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New ability to ensure power supplies unaffected by vegetation

Infoterra Ltd, a leader in the provision of geospatial products and services, has won a contract from EDF Energy Networks, one of the UK’s largest energy companies, to map its overhead high-voltage power line network and adjacent vegetation to ensure a continued safe and reliable electricity supply.

Infoterra, using the latest high resolution GeoPerspectives aerial imagery, will deliver an accurate mapping solution to the vegetation team at EDF Energy Networks. This will enable the team to rapidly identify priority areas without site visits, so helping EDF Energy Networks to achieve efficiencies for its vegetation management budget.

The survey will cover the Eastern and Southern areas of EDF Energy Networks’ operational area (a region incorporating more than 5.5 million customers and covering 30,000 sq km), and will support compliance for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reforms Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity (ESQC) regulations.

“Our contract with Infoterra will ensure that we have an accurate vegetation map of our entire overhead high-voltage network, allowing us to identify sites requiring immediate attention and tightly manage our vegetation cutting budget,” said Ray Crouch, Vegetation Contracts Manager for EDF Energy Networks. “We selected Infoterra because they were offering to provide a cost-effective innovative solution that fitted with our future plans.”

Dr Andy Wells, Director of Sales for Infoterra Ltd, said: “Recent reports have shown that the utility sector is spending some £50 million annually on vegetation management. Through using accurate mapping, utility companies could dramatically reduce this cost while at the same time increasing management efficiency. We look forward to working alongside EDF Energy Networks to help it put geospatial data to work in its business.”

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 communications, utilities, engineering, agriculture, defence and oil, gas & mineral exploration.

Infoterra Ltd. is part of the Infoterra group, which comprises companies in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Astrium Ltd, an EADS company.

GeoPerspectives is a joint venture between Infoterra Ltd and BlueSky International Ltd to provide airborne acquired geospatial data for England and Wales.

www.infoterra.co.uk

About EDF Energy
EDF Energy is one of the UK’s largest energy companies. We provide power to a quarter of the UK’s population via our electricity distribution networks in London, the South East and the East of England. We supply gas and electricity to over 5 million customers and generate about 5GW of energy from our coal and gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and wind farms. The company is also a key player in national infrastructure projects including management of private electricity networks serving four London airports and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the country’s first major new railway in 100 years. We employ nearly 13,000 people at locations across the UK. EDF Energy is a core part of EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest power companies.

www.edfenergy.com

For more information contact
Sarah Haslam, Infoterra Ltd, +44 (0)116 273 2300,
Cheryl Billson, PR for Infoterra, +44 (0)7791 720460,
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

Scheduled to be launched in the first three months of 2008, the COSMO-SkyMed 2 satellite has been finally put in orbit on 9th December 2007 from the American Air Force Base of Vandenberg on the coast of California.

The COSMO-Skymed system, funded by the Italian Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Research, while the Italian Space Agency (ASI) operates it, is the first worldwide satellite observation system with dual character (civilian/military). Composed of four satellites, COSMO-Skymed 2 is the second one now in orbit. The first satellite has been successfully launched on 7th June 2007.

For Earth monitoring purpose, it is equipped with radar sensors of the SAR type able to collect information on the world’s weather and climate, including earthquakes and seismic analysis, landslides, droughts, agricultural mapping, environmental disaster monitoring and floods, by night and sunlight and with any weather condition. Among its strong points are its flexibility (it can operate in three different modalities, routine, crisis or emergency) and its short revisit time.

Being a contribution to the GMES system, COSMO-Skymed will put in orbit its third satellite in the course of the summer 2008.

More information

Source GMES.Info

Canada’s Radarsat-2 Earth observation satellite, which has been almost a decade in design and construction, launched successfully Friday aboard a Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to launch-services provider Starsem S.A. of France.

