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Accessing information from the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) has never been easier. The enhanced GEOSS Portal, the first time unveiled at GEO’s Thirteenth Plenary, is becoming more and more user-centric, better responding to their actual needs and continuously being updated to evolving requirements.

The European Space Agency (ESA), in close collaboration with Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR- IIA) who is responsible for the implementation and operations of the GEOSS Discovery and Access Broker, has built an intuitive graphical user interface to discover, access and use all of the ever-growing numbers of GEO-resources from a variety of providers all around the world.

Already now, users can now perform temporal, thematic and geographic searches, allowing them to retrieve quickly and accurately the resources they are looking for. Keywords can be used to perform general searches and progressive filtering is applied to support users in refining their searches and narrowing down their search results. A synthetic summary is presented of key metadata fields. Icon buttons help the user quickly assess the results’ relevance.
http://www.geoportal.org/

Agenda

• Introduction to the GEOSS Portal
• Overview of current GEOSS Portal Functionalities (exercise-based)
• Forecasted New Functionalities
• Q&A from the community

Please register early as places are limited by sending an email to: pdesalvo@geosec.org
Specifying your name, surname, title and organization.
Please note this will be the first event of a series. Other GEOSS Portal Virtual Workshop sessions will be held :

  • 26th January from 14.00-16.00 (GMT+1)
  • 22nd March 2017
  • 23rd May 2017
  • 20 September 2017
  • 15th November 2017

Source GEO

Earth-i, the innovative British distributor of earth observation imagery and services, understands that the buyers and users of remote sensing imagery need to have confidence in their suppliers.

Driven by this customer-focus, Earth-i staff have worked tirelessly to implement a new Quality Management System (QMS) certified by globally renowned BSI Group to the ISO9001:2015 standard for the provision of imagery data, information products and value added products and services derived from Earth Observation satellites.

The achievement is a further milestone in the development of the company and the provision of data and value added services from the DMC3/TripleSat constellation of three very high resolution satellites.

What is so impressive is that Earth-i is one of the very first satellite Earth Observation companies whose QMS has been certified to the new ISO9001:2015 international standard. A copy of the certificate can be viewed here

Earth-i’s new certification provides assurance to customers, old and new, of Earth-i’s quality processes for the efficient and timely delivery of satellite imagery and related data.

Commenting on the company’s award Earth-i’s CEO, Richard Blain, said; “Quality and consistency in the delivery of our products and services is critical to us at Earth-i and we recognise the importance of these standards for the benefit of our customers.”

“Whilst our existing customers are already familiar with our high levels of service, we expect this certification to lead to an expansion of our customer base, especially with larger organisations and government bodies. Our certification by the British Standards Institute gives decision-makers the confidence to move forward rapidly, knowing they are on a solid footing with Earth-i.”

Earth-i’s imagery, data and value-added analysis supports and enables better decision making in a vast range of applications across many industries. The ISO9001:2015 certification demands that the company works within a framework of rigorous standards to ensure customer satisfaction.

Earth-i is a British company dedicated to facilitating the distribution of data from the DMC3/TripleSat Constellation. As the master distributor appointed by 21AT, Earth-i provides a portal for data users wishing to take advantage of the advanced data and services made possible by this uniquely capable Earth Observation satellite constellation.

Earth-i is co-located on the Surrey Research Park in the UK with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the manufacturer of the DMC3/TripleSat Constellation. www.earthi.space

EOpages Africa is a visualization tool developed by EARSC, giving location, company name and contact details of African private sectors companies working in the field of Earth Observation and Geospatial information sciences.

By mapping their areas of interest it facilitates the partner search for companies.
Data has been extracted from the AARSE and EARSC inventory published in July 2016.

Since its inception some 20 years ago, AARSE Conferences were geared to scientific exchange, providing a platform for scientists to present and discuss their work and generally promoting Earth Observation by means of remote sensing tools

It was a novelty at the AARSE 2016 International Conference in Kampala/ Uganda that one Plenary Session (Wed. 26 Oct 2016) was entirely devoted to the commercial sector. This was in recognition that the private sector in Earth Observation and Geospatial fields in Africa has come of age, as an important actor and a crucial stakeholder for furthering evidence-based decision making by African governmental authorities and societal entities – as elsewhere in the world.

