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Calendar of Events in Autumn 2007.


Start Date End Date Event Web Venue
01-oct-07 03-oct-07 ISGI International CODATA Symposium on Generalization of Information web Geneva, Switzerland
02-oct-07 03-oct-07 GI-INDEED Workshop web Genova, Italy
02-oct-07 05-oct-07 GeoCongress Quebec 2007 web Quebec, Canada
02-oct-07 06-oct-07 JCOMM Scientific and Technical Symposium on Storm Surges web Seoul, Replublic of Korea
08-oct-07 10-oct-07 CoastGIS 2007 web Santander, Spain
10-oct-07 12-oct-07 UDMS 2007 web Stuttgart, Germany
11-oct-07 11-oct-07 Seminar on Development Cooperation web Brussels, Belgium
22-oct-07 23-oct-07 Areas and Mechanisms for Collaboration between Turkish and European Actors in Space Activities web Istanbul, Turkey
26-0ct-07 27-oct-07 EUROGI EMM web Lisbon, Portugal
04-nov-07 04-nov-07 5 th East Europe eGov Day 2007 web Prague, Czech Republic
05-nov-07 07-nov-07 ForestSat 2007: Forest and Remote Sensing: Methods and operational tools web Montpellier, France
05-nov-07 09-nov-07 UN/Vietnam/ESA WK Forest management & environmental protection web Hanoi, Vietnam
10-oct-07 11-oct-07 Asia-Pacific Regional WK on GEOSS Information Access web Beijing, China
15-oct-07 16-oct-07 AGRISAR and EAGLE Campaigns Final Workshop web Noordwijk, The Netherlands
15-oct-07 20-oct-07 2 nd Advanced Training Course in Ocean Remote Sensing web Hangzhou, China
22-oct-07 26-oct-07 The Eighth International Ice Charting Working Group Meeting web Frascati, Italy
01-nov-07 02-nov-07 Recognition cross-border capacity building in Earth Observation web Enschede, The Netherlands
04-nov-07 04-nov-07 The user and the GEOSS Architecture- disaster preparedness and management web Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
05-nov-07 09-nov-07 2007 International Geohazards Week web Frascati, Itlay
12-nov-07 14-nov-07 Second Space for Hydrology Workshop web Geneva,  Switzerland
15-nov-07 17-nov-07 5 th International symposium on multispectral image processing and pattern recognition web Wuhan, China
19-nov-07 21-nov-07 26 th ECGS Workshop on Active Vulcanism & Continental Rifting web Noth Kivu, DR of Congo
20-nov-07 23-nov-07 WK “ EO small satellites for RS applications” web Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
26-nov-07 30-nov-07 FRINGE 2007 web Frascati, Italy
26-nov-07 30-nov-07 UN/Argentina/ESA WK Sustainable Development in Mountain Areas of Andean Countries web Mendoza, Argentina
29-nov-07 30-nov-07 CODATA – LandCover Logic web Berlin, Germany
30-nov-07 30-nov-07 The Cape Town Ministerial Summit 2007 web Cape Town, South Africa
04-dec-07 06-dec-07 3 rd International conference: “Earth from space – the Most Effective Solutions” web Moscow, The Russian Federation
10-dec-07 12-dec-07 4 th Middle East Spatial Technology Conference web Bahrain, Bahrain
12-dec-07 14-dec-07 3D GeoInfo 2007 web Delft, The Netherlands
17-dec-07 19-dec-07 b-GIS@ASIA2007 Conference web Trivandrum, India
15-jan-07 15-jan-07 Information day on ESA integrated Applications Promotion Initiative (IAP) web Estec, The Netherlands
21-jan-07 25-jan-07 SeaSAR 2008 web Frascati, Italy
07-jan-08 25-apr-08 Postgraduate course: EO and GIS- Integrated Water Resources web Nairobi, Kenya
21-jan-08 24-jan-08 International Conference cartography web Borovets, Bulgaria
20-feb-08 22-feb-08 ISU: Space solutions to Earth´s global challenges web Strasburg, France
25-feb-08 29-feb-08 Spatial data Infrastructure web Augustine, Trinidad
04-mar-08 05-mar-08 ESA-EUSC 2008 Conference: Image Information Mining web Frascati, Italy
09-mar-08 12-mar-08 GITA Annual Conference web Seattle, USA

Dear EO-Mag reader,

Our last Annual General Meeting in early July has been marked by an important step forward for our Association through the positive vote on the Evolution Plan presented by the Board of Directors. The road is now opened for an extensive upgrading of our logistics and working practices to respond to the expectations of our increased member population. Within this broad approach a special effort is made to take care of the characteristics and needs of our Small and Medium size companies (SMEs).

