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Moving Forward to Strengthen the Geoinformation Services Business

- The opening for the first time of an EARSC office in Brussels to serve our Members. The association is evolving at the forefront of lobbying activities with European Institutions. Brussels is a central hub for stakeholders and our new office will place us directly on their doorstep, enabling us to develop our services together with their ever-evolving needs.

EARSC Office Avenue Boileau 16, Bruxelles

EARSC Secretariat

Moving Forward to Strengthen the Geoinformation Services Business

The webstreaming of the GMES Forum 2008 that took place in Lille on 16-17 September 2008 is now available online on the Europa website.

It is now possible to watch and listen to all the sessions of the Forum in its five languages (FR, DE, EN, IT, ES) and to watch/download the presentations and CVs of the speakers

Presentations made at the forum are now available online

Forum

Source GMES.Info

The Thai Earth observation satellite THEOS was finally launched from Yasny, Russia, on 1 October at 06:37 UTC.

SSC provides the THEOS mission with uplink and downlink communication services during the so called LEOP – Launch and Early Orbit Phase – covering the 15 first days of the mission. After launch, SSC’s Esrange Satellite Station had its first contact with THEOS at 08.07 UTC. The station now communicates with the satellite each time it passes over Esrange’s horizon, i.e. nine times a day.

The services are provided by contract with EADS Astrium which built THEOS for GISTDA, the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology

Source

1st October 2008 – Infoterra Ltd, a leader in the provision of geospatial products and services, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Imass Ltd, a provider of integrated information solutions for the UK public safety, manufacturing design and utility markets.


Astrium strengthens its geo-information services

Infoterra Ltd and Imass Ltd (headquartered in Newcastle and employing a workforce of 136) will work together as part of the Infoterra Group, within the Earth Observation Division of Astrium Services. Eric Beranger, CEO of Astrium Services, said: “This purchase reaffirms Astrium’s continued investment and commitment to strengthen its geo-information services capability.”

The combination of Imass’s systems integration and software development expertise with Infoterra’s geospatial data access, GIS consultancy experience and managed services capability, will create a powerful new capability to meet the ever-increasing demands for innovative and cost-effective geo-information solutions. With a strong track record and excellent reputation in its core markets, Imass has a well established portfolio of solutions and services which will further strengthen the Infoterra Group’s offering globally in areas such as emergency services, utilities and 3D modelling.

“We are delighted that Imass is joining Infoterra as these are exciting times for our industry,” said Dave Fox, CEO of Infoterra Ltd. “Our objective by bringing the companies together is to build on the expertise and knowledge across both teams to deliver innovative operational solutions, enabling organisations to better manage and benefit from geo-information in a changing world.”

“We are all very excited about this new venture and the opportunities that will come from joining an ambitious group, which has the backing of Astrium,” commented Dave Hudspith, MD of Imass Ltd. “I’m convinced this will result in further development of our capabilities in the UK while helping us to deliver our solutions to the global market.”

About Astrium
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2007, Astrium had a turnover of 3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, and Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment, and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.

Astrium Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Astrium, offers a unique ‘one-stop-shop’ in the satellite services market, with unrivalled capability and expertise in secure communications, Earth observation services and navigation services. The European provider of milsatcom services, including the pioneering Skynet 5 service, and a world-leading supplier of geo-information products and services, Astrium Services meets its customers’ requirements with innovative and highly competitive end-to-end solutions.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007 EADS generated revenues of 39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116,000.

www.astrium.eads.net

About Infoterra Ltd
Infoterra Ltd is a leading provider of geographic information products and services. Its portfolio of geographic information solutions includes airborne and satellite data acquisition, geo-information creation, database management and outsourced hosting. Infoterra provides geospatial knowledge to companies worldwide to help them make informed decisions. The company has major customers in government, utilities, insurance, engineering, defence and oil, gas & mineral exploration.

Infoterra Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astrium, Europe’s leading space systems and services specialist. Infoterra Ltd is part of the Infoterra Group, which also comprises companies in France, Germany, Hungary and Spain.

www.infoterra.co.uk

About Imass Ltd
Imass is a leading UK-based IT provider of practical and integrated software solutions to customers within the public safety, utilities and manufacturing design sectors. Imass specialises in the delivery of operational, emergency planning, customer information, engineering design and document management systems, utilising the latest mobile data, geographical information systems and 3D computer aided design technology.

www.imass.co.uk

Press Contacts:

