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China: share information, technology and expertise to forecast natural disasters

China will share its information, technology and expertise to forecast natural disasters and manage disaster response in other developing nations, a Chinese minister revealed.

Li Xueju, minister of civil affairs, made the remark this week (24 September) at a developing nations’ ministerial meeting on disaster response management, according to Xinhua news agency.

Li said China is looking to establish an Asian research centre for major disasters, which will study the scientific causes of the region’s natural disasters, policies for disaster prevention and mechanisms for international cooperation to reduce post-disaster impacts.

He added that China will share data obtained from its Fengyun-II weather satellite, remote sensing information from its environment-monitoring mini-satellites, and the observations of its seismological stations with other developing countries.

Existing international organisations, like the Asia-Europe Meeting, the China-Africa Forum and the UN could provide a good platform for international cooperation on disaster control, said Li. He proposed that such cooperation should become a major subject for international dialogue.

China has already cooperated with the UN secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction to establish an international drought relief centre, which opened in Beijing in April, according to Li.

China will also fund a training workshop on disaster response management for member countries of the International Civil Defence Organisation in October, along with another post-disaster reconstruction training course for developing countries in November.

More than 50 government officials from developing countries attended the ministerial conference, held by the ministries of civil affairs and commerce in Beijing.

Preceding the ministerial meeting, an academic conference, the 2007 International Workshop on Natural Disasters and Emergency Management, also took place in Beijing (22–24 September).
Qu Guosheng, workshop chair and chief engineer of China’s National Earthquake Response Support Service, says the successful experience of Chinese scientists and rescue teams during the earthquakes in Indonesia and Pakistan in 2005 show that China has already developed good infrastructure and skills in helping other nations in disaster prevention and management.
“Compared with rich nations, China has a similar development stage and closer social situation to other developing countries, which enable us to offer much more efficient assistance to them,” Qu told SciDev.Net.

Source: SciDev.Net

With GMES, Europe will have a global environmental information system in place which will be unique in the world.

ESA PR 30-2007. ESA’s Member States participating in the GMES Programme approved the transition to Phase-2 of Segment 1 of the GMES Space Component Programme.
 
Oversubscription of the programme by the ESA Council at ministerial level in 2005 was confirmed, with oversubscription to phase 2 of 116%, giving a total amount of €500 million. This additional contribution to the programme will allow ESA to confirm the development of the first three Sentinel satellites.
Moreover, some countries, which were unable to confirm their contributions in time, are expected to subscribe later. The GMES Space Component Programme is co-funded by the European Commission.

Mr Volker Liebig, Director of Earth Observation Programmes, says that, “With GMES, Europe will have a global environmental information system in place which will be unique in the world. Europeans can be proud of that fact. Indeed, other nations give GMES as an example of how operational Earth-observing systems can be used to provide critical information to decision-makers and citizens.”

ESA, which is responsible for the management and coordination of the overall GMES Space Component in Europe, will, as a result of this transition to Phase-2, be able to make progress on development of the Sentinel satellite series and, in particular, build Sentinel-1, -2 and -3, together with the necessary ground segment.

Prior to launch of the ESA-built Sentinels, which is planned for 2011-12, ESA will coordinate the provision of EO data required by the GMES services currently implemented by the EC. This will help to gradually take GMES from the pre-operational phase to the fully operational stage once the Sentinel satellites are in place.
GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is an EU-led initiative aimed at implementing information services dealing with environment and security.

For further information, please contact:
 
Josef Aschbacher
Head of GMES Space Office
Directorate of Earth Observation Programmes
ESA, ESRIN
E-mail

IEEE, ISPRS and OGC workshops

Workshops organized by the IEEE, ISPRS and OGC have been completed. In regional scientific application scenarios, the workshops demonstrate publishing, discovery, and access of complex geospatial data and online processing services using existing OGC standards consistent with the architecture principals of the GEOSS 10 Year Implementation Plan.

