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Australia and New Zealand CRC for Spatial Information (CRCSI), released the White Paper Towards a Spatial Knowledge Infrastructure to position new knowledge concepts across the emerging digital economy.

Towards a Spatial Knowledge Infrastructure White Paper proposes a Next Generation Spatial Knowledge Infrastructure that moves the agenda from more traditional Spatial Data Infrastructure concepts, to automatically creating, sharing, curating, delivering and using knowledge (including the data and the detailed analytics that produce the information products) in support of the emerging digital economy and the rise of spatially-aware and equipped citizens.

The key challenges the White Paper presents are moving our current approach from bespoke systems to automated systems, from expert to non-expert users, from data as a descriptor to information as a predictor, from post-analysis to real time analysis, and from simple quality descriptors to full warrantability.

“Within the next five years new technologies and growing user demands will render current approaches to spatial data infrastructures inadequate”, said Kylie Armstrong, White Paper co-author, CRCSI.
“Becoming semantically enabled is the next step towards more streamlined data supply, more versatile and usable information and automated spatial analytics for knowledge creation and discovery”.

This will be a time of transition that requires innovation and new practices in government and the private sector to allow the power of emerging technologies to meet the future demand of users.

This movement from information data to fit-for-purpose knowledge will drive new activities across the economy, including smarter transport networks, responsive and resilient cities and intelligent infrastructure planning.

“The rapidly changing requirements of users, the growing role of industry in the knowledge economy, and the innovation policy agendas of Government are placing demands on the way we manage our spatial data and analytics. This paper is designed to stimulate a discussion to accelerate the development of the next generation of spatial infrastructure” says Dr Peter Woodgate, CEO, CRCSI.

The White Paper is authored by Professor Matt Duckham, Dr Lesley Arnold, Kylie Armstrong, Dr David McMeekin and Darren Mottolini and highlights the case for change and maps the journey that will help realise the creation of the Spatial Knowledge Infrastructure.

To access the White Paper, use this link

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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has signed an agreement with Andhra Pradesh govt. for using geospatial technologies in state governance and development. These MoUs were signed in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar.

Although, the state is already using inputs from ISRO in various applications, the MoUs ensure the commitment to get help from ISRO in further extending these applications.

The first MoU was signed to provide experimental meteorological services to the state. The Andhra Pradesh Varuna app for Android smartphones was launched on the occasion. Varuna is the Indian God of water. The application uses a large number of ground-based radio stations and weather forecasting services by Isro, to deliver an accurate and up to date platform for weather information to the end user. The twenty four-hour forecast is updated every six hours.

The second MoU was signed for the provision of disaster management services. Inputs from the various earth observation and meteorological satellites would be combined with data from the ground based National Remote Sensing Centre in Hyderabad to provide Disaster Management Support (DMS) to the state. Data from the field will be combined with near real time inputs to monitor forest fires, cyclones, floods, earthquakes, landslides and tsunamis.

The third MoU was signed for the use of Isro technologies to keep track of the natural resource of water across the state. The state and the space agency have agreed to collaborate on a web based geoportal, AP State Water Resources Information and Management System (APWRIMS). The APWRIMS will host all the spatial and non spatial data on water resources in the state. The inventory of water in the state will be maintained with inputs from satellites and validation models.

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US: Trimble has launched a new version of its smart water management software — Trimble Unity 3.8. A cloud-based, GIS-centric Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution — Trimble Unity — offers a suite of applications and tools for the water, wastewater, storm water and environmental water industry.

Trimble Unity enables customers to monitor real-time operations, deploy smart meters, assess the condition of assets, reduce leakage and non-revenue water (NRW), and locate and map critical infrastructure using Trimble high-accuracy GNSS mapping technologies.

Version 3.8 extends the platform’s capabilities to include proactive asset performance monitoring with the integration of Trimble Telog wireless Internet of Things (IoT) remote monitoring instruments and data.

A significant benefit of Trimble Unity version 3.8 is the ability to pair it with Trimble Telog wireless, battery-powered remote monitoring instruments.

Used together, Trimble Unity with Trimble Telog instruments offers a comprehensive suite of water, wastewater and storm water asset performance management solutions that include monitoring and management of water level, flow, pressure, water hammer, rainfall, water quality, pump stations and many others items and parameters on remote water and wastewater networks.