Plenary Session 3 at AARSE 2016, 26 October (moderated by Elisabeth Zeil-Fahlbusch, AARSE EC Communication Officer) entailed two presentations, namely by Tsehaie Woldai (founder and Immediate Past President of AARSE) accounting the findings derived from a survey into the African private sector industry, conducted between February – May; and by Geoff Sawyer (Secretary General of the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies, EARSC) relating the development of the industry in Europe, and more specifically the experience of EARSC in getting companies associated in a trade body in order to better position the commercial sector as a major player. The presentation is accessible online

A major part of the session was devoted to a panel discussion with statements given by:
• Tidiane Ouattara (AUC-HRST, in charge of the GMES & Africa Program)
• Christophe Roeland (representing EC – DG Grow 1.3 – Space Data for Societal Challenges and Growth) Jane Bemingisha (Director ESSIPS, Uganda)
• David Kirugara (Director ENSAFO Group, Kenya)
• Sias Mostert (Chairperson Aerospace Group, SCS, South Africa)
• Stefan Zaradeth (GAF AG, Germany)
• Christian Hoffman (Geoville, Austria)
• Julio López (Deimos Imaging, Spain).

Panelists were asked to give their perspectives on
• strategic issues arising from the survey
• suggestions made for supporting the private sector, as well as
• stronger exchange and collaboration between African and European companies.

This session was followed up by a Business to Business session in the afternoon to promote further discussions, networking and collaboration opportunities.

Source AARSE

(08.12.2016) Kongsberg Satellite Services, the world-leading ground station services provider for LEO Satellite and maritime situational awareness services, and SKY Perfect JSAT have entered into a Strategic Alliance to accelerate LEO-related businesses maritime information service in the Asia-Pacific Region

Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) announces that they have signed a Strategic Alliance Agreement with SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation in order to jointly develop and expand KSAT’s ground station services for Low Earth Orbit (“LEO”) satellite operators in the Asia-Pacific region and promote earth observation monitoring services using satellite images in the Asia-Pacific region.

This strategic alliance between KSAT and SKY Perfect JSAT, will accelerate expansion of ground station network in the Asia-Pacific region and provide ground station services to global LEO satellite operators. Moreover, in terms of using satellite based information, SKY Perfect JSAT will start joint marketing of KSAT’s existing satellite based monitoring services, such as the “ship detection service” and the “oil spill detection service” in the Asia-Pacific region. Also for the coming IoT era, the two companies will jointly develop and start various maritime information services together, targeting not only government sectors but also business intelligences and other new markets.

Read full pressrelease

(November 29, 2016 News by Andrew Zolli) In the hours, days and weeks following a natural disaster, critical questions loom: How extensive is the damage? Where are people and infrastructure most affected? Where should scarce response resources be deployed to save lives, reduce suffering and protect property?


By providing perspective and context, Planet’s satellite imagery can play a vital role in answering these questions, and improving the speed, efficiency and effectiveness of disaster response.

Today, Planet already tracks several disaster events every week around the world, and regularly provides imagery to national governments, NGOs and other humanitarian response organizations. In partnership with both the German government (DLR/ZKI), and the US Geological Survey, we support International Charter for Space and Major Disasters, which distributes imagery to speed disaster response and recovery to responding organizations.

Our imagery has already been used to respond to major earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires around the world. Because our constellation of satellites provides persistent monitoring of the whole planet, we regularly collect imagery of disaster events that happen in places that otherwise receive little coverage. We also often have the most up-to-date imagery of what an area looked like before a disaster occurred.

Starting today, we’re also making some of our imagery available more directly to the public, volunteers, humanitarian organizations, and and other coordinating bodies, at a new webpage, planet.com/disasterdata

On this page, you’ll be able to see the disasters we’re currently responding to, request API access to datasets related to those events, and even sign up to receive automatic email alerts when we’re making new data available.

