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Spring Bloom Kattegat, ESA-MOST dragon cooperation programme, ESOV-NG….


(31.03.2011) Spring Bloom in the Kattegat and western Baltic Sea

This year’s spring bloom in the Kattegat and western Baltic Sea can be clearly detected with satellite data (here: MERIS sensor onboard ENVISAT satellite). Chlorophyll concentrations and extent of the spring bloom can be seen here

(17.03.2011) Brockmann Consult to be presented on the ESA-MOST dragon cooperation programme.

BC runs the BEAM training as a part of the Advance Training Cource in Ocean Remote Sensing in the State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai, P.R. China Within the framework of the ESA-MOST dragon cooperation programme

(03.02.2011) ESOV-NG 2.0 released.

The version 2.0 of the ESOV NG application has been released and it can be downloaded from the Esov distribution web site

ESOV NG allows users to visualize and print Instrument swaths, Ground tracks, Zone coverages, Ground Station Visibility and to generate overpass table for generic Earth Observation LEO satellites. Support for Envisat, ERS-1, ERS-2, Cryosat, ADM, SMOS, Metop is built in, more satellites can be added easily.

Source

(April 3, 2011) Aratos participation: The FP7 Environment project “GEO Capacity Building Initiative in Central Asia” (SEOCA) organized the project Federated Conference comprising the following events:

  • International seminar of Central Asian Universities and other educational stakeholders: “New scientific and educational technologies in the field of Earth Observation”. The seminar brought together University representatives from all 5 countries of Central Asia and their colleagues from the EU in order to discuss the modern curricular relevant to the topic. Also, the seminar included the roundtable discussions “Modern technologies of EO information processing” and “Environment monitoring by using small satellites”. The project partners from Germany, Greece and Turkey presented the European curricula and technologies.
  • Demonstration workshop “GEONETcast technologies for environment monitoring”. The representatives of Central Asian organizations interested in application of GEONETCast low-cost terminals for educational needs as well as for real-life applications in environment and natural disasters monitoring have been acquainted with the GEONETCast system capacities
  • Training workshop “GEO: Global efforts and regional impact” aimed to provide training to National GEO offices in all 5 countries of Central Asia. As a result it is expected that the regional contribution to GEO, as well as engagement of regional stakeholders with GEO activities was significantly strengthen.

Source

Recent news


Aerodata supports wildlife rescue center (Mar 28th, 2011)

Wildlife is getting more and more susceptible to injuries due to the urbanization in Flanders. Wounded, ill and orphaned birds and other wildlife deserve a second chance and are taken into care by Flemish wildlife rescue centers (Opvangcentra voor Vogels en Wilde Dieren; licensed by Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen). In the region of Antwerp, this center is located in Brasschaat. Started in 2006 with only a few volunteers, it has now grown to a voluntary team of 30 motivated people, treating about 2500 animals every year. When the animals are fully recovered or grown up, they are released back into nature. With a growing team, the center has now the need of moving to a bigger and better equipped location, and so be able to treat more animals in a more efficient way. Dependent on gifts, this is a big challenge for the center, and therefore Aerodata supports them by donating a yearly gift.

Aerodata provides the Port of Antwerp a 6-metre wide aerial of the port (Feb 7th, 2011)

The Antwerp Port Authority opened this weekend the visitors’ centre at the Port Pavilion at the foot of the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS). The main attraction of the Pavilion is a 6-metre wide aerial image of the port on the floor. Visitors can see for themselves just how extensive the port is, particularly in comparison with the Antwerp downtown area, by just walking on top of the illuminated floor.

Aerodata provided the authority with this orthophoto mosaic. The images were acquired at a flying height of 5000m (16400 ft, 15cm GSD) with one of Aerodata’s VisionMap A³ camera systems in the spring of 2010. The captured area extends the port of Antwerp and goes southwards all the way to the city of Mechelen, which city services also make use of this unique dataset.

Thermal Mobile Mapping (Feb 7th, 2011)

Aerodata, ITC and imajing companies are proud to announce the Thermal Mobile Mapping system. The system is designed to survey building facades by driving a car with an on board thermal camera at normal traffic speed.