This new version provides customers with situational awareness of water and wastewater utility asset performance—offering a single view of remote monitoring data, performance measurement reports, GIS, operational data, asset conditions and events. Trimble Unity’s mobile application can be used to automate and simplify wireless monitoring instrument site deployments.

Telog wireless remote monitoring instruments may be configured to measure and report data and alarms as often as needed. The new version includes rich GIS visualization tools to view and analyze wireless remote monitoring data for a single site or aggregated data from multiple sites.

These new capabilities enable water utilities to enhance asset performance and customer response as well as collect timely data from the field to support decision making and regulatory compliance.

“Utilities are looking for ways to proactively manage their networks but are faced with challenges around the lack of data on distribution and collection network performance and asset condition,” said Rami Naber, product manager for Trimble Water.

“Trimble Telog wireless remote monitoring instruments are used by over 3,000 customers throughout North America and now Trimble Unity 3.8 can collect authoritative data from these instruments. The power of this combined solution is that it provides customers with situational awareness of network operations, empowering users with advanced workflows and tools to measure and improve network performance so they can shift to a proactive smart water management operating model.”

Trimble Unity Version 3.8 is available now through the Trimble Water Division and its authorized distribution partners. For additional information on Trimble Unity, visit.

With ESA’s EarthCARE Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer satellite now entering its ‘production and qualification’ phase, ESA is calling for a new Mission Advisory Group.

EarthCARE – the largest and most complex Earth Explorer mission to date – is being developed as a joint venture between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA.

Scheduled to be launched in August 2019, this new satellite mission will advance our understanding of the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back out to space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface. These observations are much needed to improve climate predictions and weather forecasts.

The role of the Mission Advisory Group is to provide scientific advice to ESA during the development and implementation of the mission.

This call for group members covers Phase-D to Phase-E1, from production and qualification to the end of in-orbit commissioning.

Applications can be made via the Mission Advisory Group website

The deadline for application submission is 2 May at 11:00 GMT (12:00 CEST).

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(By Anusuya Datta) Deforestation is a global problem, more so in the developing and the underdeveloped world, thanks to ineffective laws and corrupt administrations in some parts of the world.

But help is at hand. Now, when a new road appears in the dense forests of Peru, or a patch of forest is felled Malaysia, anyone with an Internet connection can be alerted of the loss.

A Landsat-based alert system, developed by the World Resources Institute as part of its Global Forest Watch network, gives near-weekly alerts for changes smaller in size than a football field. The tool uses imagery from Landsat 7 and 8 to monitor forests across the world every eight days. That revisit time, or data cadence, together with Landsat’s 30 meter spatial resolution, allows land managers to know when small incursions into forests are being made — in time to respond before further damage is done.

Download the Global Forest Watch interactive map here

Global Forest Watch (GFW) — whose goal is to provide decision makers with timely information about global forests — teamed up with the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) team and scientist Matt Hansen to develop this revolutionary tool. The three essential ingredients are freely available Landsat data distributed by the USGS, the Hansen-GLAD tree cover loss algorithms, and Big Data computing power like that of Google’s Earth Engine.

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MARKHAM, Ontario, Canada—April 11, 2017: PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, announced today the release of Geomatica 2017 – the latest version of the company’s complete and integrated desktop, geo-image processing software featuring tools for remote sensing, digital photogrammetry, geospatial analysis, mosaicking and more.

This release greatly expands Geomatica capabilities by adding two new packages, as well as improving core technology and satellite sensor support. “The common theme behind all the advances in Geomatica 2017 is making complex technologies easier to use, for both experts and non-experts” said David Piekny, Product Marketing Manager at PCI Geomatics. The two new packages are Geomatica Object Analyst, for image segmentation and object classification, and Geomatica InSAR, an advanced radar package for measurement and analysis of ground subsidence and uplift.

Easy-to-learn and easy-to-use, Object Analyst guides you through segmenting images, extracting features, creating training sites and classifying objects (including through custom rules). By segmenting images into discrete objects, boundaries and relationships can be more easily seen and analyzed, leading to new insights and discoveries. Shape manipulation and accuracy assessment are also included, allowing quick image processing and results.