For Astrium:
Jeremy Close (Astrium UK) – Phone: +44 (0) 1438 773872
Matthieu Duvelleroy (Astrium Fr) – Phone: +33 (0) 1 77 75 80 32
Mathias Pikelj (Astrium GER) – Phone: +49 (0) 7545 89123
Francesco Lechon (Astrium SP) – Phone: +34 91 586 37 41

For Infoterra Ltd:
Sarah Haslam – Phone: +44 (0)116 273 2379
Cheryl Billson, PR for Infoterra, +44 (0)7791 720460, cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

For Imass Ltd:
Colin Watson – Phone: +44 (0)191 202 8322

SOURCE INFOTERRA

Mapping the Habitats of Wales + Definiens integration to ESRI ArcGIS Image Server


Mapping the Habitats of Wales

By deploying Definiens’ sofware, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth advanced the use of remote sensing data for mapping habitats across Wales.

The Phase 1 Habitat Survey has, since the early 1980s, represented the most comprehensive national level map of semi-natural habitats and agricultural land across Wales. A new and revised draft national map (5 m nominal resolution) of Phase 1 habitats for the period 2003-2006 has been generated using satellite sensor (optical) data. The mapping has been funded by the Countryside Council for Wales, with development and delivery by Aberystwyth University and Environment Systems Limited. The classification, undertaken with object-orientated Definiens Developer and Definiens eCognition® Server, avoids traditional supervised classification approaches but instead combines expert knowledge of ecology, landscape and the information content of remote sensing data within a hierarchical rule-based process.

To generate the map, data provided by the SPOT-5, ASTER and IRS LISS 3 (P6) sensors and derived products (e.g. vegetation indices, endmember fractions of shade/moisture, photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic vegetation) were utilised. Prior to classification, each dataset was pre-processed to ensure a high level of geometric, atmospheric and topographic correction. Ancillary data thematic layers representing the extent of infrastructure and water and raster datasets describing elevation, slope and aspect were also integrated to support segmentation and classification of the landscape.

The mapping sequentially differentiated non-vegetated (e.g. urban, rocks) and coastal marginal habitats (e.g. mudflats), bracken, woodlands, hedgerows, coastal vegetation mosaics, agricultural land and remaining lowland and upland habitats (mires, heaths and moors). A range of procedures were developed to assist classification, with these considering aspects such as contrasts in reflectance between habitats, relative homogeneity/heterogeneity, context (e.g. proximity to other habitats or environments) and site (e.g. elevation). For many habitats comprised of mosaics (e.g. heath), mapping of communities (e.g. Calluna, Vaccinium-dominated) was undertaken initially using fuzzy membership functions. A secondary rule-base then assigned objects to Phase 1 habitats classes based on the relative membership of the communities contained. Over 60 Phase 1 classes and 100 sub-habitat communities have been discriminated and mapped.

The study has significantly advanced the use of remote sensing data for mapping habitats across Wales and has application across the UK and also within Europe. The maps are sufficiently detailed and comprehensive to contribute significantly to the assessment of, for example, the conservation, carbon and biodiversity values of the Welsh landscape and ecosystem services. The mapping also has application in the management of the landscape into the future and in supporting scientific investigation into modelling the response of the landscape to future climatic change. The processes developed also pave the way for routine mapping and monitoring of habitats across Wales.

For further information please contact:
Alan Brown, Remote Sensing Manager, Countryside Council for Wales,
a.brown@ccw.gov.uk; http://www.ccw.gov.uk
Professor Richard Lucas, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University,
rml@aber.ac.uk ; http://www.ies.aber.ac.uk
Steve Keyworth, Director, Environment Systems Ltd.,
steve.keyworth@envsys.co.uk ; http://www.envsys.co.uk

Definiens integration to ESRI ArcGIS Image Server

First prototype presented at ESRI User Conference 2008

With ever increasing volumes of remote sensing imagery, triggered by an increasing number of platforms and sensors, image accessibility has become a major bottleneck. This problem is efficiently addressed by image server technology developed by several GIS and Remote Sensing companies. We are starting to see operational implementations hosting terabyte-sized image mosaics on the Internet. It is likely that the volume will vastly increase as data providers are considering the move towards serving data through image services replacing traditional distribution models.

With the accessibility bottleneck removed, broader and richer applications of imagery will be facilitated as users can exploit the content of imagery integrated into the GIS environment. In addition large image services will also introduce stronger standardization, which, in turn, makes larger-scale image analysis applications possible. This has been demonstrated by Definiens at the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego this August when a prototype integration to ESRI´s ArcGIS Image Server was presented.

