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The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Thales Alenia Space Italy to be the prime contractor for a C-band radar Earth observation satellite called Sentinel-1 to be launched in 2011 under a manufacturing contract valued at 229 million euros ($309 million), according to European government and industry officials.

Thales Alenia Space Italy bested a competing bid from Astrium Satellites’ German division for the contract, which will be the first spacecraft built for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program.
GMES is co-funded by ESA and the European Commission.
Sentinel-1 is expected to weigh around 2,200 kilograms at launch and to carry a C-band synthetic-aperture radar to image the Earth in swaths of 240 kilometers in diameter with a ground resolution of between 5 and 8 meters.
Sentinel-1 originally was to be launched in 2010, in time to assure data continuity for users who until then will count on the continued health of the large Envisat radar satellite. ESA officials have said Envisat, launched in March 2002, should be able to remain healthy until 2010.
(Source Space.com)

TRE news

SIMCAT™, Satellite IMagery CATalog
TRE is working on different tools to complement its range of PS service products.
SIMCAT™ – Satellite IMagery CATalog - is a new proprietary TRE software that allows users to find out how many satellite SAR images have been acquired over an area of interest (AOI).
The visualization of results is supported by the Google Earth™ platform and is easy to use . The user defines the AOI using the Google Earth™ interface and then downloads the archive – a list of images acquired by the ERS1, ERS2, ENVISAT and RADARSAT satellites – directly on to the Google Earth™ map (see http://maps.treuropa.com/).
To access SIMCAT™, users need a login code and password. These can be requested at simcat@treuropa.com.
SIMCAT™ is available to both our existing and future clients.
The tool allows the user to identify, independently, whether a PS archive exists for an area. This could be preferred over making direct enquiries to TRE.
Maps: the new platform for visualizing PSInSAR™ maps
Always downloadable onto Geographical Information System, PS data are now available on Google Maps ™ platform thanks to a new application developed by TRE.
Clicking on http://maps.treuropa.com and choosing the “Naples” or “Palo Alto” frame, it is possible to have an example of how this new tool works: PS information (i.e . position and displacement value) will appear by clicking on the “PSInSAR™ viewer” button and will be superimposed on a Google Maps ™ satellite layer.
We are confident that “Maps” makes PS easier to visualize and will bring people to use PS information through a simple browser in the future.
Of course, we are speaking about a starting application with a great potential.
In the next few months, we are going to add other data-sets, obtained by processing different typologies of satellite images (ERS, Envisat, Radarsat, etc.) over different new areas.
From the same interface it is also possible to access the SIMCAT tool. Designed by TRE too, it allows the visualization of catalog satellite images (ERS, Envisat, Radarsat) over a selected area within a Google Earth ™ environment.
(Source TRE)

STARLAB is the main service provider for the ESA- MarCoast GMES project in Spain (led by Alcatel Alenia Space).

The services provided are two:
The Oil Spill service is a Routine Surveillance of Spanish waters based on near real time oil spill detection using Envisat SAR images. The service also includes the integration of SAR Oil Spill detection with AIS (Automatic Identification System) in order to allow the user the identification of potential polluters, as well as additional relevant met-ocean information.
The service is targeted to National users like Sasemar, as well as to regional users depending on the areas covered in the different deployment phases.
The Water Quality service is a Routine Surveillance of Spanish waters based on ocean previsions from the Mercator-Ocean model. The service provides different marine indexes allowing the user to better obtain ocean characterization, and prevent potential arrival of harmful algae blooms (HABs) related to upwelling events. Maps of temperature fronts and horizontal currents are proposed as well as vertical currents.
The service is targeted to regional users (i.e.: INTECMAR, Instituto Tecnológico para el Control del Medio Marino en Galicia) depending on the areas covered in the different deployment phases.
STARLAB is a SME company that develops new technologies and service concepts, and promotes new technology markets.
www.starlab.es
www.gmes-marcoast.com
marcoast.starlab.net
(Source Starlab)

Spacemetric has established a dedicated sales presence in the UK in response to the increasingly international profile of its customers and partners.

