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Aerodata adds Ultracam-X to their camera stable + Many Spanish cities now high-res on Google Earth, flown by Aerodata.

Aerodata adds Ultracam-X to their camera stable – Feb 29th, 2008

Today Aerodata International Surveys (Antwerp, Belgium) and Vexcel Imaging GmbH (Graz, Austria) have signed a purchase agreement for an UltraCam-X large format digital aerial camera system.

As a long-time UltraCam owner and operator (since February 2004), Aerodata already acknowledged early on that Vexcel’s concept for large format digital frame cameras was “best-in-class” at the time.

Over the years the UltraCams have proven to be the best fit-for-purpose systems for the type of work Aerodata executes. In the meantime over 300.000 images were collected using these cameras.

The UltraCam-X now furthers this concept and is still “best-in-class”. It will add additional capabilities to Aerodata’s aerial survey fleet.

Aerodata continues to build up and streamline capacity through leverage of the camera’s USP’s, combined with Aerodata’s vast expertise as digital camera operator and easy integration into the Aerodata PixelPipe workflow.

The full integration of Vexcel cameras and the Aerodata PixelPipe (NAS clustered storage and processing array, nearly 200TB of space and distributed processing over tens of cores) makes for a winning concept of speed and economy, which benefits both the customer and Aerodata.

Many Spanish cities now high-res on Google Earth, flown by Aerodata – Feb 21st, 2008

Yesterday marked the publication of high resolution aerial imagery of a large number of Spanish cities on Google Earth.

It marked the first 2008 push of aerial imagery onto Google Earth, details of the push can be seen here on Google’s map blog

The imagery of the cities was flown and processed by Aerodata International Surveys, one of Google Inc’s preferred European partners for aerial imagery content.

The project is included into Aerodata’s aeroGRID® European Cities Program, that covers many cities and some entire countries throughout Europe.

The high resolution aerial photography has a ground resolution of 15cm and covers over 3000 sq km of Spanish territory and more than 24 urban areas across the country.

You can see which cities are covered by opening this KMZ file (Google Earth required).

The aerial imagery of all of these cities is available for purchase as “raw” stereo imagery in colour (RGB) and colour-infrared (CIR) with orientation parameters and/or as tiled mosaics in in colour (RGB).

For inquiries, please contact M. Taylor of aeroGRID Limited or +33 950 201305.

PARC Archipelago: Monitoring Posidonia on Arki island.

Earth Observation is a precious information source that support people operating in the field of the management and conservation of natural areas. The integration of EO data with other traditional information enable users to run more efficient monitoring of sensitive areas and to evaluate impact of human and natural changes upon land and sea.

PARC Archipelago (Posidonia Advanced Remote Cognition ) project is about monitoring Posidonia Oceanica seagrass beds in East Greece and specifically the area around the Arki island, by using satellite images (IKONOS, LANDSAT, MERIS). The area of interest is to be included in the foreseen Marine National Park of the North Dodecanese. The user organization is Archipelagos, the Institute of Marine and Environmental Research of the Aegean Sea, a non-profit, non-governmental, environmental organization.

Project description


Posidonia sea grass beds are of fundamental importance for the productivity of Mediterranean marine ecosystems and fish stocks, however their status cannot be always easily and properly assessed. The Scope of the project was to demonstrate how an integration of different technologies can facilitate the user during its operational duties. For this purpose the following two activities were carried out:

1) Detection of Posidonia and classification of the seabed using satellite images;
2) Development of a WebGIS system for the representation of the environment and site promotion to a wider user segment.

The cooperation between Planetek Hellas and the Archipelagos Institute resulted into the implementation of the PARC-Archipelago system. The system functionalities supports sustainable eco-tourism applications while addressing specific data collection towards the design of sustainable environmental practices.

The PARC application is centred around the monitoring of Posidonia seagrass which becomes part of a 3D WebGIS for below sea level visualization. This service aims at facilitating the representation of the below sea level environment (thematic maps of submerged vegetation), so that information related to the posidonia seagrass beds can be included, managed and shown to public.

The system may include data of different sources and type, namely: mapping trough EO in clear and shallow waters, geophysical data (e.g. temperature, oxygen concentration etc.) plus general information such as pictures.
The 3D WebGIS ensures a wider use of the system thanks to a to a visualization module fully integrated into Google Earth.