This is part of our continually evolving efforts to ensure our data gets into the right hands, at the right time, to achieve its greatest humanitarian potential. This journey will continue to evolve in the months to come – watch this space

Source

Dec 2016 © Pixalytics. The UK Space Agency issued its latest report on the Size and Health of the UK Space Industry, covering 2013/14 and 2014/15. There are a number of eye-catching headlines, but this broad-brush approach means that there are a lot of unanswered questions within the granularity of the report.

UK Space Industry Income is Worth £13.7 bn in 2014/15

This headline figure breaks down into 88% (£12 bn) for downstream activities. Whilst the 12% (£1.7 bn) for upstream activities is much smaller, it is higher than in previous years. Upstream refers to the part of the industry that build and launch satellites and sensors; whilst downstream encompasses the products and services that use the data those objects collect. Overall, the UK represents 6.5% of global space economy.

Unsurprisingly, given the above breakdown, space applications are the biggest segment of the industry, followed by space operations, space manufacturing and ancillary services.

This follows through into capabilities which are dominated by Broadcasting, Communications and Navigation & Timing which account for 56%, 19.6% and 12.2% of the space industry income respectively. Earth observation is listed with an income of £256 m, equating to 1.87% of the overall industry; although Meteorology is shown separately.

38,522 Jobs in the UK Space Industry in 2014/15

The space industry accounts for 0.12% of the total UK workforce, with 29,947 people working in downstream activities, and 8,575 working in upstream. It’s interesting to note the difference in the employment percentages, 78% and 22% respectively, compared to the income split above.

A fascinating fact in the report is that the average qualification level of space industry employees is higher than any other sector in England and Wales. With 74% of employees possessing a degree, 15% holding a HNC and the remaining 11% having other qualifications.

Space Industry Throughout the UK

All regions of the country have space companies. Of course, London and the South East – partially driven by the Harwell Campus – have the highest concentrations. We were delighted to see that the South West had was the third most populous area with 126 space organisations; although the South West is only fourth for Headquarters and income generated with £176 m worth of space business within the area.

UK Space Industry Customers

The report notes that the largest customer type is individual consumers, accounting for 54% of the income. However, given the domination of Broadcasting in the figures and with the majority of their customers being individual consumers this does skew the result. Equally limited information can be gleaned for the other customer types.

Personally, we’d be interested in seeing the customer type split for each capability. This would be much more useful, as at the moment these are a set of high level figures offering little, or no, insight.

Growth Slowing In the Space Industry?

The report has lots of positive statements about growth. There are at least four different income growth rates of 6.5%, 7.3%, 8.1% and 8.5% on page 10, depending on which time period you compare. Similarly, page 12 on employment lists growth rates of 5.8%, 6.0% and 6.7%.

All of this sounds great, but looking at the growth rates within in the tables for the last 7 years, quite wild swings year on year can be seen. The chart below shows some good growth rates, but the last two years are the lowest growth rates.


UK Space Industry Income & Employment Growth 2009/2016. Source: Size & Health of the UK Space Industry 2016, UK Space Agency

To be fair the report itself notes a few caveats on the figures, such as new methodologies and the changing value of the pound. So care should be taken with such figures, but does it show signs that growth could be slowing for the industry?

Towards 2030 Ambitions

In February 2010 the UK Government set ambitious targets for the industry of:

  • 8% of the world space economy by 2020, and 10% by 2030.
  • 100,000 jobs created by 2030, taking the industry to 119,100

By the end of 2014/15 progress had been made towards both of these targets, with the industry representing 6.5% of the world space economy and having 38,522 jobs. Employment needs to grow by 7.8% each year to achieve the target, which is concerning given the current growth levels outlined above. If jobs aren’t being created, it’s unlikely the global market share target will be hit.

Shaping The Future

Finally, the UK Space Agency is currently seeking ideas and evidence on how to implement the 2015 National Space Policy. Anyone can submit their thoughts, and we’d encourage everyone to participate in helping shape the future of the UK space industry.

The submission document is straightforward asking for proposed actions, alongside evidence as why they are necessary, for each of the four principles of the National Space Policy

  • Space is of strategic importance to the UK because of the value that space programmes deliver back to public services, national security, science and innovation and the economy.
  • Preserving and promoting the safety and security of the unique space operating environment, free from interference.
  • Supporting the growth of a robust and competitive commercial space sector, underpinned by excellent academic research.
  • Cooperating internationally to create the legal frameworks for the responsible use of space and collaborating with other nations to deliver maximum benefit from UK investment in space.

