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Newfoundland and Labrador�s large geographical area and a low population density make water resources management a challenge, particularly flood forecasting.

Through the adaptation and addition of innovative technologies, this challenge presents an opportunity for the Provincial Government to utilize innovative technologies to enhance flood forecasting services and overall water resources management.

“We have a level of expertise in water resources management that is second to none,” said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister of Environment and Conservation. “Through leading-edge technologies and capabilities, we are providing a valuable service to the people of the province and, at the same time, attracting international attention and showcasing our expertise to the world.”

In 2009, a Russian delegation visited Newfoundland and Labrador to learn more about the province�s water resources management expertise, in particular the Earth Observation Satellites (EOS) Badger River Ice Service. This service was created in 2003 in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and a local company, C-CORE. It represents a major improvement in the flood forecasting capability for the residents of Badger, as the satellite imagery improves prediction of the timing of any impending floods. This service has drawn international attention and is now used in several countries, including Russia where it is used on the Siberian Rivers � the Lena and the Yenissei.

With a vision to further improve the Badger River Ice Service, web cameras using new and innovative satellite and cellular communication technologies were installed along the Exploits River to provide real-time visual confirmation of ice conditions and verification of satellite imagery. In 2008, a web camera was installed at Badger overlooking the river and, in 2009, a second camera was placed at Badger Steps, a critical and remote section of the Exploits River. Through interaction between the department and Egyptian officials, the technology is now used on Lake Manzala in Egypt.

The department is one of several Canadian agencies to use web cameras for flood forecasting services and water resources management and is considered on the leading edge regarding the remote real-time application of these web cameras. The work undertaken in Badger has lead to the placement of the Badger website on the web camera manufacturer�s product webpage. It can be viewed at www.campbellsci.ca/Catalogue/CC640.html

To improve flood warning for the Humber River Valley communities of Deer Lake and Steady Brook, a web camera has also been installed overlooking the Humber River.

Another example of the use of innovative technologies to address the needs of the people of this province is the EOS snow monitoring service that has been developed to provide flood warning to the Humber River Valley communities of Deer Lake and Steady Brook. Using satellites, snow coverage is monitored for the entire Humber Valley in order to alert residents of possible flooding due to snow melt in the higher elevations of the Humber Valley.

The Humber snow monitoring service was developed through technology that was adapted from an ESA project in Egypt in which the department participated. In 2009, the department was invited to participate in a three-year international snow monitoring technology development and testing project named GlobSnow. The GlobSnow project will produce products which will have important applications for flood forecasting, climate change, hydropower generation and wildlife studies in the province.

-For more information on any of these technologies, including the web cameras, flood-risk data and real-time water monitoring data, please visit www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/Env/water_resources.asp_

Media contact
Melony O�Neill
Director of Communications
Department of Environment and Conservation
709-729-2575, 689-0928
moneill@gov.nl.ca

ESOV NG is a public Software tool made available by the European Space Agency to its users for satellite orbit determination.

It is developed by Brockmann Consult GmbH with the objective of improving and modernising the existing ESOV Classic tool.

The software is available at the ESA Download site

ESOV NG allows users to visualize and print Instrument swaths, Ground tracks, Zone coverages, Ground Station Visibility and to generate overpass table for generic Earth Observation LEO satellites.

Support for Envisat, ERS-1, ERS-2, Cryosat, ADM, SMOS, Metop is built in, more satellites can be added easily.

Source Brockmann Consult

Please find next a brief summary of the November Information day meetings on the European Earth Observation programme (GMES) and its initial operations (2011-2013) where the current space GMES-regulation has been discussed with EARSC and NEREUS in two different events with some Members of European Parliament on 04 November 2009.


EARSC EVENT

The European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC has organized an information lunch with Members of European Parliament in Brussels last 04th November 2009. The event was a first step to enhance the dialogue with some Members of the European Parliament and service provider’s representatives. Besides introducing the Association and its mission, EARSC launched a debate on the current space GMES regulation and has provided the view of the European Service Provider Industry on the importance of the European Earth Observation Program GMES and its initial operations 2011–2013 (GIO). Policy-technical advisors from ENVI, ITRE, BUDG and TRANS Committees, Industry Cabinet, GMES Bureau and the environmental agency as user of GMES, also played a key role in formulating opinion and illustrating that further dialogue should be established.

The regulation aims at providing legal and financial mechanisms for the GMES program and EC funding of GMES initial operations so that operational services can be stepped up at a larger scale in the beginning of the next decade (2011 – 2013). It is focused on emergency response services, land monitoring services as well as auxiliary activities including e.g. measures supporting the take-up of services by users; data access and GMES space component. The financial volume of the proposed regulation is 150 Mio. EUR, 43 Mio. EUR will be FP7-budget, (co-operation program: space priority) while 107 Mio. EUR will be financed by appropriations within the Community Budget.