The new elected Board will take to heart to carry out these transformations hand in hand with all members willing to take an active part in this evolution. I would like in passing to express again our congratulations to our two new Vice-Chairmen, Nick Faller from INFOTERRA and Han Wensink from ARGOSS, and to express our deepest appreciation to Stigbjorn Olovsson who served for several years officially as Vice-Chairman but more to me as Co-Chairman. For once I would like indeed to take this opportunity to stress the role of our Board of Directors. It is essential indeed that our members know about the dedication and competence of all those who are defending their interests through so many internal Board and Working Group meetings, as well as in external meetings with the EU, ESA, and remote sensing events of all kinds to name just a few. While several member companies have recently joined the various Working Groups showing their understanding of the key issues, the door is still wide open for new initiatives from the members.

One of the highlights of the coming year, where members participation both in organization and in presentations would be expected, 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 to express your views and present your know-how to potential users and customers, and to contact our Executive Secretary at your earliest convenience to explore participation options.

In the mean time several important meetings are scheduled with the European Union and the European Space Agency, in particular the final review of the EOVOX process, that many of you had a chance to follow closely during the past couple of years and which converged towards the Evolution plan mentioned earlier.

With best wishes to all our readers.

Paul Kamoun
EARSC Chairman

EARSC Board is glad to welcome new Members in our Association.

On EARSC behalf, we are certain that new Members will contribute actively to the aims of EARSC enthusiastically involved in coordinating and strengthening the Earth-observation chain and promoting the European Earth observation industry in programmes such as GMES and GEOSS.

EARSC Membership is nowadays increasing which encourage us in the Board of Directors to continue to do our best to fulfill the tasks that you as members could expect of the association. On EARSC behalf, Welcome!

More information about the new members at:

June BoD:

September BoD:

EARSC Membership

EARSC membership represents the entire spectrum of the Earth Observation industry including all sector chain: providers, stakeholders and users. For our members, the annual membership dues are a cost-effective way to stay informed, promote their company, political and institutional representation, networking opportunities with industry players and help support the future of Earth Observation. Industry together could transform activities into meaningful action on behalf of our sector.

EARSC membership is composed by full members [1] and observer members [2]

1 Any commercial European company or partnership offering and undertaking consulting and contracting services or supplying equipment in the field of remote sensing which is based in a European Country which contributes to the European Space Agency or which is a member of the European Community shall be eligible for membership.

2 Companies from countries associated to European programs but not eligible for full membership. Any active representative organization, institution or association party in the field of Earth observation and not engaged in commercial or profit-making activities such as Public/Governmental Bodies, International Organisation, International Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), Private Non Profit Organisation/Foundation, Network/Association/Aggregation of Intermediaries(profit or non profit), Business Association, Universities, other?) with interest in Earth Observation.

More information on membership

Initial results from an ESA field campaign carried out in support of the development of two Earth-observation missions prove encouraging and potentially pave the way for future monitoring of the Earth’s surface.

Within a multi-objective campaign, field data is being gathered in three separate periods this year from sites across France and Spain. The campaign is in support of preparation for the Sentinel-2 mission, being developed by ESA as part of the space segment for the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) programme, and the FLEX mission, which was selected in 2006 for assessment as the result of ESA’s Call for Core Earth Explorer Mission Ideas.


Sentinel-2 is a multi-spectral imaging mission for high-resolution observation of land surfaces and will provide an enhanced continuity of the French SPOT (Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre) missions and the US Landsat missions. As part of GMES, Sentinel-2 will provide information for land monitoring and emergency services.

The main aim of the FLEX mission concept is to quantify the photosynthetic efficiency of terrestrial ecosystems at a global scale through the measurement of chlorophyll-fluorescence. Chlorophyll-fluorescence radiation is emitted from vegetation in the visible and infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum and provides unique information about the photosynthetic activity of plants. Photosynthetic efficiency estimates will lead to a better knowledge of the role vegetation plays in the carbon and water cycles, and ultimately contribute to an improved understanding of climate.