The 4,850-pound (2,200-kilogram) Radarsat-2 is expected to operate for seven years in a 495-mile (798-kilometer), sun-synchronous low Earth orbit and provide radar images with a ground resolution as sharp as 10 feet (three meters) and as wide as 328 feet (100 meters).

Despite being delayed by a host of technical and policy issues over the years, Radarsat-2 arrived in orbit in time to assure continuous radar Earth observation for Canadian authorities before Radarsat-1 is retired.

Radarsat-1, which provides images with a maximum sharpness of 10 meters, was launched in 1995 on what was designed as a five-year mission. It continues to operate today.

Radarsat-2 features an improved on-board memory and image-taking flexibility as well as a higher-resolution imaging mode. It is the product of a partnership between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) of Richmond, British Columbia CSA has said its total Radarsat-2 budget is 421.6 million Canadian dollars ($419 million), and that MDA has spent an additional 90 million Canadian dollars on the satellite.

The launch of Radarsat-2 brings to a close an unusually busy year for radar Earth observation. German and Italian high-resolution radar satellites also began service this year, for both government and commercial customers.

MDA is Radarsat-2 prime contractor, with Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy providing the satellite platform. An MDA unit supplied the radar sensor.

The launch was managed by Starsem of Paris, a French-Russian joint venture that markets Soyuz rockets commercially

By Peter B. De Selding

Source

The letter exchange took place on the occasion of the 63 Eumetsat (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Council meeting, Darmstadt, Germany, 6 and 7 December.

The Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) will be a European operational geostationary meteorological satellite system and is set to revolutionise weather forecasting and environmental monitoring.

The understanding notes the preparation status of the MTG programme, which is currently in Phase A and sets out to define the agreed next steps. It also defines the exact co-operation measures required from both organisations for Phase A and the ensuing Phase B as well as the principles for co-operation in the future phases.

ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Dr Volker Liebig (right), and EUMETSAT Director General, Dr Lars Prahm, at the 63 EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Council meeting. (courtesy: Eumetsat)

An agreement regulating the respective roles, responsibilities and financial commitments of the two organisations concerning future phases will be developed next year, and will be presented to the ESA and Eumetsat (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) Councils for approval in the second half of 2008.

The letter also lists the principles that would provide the overall context of the respective roles ESA and Eumetsat will assume in the planning and execution of the programmes.

These principles identify ESA as the development agency for both the basic space segment technologies and the first twin satellites of MTG; for the satellites that follow, ESA will serve as the procurement agency on behalf of Eumetsat.

Eumetsat, in turn, will specify and consolidate end user requirements, requirements for the overall mission, space to ground and the ground segment itself.

Eumetsat will also be responsible for the overall mission and system engineering and the ground segment design. In addition, it will develop the ground segment and fund the procurement of the recurrent satellites, launch services and LEOP phases, which involve moving the satellite from its initial position after separation from the launcher to its final orbit position, as well as execute the commissioning of the MTG system and run its operations.

(source: ESA)

Natural and manmade catastrophes in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, coupled with increased security needs, have further reinforced the need for earth observation systems. The GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) ensures that crisis situations like floods, forest fires or earthquakes can be better anticipated and managed through monitoring the state of our environment.

Natural and manmade catastrophes in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, coupled with increased security needs, have further reinforced the need for earth observation systems. The GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) ensures that crisis situations like floods, forest fires or earthquakes can be better anticipated and managed through monitoring the state of our environment. To supply space data in a seamless, integrated, timely and secure way to the GMES users the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a 48 million € grant for a coordinated provision of space-based observation data for GMES for its pre-operational phase 2008-2010. This new coherent and cost-efficient approach prefigures an operational service that will offer a comprehensive and sustained supply of space-based earth observation data.

Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industry policy said: “Coordinated, comprehensive and sustained global monitoring of the earth system is one of the key factors to respond to the new economic, social, security and environmental challenges. GMES is the European solution for the needs of citizens in Europe to access reliable information on the status of their environment”.