EARSC recommendations were based on the following

• To the European Parliament
– Decide positively on the GIO Regulation of the EC
– Establish a midterm budget framework enabling industry a reliable planning and investment

• To the European Commission

– Establish a efficacious i.e. simple governance structure corresponding to the needs and reality of the GMES application fields
– Extension of integration of Downstream services via existing structures – e.g. EARSC / NEREUS
– Avoid “unfair” conditions/competition through Public service providers and
– Price dumping through e.g. production of strategic geo-information outside Europe -> key words quality/price competition and reliability

EARSC looks forward to seeing the above points recognised and mediating measures implemented so that the ambitions of GMES can be realised. Without these, the programme risks remaining focused on research, and the substantial wealth-creating opportunities for Europe will not be realised.

EARSC is currently preparing a harmonized statement on the most crucial points of the regulation on “GMES Initial Operations 2011 – 2013 (Content)” and GMES Data and Information’s Policy” which will be delivered in time before the next discussion on the GIO regulation.

EARSC will follow up the established contact and will present service providers industry views on the achievements, challenges and future needs of the European Programme on Utilization of Space-based Information – GMES!

EARSC presentation has been included at the following link

http://www.earsc.eu/news/earsc-information-day-on-the-european-earth-observation-programme-gmes-and-its-initial-operations-2011-2013-04nov2009

NEREUS EVENT

NEREUS has also established links with MEPs during a evening event in Brussels last 17th November. The information link is provided next:

http://www.earsc.eu/news/nereus-evening-with-members-of-european-parliament-on-17-november-2009-in-the-european-parliament-in-brussels-belgium

Information the Communication from the EC “A European Security Research and Innovation Agenda – Commission’s initial position on ESRIF’s key findings and recommendations” as well as the ESRIF Final report.

Note in the Communication that the EC welcomes the “comprehensive approach to security research and innovation approach” of ESRIF, which has identified the role of space as “vital in different security-related technological domains” and pointed out the importance of GMES and Galileo in providing “a wide range of added value services in support of security”, referring the need to protect space assets.

Note, among other issues in the Communication, that the EC considers appropriate to deepen the reflection on broadening security R&D programmes to such areas as civil protection (incl. need for improving disaster prevention, mitigation, the European civil protection response capacity…) and conflict prevention and post crisis stabilisation (incl. building capacity to address global and trans-regional threats).

EU sec research and innov agenda_EC pos on ESRIF.pdf

esrif_final_report.pdf

Source Eurospace

Aerodata: Geo-Info Xchange and thermal aerial survey in NL


Aerodata successfully completes Amersfoort (NL) thermal aerial survey, Dec 7th, 2009

On December 1st 2009 Aerodata kicked off its thermography season with success by completing the thermal aerial survey of the municipality of Amersfoort (NL).

Digital thermal acquisition, meant for rooftop heat-loss analysis, is always executed in winter time during the evening hours when the citizens are (usually) at home and houses are heated.
The finished product will help civil servants in the municipality to analyze the level of building insulation within their municipality.
The dataset is used as an aid to raise environmental awareness and has proven to be a very useful communication tool between local government and its citizens.

With the Amersfoort project the 2009-2010 thermal season has taken off, with many more project to follow in the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

For more information, please check the “thermography” section of our website.

Successful Geo-Info Xchange exhibition, Dec 9th, 2009

On 2 and 3 December 2009 Aerodata exhibited on the leading trade fair “Geo-Info Xchange” in Utrecht, The Netherlands . Over 2500 visitors were welcomed during this 2 day event.

Aerodata promoted its products in a 5 × 4 m booth. The canvas print on the wall showed datasets flowing from a shower.
The metaphore: “Geodata, like water from the tap” (in Dutch: “Geodata, als water uit de kraan”) refers to the increasing WMS possibilities for continuous data serving to clients over the Internet.

Next to this a 3D gallery was constructed allowing visitors to have an exciting stereo vision experience to aerials from all over Europe and to our aircraft in 3D.

Aerodata was able to show and discuss its products and services to many interested people and definitely considers the fair a big success for its business.

Geodata Kiosk Now Ready for Business With Imagery of Germany

RapidEye, the only geospatial solutions provider to own and operate a constellation of five identical Earth Observation satellites, released the German version of their online shop for satellite imagery in December 2009 – “The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk”.