To run the UK-based sales activities, Spacemetric has appointed Ian Spence as Sales & Marketing Director. Ian has over 15 years’ experience in the Earth observation industry, including periods working at ESRIN and in senior business development roles in Sweden and the UK. Most recently he worked at EADS Astrium’s subsidiary Infoterra Ltd with responsibility for space sector business development.
Spacemetric is a Swedish company providing image supply solutions for satellite and airborne imagery. Customers include the European Space Agency, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the National Aerospace Laboratory in the Netherlands, the Swedish National Land Survey and the Swedish National Space Board.
Contact:
Lars-Åke Edgardh,
CEO
Spacemetric AB
Email: lae@spacemetric.com
Tel: +46 8 594 770 80
Ian Spence,
Sales & Marketing Director
International Sales Office,UK
Email: is@spacemetric.com
Tel: +44 207 100 36060
(Source Spacemetric)

Satellite Services BV: Vacancies

Company Background
At present, due to company expansion, Satellite Services B.V. have openened a number of new positions throughout different areas of the company.
General
Satellite Services B.V. is a High-Tech Space Small Medium Enterprise (SME) that specialises on working in the international aerospace industry.
Within the company, a culture of team-work, flexibility and dedication to the company and its customers exists. Being a small company, employees are generally involved across different domains with freedom for further self-exploration and development.
Positions Available
At the moment, a number of new positions are available within Satellite Services B.V. The positions are across the different disciplines of the company and range from hardware/software engineering to quality engineering and marketing development support.
At present, the following positions are open:
• Hardware Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Test Engineer
• RF/modem Engineer
• Quality Engineer
• Marketing & Business development assistant
Contact
We encourage people with an experience and background into any of the above positions to submit a C.V. preferrably in the English language to: employment@satserv.nl
This address can also be used for more information. The contact person within Satellite Services B.V. is Miss Antoinette van Leyden. She can also be reached via telephone at: +31 71 402 8120.

An ESA-backed project has demonstrated how Earth observation satellites can assist in the cross compliance measures – a set of environmental and animal welfare standards that farmers have to respect to receive full funding from the European Union – included in the 2003 reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy.

Using very high resolution (VHR) satellite images for monitoring whether land is safeguarded in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC), as outlined within the cross-compliance framework, ensures subsidies are distributed in a fair and timely manner and helps farmers complete subsidy applications more accurately.
High resolution satellites as well as aerial photography have been used for some time to monitor areas where subsidies are provided. VHR Earth observation (EO) satellites, however, offer more detail compared with HR satellites and are capable of identifying various landscape features and detecting potential erosion, tillage practices and maintenance of pastures.
Under the GAEC standards implemented in some countries, farmers cannot remove certain landscape features, including hedges, tree rows, water ponds, walls and single trees, without authorisation of national administration in order to preserve habitats for different organisms and species.
By using special classification procedures on VHR satellite images, identification of these landscape features is possible. In combination with digital aerial images, even single trees can be delineated. By comparing older and recent images of these same areas with the processed ‘reference landscape feature’ layer, the removal of these features can be detected.
To protect soils against erosion risks and improve soil structure, the GAEC as applied in some countries, states farmers must establish an ‘environmental cover’ for a buffer width, stipulated by the country itself (e.g. 5 metres), around waterways on all parcels adjacent to waterways to restrict diffuse pollution in waters and soils.
Pastures, permanent crops, woods, hedges and paths are considered ‘environmental cover’, while mainly arable land and crops are not. Because satellite images allow for the interpretation of agricultural parcels, compliancy can be easily detected. Photo interpretation by remote sensing speeds up the process and allows many parcels to be checked in one time.
Tillage practices are also important for reducing erosion as they can reduce the runoff of water across the land surface. The GAEC stipulates that farmers have to plough or plant parallel to contour lines to avoid erosion on slopes more than or equal to a certain percentage defined by the country (e.g. slope of 10 percent).
By detecting parcels within this slope range, detecting the slope direction and the ploughing or planting direction, it is possible to calculate the angle between the slope and ploughing direction, taking into account the soil-sensitivity to erosion, and determine whether the farmer is compliant.
In order to receive subsidies for permanent crops, the GAEC requires that farmers properly maintain them. Using VHR images, the distinction between crops that are ‘maintained good’ and crops that are ‘possibly maintained badly’ can be detected, allowing authorities to visit the fields in question to detect whether they are abandoned or neglected.
This project was funded by ESA’s Earth Observation Market Development (EOMD) programme, aimed at fostering the development of EO data within business practices, and carried out by EUROSENSE, a company that specialises in remote sensing.
(Source ESA)

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Satellites: the growth of China and India
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Coming events in Italy
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(Source Planetek)