This prototype supports two specific workflows:

-Definiens users can access ESRI image services for rule set development in Definiens Developer
-ESRI users can leverage the power of Definiens eCognition® Server to extract information from image services directly within the ArcGIS Desktop environment

Using ArcGIS Image Server in combination with the Definiens Developer, data hosted in image services can be loaded directly into Definiens Developer for rule set development. Consequently, image server users do not need to create local copies of data sets in order to generate rule sets for automatic extraction of image features. In addition the data can be standardized by leveraging the dynamic imagery processing options offered by the ArcGIS Image Server.

Using ArcGIS Image Server in combination with Definiens eCognition® Server allows direct workflow integration of the image analysis component into the GIS workflow. Utilizing a small extension to ArcMap which was developed by Definiens, an area of interest can be selected by the user and sent for analysis to the Definiens eCognition® Server. The selected area is processed and results are sent back as a shape file and added to the display in ArcMap.

In an effort to gather further insight in requirements to a future product integrating image services and Definiens technology, we are currently looking for Definiens customers interested in testing this prototype. If you are a Definiens Developer user and also use ESRI ArcGIS Image Server technology, please mail to earth@definiens.com. For further details on the featured prototype click here.

Source Definiens

v1 Magazine

Perspectives

Jeff Thurston

There are many ways that geospatial technology can drive political consensus on environmental issues. Flooding, disease, conservation, water quality, noise mapping and many other issues often demand high quality geographic information, spatial analysis and integration. Action, coordination and working together are necessary to meet these challenges.

The role of GIS and other spatial technologies, I think, is to provide the best information possible through capitalising upon their functionality – end-to-end – to enable decision makers to make informed decisions. In fact, I would argue that organisations not using GIS should have higher insurance premiums – they are higher risks because they are spatially disadvantaged.

The results of these technologies should help anyone to understand and make better, more informed decisions. Consequently, technology can be seen as enabling consensus and facilitating action. These tools should be able to provide intelligence which is useful, not confusing. They ought to be able to be used for supporting the development of strategic actions that mitigate risk, reduce uncertainty and protect human life.

I heard an example of this this week at the Association for Geographic Information (AGI) 2008 conference in the UK at Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK. Charlie Pattinson, head of resources and information, UK Environment Agency gave a keynote presentation which included information about the 2007 floods within the country. He cited 17% of all emergency facilities at risk, 350,000 people without water, 512 railway stations impacted and 6,896 businesses impacted. “Data sharing and collaboration are our greatest needs and interoperaility is critically important,” he said. As well, are our memories so short we forget the floods in Germany not long ago?

With these levels of impact it is clear that environmental disasters strike regions, cutting across administrative boundaries and impacting people, businesses and infrastructure. As Pattinson put it, “we need to bring technology to bear on reducing uncertainty.” The unknown (if known) can be valuable information for planning recovery efforts and so on.

Our industry has the needed tools for reducing risk and this is accomplished through improved spatial analysis, modeling and, in the case of flooding, greater use of visualisation. Well designed and spatially supported infrastructure necessitates numerous people collaborating and working together.

It is important to enable people with information about events that involve them. Informed decision making occurs through spatial tools and data that is not only delivered to people, but also explained to them, so that they understand its value and usefulness as well as its limitations.

Matt Ball

In this heated season of political debates and attack ads, it’s hard not to get swept up in the vitriolic back and forth of red and blue perspectives. There’s no other time of year where issues become more polarized, and the environment tends to be a battle topic.

At this point in time, geospatial technology, in all its different forms, drives most environmental policy decisions. The information that can be synthesized through observation, modeling and analysis of geospatial information, provides a valuable tool for informing both sides of any given environmental debate.

Beyond simply the big-picture national policy that shapes a country’s impact on the planet, there are the practical on-the-ground elements of policy that need to be assessed and monitored for oversight. Geospatial tools are ideally suited for long-term observation and analysis both before a policy outcome, and afterward, when the management of impacts becomes the focus. These tools will become increasingly valuable as we realize our ability to modify our practices in order to improve our long-term stability.

Providing Evidence and Analysis

When determining a policy direction, evidence on both sides of an argument need to be presented. The supporting government agencies provide this ongoing service with geospatial technology as a key contributor to insight. As details are amassed, in visual map or image format, and in reports with charts and tables, there’s an effort to see the big picture. Geospatial technology is responsible for bringing together that big picture in a way that’s informed by science and not swayed by ideology.