The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk is an online shop for satellite imagery with ready-to-use data available immediately after purchase. After a secure credit card payment is made, the data is ready to be picked up immediately via secure download.

All data available in the Geodata Kiosk are RapidEye Ortho Products (level 3A); orthorectified, five meter pixel sized imagery from the RapidEye satellite constellation, ready to integrate into any GIS system. In addition to the data for Germany this release also includes the data for 16 free demonstration products for potential customers to test.

“With the RapidEye Geodata Kiosk we have the ability to accommodate satellite imagery requests from almost anybody; from the GIS professional who might want to use the data as background imagery, to value adders, who can derive expert analyses from it, to the university student, as well as to my neighbor who might be looking for an image of Berlin for his home. By using the Internet to distribute our data we will be able to service large and small orders of our satellite imagery easily, quickly and automatically,” commented Wolfgang G. Biedermann, RapidEye’s CEO. “With the release of our German version we are getting our ‘feet wet’, and we ask that everyone try it out so that we can work out any initial problems before we make a big splash with the roll-out of our international version in 2010.”

RapidEye plans to expand the Geodata Kiosk to include data products from around the world, with a dedication to providing continually fresh imagery and making data from almost every country on Earth available to anyone, anywhere at anytime.

“The big benefits for our customers are that they can choose and buy only the area they really need, as no minimum sized area is required and purchases can be made with as little as 50 Euro. Customers instantly get what they order and can choose between different delivery formats, including GeoTIFF and NITF. Re-projection on-the-fly between UTM and geographic coordinate systems is also an option that will appeal to our more knowledgeable customers,” comments Michael W. Prechtel, Head of Marketing and Sales for RapidEye.

The Geodata Kiosk can be accessed through the direct URL www.geodatakiosk.com, or by visiting RapidEye’s website at www.rapideye.de. This initial version of the Geodata Kiosk may have minor system difficulties, but will not affect the quality of its data. RapidEye would appreciate if any issues with the system will be reported either through the feedback function in the Geodata Kiosk or via a direct email to kioskfeedback@rapideye.de

All updates regarding the progress of the Geodata Kiosk will be available by either following RapidEye on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rapideye_kiosk, or by sending an email requesting a subscription to RapidEye’s newsletter to newsletter@rapideye.de. These updates will not only inform subscribers about the future international version of the Geodata Kiosk, but will include information about new areas that have been or will be added once the future version will be available.

The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk is not the only way to obtain RapidEye satellite imagery, nor is the imagery available on the Kiosk all that’s available from RapidEye. For the opportunity to purchase millions more square kilometers of Earth as single or multi-temporal datasets, RapidEye’s library can be searched either through a local distributor or directly through the RapidEye Customer Service department at sales@rapideye.de. To find a distributor in your area, please visit RapidEye’s website at www.rapideye.de/distributors.

About RapidEye AG

RapidEye is an ISO-certified geospatial information provider focused on integrating customized and industry specific solutions into the workflow of global customers in agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, government, security and emergency. RapidEye experts and the satellite system – a constellation of five satellites capable of imaging and downloading over 4 million km² of high resolution, multi-spectral imagery per day, and a ground segment for processing and archiving data – allow for cost-effective customized services. The unique combination of large area coverage, high spatial resolution and the possibility of daily revisit to an area provide for superior management information solutions. Currently, more than 123 experts from more than 20 countries are employed by RapidEye, with plans to grow the team to 130 in 2010.

RapidEye benefits from a public-private partnership with the Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. RapidEye is also cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). For more information on ERDF please contact efreinfo@mw.brandenburg.de.

RapidEye is a “Selected Landmark in the Land of Ideas” and therefore part of the event series “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas”. This program is run by the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” and Deutsche Bank. Being a “Selected Landmark” RapidEye will stand for Germany being a “Land of ideas” in 2009 and will demonstrate Germany’s spirit of innovation. The initiative is under the patronage of Germany’s federal president Horst Köhler. www.land-of-ideas.org

For more information about RapidEye, please visit www.rapideye.de.

RapidEye Contact
RapidEye AG
Molkenmarkt 30
14776 Brandenburg a. d. Havel, Germany
press@rapideye.de
Follow us on Twitter @rapideye_ag and be informed about all latest news and updates.


Copyrights Rapideye

Geodatakiosk
Rapideye
Image gallery

On 2 December 2009 Eurobarometer published a special report on Europeans’ attitudes towards climate change. Based on in-depth thematical studies carried out for DG Communication of the European Commission, the main conclusions are that Europeans remain concerned about climate change and believe that fighting it can boost economic growth in the EU.