After several years of experience resulting in great references such as Paris, Bordeaux, Nice, Grenoble, etc., aerial thermography mapping became a specialty of the Aerodata/ITC partnership. The end product displays a unique view on heat losses from building roofs, representing about 1/3 of the total heat loss of a building. Facades which may represent up to 30-50% of losses can now also be added to this product.
Up to now, such complementary survey was only achievable on foot with a handheld scanner and therefore slow and inefficient. Aiming to extend such survey to all buildings of larger areas, Aerodata, ITC and imajing joint their forces to couple a FLIR Infrared camera with the compact Imajbox mobile mapping system. The thermal images are associated with accurate geographic positions enabling detailed measurements (using photogrammetric measurements) and even 3D objects extraction. From these images, heat engineers from ITC can precisely identify thermal anomalies on facades (insulation problems, air leakage, etc.). The main goal is to increase public awareness and to stimulate energy efficiency measures.

Well done mates: Sydney survey completed in just 3 days! (Feb 2nd, 2011)

Aerodata International Surveys (AIS) first big 2011 achievement has been realized! 4,000 sqkm of the Sydney basin area has been captured @10 and 20 cm resolution in only 3 flying days, using AIS’s revolutionary VisionMap A3 camera.

Not only the flight mission burned nearly half the carbon dioxide if a conventional aerial survey camera was used, but it also provided oblique viewing thanks to the camera unique sweeping technology. The camera’s key benefits of high resolution which fits between very high resolution low altitude airborne sensors and high resolution space sensors is found in the ability of flying large areas in minimum time without compromising on quality and accuracy. From 10 cm to 35 cm GSD, Aerodata can produce rapidly cost-effective orthophotos and oblique viewing of large areas in nearly half of the time of any other large format digital mapping sensor.

Source

Multi-layer Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for Darfur / obsAIRve


GAF to establish a multi-layer Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for Darfur (21.03.2011)

GAF has been awarded a contract by the Darfur Land Commission (DLC) to set up a Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for the whole of Darfur.

The overall objective of this project is the establishment of a multi-layered and dynamic state-of-the-art natural resources information system that provides basic land management and planning information and thereby will enable decision makers to develop and manage Darfur’s natural resources in a sustainable way. The DLC was established on 13th July 2007, as an integral part of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA), in order to address traditional and historical issues of land tenure and to review natural resources management. The TDRA, the interim authority for the Darfur region of Sudan, was established in April 2007 under the terms of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May 2006. It is based in Khartoum and has branch offices in the three states of Darfur.

The TDRA is defined by the Darfur Peace Agreement as being the principal instrument for the implementation of that agreement and is tasked with enhancing coordination and cooperation among the three Darfur states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur. Its primary responsibilities include facilitating the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, coordinating the restoration of security, and promoting peace and reconciliation.Generally, the Natural Resources and Land Use Database and Map for Darfur Project aims to increase the government’s long-term institutional and technical capacity to manage Darfur’s natural resources, including agricultural land, natural areas, forests, minerals, water, cities, towns and villages. This will establish a basis for poverty reduction and also rural economic renewal in selected areas of the country, via the development of non-farm and farm income, thereby improving the social and economic welfare of the community and promoting a better environment.

This database will help decision makers and planners to establish plans for agricultural development and other land livelihood initiatives and to select the potentially most productive areas for investment and development projects. With a comprehensive capacity building component, the project will also enable the key rural and urban development and planning institutions to perform their tasks efficiently.

Dr. Peter Volk, CEO of GAF, comments, “We are very happy about the award of such an important project relating to the Darfur Peace Agreement. This multi-thematic project comprises geology and minerals, geomorphology, soils and land suitability, water resources, ecological and biological information, land cover, land use and socioeconomic conditions. The provision of such a broad range of expertise is one of the outstanding strengths of GAF.” Eng. Adam Abdel Rahman Ahmed, Commission President, states, “We are very happy that such a worthwhile project is to be implemented that gives the people of Sudan in general and the people of Darfur in particular great expectations with regard the realisation of peace and stability. Such an unprecedented project will no doubt be seen as revolutionary throughout the whole Sudan as a unique example which could be replicated in other parts of the country. To conclude, when the project has reached a successful end, DLC expects to play a great role in maintaining sustainable development and peace in the region, thus leading to the solving of major problems with regards to natural resources and land use.”

obsAIRve – Europe-wide air quality monitoring and forecasting (28.01.2011)

GAF AG has been awarded a contract by the European Commission to develop “obsAIRve”. In its role as consortium leader, this project will involve GAF together with the partners T-Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Umweltbundesamt (Austria) designing and developing a new air quality system for the European public.