Regardless of legislative focus, if there’s an environmental impact, it’s likely that spatial analysis was employed. The capability to combine the human, environment and economic perspectives of decisions give this toolset the most power. Making knowledge from information relies on the application of domain expertise to generic data about our world. It’s the combination of data and visualization to inform insight that sets geospatial technology apart from other intelligence gathering tools.

Encouraging Public Participation

At the local level, there are often issues of development and community growth that have an impact on the local environment. Consensus on politically charged issues of growth and local economic development versus environmental impacts, needs an impartial data gathering effort and community interaction.

These ongoing issues of local impacts needs broad input to reach beyond well-organized lobbying groups. Public meetings and hearings regarding issues of local importance can be expensive and time-consuming. The combination of geospatial technology and the Internet provides a very effective means of achieving public participation regarding land use planning. The tools amass viewpoints in a consensus-driven process that can yield outcomes that factor in all sides of any issue related to place.

Energy at the Forefront

Her in the United States, we’ve seen the “drill baby, drill!” mantra, as well as a bipartisan call for investment in renewable energy. Having both renewable energy and new exploration appears to be the emerging moderate stance, and is the likely outcome of the political wrangling. Geospatial technology can help us get to this moderate consensus more quickly, and with an informed understanding of the impacts that each choice will have upon our planet. A thorough assessment of the impact of each energy option will promote policy toward environmentally-friendly regulations that make the most of these opportunities.

The idea of renewable energy as a means for energy independence is taking a strong hold. Energy independence promises to improve the economy and provide greater global security. These benefits on all sides makes this a solid bipartisan idea. Promoting the renewable energy industry will require a great deal of geospatial analysis in order to make the most of these investments with the least amount of impact. And geospatial tools can help assess and monitor new oil plays that have the least impact on the environment.

Speed Not a Factor

While I’ve mentioned quicker consensus building, the speed of legislation shouldn’t be a primary goal of any technology. I’m often reminded of the slow and deliberate nature of national politics. While you can point to the process as inefficient, it’s inefficient by design. When Congress was conceived, the founding fathers aimed for a slow moving organization in order to shield it from the whims of current popular opinion. That goal has been achieved, often in conflict with the fast pace of today’s society.

Geospatial technology is a valuable tool for reasoned and deliberate decision making regarding a myriad of policy decisions. With our increasingly fragile balance on our planet’s systems, geospatial tools will play an increasing role for the stewardship of our planet.

Source Vector1media

At the fifth Space Council (joint meeting of EU and ESA Ministers in charge of space activities) of 26 September 2008, new priorities were identified for the European Space Policy, including climate change, contributions of space to the Lisbon Strategy, security and space exploration. Moreover, the Ministers stressed the need to set out the requirements for an action plan on Kopernikus implementation.

On 26 September 2008, the 5th Space Council welcomed the progress made with the implementation of the European Space Policy and highlighted new priority areas in a Resolution. This Resolution was adopted both by the Council of the EU (Competitiveness) and by the Ministerial Council of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Resolution recognises that the European Union, alongside the ESA and the Member States, is a major player in space. The EU is charged in particular with the strengthening of the coordination of resources and programmes with ESA and the Member States and the development of EU instruments and funding schemes to allow for a long-term Community investment in space.

It also takes stock of the progress made with the two European flagship programmes Galileo and Kopernikus (formerly called GMES), inviting the Commission to elaborate an action plan for the setting-up of a Kopernikus programme.

Four new priority areas are defined:
space and climate change
the contribution of space to the Lisbon strategy
space and security
space exploration

In the field of climate change, the Commission is invited to study the needs for full access to standardised data and for increased computing power. In the field of security, the Resolution underlines the need for Europe to equip itself with a capability to monitor and survey its space infrastructure and space debris, with the EU in liaison with the ESA and Member States taking an active role to define the governance of this capability. Finally, in the field of space exploration, the Commission is tasked with organising an international political conference to develop a common vision for Europe and its role in this global endeavour.

On 25-26 November in The Hague, the Ministers of ESA Member States will gather in a Council meeting. This meeting will permit to turn the resolution of 26 September into concrete programmes. On that time, the ESA Director General shall submit a proposal for the subscription of the second segment of the Kopernikus Space Component that will enable to complete the development of most of the initial series of Sentinel satellites