End-to-end interferometic radar processing is in the new InSAR add-on. Each step in this process is designed to be flexible, intuitive, and run independently or in sequence through the Geomatica Python API, with default parameters to aid automation. Using RadarSat-2 and TerraSar-X, InSAR is suitable for any land subsidence or uplift application and allows time-series analysis to measure change and rate of change across stacks of images. Interferograms can also be generated from Kompsat-5, Cosmo-Skymed and other sensors.

Improvements for ortho-project management include image thumbnails and reference backdrops, making it easier to see project layout, while new tie-point collection, blunder detection and point thinning provide better point distribution and stronger models.

Geomatica 2017 users can now work with a suite of new sensors, including PlanetScope, ZY3-02 and TeLEOS-1, along with updates to Sentinel-2, Kompsat-5, Pleiades, RapidEye and CBERS-4.

For customers who are interested in trying out this new capability for the first time, a fully functional trial license is available at: www.GetGeomatica.com. Details on the content of this release, tutorials and technical information can be found online at www.pcigeomatics.com, while a user forum and additional resources are available at the PCI Customer Support Website: support.pcigeomatics.com.

About PCI Geomatics
PCI Geomatics is a world-leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing satellite and aerial imagery. There are more than 30,000 PCI licenses, in over 150 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

Press Contact (PCI Geomatics)
Kevin R. Jones
Director, Marketing and Communications
T: 819-770-0022 × 214
E: jones@pcigeomatics.com
Web: www.pcigeomatics.com
Twitter: @pcigeomatics

(7 february 2017) The recent partnership between Norway’s KSAT (Kongsberg Satellite Services) and Silicon Valley’s Astro Digital will forever transform how Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites deliver big data from space. Fast-growing SmallSat companies will be the most immediate beneficiaries.

KSAT and Astro Digital collaborated to bring the new Ka-band capability into a KSAT Lite portfolio, a ground station network optimized for SmallSats. Both companies innovated for high-volume downlink and developed a business model that made the massive data load accessible at an optimized price point. As Chris Biddy, Astro Digital’s Co-Founder and CEO, recognizes, “We work closely with KSAT to bring new capabilities to the market. We leverage each other’s experience to form a cost efficient solution by utilizing the key technology and infrastructure.”

Kongsberg’s U.S. Sales Director for Satellite Ground Systems, Stig-Are Thrana draws a comparison between Ka-band features and wireless coverage: “Ka-band allows for higher bandwidth and more data downloaded each day. This is similar to getting higher and higher data rates on your mobile phone and on your wireless routers over the years by utilizing higher frequency bands.”

Ka-band is a great alternative for X-band, unlocking new capacity in a commonly- used spectrum. Astro Digital’s transmitters operate in the Ka-band spectrum with KSAT’s revolutionary ground stations, located pole-to-pole in the driest conditions on earth, spanning from 78° north in the Arctic to 72° south in Antarctica. High-frequency Ka-band makes very high data rates possible in small efficient packages, enabling the downlink of big data from satellite to earth.

Kongsberg newly established presence in the Silicon Valley unlocks incredible opportunities for satellites startups. The KSAT Lite solution offers cost-effective downlinks of high throughput and high frequency data from a global ground station network with more than 20 sites. Stig-Are Thrana shares KSAT’s excitement: “Continuous innovation and development of new capabilities – and new business models – this is of paramount importance to us.”

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For more information contact Kongsberg’s U.S. Sales Director Stig-Are Thrana:
Mobile: +1 650 417 8622 e-mail: stiga@ksat.no

(Helsinki, Finland (SPX) Apr 10, 2017) Led by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland , the EU North State project has developed a new method of using satellite images to evaluate the forest carbon balance.

The carbon balance indicates how much carbon is sequestered or released by forests each year. This enables the carbon balance to be displayed on digital maps, with an accuracy of up to ten meters.

The technique involves mapping the key features of forest areas and forests – such as the location, main tree species, height and biomass – from images provided by the European Sentinel satellites. These digital images are fed into a model, alongside climate data. The result is carbon sequestration maps. Such maps reveal which areas are carbon sinks or carbon sources. This information can be used for activities such as planning forest management and assessing climate impacts.

