing expertise in optical imaging and atmospheric sounding.

OHB-System contributes with the modern SGEO geostationary platform to the MTG programme. OHB-System has developed a worldwide acknowledged expertise in LEO and MEO satellite constellations like the German radar reconnaissance system SAR-Lupe. OHB-System has recently been selected for the development and integration of the first 14 satellites for the European navigation system.

Contact for media representatives:
Steffen Leuthold
Corporate Communications Manager
Press spokesman
Phone: +49 421 – 2020-620
Fax: +49 421 – 2020-9898
e-mail: leuthold@ohb-system.de

The EUROSENSE presentation at the EC-FP8 Space Research Hearing event held on the 8 December 2010 in Brussels was entitled “Increasing European security in addressing International human risks by combining remote sensing data with socio-economical information”. EUROSENSE demonstrated that Space technology should address two specific questions: “where are people?” and “are they vulnerable to specific risks?”

EUROSENSE contributed to the workshop “Let’s embrace Space”, the EC- FP8 Space Research Hearing event held on the 8 December 2010 in Brussels. Our presentation “Increasing European security in addressing International human risks by combining remote sensing data with socio-economical information” was selected in the fourth session addressing “Emerging space applications to address challenges on and around the Earth”. Security and space applications have been stated by EC representatives as one of the objectives of EC future research.

EUROSENSE demonstrated that Space technology should address two specific questions: “where are people?” and “are they vulnerable to specific risks?”. Our assumption is that Earth Observation data should be aimed to provide accurate, timely and relevant information to better understand and measure human security. Human security deals with risks occurring to people. While remote sensing information informs precisely about extent and exposure to specific risks, the link to the specific population is still a critical step for future research. Knowing where people are and if they are vulnerable to specific risks are two major research questions that are still to be addressed by European projects.

To address the first question, population distribution models are developed (see figure 1 below). The G-Mosaic EUROSENSE population density map disaggregates demographic data from statistical sources (GPWv3, CIESIN) with land use information (LCC2000-UCL-Geomatics) and ancillary data. This georeferenced spatial distribution of population data is an initial step to other socio-economic statistics. Deriving a grid-based/raster dataset of socio-environmental indicators from satellite imagery and statistical data is a challenging but promising technique of combining EO and socio-economic information through specific assumption about spatial patterns. While population information is of poor quality, model assumptions help to identify the spatial pattern of the distribution by indirect factors. Land use information is crucial in such a model.

The second question refers to analysis of risks and vulnerabilities. EUROSENSE geospatial technologies provide already technological support to authorities in the prevention and post-crisis management phases of emergency cycles such as flood, industrial crisis, … Geospatial tools are also developed by EUROSENSE to better represent energy linkages, water flows and risks, urban sprawl and imperviousness of European cities. Their application to address issues outside of Europe needs to refer to local specifications as well as global challenges such as climate change. Remote sensing products should for example be adapted to help the decision makers to improve forest conservation (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation – REDD).

Remote Sensing products developed through GMES research projects at the European level should be extended in FP8 research projects and specifically focused to address international human security. For humanitarian aid, development and environmental reasons, the European Commission should get technical spatial information about risks to humans. This means to make the spatial link between population/ assets and risks. Human security research would allow Europe to address issues in its neighboring countries but also global challenges such as climate change and forest conservation. Geospatial technologies promote European research in developing countries where accurate information is significantly missing. Geospatial technology related to human well-being can support the European policy on the international sphere.


Figure 1: G-Mosaic population distribution map produced by EUROSENSE

Vietnam boasts potential for about 30,000MW power generated by hydroelectric plants. The number of approved small-scaled hydroelectric projects in Vietnam has risen from 340 in 2005 to over 880, with a total capacity of over 5,880MW. However, the booming construction of Small-scaled Hydropower Plants (SHP’s) is gaining more and more critics due to its large impact on the direct environment (deforestation) and the area down-stream (impact on land use and floodings). In a new ESA-funded project called HYDREO, EUROSENSE is demonstrating the application of EO services to study the impact of SHP’s on the environment and the water resources.

According to Vietnam’s regulations, a hydroelectric project of less than 30 megawatts and using 10 hectares is classified as small-scaled. The Vietnamese minister of industry recently stated that: “Projects not remarkably contributing to the socio-economic development of localities where they are located, threatening the environment or flooding, will be stopped”. In November 2010, the VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS reported that “the government will continue putting the screws on small-scaled hydroelectric projects due to deforestation and environmental fears”.