See also: Visit the European Space Policy website

ESA

Consilium

Source EC.EUROPA and GMES.Info

The Space Council is the joint and concomitant meeting of the EU and ESA Council of Ministers in charge of space activities. On 26 September 2008, the fifth Space Council, partly chaired by the French Minister of Higher Education and Research Valérie Pécresse and Maria Van Der Hoeven, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs and current Chair of the ESA Council of Ministers, held in Brussels. The objective of this high-level meeting was to assess the progress made in the implementation of the European Space Policy over the last 16 months and identify further priorities. Focusing on the two European flagships, Galileo and Kopernikus, the Ministers adopted a resolution – “Taking forward the European Space Policy” – which highlights the significant advances in these programmes.
Establishing new priorities for the European Space Policy, this resolution identified four additional areas: space and climate change, contributions of space to the Lisbon Strategy, space and security and space exploration. In the field of climate, the Space Council supported the joint preparation by ESA and EUMESAT (the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) of an innovative programme proposal for Meteosat Third Generation, which will also contribute to the climate change detection within Kopernikus.
With regard to the latter, the Ministers set out the requirements for an action plan on Kopernikus implementation, which should include operational service delivery mechanisms, an approach for the overall governance of the system and of all its components, and a comprehensive data policy. Moreover, the Ministers recognised the need to draw up a plan providing sustainable operational funding for Kopernikus and welcomed the proposal of the European Commission to start this with a new preparatory action in the preliminary budgets for 2009.

With immediate effect, VCS Aktiengesellschaft has established an office in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

In doing so, the specialised company for systems and software in the fields of space science, earth observation, navigation and telecommunication strengthens its presence in the Southern German area. The new, additional, premises will provide a prime vantage point for the expansion of VCS space activities.

“Oberpfaffenhofen is a major location for the German space industry. Two important ground segment sites, the Columbus Control Centre for the International Space Station and the European Galileo Ground Control Segment are situated there. Both already feature deployments of VCS solutions and so an obvious target for us to strengthen our on-site presence for VCS customers and Partners”, says Dr. Horst Wulf, Director of the VCS SpaceCom Division.

As an important partner of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) for the Columbus Control Centre, VCS Aktiengesellschaft has operated in Oberpfaffenhofen for many years. VCS solutions are providing monitoring, control and configuration functions for the world-wide distributed Columbus ground segment and for several elements of the Galileo ground segment. With future long-time operations of Galileo, and further space activities planned nearby, there is increased demand for a permanent VCS presence in Oberpfaffenhofen in order to offer the full range of VCS services. This represents a consistent step towards improved customer care in the Southern German area.

The new office is situated in the area of the “Sonderflughafen Oberpfaffenhofen”, initially in Buliding No. 334. However, the office will move into the nearby “Aerospace & Technology Center”, as soon as the construction work is completed. The technology centre, specifically for companies in the fields of aerospace, satellite navigation and automotive engineering, will provide a stimulating business environment for all companies involved.

Since 1981, VCS Aktiengesellschaft has operated successfully as an experienced and reliable partner in the high-tech niche markets of Space Systems, and Media Broadcasting. VCS has established a leading position as a highly-skilled expert for mission-critical software and now has more than 150 customers in over 60 countries. Companies, space agencies and public authorities around the world rely on solutions from VCS. The company employs approx. 158 people, with offices in Bochum, Darmstadt and Oberpfaffenhofen and is a wholly-owned subsidary of SciSys plc.

Contact:

VCS Aktiengesellschaft
Mr. Abdelwaheb Amara
Postfach 1203
82231 Weßling
Germany
Phone +49 (0)8153 / 90 87 87 0
Fax +49 (0)8153 / 90 87 87 5

VCS Aktiengesellschaft
Mr. Christoph Wichmann
Borgmannstraße 2
44894 Bochum
Germany
Phone +49 (0)234 9258-115
Fax +49 (0)234 9258-8-115

Download: Press Release as a PDF Document
VCS_Meldung_Oberpfaffenhofen_E.pdf

Telespazio, a Finmeccanica/Thales company, has acquired a 40% stake in the French company Novacom Services SA, which is 60%-owned by Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), a subsidiary of the French space agency CNES.

Based in Toulouse, Novacom specialises in innovative navigation and localisation services that integrate both ground and satellite technologies. It develops applications in the sector of road, maritime and rail transport (monitoring of dangerous goods, localisation of fleets, etc), for emergency and rescue services, and in the environmental field (monitoring of ocean currents and migration patterns, etc).

The acquisition is part of Telespazio’s drive to develop skills and know-how in the sector of satellite navigation and localisation services, with the aim of taking a leading role in seizing the business opportunities that are expected to open up in the next few years with the launch of the European Galileo programme.

In addition, the deal increases Telespazio’s presence in France, where it operates via Telespazio France and already controls Fileas, a company specialising in satellite telecommunication services.

Source Telespazio