Conclusion

The UK Space Industry is growing, but we need to ensure that we take advantage of every opportunity and develop, promote and encourage the use of space based applications and technology.

With all the concerns about economic certainty in the coming years, let’s make sure our industry rockets ahead!

Source

© Pixalytics. A Space Strategy for Europe was issued last week by the European Commission (EC), based around four strategic goals.


  • Maximising the Benefits of Space for Society and the European Union (EU) Economy
  • Fostering a Globally Competitive & Innovative European Space Sector
  • Reinforcing Europe’s Autonomy In Accessing & Using Space In a Secure & Safe Environment
  • Strengthening Europe’s Role as a Global Actor & Promoting International Co-operation

The strategy began with a heartening assessment of the European space economy, recognising that it supports almost a quarter of million jobs and is valued at around €50 bn.

The Earth observation (EO) sector is strongly represented within the document, particularly in the first two goals. Whilst some of the references to EO are fairly obvious statements, there are also some intriguing comments.

Maximising the Benefits of Space for Society and the EU Economy

This goal identifies a significant untapped potential for the uptake of space services and data, and outlines a number of actions that will be taken to unlock this; including:

  • Encouraging the use of space services and data, wherever they provide effective solutions – the last part provides an interesting test.
  • Ensuring EU legislation will be supportive of the uptake of these services.
  • Provision of improved access to, and exploitation of, Copernicus data – anyone who has tried to access data will know the need for continued improvement.Improving interconnectivity with other data infrastructures and other datasets.
  • Define clear limits between free Copernicus core information services and commercial applications – hopefully this will show Copernicus services as an opportunity rather than a threat; something that is currently unclear for, particularly SME, businesses.

Overall, the strategy states this will open up new business opportunities, including for SME’s and start-ups. We’re supportive of these actions, however we also have concerns.

The document has a single line stating it will reach out to new users and connect downstream activities to non-space sectors. This is the holy grail for every EO commercial organisation, and very few have come close to achieving it. The minimal statement potentially suggests the EC is fundamentally underestimating how difficult this will be.

An intriguing element is the intention “to introduce an ‘industry test’ to check downstream suppliers can provide reliable and affordable services.” We’d support any quality accreditation, but it will be interesting to see whether this is a certification scheme for everyone or a barrier to market for SMEs and start-ups.

This issue was strongly debated at a European Space Agency (ESA) meeting last week, particularly over the question as to whether the accrediting body assumes liability when a service doesn’t deliver. It is worth noting that the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC) has an existing certification scheme for management practices, but only a few organisations have gone through the process to date.

Fostering a Globally Competitive & Innovative European Space Sector

This goal focuses on supporting research and development within the space economy, together with promoting entrepreneurship and business opportunities.

It specifically references the launch of a dedicated sector skills alliance for space/Earth observation – which sounds great. However, it appears to be a committee of stakeholders to discuss the necessary skills requirements for the industry, and so it is not clear what it will actually do.

The Commission also aims to support space entrepreneurs, start-ups and SME’s through a variety of programmes, dialogues and synergies! Lots of good words used with little clarity of real action.

Reinforcing Europe’s Autonomy In Accessing & Using Space In a Secure & Safe Environment

This goal has a focus on ensuring that Europe has the infrastructure and capacity to operate in space freely; although this does seem slightly at odds with the international co-operation trumpeted in the final goal.

However, the most interesting element for the EO community is the statement that the radio frequency spectrum must be protected from interference from other systems. This is something that is vital for space sector, but falls short of guaranteeing space technology having access to radio frequencies. In recent times, there has been a threat to the microwave frequencies from the requirements of mobile phone and wifi networks.

Strengthening Europe’s Role as a Global Actor & Promoting International Co-operation

The final strategic goal highlights the importance of international co-operation and the desire for the EU to have a much greater global lead. Given that the EU has the second largest public space budget in the world, this emphasis is welcomed.