Air pollution directly affects the health and quality of life of human beings – on local, regional and global levels. Hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year in Europe are caused by fine particles in the air. In addition air pollution is responsible for the formation of harmful trace gases like ozone (the so called summer smog) and can cause acid rain.

Monitoring and forecasting of air quality are essential for the prevention and avoidance of risks, as well as for the provision of warnings. Reliable air quality forecasts covering periods of up to 3 days are now possible by combining satellite based and in situ observation data using statistical computations and numerical models. “obsAIRve” will apply results obtained from Europe’s superior air quality forecast systems. This will ensure one uniform European air quality service providing real-time and user-friendly data across Europe.

The main intended user groups are citizens, the health and leisure sector as well as public authorities. “obsAIRve” will disseminate air quality information via dedicated web portals and mobile applications using T-Systems ICT infrastructure. The information will enrich existing services such as weather and environmental portals. Additionally, individual notifications will be available to specific user groups on request. This enables people at risk to behave according to environmental conditions.

“obsAIRve” intends to bridge the gap between research results of GMES related projects and the European public. The awareness of the citizens for environmental issues and activities of the European Commission shall be increased by setting up dedicated marketing campaigns at the European level. “obsAIRve” is part of the European “GMES” initiative. The project will initially be financed by the European Commission as a pilot project for a period of three years.

Project-Partners:
Consortium:

German Aerospace Center (DLR) is responsible for all of Germany’s space related activities, including satellite launching, data reception and the carrying out of research at the forefront of modern space based technology. Through its German Remote Sensing Data Centre, DLR offers cutting edge climate and atmospheric products and related services. For more details please refer to the websites: www.dlr.de/eoc and wdc.dlr.de

Umweltbundesamt (Environment Agency Austria) will participate as a partner from the institutional sector. It will provide its expertise in the fields of air quality and the assessment of human health. Its long experience in GMES-related projects, especially regarding user and stakeholder inclusion and communication, will also add value to the project. More on Umweltbundesamt: www.umweltbundesamt.at

T-Systems: Drawing on a global infrastructure of data centers and networks, T-Systems operates information and communication technology (ICT) systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions and provides integrated solutions for the networked future of business and society. Some 45,300 employees at T-Systems combine industry expertise with ICT innovations to add significant value to customers’ core business all over the world. The corporate customers unit generated revenue of around EUR 8.8 billion in the 2009 financial year. www.t-systems.com

Supporting Partners:

  • Info-Logika (Bulgaria)
  • AIRPARIF (France)
  • DCMR (The Netherlands)
  • EGMASA (Spain)
  • Mobility Service Agency for the City of Rome (Italy)

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(RapidEye) As a remote sensing company, we can only hope that through the technology we have access to, we can reduce the complexity of the situation for the people on the ground in Japan and elsewhere.

Unexpected Circumstances

When you work with geospatial information, there will be days when all of your scheduled meetings and regular everyday tasks seem insignificant. Your business will be focused in an area that you were not expecting, because every EO company is in the disaster monitoring business. It’s inevitable.

March 11, 2011 was definitely one of those days at RapidEye. A disastrous event occurring almost 9,000 kilometers from Brandenburg, Germany suddenly became the focus of many of RapidEye’s 130 team members.

As of April 1, it has been named the “Tōhoku” earthquake and tsunami by the Japanese government, which literally means “Eastern Japan Great Earthquake Disaster”. One month has passed since it occurred, and for many who live there or are involved in relief and cleanup efforts, the crisis is far from over.

The Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami were the first topic of discussions in the offices that Friday. Many employees had already heard about it as they made their way to the office and were watching or reading news on the Internet.

The BBC was showing live footage of the tsunami via helicopter by the NHK (the Japanese Broadcasting Association). Offices were hushed as a small group gathered around a computer monitor, watching vehicles on local roads as people tried to escape the approaching water and were engulfed by it. Massive ships were being pushed onto land and houses were swept away. It was clear that hundreds of thousands of lives would be affected and lost by the unfolding event. The devastation was unbelievable. Now was the time for RapidEye to come together as a team and take action. It was expected, and it was something we could do to help from half a world away.

Rapid Response

RapidEye’s Business Operations team immediately began scanning the RapidEye Library, an ever-growing archive of RapidEye satellite imagery, to see what images were available from before the event. In addition, there were impromptu discussions within the company as to how quickly the satellites could be tasked to cover Japan’s northeastern coast. Decisions on the management level were made, and the satellites were redirected to the affected areas.