PCI News
PCI Geomatics celebrates the unveiling of GeoCapacity for agriculture, mapping and disaster management support in India
Jan 2007: PCI Geomatics®, a world-leading developer of image-centric software and solutions for the geospatial industry, is pleased to announce a series of events in India including New Delhi (January 17), Chandigarh (January 19) and Hyderabad (January 22) to showcase the success of the first phase of the Agricultural GeoCapacity Network (AGCN) project.
PCI Geomatics expands geospatial processing capabilities with the release of ProSDK and ProPacks 1.1
Feb 2007: PCI Geomatics is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the ProPacks collection and the PCI Professional Software Development Kit (ProSDK), used for building highly automated and customized workflow solutions.
PCI Geomatics completes Web Coverage Service testing from the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc®.
March 2007: PCI Geomatics® is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the Web Coverage Service test suite from the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.® (OGC) for their product Geomatica® WebServer Suite – Web Coverage Server (WCS), Version 10.0.3.
PCI Geomatics supports University of Regina project through the Canada Foundation for Innovation
April 2007: PCI Geomatics is pleased to announce its support for the Canada Foundation for Innovatoin (CFI) which funds research infrastructure helping Canadian universities and colleges carry out tecnology development. Most recently, PCI Geomatics provided assitance to the University of Regina and Dr. Joseph Piwowar, currently doing research on understanding how climate change is affecting the sustainable management of prairie resources.
About PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of geospatial software, specializing in remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, spatial analysis, cartographic production, and, more recently, automated production systems. Today, with our trusted Geomatica® brand, PCI Geomatics provides all the image-centric solutions necessary to meet the expectations of a large and expanding industry. Since 1982, the company and its reputation have continued to grow as a result of innovative leadership, strong technology partnerships, active geomatics community involvement, and a dedication to earn the trust of customers who use PCI Geomatics technology.
Press Contact
Alysia Vetter
Marketing Communications Specialist
Tel: 819-770-0022, Ext. 233
Fax: 819-770-0098
Email: vetter@pcigeomatics.com
(Source PCIGeomatics)

Direct area-based crop income aid to farmers was introduced in 1992 under the CAP
(Common Agricultural Policy) reform and represent around 35% of the EU’s general
budget (2001, EU 15).