It also notes that the EU will contribute to initiatives including the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).

Summary

Like all strategies there are lots of good intentions within these words, but limited practical details. It won’t be until the detailed plans are draw up to implement these actions that we will be able to determine whether this document is a valuable step forward for the space economy in Europe, or a thirteen page missed opportunity.

Our Footnote for the UK

The strategy makes clear the EU & ESA will be key to the delivery of this strategy, and so we can’t comment without mentioning the Brexit word. The current plan is that the UK will be out of the EU in early 2019, and therefore the UK Government’s input to the upcoming ESA ministerial is absolutely critical, alongside decisions on how we’ll interact with the Copernicus program.

We need to give a strong and positive commitment to our ongoing involvement with ESA, without this the UK’s space economy will face a significant setback. Everyone within the community must ensure that the Government, and Ministers, are fully aware of the importance of this in the coming weeks.

Source

The geoinformation service Rheticus® Displacement developed by Planetek Italia has been awarded at the 10th edition of Premio Best Practices per l’innovazione (Best Practices for Innovation 2016), held in Salerno, Italy on December 1st – 2nd, 2016.

Telecom Italia, the Italian leader in TLC industry, assigned the award during the annual event organized by Confindustria Salerno.

The initiative was launched in 2006 with the aim of spreading the “culture” of innovation in the public and private sectors, through the presentation of real cases of innovation made by firms in the service and manufacturing sectors.

During the event, a technical panel of experts assigns awards to companies, which have created an innovative project – technological, product, process and social – with demonstrable and measurable results.

This year, about 101 participants presented projects from all over Italy. All the details of the winning projects are published on www.premiobestpractices.it

Rheticus® Displacement is a geoinformation service designed for the monitoring of earth’s surface movements, aimed at monitoring areas subject to landslides and subsidence, and the stability of infrastructures.
Launched in April 2016, Rheticus® Displacement has already garnered awards at Italian and international level, such as the “Application of the Year 2016” of OpenGeoData Italia and listed among finalists of the “European EO product of the Year” of EARSC Association.
Rheticus® Displacement is one of the services provided through the www.rheticus.eu Cloud platform. Shifting from data provision to geospatial knowledge and geo-analytics, its services are delivered worldwide through a growing network of resellers.

Vincenzo Barbieri, CMO of Planetek Italia, said, “This new award makes us proud and confident that we are on track for a marketable and sustainable innovation. Rheticus® represents a real change of the business model in geoinformation services. Its unique features, which makes geoinformation and analytics available continuously, on the Cloud and low cost, is a fundamental support for several application fields, such as infrastructures engineering, territorial planning or coastal marine waters monitoring and reporting”. “The Rheticus® platform is now the synthesis of Planetek skills and expertise in developing and providing value-added services, of great benefit to those who, in the public and private sectors, is working to preserve our Earth and improve the quality of our lives”.

Source

RSA Cosmos, planetarium designer, takes advantage of PlanetObserver satellite imagery to enrich its Space and Earth simulation software SkyExplorer.

The partnership between PlanetObserver and RSA Cosmos continues as more and more planetariums use PlanetObserver geospatial data in SkyExplorer software. Developed by RSA Cosmos, SkyExplorer is a unique 3D real time Space and Earth simulation software. With this powerful tool, the whole solar system can be created by using different in-built database. Planet Earth is created with PlanetSAT 15 imagery basemap and PlanetDEM 30 Plus elevation dataset. The result is highly realistic!

Check out the Pic du Midi flyover in the French Pyrenees that has been produced with SkyExplorer, using PlanetSAT 15 satellite imagery and PlanetAIR France aerial photography from PlanetObserver.

Throughout 2016, nearly 10 planetariums have adopted PlanetObserver geospatial data. Those new users are all scattered around the world, from South Korea, USA, Sicily or Turkey. They have chosen PlanetObserver satellite imagery for their high visual quality and faithful picture of Earth reality. A must to discover our planet!

To find out more on PlanetObserver imagery basemap and elevation data, just contact us at +33 4 73 44 19 00 or fill in the inquiry form of the contact page. We will contact you very shortly.

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