In a new project called HYDREO, EUROSENSE is applying EO services for better integration of Small-scaled Hydropower Plant development in water resources use planning in Vietnam. In HYDREO, EUROSENSE will study the environmental impact of SHP’s in the Quang Nam province, along the shores of the Thu Bon river and its tributaries. The project has two main objectives:

  • Demonstrate a combination of EO-derived products that can support the decision-making process for permitting SHP-projects
  • Study on how the SHP-projects could be better managed, so that besides power generation, SHP’s also function as water reservoirs that contribute to the water resource management of floods and droughts.

Figure 1: Example of flood simulation from previous project: this flood hazard map represents a dam break during a 100 year flood event along the Danube river in Bratislava city after 48 hours with the water depth in colours blue. The location of the dam break is indicated in red.

EUROSENSE plans to achieve these objectives by quantifying the impact of the construction of SHP’s on the land cover in its direct environment, as well as in the area downstream of the SHP’s. This will be based on multi-temporal and multi-resolution land cover and land use maps, correlating land changes with SHP’s construction. Different flood scenarios will be simulated to see the impact of the changing land cover and adapted SHP management on flood extents.

Figure 2: Example of land cover map from previous project: Pixel-based Land Cover classification in Concepciòn, Chile, based on Landsat 7 scenes from 2001.

EUROSENSE combines the necessary capacities to do land cover mapping and flood risk analysis. The company has built-up experience in both services via the participation in different GMES projects like GSE-LAND, GEOLAND-2, RISK-EOS, SAFER and G-MOSAIC.

HYDREO is executed in assignment of C-Core Company and Hatfield Consultants LTD. It is part of a larger ESA-project on the geographic expansion of EO Services into Indonesia and Vietnam.

For more information on these services, we refer to the following contact information:
EUROSENSE Belfotop N.V Belgium
Address: Nerviërslaan 54, B-1780 Wemmel, BELGIUM
Phone: +32 (0)2 460 70 00
Fax: +32 (0)2 460 49 58
Website: http://www.eurosense.com

PlanEO

DEIMOS Imaging has started using its new mission planning system (PlanEO) for planning the payload operations of DEIMOS-1.

After several years of development and testing, PlanEO has reached the required degree of maturity and stability to be safely used in the operations of DEIMOS-1.

Brokers (project managers) are using it to manage their projects and to plan new acquisitions. That is, for determining when new data captures must take place and how much data they need for covering the areas of interest in their projects. PlanEO has helped them significantly by reducing the time needed for planning the operations, reducing the time from hours to minutes.

Using this new system, DEIMOS Imaging is able to acquire about 4 million square kilometres per day, more than 65% cloud-free.

PlanEO replaces the planning system provided by the manufacturer of the mission. It provides a range of features and functionality that makes it superior to the previous system.

Its main features are:
• Very powerful Graphical Interface (GUI). Almost all operations can be done graphically and interactively.
• Visualization of the Earth globe, maps, sensor swath, cloud prediction, areas of acquisition, coverage of ground stations, satellite ground track, etc.
• Management of requests and acquisitions.
• Conflict resolution via Earth Globe and Gantt chart UI.
• Long-term planning using the Flight Dynamics System (FDS) developed by DEIMOS Space.
• Integration with Savoir, developed by Taitus.
• Integrated management of ground station schedules and their non-availabilities.

DEIMOS Imaging will market PlanEO, making it available to other Earth Observation missions. These missions should have similar characteristics to the DEIMOS-1 mission. For example, simple systems with one sensor but with great agility in the planning requirements.

PlanEO is fully and easily customisable and provides a quick start in high-volume, efficient commercial operations to EO missions.

For more information about PlanEO, please contact DEIMOS Imaging

Presentation PlanEO
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On December 14, 2010 the TanDEM-X mission has reached another important milestone: fully on schedule, the commissioning phase could be finished in less than six months.

The teams of German Aerospace Centere (DLR) and Astrium have successfully demonstrated the operational readiness of the satellite, thus the collection of data for a global homogeneous DEM can start – as planned – in early 2011.

The TanDEM-X mission was developed jointly by DLR and Astrium and is being operated at DLR’s Oberpfaffenhofen site. The commercial marketing of the TanDEM-X data will be conducted by Astrium’s GEO-Information Services Division. The mission’s goal is the creation of a globally homogeneous Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with an unprecedented accuracy and coverage.

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