To have a look at the 3D WebGIS system PARC Archipelago

PARC-Archipelago is based on Planetek’s Cart@net technology already applied on PARC Service, a European Space Agency funded project realized in Italy. The system is designed to support natural park management and promotion using EO data and web mapping technology.
PARC service is now a tool used by the well known Italian Natural Park Parco delle Cinque Terre
located in Liguria Region.

About Planetek Hellas EPE
Planetek Hellas EPE is a company of Planetek Italia Group with headquarters in Athens, Greece. Starting from the experience and assets of the group leader, the Greek market approach of Planetek Hellas is lead towards the development of systems and applied solution that benefits of the know-how gained in relevant european programmes in the field of Aerospace Research, system integration, and in the management, analysis and sharing technologies applied to land information.

Planetek Hellas EPE
Address: 2-4 Messogeion Avenue, 11527, Athens (Greece)
Phone: +30 210 7454306 – Fax: +30 210 7454300
Contact Person: Stelios Bollanos
E-mail: bollanos@planetek.gr

Thales Communications contribution to the GEO ministerial summit

Thales Communications has been invited by EC to contribute to the fourth annual GEO ministerial summit in Cape Town by presenting the OSIRIS project on the EC booth.

The Cape Town Exhibition was the first EC effort to create a “trade show” on Earth observation.

The FP6 OSIRIS project is a GMES project covering the GMES three stage process:

• In-situ observation.
• Information management through modelling and processing of the data generated by the observation systems.
• Service production and delivery through an in-situ portal.

OSIRIS is also a GEOSS project participating to the definition of the GEOSS architecture in the framework of GEO activities.

More information about the OSIRIS project

CONTACT
Agnès MARTY
Business Development Manager – EU
THALES
Tel : +33 1 69 75 33 28

Improving access to ESA Earth Observation Data and Products

You are probably a regular user of EOLI-SA or DESCW or in fact any of ESA’s alternative data ordering and search facilities. Do you find these services work well? If not, why not? A web forum is currently being set up at http://usng.acsys.it and will be available for you to access from 23rd January 2008. This allows you to discuss these issues where your inputs will make a difference, providing a unique opportunity for you as Users to help improve the way these services work for you. All you have to do is sign up and you will have direct access to the discussion forum where you can contribute to the definition of the future service. The web forum covers a wide range of topics including Data Ordering, Delivery, Data Options, User Accessibility and Innovative & Visionary Ideas.

The User Services Next Generation is an ESA project where the User’s needs and requirements are the key driver for improving and redefining the way ESA currently provides its data and services. The improvement of technologies, additional sensors and engaging new user communities are key motivators in defining the new service. ESA aims to increase user visibility of its services and wants to be challenged with a new innovative design that improves the systematic flow and widens the scope of its Earth Observation services.

This project is being undertaken by a consortium lead by ACS (Advanced Computer Systems S.p.A) in which NPA Group are coordinating the “Users” (potential customers) points of view and contribution of ideas. This feedback will culminate in a User Requirements Document which will ensure that the User’s points of view and needs are understood and subsequently fulfilled as far as possible in the new service.

The project team looks forward to your contribution, please leave your feedback.

For more information or any enquiries please contact:


Charlotte Bishop (User Services)
NPA Project Lead EO USNG
Nigel Press Associates Ltd
charlotte.bishop@npagroup.com
tel: +44 1732 865023


USNG Web Admin (Technical Web Access Issues)
Advanced Computer System
usng.webadmin@acsys.it
tel: +39 06 87090901

LogicaCMG is implementing a third-generation calibration and validation facility for ESA, to help ensure information consistency for Europe’s GMES global monitoring programme.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected LogicaCMG to develop a third generation calibration and validation facility for data from its current and future environmental satellites. In a contract valued at about €1.5 million, LogicaCMG will lead a team of specialist companies and scientific institutions from five countries to deliver this advanced system.

The Generic Environment for Calibration/Validation Analysis (GECA), as it is called, will be an important element in ESA’s role in monitoring how the world is changing – from ice-cap degradation and desert expansion, to demographic and weather information. Calibration and validation ensures that the data coming from the sensors on ESA’s satellites match those from other ground-, air- and space-based instruments. This process of calibrating satellite instruments and verifying their accuracy is critical to the delivery of reliable data to the end-user scientific community, and to the accuracy of subsequent research they conduct based on that information.