Appropriate administration and control systems were implemented by Member States to ensure that aid is correctly granted. In this frame, Reg. 3508/92 and 3887/92 on the IACS (Integrated Administration and Control System, covering arable and forage aid) specified the possible use of remote sensing techniques as part of the minimum 5% on-the-spot checks to be performed each year.
Since 1993, DG AGRI has promoted the use of “Control with Remote Sensing” (CwRS), which was developed with the technical support of the JRC, to increase transparency between Member States while having a strong deterrent effect on potential fraud. In 1998, DG AGRI transferred to the JRC the responsibility of coordinating and controlling this activity. The CAP reform introduced in 2005, Reg. 1782/03 and 796/04, maintains the use of remote sensing for the control of the key elements (areas, land use) and the new requirements of the control of the cross compliance.
CwRS is presently used by 23 Member States with around 180 sites (2005). Since 2000, CwRS almost always combines aerial ortho photos or satellite ortho imagery to ensure an area measurement accuracy fully compliant with the recommendations of DG Agri for the On-The-Spot Checks (Promotional materials, AGRIFISH Unit of IPSC/JRC).
For the 2006 campaign the Commission increased the area covered by VHR sensors from 126,000 km2 to approx 140,000 km2 (Quickbird and Ikonos as prime dedicated, and with backup of EROS A, and SPOT Supermode. The intention was also to use Orbview3, Formosat2 and possibly Eros B as back up). The use of such data for controlling the Single Payment Scheme and the Single Area Payment Scheme appears appropriate in conjunction with rapid field visits (RFV). (Common Technical Specifications for the 2006 Campaign of Remote Sensing Control of Area-Based Subsidies, ITT no. 2005/S 233-229332, Ispra, 2005).
Formosat 2 was programmed as VHR backup sensor for the 2006 CwRS Campaign over 12 control zones (7.474 km2). The success rate was 87.5% (area), 83.3% (10/12 sites). The delivery of cloud free imagery was more than acceptable (88.9% < 5% CC, 11.1 % < 8 % CC on a total of 27 uploads).
The test was proposed by JRC aiming to detail the difficulties encountered to reach the required location accuracy in production of Level 3 orthorectified products. The test was performed by ReSAC, Spot Image and Spacemetric AB. ReSAC was responsible for the test with ERDAS and PCI and provided high accurate DGPS measurements and Ikonos Orthoimage map for selection of the GCPs and ICPs.
Figure 1. Location of imagery acquired for the study site. The dark-grey rectangle with white border defines the footprint of the Formosat-2 imagery.
The study area covered the extent of Sofia City – the capital of Bulgaria, – and the Northern hillsides of Vitosha Mountain. The capital is situated in Sofia Valley which is an important for the agricultural plain. The average elevation inside the city is 550m a.s.l., while the nearest highest point is Cherni Vrah (“Black Peak”), 2290m, located to the South, in the Vitosha Mountain.
The study area presents various landscapes and terrain variations, thus being a suitable test site for orthorectification and geometry quality assessment.
FORMOSAT-2 (NSPO, 2004) carries two cameras that take imageries of the Earth in the visible and near infrared electromagnetic spectrum. The swath covered by these high resolution cameras is 24 km at Nadir and their nominal instantaneous geometric field of view, at Nadir, is 2 metres for the Panchromatic sensor and 8 metres for the Multispectral sensor. For the herein study the imagery with the highest spatial resolution was considered, i.e. the panchromatic one, as it requires greater accuracy for the orthorectification result.
The image was delivered as row imagery, Level 1A, with basic radiometric normalisation for detector‘s calibration, and with no geometric correction. The product is in DIMAP format and as such comprises of a GeoTIFF file for storing the imagery and XML – for the metadata.
Figure 2. FORMOSAT-2 image used in the test, acquired on 8 Sep 2006 and covering Sofia City.
A series of orthorectification tests were carried out in order to evaluate the operational performance of the FORMOSAT-2 sensor in the production of orthoimages. The study shows that it was comparatively straightforward to produce reliable products, well inside the expected performance for the CwRS requirements – 3.5 RMSE1D (i.e. in either Northing or Easting directions).
Given that the objective of the study was to determine whether FORMOSAT-2 imageries could be used in operational mode for farmers’ subsidies monitoring, only internationally recognised software was considered. Specifically, for this study, PCI Geomatica 10 and ERDAS Imagine 9.1 were tested for orthorectification performance. In order to ensure the consistency of the software performance test, all GCPs and ICPs were identically chosen for each software-respective test, and their coordinates were transferred via import, to avoid interpretation errors during the tests.
In order to eliminate the influence of the DEM accuracy over the orthorectification results the best available elevation dataset was chosen – Reference3D product by Spot Image.
Figure 3. Overview of the terrain across the test area. For orientation IKONOS orthophoto was draped over the Reference3D DEM.
The geometric assessment that was undertaken is systematic and conforms to the standard method developed by the JRC (European Commission, 2006). This method applies strict use of points other than the one used in the orthorectification, i.e. ICPs, for the evaluation of image correction performance, which allows the comparative robustness between different processing methods.
Future research should be carried out as to define the optimal number of GCPs to be used when orthorectifying FORMOSAT-2 images on a routine basis. Furthermore, the effect of the incidence angle on the accuracy of the orthorectification should also be studied. These further investigations have to be performed for both PCI Geomatica and ERDAS Imagine software packages, as it is likely that diverse models behave differently. Such profound analysis could aid a speedy and quality optimised orthorectification production having in mind that around 10,000 km2 of FORMOSAT-2 data within suitable corridor are envisaged as VHR backup for the 2007 years CwRS Campaign.
The results of the test were presented on the 12th MARS-PAC Annual Conference “Geographical Information in Support of the CAP” (27-29 Nov 2006, Toulouse, France) and will be published in a special publications edition of the conference reports.
(Source Remote Sensing Application Center – ReSAC )

OHB-System AG, a subsidiary of OHB Technology AG (Prime Standard, ISIN: DE0005936124) was today awarded a contract for the next development phase of the SmallGEO small geostationary satellites.

The ESA Director of Telecommunications and Navigation, Giuseppe Viriglio, and the Chairman of the Management Board of OHB-System AG, Prof. Manfred Fuchs, put their signatures to the contract today for around EUR 100 million including all options.
Phase B of development, which starts now, covers a contract volume of around EUR 13 million. For the subsequent CD implementation phases a maximum price of an additional EUR 86 million has been agreed, which the partners will implement once the development phase has been successfully completed.
Total project volume amounts to EUR 115 million. The industrial consortium plans to invest a part of it.
The first SmallGEO satellite is due to be launched in 2010. Further details will be announced on March 28th, 2007 in a press conference on the subject by ESA, the German Aerospace Centre, and OHB-Systems.
For additional information please contact:
OHB-System AG
Danela Sell
Communication & Public Relations
phone: +49 421 – 2020-620
fax: +49 421- 2020-700
mail: sell@ohb-system.de
(Source OHB-System AG)