Most recently, “The Impact of Climate Change and Variability on Biodiversity and Energy in the Arctic” was demonstrated by Compusult, CIESIN and IMAA-CNR on 19-20 August 2007. The workshop was part of IPY GeoNorth, the First International Circumpolar Conference on Geospatial Sciences and Applications, held in Yellowknife, N.W.T., Canada.

Prior to that workshop, “Sustainable development through Earth Observation, Agriculture,” led by the University of New Mexico, was held at the IEEE/GRSS 32nd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE) June 29, 2007 in San Jose, Costa Rica. And “GEOSS System and Interoperability – Sahara Dust and Ocean Productivity Over the Mediterranean,” led by Washington University (St. Louis, MO, USA), was held July 22, 2007 in Barcelona, Spain at the IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS).

Upcoming workshops include: “Earth Observation to benefit Water and Health,” at AfricaGIS07, September 15-16 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; “Regional Decisions for Climate Change,” September 21-22 in Boulder, CO, USA; and “Environment Disaster/Tsunami,” November 14 at the Asian Association on Remote Sensing (AARS) Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Boulder workshop will be held in conjunction with the September 2007 OGC Technical Committee and Planning Committee meetings, which are being hosted by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The demonstration will address access to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Data Distribution Centres for data to support regional decision makers considering the predicted effects of climate change. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Robert Corell, Director, Global Change Program at the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment; Senior Policy Fellow, American Meteorological Society; and co-chair of the Arctic Council climate impact assessment (ACIA). Speaking of the OGC standards that are a critical component of the GEOSS architecture, Dr. Corell said, “Developing the bridge of climate predictions with regional decision makers is a vital step to planning for our future.”

The OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 350 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS Specifications support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website.

Earth observation offers a new approach to sustainability

From space, it is possible to do more than just see the Earth. With the right technology, the planets changes can be better understood, and its industrial developments potentially better managed.

Over the last two years, along with Hatfield Consultants and the European Space Agency (ESA), the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) has been working on a pilot to see how Earth observation data can support its sustainable development and aid in future mine reclamation.Accumulating satellite data is not new for the AOSP, but using the information for such detailed monitoring is.

Before, we were collecting satellite imagery knowing that we were going to need it, but we werent processing it. We used it for mapping purposes, says Darrell Martindale, manager of environment and regulatory compliance with Albian Sands Energy. When you buy satellite images, youre just buying electronic signals. You can use it as a map or an image, but there is so much more you can do with that information. The ESA project allowed us to explore other uses for the data. Were not just making pretty pictures.

Martindale explains that satellite imagery can be used to conduct important monitoring such as identifying plant types and the extent of certain ecosystems, as well as observing changes to water quality in the local watershed.
The ESA says that Earth observation images show the world through a wide enough frame so that complete large-scale phenomena can be observed to an accuracy and entirety it would take an army of groundlevel observers to match.

Martindale says the satellite program is a nice complement to the significant on-the-ground observation the AOSP already conducts.

We get the data in other ways, but were looking for better ways to use it. The satellite images back up our own environmental monitoring.

Another plus for the AOSP is that the images from the ESA came for free, as part of an initiative designed to integrate satellite imagery into corporate sustainability reporting. The oilsands project is part of a series of about 70 activities the ESA has been conducting in the last seven years in a program called Earth observation market development.

Our aim is to get information from satellites to be used by industries [big and small companies] in their business operations, and accepted as being of value, says Stephen Coulson, head of industry section, directorate of Earth observation programs for ESA. Its not a straightforward task; there are high expectations, and theres been a lot of overselling in the past. The ESA is planning on building families of satellites designed specifically to deliver a whole range of operational services for [monitoring] things such as the pollution of our water, the state of our forests, cities, and countryside, and the quality of the air we breathe. The first satellites should be available in around five years from now.

Martindale says the ESA is quite admirable in this initiative.