GMES is a European initiative for the implementation of information services dealing with environment and security. Its observations support decision-making by both institutional and private actors. Decisions could concern either new regulations to preserve our environment or urgent measures in case of natural or man–made catastrophes, such as floods, forest fires, water pollution. Some concrete examples include:

* Monitoring the state of the ocean, the land and the atmosphere on a permanent basis, in support to the actions on Climate Change
* 24/7 service for European civil protections delivering routine and on-demand cartographic maps, maps of population and rural and urban habitat as well as post crisis assessment maps;
* Support for sustainable management and development of Africa through monitoring systems which can identify, forecast and support land cover and land use change, irrigation properties and cattle breeding;
* More specific services such as:
* Detection of oil spills and their discharge in the seas;
* Services for European farmers which can help optimise the fertilizers or pesticides input and contribute to a better overall land management;
* Ozone monitoring and UV exposure.

GMES will be based on observation data received from Earth observation satellites and ground based information. This information will be supplied by two types of services: the Core Services providing data and information common to a broad range of policy-relevant application areas and the Downstream Services tailored to specific applications at global or local levels.

GMES is being built up gradually and will start with the implementation of three pre-operational services in the domain of Emergency Response, Land Monitoring and Marine (the Fast Track Services). The validation of these services will be carried out in the frame of the 7th Framework Programme for research. Other pilot actions will also be initiated in the domain of security and atmosphere monitoring.

Through the grant signed today, the GMES services will benefit free of charge from the required space data. The data will be obtained in priority from existing European Earth observation satellites. In the future, the space based infrastructure will include satellites dedicated to GMES. The data access grant covers the development and the pre-operation of coordinated functions linking earth observation data providers with service providers, as well as the negotiation of data access agreements with the Contributing Missions. An example is the ESA coordination in support to emergency services, with the implementation of procedures such as 24/7 on-call desk for satellite tasking and the building up of reference archives on risk areas, in order to be able to deliver very fast information to end users, in case of emergency.

The success of this grant is a key to the success of the pre-operational services and as such will demonstrate the European capacity to deliver to the end user the reliable, timely and sustainable information. It is a major step forward in establishing an operational GMES infrastructure which, once working, will have important geostrategic implications for Europe.

More information on GMES.info

More information on the European Space Policy

Kosmotras started today the preparation for the [THEOS] launch scheduled for the first quarter of 2008

“Kosmotras started today the preparation for the [THEOS] launch scheduled for the first quarter of 2008,” said Vladimir Mikhailov, first deputy general director of the company, adding that the satellite had been delivered from Toulouse in France to the launch site.

THEOS will provide Thailand with worldwide geo-referenced image products and image-processing capabilities for applications in cartography, land use, agricultural monitoring, forestry management, coastal zone monitoring and flood risk management.

Kosmotras, established in 1997, converts RS-20 (SS-18 Satan) intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), scrapped by Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, into Dnepr launch vehicles.

The Thai satellite will be the third to be launched by the company from the Yasny launch pad in the Urals. Kosmotras launched the Genesis I and Genesis II pathfinder spacecraft from the same location in July 2006 and June 2007, respectively, under a contract with U.S.-based company Bigelow Aerospace.

Source: RIA Novosti

EDISOFT has today the operational capability of providing Near Real Time (NRT) Vessel Detection and Classification services using satellite SAR imagery and other non EO sources like AIS and VMS.

EDISOFT has today the operational capability of providing Near Real Time (NRT) Vessel Detection and Classification services using satellite SAR imagery and other non EO sources like AIS and VMS.

EDISOFT’s service chain encompasses 4 major blocks: data acquisition, data extraction, value addition and delivery.

Data Acquisition

In terms of satellite data, the service provided by EDISOFT uses level 1B SAR imagery received from different satellite missions, like ENVISAT and ERS-2. EDISOFT is also today adding the capability to use RADARSAT-1 and plans in the near future the incorporation of new missions like COSMO-SKYMED, TerraSAR-X and ALOS. This level 1B imagery is received in NRT by FTP from different Ground Stations. Regarding non EO data and for value addition purposes, EDISOFT is receiving in NRT AIS and VMS data. The VTS data is used for validation and is also received in NRT. In terms of ancillary data, it is being used meteorological data from the MET office.