So far the campaign is proving very successful. Scientists are looking forward to the third part of the campaign in September, after which the results can be fully analyzed. These results will further the development of the Sentinel-2 mission and the assessment studies for the candidate FLEX mission.

More information

The Eighth Continent Project, a program to integrate space technology and resources into the global economy was launched at the Colorado School of Mines Center for Space Resources

For the first time, government, industry and academia have joined forces with entrepreneurs and businesses to forge the next frontier in commercializing space technology and resources.

The immediate terrestrial application of space technologies and their longer-term space applications within the project are the avant-garde and great example for cooperation between the public authorities, businesses and scientific institutions.

More information

The Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved a new space program for 2008-2012.

Under the program, investments for innovative activity are to increase up considerably and the initiative is expected to be a major step forward, although it is yet to pass hearings in the new parliament.

Foreseen activities will yield practical outputs, provide solutions to concrete tasks of space monitoring, and ensure Ukraine’s participation in international projects. Ukrainian spacecraft will be launched at least once in two years. Further, Ukrainian space research will be elevated to a new qualitative level through provision of competitive equipment and machinery, data capacities, and surface facilities.

In addition, a group of satellites for surveillance and geophysical monitoring of the Earth will be deployed (Sich-2 and Sich-2M spacecrafts) and a geo-data support system is to be created as a part of the GMES and the GEOSS initiatives.

More information

World Space Week: Space tours for children, special exhibition on 50 years of the space age and a forum “Civil Society and Outer Space”

The central topic of World Space Week this year is the 50th anniversary of the space age. To commemorate this, the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) will issue a series of space stamps.

World Space Week celebrates the contribution of space science and technology to the betterment of the human condition. Endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1999, it marks the anniversary of two milestones in the human exploration and use of outer space: the launch of the first artificial satellite, SPUTNIK I, on 4 October 1957, and the entry into force of the Treaty Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which took place on 10 October 1967. World Space Week is an ideal opportunity to learn about space and science, which is exciting especially for young people. It gives also the opportunity for all countries, space-faring and non-space-faring, to organize interesting and educational events. World Space Week International Association, a non-governmental, educational organization is coordinating worldwide events scheduled for World Space Week.

Children and Space

As part of the activities for World Space Week 2007, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna, in cooperation with the Austrian Space Forum have invited school classes aged from 6 to 10 to participate in a “space tour” that includes Multimedia Presentation on Mars exploration and the AustroMars Expedition, an experiment with the Dignity Rover and demonstration of a spacesuit glove.

Civil Society And Space

“Where do we stand on using outer space for peaceful purposes” will be the central topic of a Civil Society and Outer Space Forum that will take place during World Space Week, from 8 to 9 October, in the Vienna International Centre. The Forum is organized by the Vienna CONGO office (Conference of Non-governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations), in cooperation with UNOOSA, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the European Space Policy Institute, the Space Generation Advisory Council and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency. The Forum will provide an overview of the current use of outer space, in particular those space applications responding to a large variety of societal needs as well as explore further possibilities of the use of space technology and its applications in the non-governmental sector.

Space Exhibition

A special exhibition on 50 years of the space age will be displaced in the Vienna International Centre, Rotunda, for the whole month of October, consisting of satellite and rocket models, special photo exhibition on the United Nations and Outer Space, including a historic overview of the meetings of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Space Stamps and Posters

The United Nations Postal Administration will issue two sets of space stamps on 25 October 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Space Age. With a central theme “Space for Humanity”, the first set consists of six stamps and an overprint with the illustration of a space-shuttle and the text “World Space Week, 4-10 October 2007” below the design. A second sheet includes various images from space, including the International Space Station and the Shuttle-Mir and the Apollo Moon missions. A limited quantity of overprinted New York value souvenir sheets will be available at UNPA offices in New York and Vienna.
A poster based on artwork for the stamps has been produced jointly by UNOOSA and UNPA. To obtain a copy of the poster, please contact UNOOSA.