Concretely, the survey mapped the opinion of Europeans on a range of climate change related topics, including:

  • Perceptions of climate change in relation to other world problems;
  • Perceptions of the seriousness of climate change;
  • Perceptions about the actions of local, national governments as well as the EU in combating climate change;
  • Attitudes towards alternative fuels and CO2 emissions;
  • Is climate change stoppable or exaggerated, and what impact it has on the European economy;
  • Personal action to fight climate change;
  • Perceived relative importance of the economy and the environment;
  • Willingness to pay more for greener energy.

Among key findings are the facts that a majority of respondents consider climate change as a very serious problem, while almost a half of them feels it is the second most serious problem facing the world today.

Moreover, most of Europeans believe climate change is not unstoppable but the efforts made at all level (including at EU level) for fighting it are not seen to be enough.

More information at

The full report can be found at Europa.EU

SOOURCE Gmes.Info

The Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) of the European Parliament has published a study entitled “The EU programme for Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES): governance and financing”.

This study introduces the GMES initiative and its components. It draws lessons learned from a comparison with the Galileo Programme. The governance and financing of GMES are critically analysed and discussed. Based on the main findings policy recommendations are developed.

The complete study report can be downloaded from the search page of the European Parliament website at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/studies.do?language=EN

SOURCE Gmes.Info

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. At first glance, this may not appear to be connected to space technology, but large development projects and the state of Earth’s environment are intrinsically linked.

Global climate change is also an increasingly important challenge in overcoming poverty and advancing development in the poorest countries and communities, which will suffer the earliest and the most.

These factors have led to a growing demand for information about the state of Earth’s environment – land, oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere. The global scale, consistency and timeliness of the required information means looking at new sources of measurements: the view from space.

From their unique vantage point, Earth observation (EO) satellites are powerful tools for monitoring the environment consistently around the globe, and over time. This information can be used to support the planning, implementation and assessment of a wide range of World Bank projects, many of which may be affected by climate change.

Given the increasing demand for geospatial information, ESA (hosted by the Sustainable Development Team) met with the World Bank in 2008 to raise awareness on how European EO missions and specialist information services available from European companies could support World Bank projects around the globe.

Following the visit, ESA carried out some initial demonstrations over the last year to illustrate the potential of EO information and methodologies for World Bank activities helping countries better adapt to climate change.

Coral reef monitoring

Research indicates that coral reefs will not survive the rapid increases in global temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide forecasted for this century by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Coral reefs are threatened by overfishing, coastal pollution, global warming and ocean acidification.

To help the World Bank monitor the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean, ESA led a project that generated state-of-the-art EO-based information to understand the capabilities of resistance and recovery from disturbances of coral reefs off the coast of Belize.

The project incorporated sea-surface temperature data from the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer and the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer on ESA’s ERS-2 and Envisat satellites, wind speed and direction data from the Active Microwave Instrument (AMI) on ERS-2 and imagery from NASA’s Landsat to identify coastline and reef-crest areas.

Using these data, scientists from the University of Exeter mapped a number of important factors influencing coral health in the Northern Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (NMBRS). These included chronic and acute thermal stress regimes, wave exposure areas and reef connectivity (for larvae dispersion).

Results showed that those areas predicted to fare better under climate change (from a thermal perspective) are rare and scattered across the study area. Also, if over-fished, some areas are more vulnerable to becoming dominated by seaweed with a resultant loss of corals (for example, north of the barrier reef and the seaward side of the atolls). Finally, the reefs are in general well connected, facilitating the dispersion of larvae.

The demonstration confirmed EO data can be used to map the locations of reef habitats and to understand better what regions are more vulnerable and likely to experience coral bleaching.

“Space-based observations are an essential element of climate monitoring in Latin America and a complement to ground-based stations,” said Walter Vergara, Lead Engineer-Latin America Environment Department at the World Bank. “ESA instruments and observation protocols are particularly applicable to the type of information that needs to be collected over time in the Americas.”

Coastal change monitoring

According to the UN, Bangladesh is one of the few countries to experience potentially catastrophic consequences of climatic change. A critical variable that determines the vulnerability of the South Asian country to climate change impact is the magnitude of sea-level rise.

ESA carried out projects to demonstrate the potential of different EO data and methodologies for coastal change mapping to provide improved input data for models that try to describe the long-term effects of possible sea-level rise due to global warming.

Using EO data from the Disaster Management Constellation (DMC), SPOT, NASA’s Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper, ASTER, Ikonos, and QuickBird from the last decade over the majority of Bangladesh’s coastal region, scientists were able to illustrate how EO can contribute to coastal monitoring.