Data Extraction

EDISOFT uses its own SAR vessel detection and classification software to automatically detect all the vessels identified on SAR imagery. In addition, for each detected vessel, the software provides classification information like the size, speed and heading (part of this information can only be derived when the ship’s wake is available). The output of this software is a report containing general information, like the date/time of acquisition or the satellite data used, together with all the detection and classification information. The software automatically generates this report in two formats (text file and a Google Earth .kmz file). In addition, when the detection and classification information is available, a software component is automatically activated, placing the applicable information in a structured way in the EDISOFT EO Vessel Detection and Classification database. It is possible to query all the information reported in a given area and in a given period from the referred database.

Figure 1: EdiVDC – EDISOFT vessel detection and classification software

In what concerns AIS, EDISOFT has developed and installed a system which receives in Real Time all AIS messages, namely the messages 1, 2 and 3 (position reports) and messages 5 (ship static and voyage related data). When new information is received, a software component is automatically activated which parses the AIS information received and places the applicable information in a structured way in the EDISOFT Non EO database. It is possible to query all the AIS information that was reported in a given area and in a given period from the referred database.

Regarding VTS, EDISOFT receives in Real Time all the ships identified in a given area at the time of the acquisition. When a given vessel is detected by the VTS radar and it is also transmitting AIS, the information is automatically consolidated and the information provided is a merge of all the information coming from both the AIS and the VTS radar. When new information is received, a software component is automatically activated which parses the VTS information received and places the applicable information in a structured way in the EDISOFT Non EO database. From the referred database it is possible to query all the VTS information that was reported in a given area and in a given period.

In what concerns VMS, EDISOFT receives, also in real time, all the VMS data transmitted in a given area. When new information is received, a software component is automatically activated which parses the VMS information received and places the applicable information in a structured way in the EDISOFT Non EO database. From the referred database it is possible to query all the VMS information that was reported in a given area and in a given period.

Value Addition

In what concerns value addition, EDISOFT concentrates in different databases all the collected non EO information and the EO Vessel Detection and Classification information performed for the different satellite acquisitions. The integration of all this data in a structured way is by itself the start of the value addition. Using as input the referred databases, EDISOFT’s correlating software is activated when all the applicable information extraction is performed for a given satellite acquisition. This software will be responsible firstly for interpolating the non EO information available in the database to the exact date/time of a given satellite acquisition. Then the software will automatically find matches between the vessels identified in an EO SAR image and the available non EO information. This match is performed within a set of criteria that can be configured, like the circle radius within which a match can be considered. When the correlating software finds a match between a vessel detected through a SAR image and stored AIS or VMS data (meaning that the detected vessel is transmitting either AIS or VMS), it classifies it as non suspect vessel. If, on the other side, the correlating software does not find a match, it classifies it as a suspect vessel. The correlating software generates a report in two formats, text file and a Google Earth .kmz file. The report contains, in addition to general data, the following information:

• Non suspect vessels: all the vessels detected by SAR which are transmitting AIS or VMS;
• Suspect vessels: all the vessels detected by SAR which are nor transmitting neither AIS nor VMS;
• False positives: all vessels which were detected by SAR but which were not detected by the VTS radar;
• False negatives: all vessels which were not detected by SAR but which were detected by AIS, VTS or VMS.

Delivery

All the reports generated are automatically produced in two formats, text files and a Google Earth .kmz files.

Figure 2: EDISOFT service in the Portuguese Coast (Google Earth automatic output)

The products generated by EDISOFT within this service are sent in NRT by e-mail to the service users (and when needed, or requested, by FAX and phone). In addition, EDISOFT has available a GIS enabled “Vessel Detection and Classification web portal” where, for all the authorised users, the results of the service are made available.