Using [Earth observation data] for sustainable development is a novel approach, he says, adding that in order to participate in the project, the work had to be showcased in a multinational companys annual sustainable development report. It is featured in Shell Canadas latest sustainability publication.

The project

Hatfield, and then Shell Canada/Albian Sands got involved in this project in 2005. Hatfield project manager and partner Wade Gibbons says the company has been working in the oilsands industryspecifically with the Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program (RAMP)for some time. When it heard about the opportunity with the ESA, it approached the owners and operators of the AOSP.

Because Shell Canada, Albian Sands, and ultimately Royal Dutch Shell are business leaders in corporate sustainability, we thought it would be a good fit, he says.

It appears they were right. In 2006, Hatfield acquired images of the AOSP from the French Spot 5 satellite, proceeding to compare the imagery to other satellite data that had been acquired the year before.

Hatfield says the goal was to assess the mine activity area, habitat fragmentation in the lease area, watershed, and region, and the potential for integrating First Nations traditional knowledge with the satellite imagery.

The processed images showed a 9.3 per cent increase in Shells land use from 2005 to 2006. This represents 2.45 per cent of the entire Muskeg River watershed, and 8.2 per cent of land used in all Athabasca oilsands activities, Shell Canada reports. In Shells [AOSP] project expansion, the amount of land use is expected to increase year over year before remediation and reclamation begins. The imagery acquired in 2006 can serve as a baseline, with repeat observations and analysis providing a record of Shells mine development and reclamation, documenting a commitment to progressive mining.

This is not the first time Hatfield has been involved in an Earth observation project. Gibbons says the company has worked with satellite imagery for close to a decade, on projects including flood monitoring in the Mekong Basin, which includes parts of China, Myanmar, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It has also worked with the Canadian Space Agency on similar Earth observation activities in Canada, Asia, and Africa.

Engaging stakeholders

Shell Canada says an important aspect of its involvement in the satellite monitoring pilot program is to allow stakeholders to monitor future reclamation on its oilsands leases specifically the Fort McKay First Nation, the AOSPs closest neighbours. Albian Sands Martindale says that sharing the satellite data with Fort McKay became a seed for the First Nation to begin to use Earth observation, and geographic information systems (GIS) to manage their land base.

Hatfield is working with [Fort McKay] to capture information to build a GIS, Martindale says, adding that means integrating information like the location of trap lines, hunting sites, and migration routes into the system. That way, when industry approaches the band with a proposed development on its land, it can quickly see and explain the impacts it could have on traditional uses. This could help solve issues such as moving a road a couple hundred metres to avoid a significant archeological site.

[Earth observation] is a tool they will be able to use to manage their resources. Martindale says, and is quick to add that Albian is not pressuring the First Nation to use the satellite data. They will take it over themselvesthis is just a kickstart with the imagery.

Meeting standards

In order to ensure the credibility of the earth observation program, the results were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Auditing is not mandatory, but is an important component of sustainable development reporting, the Hatfield report states. The assurance of information provides confidence in the validity of the results.

Hatfield says the pilot was designed to enable Shell to report on three Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) environmental performance indicators:

  • location and size of land owned, leased, managed in or adjacent to areas of high biodiversity value;
  • description of significant impacts of mining activities on biodiversity; and habitats protected or restored.

The GRI is a voluntary, internationally accepted reporting framework designed to raise the standard of sustainability reporting, Shell says. The company has been reporting using GRI guidelines since 2004.

The future

As the AOSP expands, Martindale says it will continue to collect satellite imagery to monitor development, but it wont necessarily come through the ESA. As well, the Earth observation is just one part of this aspect of the business.

“We are building our own GIS.”

Deborah Jaremko
Source: Oilsands Review

Air France is showing its passengers satellite views of the countries, cities and terrain they are flying over, thanks to a new partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA).

The French airline receives satellite images of varying resolutions from ESA on CD-ROMs and uses them to create a program lasting the full length of each flight on its services from Paris to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore.