Acquiring imagery almost immediately after an event such as this is crucial to relief agencies as they manage the disaster on the ground. It was obvious early on that relief efforts and rescue operations would be massive and that the devastation would far exceed that of the Chilean earthquake in 2010, almost exactly one year before.

The International Charter, an organization providing a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery, was activated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), one of its eight international members. As a result, The Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI), part of the German Aerospace Agency (DLR), contacted RapidEye for data. They requested as many before and after images of the eastern seaboard of Japan as could be acquired.

On Saturday, March 12, the first images were taken by the RapidEye constellation of satellites at 11:20 local time. A weekend crew was in-house to manage the incoming data from Japan, deliver them to the International Charter through the ZKI and distribute a press announcement to its worldwide media contacts.

The press release alerted organizations involved in emergency efforts that RapidEye currently had imagery of the eastern coastline of Japan. The response to the press release was international.

Increasing Public Interest in EO

During the following week, RapidEye fielded calls and visits from many local and international media outlets. Television appearances about RapidEye and its involvement in Japan relief efforts were highlighted on German television through Tagesschau, Planetopia, the ZDF and RBB (Berlin/Brandenburg).

Newspaper and online media outlets such as Spiegel Online, The Financial Times, Berlin’s Tagesspiegel and even New York-based CBS news were interested in RapidEye and its imagery. Much media attention was focused on EO imagery from providers such as RapidEye in regard to the benefits of using remote sensing to best direct relief efforts, as well as how change detection mapping can be produced with before and after imagery.

Using the two accompanying RapidEye images as an example, you will find the port city of Kesennuma, located in the Miyagi Prefecture. Both use the color Infrared (CIR) band to highlight areas of vegetation. In the ‘before’ image you will see that there is much vegetation throughout the city (grass, trees, agricultural fields, etc.). Even when taking into account the seasonal vegetative differences, the CIR images highlight the dramatic differences in both urban and agricultural areas before and immediately after the tsunami.

Doing What We Can

The Japanese tsunami inundated a total area of approximately 470 km² according to the NHK (the Japanese Broadcasting Association). Since March 11, over 563,000 km² of Japan, including many multiple coverages, have been imaged by RapidEye. The area has been collected by the satellite constellation over eleven days of the last 30, which resulted in a collection of over 150 tiles 25 × 25 km in size.

There is no question that natural disasters have been on the rise in recent years, but there will never come a time when an event of this magnitude will become routine. Every person and every company involved in the disaster management arena knows that these situations cannot be avoided. As a remote sensing company, we can only hope that through the technology we have access to, we can reduce the complexity of the situation for the people on the ground in Japan and elsewhere.

As of this week, over 28,000 lives have been lost as a direct result of “Tōhoku”. Disaster management may not be the most lucrative part of operating a satellite imagery and solutions company such as RapidEye, however, there is always the humanitarian desire to help when you can. Additionally, whenever possible, the EO community has a moral obligation to assist a governmental or civilian organization in any aspect of managing a crisis, if and when disaster strikes.

About RapidEye
RapidEye is a provider of quality high-resolution satellite imagery and solutions derived from its imagery. With a constellation of five Earth Observation satellites, RapidEye images over 4 Million square kilometers of Earth every day, and has amassed almost 2 Billion square kilometers in its Library in just over two years of commercial operation. With an unprecedented combination of wide area repetitive coverage and five meter pixel size multi-spectral imagery, RapidEye is a natural choice for many industries and government agencies. www.rapideye.de

Swedish Parliament has today decided to transfer the operations currently conducted by the Metria division of Lantmäteriet to the wholly State-owned company Metria AB on 1 May 2011.

Metria performs consultancy work in the field of geographical information and associated services, for example surveying, data sales, analyses and geographical IT. Exempted from the corporatization is the supply of geographical information to the Defence Authorities, which will remain under Lantmäteriet.

Metria, with some 300 personnel employed in over 35 Swedish towns and cities, has its head office in Gävle, Sweden. The proposed Managing Director of Metria AB after 1 May, Karin Annerwall Parö, has been Divisional Manager of Metria since 15 January 2011.

The decision by Parliament to convert Metria into a limited company is based on the outcome of a survey conducted by the leader of a Government inquiry into the matter, Christina Rogestam. The survey indicated that authorities should not operate on markets with functioning forms of competition. The Parliamentary decision is supported by all political parties.

“At Metria, we recognise that the change involves major positive challenges,” says Karin Annerwall Parö. “It gives us greater opportunities to extend and develop the unique competence that our employees possess in the area of geographical IT. Our customers will find it easier to do business with Metria, while at the same time we will retain a high level of quality in the services we provide.”