Figure 3: EDISOFT Vessel Detection and Classification web portal

Conclusions

EDISOFT has in place an operational Near Real Time capability to provide to its users Vessel Detection and Classification products, together with value addition through correlation with non EO data like AIS and VMS data. All the service results are provided to the users through a GIS enabled web portal where all the services and correspondent results are available for navigation and for download. This capability has been exercised during 2007 for the Portuguese Users in the scope of the GSE GMES MARISS project.

CONTACT
Bárbara Guerra Manso, Head of Business Development & Marketing
Edisoft, S.A
Rua Quinta dos Medronheiros – Lazarim
Apartado 382 Monte de Caparica
2826-801 Caparica Portugal
Tel.: (+351) 212 945 900
Fax: (+351) 212 945 999
Mobile: (+351) 93 235 1618
E-mail: barbara.manso@edisoft.pt

The FloodServer, a novel platform designed to provide extensive flood risk information for the whole of Europe quickly, reliably and easily accessible for everybody is now available online at www.floodrisk.eu.

  • Damage potentials and indication of dangers derived from satellite imagery and historical maps
  • Major cross-border river areas already completely captured
  • Key aim is a more efficient flood management across Europe

Friedrichshafen / Heidelberg, 12 Sep 2007. The geo-information service providers Infoterra GmbH and geomer GmbH present detailed maps and information about past and potential future flood events at the rivers Rhine, Elbe and lower Weser.

“Detailed information on the extend and impact of past flood events supports the responsible authorities and teams,” explains Marek Tinz, responsible project manager at Infoterra GmbH. “While it can of course not prevent an actual flood event, the FloodServer significantly supports the efforts to reduce the impact of future events.”

Not only satellite-based maps of recent flood events are used: For example, historical maps of the river Rhine flood in the winter 1881/82 are available. “The more information we can gather, the more precisely we can define potential flooded areas”, explains Tinz further.

A combination of this data with up-to-date land use maps allows the identification of areas particularly at risk, as well as the damage potentials involved. Based on these maps, authorities in charge can implement targeted and efficient preventive measures.

Historical and potential flood areas, information on potential damage as well as up-to-date land use maps – all this can be accessed easily through an info button on www.floodrisk.eu. Additionally, the information system allows the user to access particular locations through a comfortable search function and to print high-resolution maps.

Local squad leaders, water management agencies, civil protection forces and rescue services, as well as European authorities in charge of international flood management – a great variety of users will benefit from the FloodServer in the next years.

“We have developed this platform in close cooperation with the future users,” reports Dr. André Assmann, responsible member of the General Management at geomer GmbH, “thus we can be sure, that the FloodServer will really make a considerable contribution to an improved anticipation of flood events, the initiation of systematic protection measures, an efficient preparation, a targeted reaction in case of crisis and, last but not least, to an optimal implementation of subsequent restoration works.”

In addition to the two geo-information providers user organisations such as the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) as well as the transnational INTERREG III B Project ELLA (ELbe and LAbe) dealing with risk prevention in the Elbe catchment, have supported the definition of the information layers implemented on the FloodServer today.
The novel approach of developing up-to-date geo-information services in close cooperation with the user organisations is a key aspect of the European GMES1 initatitive. Within this program, the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) work together to establish a long-term operational European Earth observation program. GMES is intended to provide authorities and administrations in Europe with environment and security related information. The FloodServer was developed within the GMES projects RISK-EOS and PREVIEW, which address the development and validation of GMES applications in the field of risk management.

The use of the FloodServer, which is jointly operated by Infoterra GmbH and geomer GmbH, is free of charge. Organisations and authorities interested in making flood risk maps and existing additional information accessible for their own responsibilities, can also utilize the platform. Minor charges may apply for individual editing and integration of data.