Air France says it is the first airline in the world to offer the service to passengers. The airline shows the satellite-image programs on a dedicated channel on its 777s’ inflight entertainment (IFE) systems, which provide seat-back screens for each passenger.

The images are integrated into the Geovision flight-information displays that passengers can see on their seat-back screens. Geovision is Air France’s brand name for the Airshow flight-information software produced by Rockwell Collins in Tustin, Calif.

“It is an example of the innovative initiatives that Air France aims to develop for our passengers,” said Patrick Roux, Air France’s vice president of marketing. “We are looking forward to extending this offer to other destinations.”

Initially Air France has supplied the satellite-image CD-ROMs to its fleet of 14 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, which operate the airline’s routes to India and Singapore, said Christian Maquin, the Air France marketing department project manager overseeing the ESA satellite-imagery project.

But these aircraft also serve destinations other than Singapore and India. And since some images —such as the four images shown on takeoff from Paris Charles de Gaulle and over northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands— are common to many long-haul routes, passengers on other flights are also able to view them for parts of their journeys, said Maquin.

So far, ESA has selected 250 image acquisitions for Air France from various satellites, including its own Envisat and Proba, as well as Korea’s Kompsat and the Spot 5 satellite operated by French space agency CNES. The images vary in resolution depending on where the aircraft is in its flight and which satellite was used to provide the image, said ESA Earth-observation spokesman Frederic Le Gall.

For instance, the images of the departure city and surrounding area shown just after takeoff and the destination area just before landing have resolutions of one pixel to 4 to 5 meters, said Le Gall. These images are provided by the Proba or the Spot 5 satellites. Images that are shown while the aircraft is in cruise flight — such as Envisat images of the European Alps — are medium-resolution photographs, typically featuring a resolution of one pixel to 300 meters.

Each 777-300ER’s Geovision system is set up with automatic triggering parameters so that a new image is shown every time the aircraft reaches a certain distance from a point of interest en route.

Most images are triggered 40 kilometers (25 miles) from geographical points of interest, said Maquin. In such cases, the image is shown throughout the time the aircraft takes to traverse the 25-mile-radius circle around the point of interest.
The images aren’t real-time. Some are very recent, but some are up to a year old. However, Air France has the opportunity to update the images —and to add satellite-image IFE programs for new long-haul routes— up to three times a year, when it updates its Geovision software, said Maquin.

Air France will begin offering the satellite-image program on additional routes as soon as possible, but in some cases its ability to provide it will depend on the capacity of the image CD-ROM. That’s because Air France has to caption its Geovision programs in two languages in some cases.

The airline will probably introduce the new satellite-image program next on its services to Tokyo and other routes to Japan, said Maquin. But since the airline uses the Geovision system across its entire long-haul fleet, which numbers more than 100 aircraft, Air France’s passengers to North America eventually will be able to see satellite images of the terrain they are flying over and their destinations, he confirmed.

Geographical points of interest on Air France’s North American services that the airline might illustrate with satellite images are destinations such as Boston and New York and features such as the Great Lakes and the Grand Canyon, said Maquin.

Air France’s ability under the ESA program to show satellite images to its passengers could be enhanced in the future. “We might also have other (satellite image-provider) partners joining further out,” said Le Gall.

ESA isn’t negotiating yet with any other airline to provide satellite images for their IFE flight-information channels. “But, as a public institution, we have no exclusivity,” noted Le Gall.

Commercial companies, universities, space research agencies such as NASA and ESA, are nowadays engaged in the development of a new spacecraft generation called microsatellites

Weighing less than 100kg, they provide GPS navigation, weather predictions, and Earth observation just like traditional satellites; but they are faster to build and much cheaper.