Josef Aschbacher, Head of the GMES Space Office of ESA said: “European policies supporting sustainable development and environmental protection can only be made effective with the ability to obtain reliable and timely information about the state of our world. European Union Heads of State at the 2001 Summit in Gothenburg requested that the EC and ESA work together to establish an operational European capability for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). As part of the GMES programme, LogicaCMG is developing a new calibration, validation and quality control facility which builds on experience gained from the first generations of ESA satellites. This is an important step that further enables ESA to fulfil its role as the main partner of the European Union in implementing its policies.”

Stuart Martin, Director for LogicaCMG’s Space and Satcoms business said “Calibration and validation lack some of the glamour associated with other types of space research, however they are absolutely vital if we’re to be able to trust and make decisions based on the data we see from the satellites later on. LogicaCMG has been providing facilities to process environmental data to ESA for more than 30 years, and we are proud to have been selected to deliver this new and critical element of GMES.”

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About LogicaCMG

LogicaCMG is a major international force in IT and business services. It employs around 39,000 people across 41 countries. LogicaCMG’s focus is on enabling its customers to build and maintain leadership positions using LogicaCMG’s deep industry knowledge and its track record for successful delivery. The company provides business consulting, systems integration and IT and business process outsourcing across diverse markets including telecoms and media, financial services, energy and utilities, industry, distribution and transport and the public sector. Headquartered in Europe, LogicaCMG is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Euronext (Amsterdam) (LSE:LOG; Euronext:LOG) and traded on the Xternal List of the Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. More information is available at www.logicacmg.com/space

Inventory of Italian landslides on the web

Lansdslides in Italy affect about 70% of the municipalities (5600 out of 8101), this and other informations came out from the “Ladslides Report in Italy”officially released in November 2007 by the Italian Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical Services (APAT). These were some of the important findings of the IFFI Project (Inventario dei Fenomeni Franosi in Italia), in which an homogenous and updated inventory of the Italian landslides was successfully accomplished by APAT, in collaboration with the Regions and the Autonomous Provinces.

The IFFI Inventory was published on the Internet with the aim of disseminating information related to landslides to national and local administrations, research institutes, geologists, engineers and citizens. This data infrastructure composed by vector and alphanumeric database, as well as by thematic carthography for hydrogeological/environmental emergencies is now available through Cart@net a WebGIS solution developed by Planetek Italia. This on-line archive is designed for easy access and consultation by stake holders involved in decision making and in the management of territorial planning.

The inventory is available at

Services related to Civil Protection and Risk Management are one of application field in Planetek Italia. The company has been involved in different projects, e.g. SLAM aimed at realizing products derived from the integration of data acquired by traditional and EO methodologies into a GIS environment.

About Planetek Italia

Planetek Italia is one of the leading companies in Italy in the data processing and system development for geographic data management. The company delivers systems for storage, elaboration and distribution of cartographic databases and satellite images. As provider of leading technologies for the European Space Agency (ESA), Italian Space Agency (ASI) and other leader research and development entities in Europe, Planetek Italia assures state of the art products to their customers. To better satisfy market needs, Planetek Italia complements its offerings by reselling premiere geospatial solutions and provides consulting and training services. Sister and spin-off companies of Planetek Italia are: Planetek Hellas EPE in Athens, Greece, and GEO-K in Rome, Italy.

Planetek Italia S.r.l.
Address: Via Massaua 12, I-70123 Bari (Italy)
Phone: +39 080 9644200 – Fax: +39 080 9644299
Contact Person: Paolo Manunta
E-mail: manunta [at] planetek.it

The role of Earth Observation satellites in combating climate change was highlighted at the United Nations climate change conference in Bali (3-14 December 2007) where thousands of delegates from more than 180 countries were gathered to begin negotiations of an international emissions-cutting agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

The Protocol commits its signatories to reduce levels of greenhouse gases believed to be increasing global warming. Around 25 billion tonnes of extra carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere annually by human activities, mainly through burning of fossil fuels, land clearance and wildfires.