The situation is very complex owing to large tidal effects in the area. The individual annual erosion and accumulation rates observed from EO satellites show strong spatial variability, as seen in the image above.

“The coastline of Bangladesh is extremely dynamic, making it difficult to predict how sea-level rise may impact the southern part of the country,” said Winston Yu, Water Resources Specialist at the World Bank. “These preliminary results from EO are interesting and merit further investigation into the accretion and erosion processes occurring.”

Coastal Cities

ESA is now starting an additional project to quantify land subsidence from EO over the last decade for the city of Alexandria, Egypt, which extends widely along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This information will be used, together with many other sources, in a World Bank study to assess the exposure and risk of coastal cities to the possible effects of climate change in the future.

“There is very little scientific evidence of the subsidence that has been taking place along the Nile Delta coastline, and whether the city of Alexandria has been affected as well,” said Anthony Bigio, senior urban specialist at the World Bank for the Middle East and North African region. “We therefore very much look forward to EO filling this gap, and we are sure that it will be an important input for the study we are carrying out on climate change adaptation and natural disaster preparedness in the coastal cities of North Africa.”

Next Developments

These initial demonstrations have raised interest from the World Bank in European EO capabilities, and further requests for support are in the pipeline. Discussions are under way for ESA to support additional projects such as sea-level rise in the Caribbean, forest degradation in the Amazon, and water resources management in the Maghreb and Middle East regions.

There are many other possibilities for EO information to be put to use in World Bank activities; both organisations look forward to a longer-term and more formalised form of collaboration.

SOURCE

PARIS — The European Space Agency (ESA) has reopened its payment spigot after a three-week moratorium, signing well over 500 million euros ($720 million) in new contracts in the week ending Dec. 18 for three Earth observation satellites and work on a new upper stage for the Ariane 5 rocket and a winged space-plane demonstrator, according to ESA and European industry officials.

The flurry of year-end activity followed an assessment by ESA’s finance directorate that the agency’s cash deficit, which had been estimated at up to 400 million euros by late 2010, is likely to be much less severe.

ESA officials have concluded that they do not need to take out a loan to cover the shortfall and that if the agency faces liquidity issues next year, they can be handled by less-drastic means as they arise.

As a result, ESA officials have reopened their checkbooks to settle a pile of already-negotiated contracts that been growing since the mid-November moratorium on any new commitments valued at more than 10 million euros.

Among the most significant contracts signed are for duplicate models of the three Sentinel Earth observation satellites being built by ESA and the 27-nation European Union as part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program. The contracts were signed with the same companies building the so-called Sentinel A-units.

The Sentinel 1B satellite, carrying C-band radar, will be built by Thales Alenia Space Italy for 128.8 million euros, compared with 229 million euros for the identical Sentinel 1A spacecraft contracted in June 2007.

Sentinel 2B, carrying a superspectral imager, will be built by Astrium Satellites under a contract valued at 98.6 million euros, compared with 195 million euros for the Sentinel 2A spacecraft, contracted in April 208.

Sentinel 3B, carrying an ocean-altimetry mission, will be built by Thales Alenia Space France under a 143.1-million-euro contract. The Sentinel 3A contract, signed in April 2008, was valued at 305 million euros.

ESA Earth Observation Director Volker Liebig said in a Dec. 18 interview that the three contracts could have been delayed until 2010 without affecting the program schedule, but that the prime contractors’ price proposals included a Dec. 31 deadline. Meeting that deadline, Liebig said, will ensure that the contractors take maximum advantage of being able to build two sets of instruments rather than one.

ESA’s launcher division was also active, signing contracts for a proposed Ariane 5 rocket upgrade that features a new, restartable motor called Vinci.

Antonio Fabrizi, ESA’s launcher director, said Dec. 18 that the agency signed a 157-million-euro contract with Astrium Space Transportation of Les Mureaux, France, for what is called the Ariane 5 Midlife Evolution program. The contract covers two years of work by Astrium, motor-builder Snecma and the other Ariane 5 contractors to conduct reviews of the proposed new upper stage.

ESA government ministers will be asked in late 2011 or early 2012 to approve full-scale development of the Vinci-powered stage, which is designed to increase Ariane 5’s payload carrying power to 12,000 kilograms into geostationary-transfer orbit, the destination of most telecommunications satellites.

Fabrizi also signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space Italy for the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle (IXV), a 5-meter-long, 1,800-kilogram winged vehicle scheduled to test atmospheric re-entry technologies following a launch aboard Europe’s Vega rocket in 2012 or 2013. The contract is valued at 39.4 million euros to cover preliminary IXV work for 18 months, Fabrizi said.

SOURCE

ESA