For more information on the World Space Week activities, visit the site on UNOOSA homepage. Resources to help teachers conduct activities for World Space Week are available online.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) implements the decisions of the General Assembly and of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its two Subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The Office is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, and assisting developing countries in using space science and technology. Located in Vienna, Austria, UNOOSA maintains a website at HYPERLINK “http://www.unoosa.org” http://www.unoosa.org.

For information contact:
Romana Kofler
Associate Programme Officer, OOSA
Telephone: (+43-1) 260 60 4962
E-mail: romana.kofler@unvienna.org

Source: Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Planning to make its first space launch in the coming years, Turkey has signed a new treaty with Ukraine for the collaborative production of spacecraft; the treaty covers a shared work area relating to the production of the spacecraft and nuclear energy.

According to the “Space Research and Usage” treaty, the two countries are going to collaborate in programs including enhancement and production of space rocket systems; observation and evaluation of lunar devices; ground-deployed observations; space-related research using plants; student and scientist exchange programs; and educational facilities.

The two countries’ foundations in the field of astronautics will have joint attempts not only to launch funds to support joint research, scientific and technological programs, associated scientific and technological centers, labs and joint activities, but also to actualize joint projects.

In compliance with the verdict given by the Higher Commission of Science and Technology in Ankara on March 11, 2005, the Ministry of Transportation and the Turkish Air Force are to spend YTL 1.25 billion on the 2005-2014 National Space Research Project, undertaken by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK). The money is to be spent on training astronauts by 2008 and establishing a national launchpad system and infrastructure for the national space system by 2009.
Turkey has devoted YTL 80 million to work on the project in 2008; this figure will not be less than YTL 120 million in 2009 and YTL 150 million each year between 2010 and 2014. According to the program, YTL 73 million is for scientific studies, YTL 946 million for technology, YTL 30 million for application, YTL 45 million for people and information, YTL 30 million for international collaboration and just YTL 1 million for supervision and coordination.

TÜBİTAK will collaborate closely with the European Space Agency and NASA. The earliest Turkish mission control is expected to be built in 2012. Ankara is considered more likely in terms of hosting the base while other candidates (Mersin, Antalya and İzmit) are also being considered. Turkey has already started investigating the Houston base in the US and the Baikonur base in Kazakhstan, leading to cooperation with both the US and Russia in this project.
Turkey’s plan of action for 2010 within the National Outer Space Program is also ready. Turkey, upon completing its astrophysical research and studies of gyroscope technology enhancement in 2007, will establish the National Space (system) infrastructure in 2008. Turkey will then develop the Earth Observation Research Satellite (BILSAT), designing and developing low-cost satellite types (micro and nano) and data harmonization. Turkey, aiming to start astronaut education programs in 2010, is also planning to begin the national launch system and low-cost rocket production experiments during the same year. Turkey is expected to send six astronauts into space in the first leg of the project. Plans for 2011 include solar system and planetary investigations; magnetic field research and establishing a space base; by 2013 the project will develop the ability to scan comets. Finally a space shuttle built in Turkey will be launched in 2014.

ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA

The White House plans to deepen its commitment to the nation’s space-based land-imaging program, it said in a report last month.

The report, titled “A Plan for a U.S. National Land Imaging Program,” makes recommendations for the continuation of Landsat, the satellite-based Earth-imaging program that has provided millions of moderate-resolution images since 1972. The report was issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the arm of the White House that advises the president on matters of science and technology. OSTP is also responsible for articulating the president’s science and technology programs.

Leadership role

The plan reflects the White House commitment to take more of a leadership role in understanding the changes in the land surface observed worldwide, said John Marburger, science adviser to the president and director of OSTP.

“The land surface, polar regions and coastal zones are undergoing significant changes under the pressures of population growth, development and climate change, and we must carefully monitor these changes in order to manage them,” he said. “The importance of this imagery to the nation requires a more sustainable effort to ensure that land-imaging data are available far into the future.”

The report made three main recommendations. The United States should:

  • Commit to continue the collection of moderate-resolution land imagery.
  • Establish and maintain a core operational capability to collect moderate-resolution land imagery through the procurement and launch of a series of U.S.-owned satellites.
  • Establish the National Land Imaging Program, hosted and managed by the Interior Department, to meet its civil land imaging needs.