All Metria employees will be offered employment at Metria AB. The breadth and depth of Metria’s competence in geographical information is the foundation on which it will be possible to build a successful company. On 24 March 2011, the Government took the formal decision that allowed the State to purchase the company and to appoint a Board of Directors.

On 1 May 2011, operations will be transferred from Lantmäteriet’ Metria division to Metria AB.

For further information, please contact Karin Annerwall Parö, Metria’s Divisional Manager, on +46 (0)73-412 66 62 or at karin.annerwall.paro@lm.se

Metria offers services in the field of geographical IT. The focus of Metria’s operations has for many years been on helping customers to collect, process and use geographical information. Metria employs some 300 personnel in 35 towns and cities in Sweden, and has annual sales of SEK 500 million. The largest customers are for the most part in the public sector, banking and insurance, forestry and energy, and telecommunications. See www.metria.se.

(Guildford, 10th February 2011) Remote sensing solutions provider DMCii has signed an exclusive agreement with the Nigerian Space Agency (NASRDA) to distribute imagery from the two new earth observation satellites NigeriaSat-2 & NigeriaSat-X that are awaiting launch.

The two satellites introduce high quality 2.5m Pan and 5m multispectral (4 band) imagery to DMCii’s product range with strip, wide area and stereo pair options available. These very high resolution imagery products will prove ideal for use by professionals in mapping and cartography, business intelligence, urban/transport planning, land cover mapping, forestry and demanding agriculture applications.

The two new satellites will also provide wide area 22m and 32m multispectral data continuity for applications that are already using DMCii’s imagery products throughout the world.

DMCii will distribute the imagery products to all customers outside Africa and customers in Africa will be managed by NASRDA.

About DMC International Imaging Ltd

DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation. DMCii’s data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.

In partnership with the former British National Space Centre (now UK Space Agency) and the other Disaster Monitoring Constellation member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), DMCii works with the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the Disaster Monitoring Constellation with the support of the then British National Space Centre and in conjunction with the other Disaster Monitoring Constellation member nations listed above.

For more information, please see www.dmcii.com.

Notes to editor:
This press release can be downloaded from http://fwd4.me/vKM
High-resolution JPEG images are available on request
Press contacts:
Robin Wolstenholme, bcm public relations, www.bcmpublicrelations.com
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288
Email: r.wolstenholme@bcmpublicrelations.com
Paul Stephens, Sales & Marketing Director, DMC International Imaging Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804299
Email: p.stephens@dmcii.com

(Guildford, 15th March 2011) A team of space experts led by British company DMCii participated in a national flooding exercise, “Exercise Watermark”, to determine how satellite imagery, satellite communications and satellite navigation could be used to improve UK emergency response.

The team represented an ongoing project funded via the UK’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) as part of its contribution to the European Space Agency (ESA) IAP programme.

Exercise Watermark was masterminded by the Environment Agency, on behalf of DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly Government, following recommendations of The Pitt Review into the flooding emergency in June and July 2007 that resulted in 13 deaths and an estimated financial cost of £3 billion. The exercise used scenarios based on severe weather conditions including flooding from the sea, rivers, surface water and reservoirs to put the UK’s emergency plans to the test.

During a disaster, space-based services can provide disaster response teams with up-to-date satellite maps and asset tracking capabilities to improve their situational awareness. Damaged or overloaded communications infrastructure on the ground can be reinforced using satellite telecommunications.

British remote sensing company, DMCii, led the team of space experts who observed Exercise Watermark as part of the ‘Integrating Space Assets for UK Civil Resilience’ project. At the culmination of the 14 month project, the project team will recommend a system using space assets to improve situational awareness for the risks identified in the UK Government’s National Risk Register.

Adina Gillespie, DMCii Project Manager, said: “Exercise Watermark provided the team with a unique first-hand view of how a disaster is handled on the ground. We know the contingency community doesn’t need to understand whizzy gadgetry, so now we’re asking ourselves how can we incorporate information from space assets seamlessly into their existing disaster response procedures”

During the course of the exercise, the incident command centre in Wales coordinated efforts with strategic command operators, whilst feeding into national COBRA meetings at the Cabinet Office in London. The UK resilience project’s experts engaged with emergency services who are not necessarily familiar with space systems and assessed their needs. The project team also added a test activation of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters to the exercise.