The simplest maps show the amount of carbon sequestered through photosynthesis, but take no account of carbon released by the decomposition of organic matter. More refined products take account of carbon released by living plants and carbon emissions from the soil. They provide a more precise idea of the carbon balance, but require the best source data. It was possible to create more advanced carbon balance maps of Finnish territory because sufficient ground reference data was available for guiding satellite image interpretation.

“The partners in the project developed advanced methods of interpreting satellite and drone images. The University of Helsinki did the computing for the final carbon balance maps, based on VTT’s satellite image interpretation. We had to invent a new approach to processing such huge quantities of data,” says Research Professor Tuomas Hame.

The University of Helsinki also developed a new way of using its carbon balance model to forecast growing stock volumes. The growing stock estimates for Finland yielded almost the same result as national forest inventories.

At their most detailed, the maps had a resolution of ten meters. Coarser maps with a resolution of 500 meters were used to calculate the balance for the entire boreal coniferous forest zone from Iceland to the Urals. The same techniques could be used for satellite image interpretation and assessing the carbon balance, despite the major differences in image resolutions.

The Sentinel satellite series forms the central part of the Copernicus Programme of the EU and the European Space Agency (ESA), which will provide free satellite data from across the globe over the forthcoming decades. The current total budget for the programme is over seven billion euros.


A prediction of net primary production of forest for Finland, calculated based on VTT’s satellite image interpretation and the University of Helsinki’s model. The intensity of the green colour indicates the quantity of carbon sequestration during the year. The estimate quantifies the carbon balance of living vegetation, without carbon dioxide release from the soil.

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(from KONGSBERG Blog published on 28 mars 2017 by Hege Skryseth) Finally, the day is here, the day we have been looking forward to and working towards since 2014. Kognifai is here.

Kognifai has the ability to create change in the industry.

What is kognifai™?

Usually, I would introduce kognifai™ by saying it is an open, innovation-driven platform that will accelerate digitalization within KONGSBERG and simplify the business transformation journey for our customers. And that is definitely true. However, I think Kognifai is much more than this short, rather technical description allows for. And even though it is an accurate and truthful description, you may be asking yourself what it actually means. Even I sometimes find it hard to wrap my head around the world of possibilities Kognifai creates.

Let me explain: A digital platform is often compared to a smartphone which you can adapt to your specific requirements by downloading the apps that fit your needs. However, Kognifai opens for more possibilities than merely offering a range of apps.

I see it more like a combined workshop and digital marketplace: It already contains a large variety of applications from a range of companies, which users can access and subscribe to as they see fit, but developers from large and small companies can – and do – use it to develop and collaborate on new applications. Moreover, all applications on the platform are integrated in a way that allows users to collect, store, combine, analyze and apply the data they generate.

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The EO sector is changing rapidly with vast new data sets becoming available, cloud computing and big-data technology being deployed and many new initiatives being launched.

Knowing what is happening in an industry sector is a fundamental need for policy makers taking decisions on new initiatives. Given these rapid changes in the EO sector and the significant investments being made by both public and private sectors, industry statistics and trends are more important today than has ever been the case.

Every 2 years, EARSC undertakes to complete a detailed analysis of the EO service sector in Europe. It is the most comprehensive survey carried out. It is a hindcast not a forecast since it is looking at companies performance and views covering the previous 12 months. Nevertheless the build-up of information leads us to be able to look at trends.

This years’ is the 3rd EARSC survey (the previous ones were 2013 and 2015). Our 3rd survey should be particularly interesting as it will reflect a consistent methodology and a relatively stable industry base which has been interviewed.

This year has proven more difficult than others to assemble the data. Companies are both busy responding to H2020 calls and other bid opportunities as well as suffering from survey fatigue. We are nearing the end of our data gathering period (end of March) and we still need responses. This year, the EC is carrying out its assessment of the early results of the Copernicus programme and it is vital for all companies that we are able to provide accurate statistics and trends.

So this is a final plea to all European companies involved in some way in the delivery of EO data or geo-information services to complete our survey questionnaire. Even if you only manage the first few sections it will be of help to us and should only take you a few minutes. If you can carry on to the end we are even more grateful!

Please complete the EARSC industry survey. If you have not already, contact the EARSC Secretariat.