About Infoterra GmbH

Infoterra GmbH, Friedrichshafen, has been a leader in development and validation of GMES services for several years now. The company has established a strong expertise in geo-information services for land monitoring, water quality assessment, flood risk management, and spatial planning applications. Within the European GMES Land Monitoring services, Infoterra GmbH is coordinating major development and implementation projects.

Infoterra GmbH was founded in 2001 to prepare and conduct the commercial exploitation of TerraSAR-X. The company is responsible not only for the commercial distribution of the data, but for the development and marketing of derived geo-information products and services as well.
Infoterra GmbH employs a workforce of 45 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astrium GmbH.

About geomer GmbH

geomer gmbH is one of the leading German companies for geographic information technology. Founded in 1999 from scientists of Heidelberg University it now assist its customers with a wide range of skills and tailored services. Being an independent company geomer in between has 14 employers from different fields of education.

As a full-service provider for GIS technology, geomer offers the complete range of necessary GIS services, software development, server and web services and experienced training. geomer is authorized reseller for ESRI desktop and server products. Open Source software is also supported. The portfolio is completed by different data products from partners like NAVTEQ.
In addition, geomer offers consulting services in the fields of risk management, flood protection, soil management, terrain analysis and geo- marketing.

Infoterra and geomer provide Flood Information Online

Application Example from the FloodServer
Flood extent at Rivers Aller and Weser (Germany), April 1994:
The system enables the user to select different information layers such as land use or road networks, and to search for specific place names.

Mapping of Flood Events
Flood extent at Rivers Aller and Weser (Germany), April 1994:
Information on flood extent along with land use information supports flood risk management in this particular flood event and for the future.

Contact

Mareike Döpke, Infoterra
T +49 7545 8 3924 M +49 171 793 7253
Email www.infoterra.de
Dr. Stefan Jäger, geomer
T +49 89458 40 M +49 163 3735177
Email www.geomer.de

1 Global Monitoring for Environment and Security

In June a station was installed in GMV for receiving diverse meteorological products and images broadcast through EUMETSAT’s EUMETCast service. The main purpose of this installation is to reinforce GMV’s research and development work in the earth observation area

EUMETCast is EUMETSAT’s environmental-data broadcasting system. EUMETSAT is the European organization for operating meteorological satellites, whose main remit is to deliver weather and climate-related satellite data, images and products, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

EUMETCast is used mainly for broadcasting derived products and images from EUMETSAT’s meteorological satellites, also providing access to data and services from other providers.
The installation of this reception station will enable GMV to receive directly a series of derived products and images for carrying out research and development projects and activities in the field of earth observation, where GMV has a long and distinguished track record.

GMV’s earth-observation activities center on the design and development of image distribution, filing and processing systems, onboard instrument processors and data-quality analysis and pre-processing systems, as well as developing mission control and planning systems for earth-observation space missions.

In terms of specific meteorological data, GMV has been furnishing the Spanish Meteorological Institute (Instituto Nacional de Meteorología: INM) with engineering and systems since the mid nineties. GMV has participated in the development of EUMETSA´s Nowcasting Application Facility for the INM and has provided backup for the development and maintenance of the operational system for the capture, processing, distribution and filing of INM’s meteorological data.

WorldView-1 successfully separated from its launch vehicle and automatically initialized its onboard processors.

Galleries of launch and satellite assembly imagery from DigitalGlobe™ – video and photos of the launch from Boeing.

The spacecraft’s Control Moment Gyros (CMG) have been powered up and are now running at the full operational speed. The solar arrays have been deployed and are fully operational, narrowband and wideband downlinks are fully functional and the sensor is currently going through its initialization and calibration, and is progressing on schedule.The first imagery from WorldView-1 is expected to be available prior to October 18, the six-year anniversary of the launch of QuickBird.

DigitalGlobe’s panchromatic WorldView-1 will offer the highest-available resolution for a commercial satellite (50 cm), together with industry-leading geolocation accuracy, imaging capacity, agility and revisit.