Because deforestation in tropical rainforests accounts for as much as 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, finding ways to curb or halt deforestation was high on the conference’s agenda. One scheme under consideration, called Reduced Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD), involves developed countries offsetting their emissions by paying developing countries for every hectare of forest they do not cut down.

In order for this scheme to work, systematic monitoring of forests will be crucial.

UNFCCC negotiations in Bali on REDD could offer a crucial opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from tropical peatlands and thus contribute to combating global climate change.

In the future, space-based monitoring tools for tropical deforestation will be available through the EU-led initiative Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), which from 2011 will begin launching the Sentinel satellites enabling operational monitoring.

Source “GMES.Info2:http://www.gmes.info

For more information

The inaugural assembly of the NEREUS Network (Network of European Regions using space technologies) was held on 18 December 2007 in Toulouse.

Created at the instigation of the Midi-Pyrénées Region, NEREUS aims at creating a forum for dialogue, exchanges and discussion between the Regions and the stakeholders in European space policy, such as the Member States, the European Space Agency, (ESA), the European Commission or the space industry.

So far, 35 regions from 10 EU Member States have already expressed an interest in joining the network and 23 Regions already signed the Political Charter of NEREUS.

The founding members of NEREUS are:
1. Austria: Wien-VBA
2. Belgium: Région Bruxelles Capitale, Région Wallonne
3. France: Alsace, Aquitaine, Bretagne, Midi-Pyrénées, Nord Pas-de- Calais, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
4. Germany: Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hessen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
5. Italy: Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania, Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Lombardia, Molise, Piemonte, Puglia, Toscana, Veneto
6. Poland: Mazovieckie Voivodeship
7. Portugal: Açores, Madeira
8. Slovakia: Kosice, Presov
9. Spain: Aragon, Catalunya, Madrid
10. United-Kingdom: East Midlands

Because Regions are both end-users and data-providers, they are of great relevance when it comes to the development and experimentation of new applications and services. They will also be key actors to ensure the sustainability of GMES.
It took more than a year to give a concrete form to this initiative triggered by the Midi-Pyrénées Region and welcomed by the European Commission, especially by the GMES Bureau. One of the overall objectives of NEREUS is to federate the great diversity of European Regions.

More information at NEREUS

Source GMES.Info

…one of the highlights of the coming year is the next Annual EARSC event which will take place in the Spring 2008 and focusing on the key question “Is GMES an Opportunity for the Service Industry?”_…

The GMES Africa conference in Lisbon has been the highlight of the end of 2007. Indeed this event was not only remarkably organized by the Portuguese presidency of the European Union and all those who contributed to its set up, but also it was also remarkable in its content. Based on the very interesting presentations and round tables where high level African and European executives were involved, it appeared clearly that GMES can do considerable good for a developing continent such as Africa and in return the involvement of Africa in the GMES process can add momentum and experience for the fertilisation of the GMES process elsewhere in the world and in Europe itself. Meteorology, Climatology, Water and other environmental issues in general have been of course at the forefront of discussions and prospects. But it is important to note that beyond the development of applications there lies the development of the economically important service sector. This is true for Europe and this will be true for Africa. The mutation from applications to services and the consideration of an industrial segment in Africa have been evoked. EARSC has in particular extended an invitation for African entities (institutions, industries) to link with our association and has proposed to create closer ties with the African SME sector to help foster its development.

As far as Europe is concerned several initiatives have been taken during the past few years by the EU, ESA and at national level to develop new space applications and ideally new operational services. In this context it is important to note that ESA is organizing in Brussels on January 15th 2008 the Integrated Applications Program day. This new initiative is a good opportunity to create synergies between our Earth Observation developments and developments in other sectors such as Navigation and Telecommunications. Our members should carefully contemplate these new opportunities since the service sector is the economic sector offering the highest prospects for growth.

Finally, one of the highlights of the coming year is the next Annual EARSC event which will take place in the Spring 2008 and focusing on the key question “Is GMES an Opportunity for the Service Industry?”. You are all invited to take note of this opportunity and to contact our Executive Secretary at your earliest convenience to explore participation options.
In the mean time, on behalf of the EARSC Directors, let me wish all of you a very happy and healthy year.


Paul Kamoun
EARSC Chairman