A typical microsatellite can cost as little as 10 million euros as opposed to hundreds of millions for traditional satellites. About 400 microsatellites have been launched in orbit over the last 20 years for scientific, commercial and military purposes.
The high maneuverability of microsats enables them to perform tricky tasks such as refueling and fixing satellites already in orbit, or correcting their trajectory to keep them on the right spot. There are about 800 satellites orbiting at the moment, whereas 66% are for communications, and 6% are in use by the military.

More information.

Fundamental growth is expected in the services sector in Europe with the demand from European government programmes is very likely to increase via programmes such as Galileo and GMES.

Particular attention will be paid to launch services, which are essential to giving Europe independent access to space.

One of such initiatives is the Cosmo-SkyMed programme deployed the Italian Defense Ministry and supported by Telespazio, planning to go ahead with the Sicral 1B satellite, a co-investment in the launch scheduled for 2008 worth about €400 million.
The Sicral satellites are part of the “NATO Satcom Post 2000” programme in which Italy will be responsible for 100% of the NATO communication services.

The Sicral system for military communications via satellite allows tactical and strategic connections in national and out area territories, such as mobile communications with ground, naval and air platforms. The complex is composed by space segment, the satellite, and a ground segment with the Vigna di Valle Control and Management Center, near Rome. The satellite preparation and engagement have been managed by Defense administration, in particular by “Reparto TEI (Telecomunicazioni Elettronica Informatica)” of Defense General Staff.

More information

A professor in Imperial’s Department of Physics has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal by the Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS) in recognition of the way he has put European space science on the world map.

Professor David Southwood who is also currently Director of Science at the European Space Agency (ESA), was presented with the medal by Sir Colin Terry, Chairman of the CEAS, at the Council’s annual conference in Berlin on 12 September 2007.

At the medal presentation ceremony, Sir Colin cited Professor Southwood’s contributions to European aerospace as the main reason he had been selected for this year’s Gold Medal, which has been awarded every year since 1998. Special mention was made of Professor Southwood’s earlier work at ESA, between 1997 – 2000 when he was head of Earth Observation strategy. During this time he worked to set up the new ‘Living Planet’ project which was realised in 2000 and consisted of a series of spacecraft now in production focused on particular aspects of Earth science. The first four spacecraft being developed will measure and monitor global ice cover, global ocean circulation, soil moisture and ocean salinity, and wind speed throughout the atmosphere.

Commenting on his award, Professor Southwood said:

“I’m extremely proud to have been awarded this medal – I had no idea I’d been nominated! My six years as Director of Science have been a wonderful period, from launching the Integral gamma ray observatory with the Russians, through the dramas and final great scientific harvest of Mars Express, to the landing of Huygens on Titan.
Nobody doubts that with companies like Airbus and Eurocopter, Europe is a world player in aircraft, but these days ‘aerospace’ means aircraft and spacecraft. Space science is going to be increasingly important in the 21st century and I’m delighted to have played a part in strengthening Europe’s position in this field.”

The CEAS is a new grouping of the major national aerospace academic societies of Europe. The UK one is the Royal Aerospace Society and there are eight altogether representing France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. It was formerly the Confederation of European Aerospace Societies founded in 1992.

Intermap Technologies, Corp. announced that its commercial initiative to create a uniform high accuracy 3-D map of all of Western Europe called NEXTMap® Europe can enable geospatial professionals to meet mandates spelled-out in Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament.

The EU Directive mandates the establishment, within the next several years, of an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) in an effort to provide a higher level of environmental protection that takes into account the diverse regions within the community.

Intermap was unaware of Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament when the NEXTMap Europe program began in 2006. Now, 15 months after its inception, the program has passed the 50% completion mark for data collection. When complete, the Company’s mapping program will provide interested parties with affordable and uniform countrywide 3D digital elevation data and orthorectified radar images across Western Europe.

Directive 2007/2/EC emphasizes the importance of organizational coordination and the sharing of spatial data between public agencies across municipal, regional, and national borders within the EU. It further states the importance “that the infrastructures for spatial information created by the Member States are compatible and usable in a Community and trans-boundary context.”