Landsat’s moderate-resolution imagery data is used by the Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, State, and Transportation departments; NASA; and the National Science Foundation in addition to other nations including China, India, Japan and Russia.

Landsat data has been used as an early-warning system to detect famine in Africa, for land-use planning and water management, and for national security operations. Moderate-resolution satellite imagery is used to get images of larger areas of land, said Ray Byrnes, liaison for satellite missions at the U.S. Geological Survey and one of the authors of the report.

High-resolution satellite imagery can take a shot of Washington, D.C., and show all the buildings on the Mall.

But to get a snapshot of the entire Chesapeake Bay would require the use of Landsat, which would take several days to get high-resolution images of the bay. Landsat’s moderate-resolution imagery can take photos of the whole globe several times a year. “High-resolution satellites aren’t designed to do that,” Byrnes said.

Despite Landsat’s long history and usefulness, the United States has never established it as an operational program as it has other space-based observation programs, such as weather forecasting.

NASA has handled Landsat’s research and development side, Byrnes said. Landsat’s management is shared by several agencies, including USGS and NASA. “But no has been able to take ownership of it and make it operational. No one agency has championed the cause.”

The federal government has twice tried to commercialize the program, but neither attempt succeeded.

With one agency, the Interior Department, at the helm of Landsat, the program stands a better chance of continuing into the future, the report stated. The moderate-resolution imaging program should be treated more like weather or navigation satellite programs, Byrnes said.

“It would be awfully troubling if the National Weather Service said, ‘Our satellites are coming down, and it will be two or three more years until we have a weather satellite,’ ” he added.

But that’s what is happening with Landsat.

Both Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 are aging and not necessarily gracefully. Landsat 5 was launched in 1984 and Landsat 7 in 1999, and both have overstayed their welcome in the starry skies above.

On borrowed time

“Landsat 5 is way beyond its design life,” Byrnes said. It carried an extra-large fuel tank, which has allowed engineers to keep repositioning it.

Although satellites seem to whirl magically through space in their orbits around the Earth, they all carry fuel and small thrusters, Byrnes said. “As the orbit degrades a little bit over the years, you’re constantly readjusting it.”

If the satellites’ sensors and key subsystems hold up, they could last a few more years.

“But once you’re out of fuel, you can’t maintain your orbit position. You need enough fuel to bring them down for a gradual re-entry,” he said.

Neither satellite is expected to operate beyond 2010.

A successor, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, is scheduled for launch in 2011. But even if the government does take immediate action, the program will suffer a gap in data.

The country still has no national program that includes plans for a successor to LDCM or deployment of a replacement satellite if LDCM should fail at launch or early in its design life.

The European polar satellite MetOp-A, launched last year, is already improving weather predictions and will soon help global environmental and security monitoring.

Scientists from Europe and the United States met in Amsterdam for a joint conference of the European meteorological satellites EUMETSAT and the American Meteorological Society, to discuss their experiences.

Even though the MetOp-A satellite, which orbits the poles, only took up regular service in May this year, it is already improving the way weather is predicted because of its “unprecedented accuracy and resolution of different variables such as temperature and humidity, wind speed (and) ozone,” EUMETSAT’s director general Lars Prahm told a news conference.
Garry Davis, of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who works together with EUMETSAT, said the MetOp-A satellite provided the “biggest step forward in 30 years.”

The high resolution images of the satellite down to one kilometre (0.6 miles) have helped NOAA predict and track storms and wildfires better, he said.

“In 2006 the US suffered through its worst wildfire season, with more than 10 million acres being burned and more than 96,000 wildfires and we are on track for another rough year,” Davis said.
“Working with EUMETSAT we have been able to bring out new data to help minimize the damage of these wildfires.”

In the coming years EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency (ESA) are predicting the polar satellite will also play a key role in the European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative lead by the European Commission.

Data from the satellite will be used for rapid mapping after disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis to help organize aid.
“They can answer questions of aid agencies like: are the roads passable and is there drinking water available in the area?” Volker Liebig, ESA’s director of earth observation programmes, explained.

The EUMETSAT data will be used to provide regular independent satellite coverage of Europe which will help to provide better maps and also to monitor the state of the ocean including the rate of the rise of sea levels, he added.