Intermap’s countrywide digital elevation models and geometric images are characterized by a level of accuracy and uniformity currently non-existent within the EU. The integrity of NEXTMap Europe® data has been validated by eleven independent agencies, including the University of Stuttgart, the Environment Agency of England & Wales, University College London, USGS, and NASA. The entire data set will be collected for most of the EU Member States by early 2008 and all of the data will be processed by the end of 2008. When complete, the data set will cover over 17 countries and include more than 80 billion elevation measurements and 1.3 trillion image pixels.

“The astounding achievement of NEXTMap Europe is encompassed in the realization that every feature of the landscape — be it a tree, rock, bush, stream or man made object, now has a GPS address that is known to an accuracy of 2 meters horizontally and 1 meter vertically,” said Brian Bullock, Intermap Technologies’ president and chief executive officer. “As an organization, we are extremely proud of the fact that our NEXTMap® Europe program is a market-leading commercial venture that will enable the EU to meet the requirements of the Directive, while providing a superior product that will ultimately support a wide range of geospatial applications throughout each country.”

About Intermap Technologies

Intermap (TSX: IMP.TO, AIM: IMAP.L) is creating uniform 3D digital models of the earth’s surface and building a library of affordably priced elevation data and geometric images of unprecedented accuracy. The Company is proactively remapping entire countries and building uniform national databases, called NEXTMap®. Demand for NEXTMap® data is growing as new commercial applications emerge within the GIS, engineering, automotive, personal navigation device, insurance risk assessment, oil and gas, hydrology, environmental planning, wireless communications, transportation, aviation, and 3D visualization markets.

Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Intermap employs more than 500 people worldwide, with additional offices in Calgary, Detroit, Jakarta, London, Munich, Ottawa, and Prague. For more information, visit www.Intermap.com.

Contact Intermap Technologies

Kevin Thomas, Vice President, Marketing


jointly tap the growing market in the EO services and small satellites sectors of the global space business

Astrium, the €3.2-billion European space company, and Antrix Corporation of India will jointly tap the growing market in the earth observation services and small satellites sectors of the global space business.

Astrium, the wholly owned subsidiary of EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space company), plans to market India’s remote sensing imagery in Europe and the US, according to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Francois Auque.

Astrium and Antrix, which have a memorandum of understanding, will also explore new market opportunities in the small satellites weighing 2-3 tonnes and carrying 12-30 transponders of both the C and Ku band for communications, telecom and so on.

Major contracts

The duo jointly won two major contracts for communications satellites from — Eutelsat and Avanti Communications of the UK. While Antrix (commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation) will build, assemble and integrate the satellites in Bangalore, Astrium will provide the payload, he said. Talking to newspersons on the sidelines of the business conclave at the ongoing 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAF) here today, Mr Auque said, “The integration of Eutelsat W-2M has already started in Bangalore and the satellite is expected to be launched by the end of 2008 by Arianespace from French Guyana”.

The satellite would offer DTH (direct to home) services. On the other hand, Avanti will have a global flexible payload and offer various communication and telecom services and is expected to be launched in 2009.

Stating that the contracts were worth millions of dollars each, Mr Auque said through this strategic partnership both the companies expect to increase their share of the growing business opportunities in space.

For Astrium, which has capabilities of launching bigger satellites, the Antrix platform to build and integrate smaller satellites makes strategic sense. The duo are in talks with several prospective customers for near time business, he said.

Mr Auque felt India’s experience to market services in the earth observation services, can be taken to global markets, with a range of products that have applications across sectors.
Civil space market

The Astrium Chief estimated the civil space market to be over $30 billion with the bulk of it ($17 billion) being from the US. China and Russia are also huge markets, while in military the US alone has a $25-billion market.

Astrium operates three divisions — space transportation, satellite design and manufacture and satellite services. It offers launch services, through a partnership with Arianespace and has wholly owned subsidiaries such as Paradigm and Infoterra.