As the UK’s representative in the Charter, DMCii coordinated the response to requests for imagery by the Welsh Assembly Government and Cabinet Office. The European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency and The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and DMCii all responded to the request, supplying satellite imagery from which disaster response maps were produced.

Incident room during Exercise Watermark

The UK resilience project benefits from a five-strong consortium. DMCii and fellow specialist Infoterra UK provide satellite imaging and mapping experience; Avanti Communications provides experience of secure back-up communications; Nottingham Scientific Ltd. is a world leader in safety-critical satellite navigation systems and the British Geological Survey provides additional expertise on a number of geohazards, including groundwater flooding. DMCii will debrief the participants of the exercise next month, looking at how space assets were used during the exercise and how they could be better-used in future civil contingency responses.

About DMC International Imaging Ltd

DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation. DMCii’s data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.

In partnership with the former British National Space Centre (now UK Space Agency) and the other Disaster Monitoring Constellation member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), DMCii works with the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the Disaster Monitoring Constellation with the support of the then British National Space Centre and in conjunction with the other Disaster Monitoring Constellation member nations listed above.

For more information, please see www.dmcii.com

About the European Space Agency and the Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme

The European Space Agency is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver ever more benefits to all the citizens of Europe.

The objective of ESA’s Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme is the development of operational services for a wide range of users through the combination of different systems. By using and integrating different space assets (e.g. Earth Observation, satellite communication, satellite navigation, manned space technologies), improved or new services on a regional, national or European scale will be created. Intrinsic to these new applications is the added value of space and the long-term sustainability of the resulting services. The programme thereby responds to user needs in areas such as health, safety, energy, transport and development.

For more information, please see: http://iap.esa.int

About the Technology Strategy Board

The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led, executive, non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its role is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS).

For more information, please see www.innovateuk.org

Notes to editor:
This press release can be downloaded from http://fwd4.me/vKM
Image caption: Incident room during Exercise Watermark
High quality JPEG images are also available upon request from Robin Wolstenholme.
Press contacts:
Robin Wolstenholme, bcm, www.bcmpublicrelations.com
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288 Email: r.wolstenholme@bcmpublicrelations.com
Paul Stephens, Sales & Marketing Director, DMC International Imaging Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804299 Email: p.stephens@dmcii.com
Tony Sephton, Integrated Applications Department, European Space Agency
Tel: +31 (0)71 56 55554 Email: tony.sephton@esa.int

Gisat operational snow monitoring in the Czech Republic, Gisat involvement in GRAAL.


Gisat provides operational snow monitoring in the Czech Republic

The company has set up a national operational snow monitoring service since beginning of this year. The system supports the existing hydrological activities of the Czech Hydro-meteorological Institute.

The service is based on Earth Observation Terra MODIS system in spatial resolution of 250 m and temporal resolution of one day. Satellite images bring synoptic view on the snow cover dynamics in the Czech Republic with daily acquisitions. Cloud-free acquisitions, covering at least one third of the total country area, are processed into classification maps. The maps are presented as raster or vector product and can be viewed via the Google Earth & Google Maps applications.

Beside that, snow occurrence probability maps are calculated from 80 meto-stations measurements. In case of cloud coverage in the optical images the cloud information is substituted by the probabilities. This way uncertainty in the maps is reduced. So-called hybrid map is presented for further analysis. Additionally, catchments snow statistics is calculated. Graphs of snow statistics present percentage snow coverage in the catchments according to land cover types and altitude levels.

The service products are available daily via dedicated mapserver or weekly by means of flash reports in pdf sent to the user every Monday.

GRAAL turned up in GMES

Can GMES downstream services help regional and local authorities in decision making?
GRAAL (GMES for Regions: Awareness and Access Link) project is funded under 7th FWP (Seventh Framework Programme). The overall objective of GRAAL is to foster the development of GMES Downstream Services and develop the link of GMES with Regions (and other local authorities of comparable importance).

The essence of GRAAL lies in the balance between these two sub-objectives. The members of the GRAAL consortium believe that there is as much a need to develop the awareness of the potential of GMES downstream services among Local and Regional Authorities (LRA) as it is necessary to ensure that there are Service Providers in a position to serve this market and to accomplish the Lisbon strategy-related objectives of GMES.

It is proposed to achieve this overall ambition through the following objectives:

  • To characterise the offer in terms of GMES services for LRAs;
  • To establish an observatory of the GMES Downstream Service sector;
  • To develop a user oriented tool implemented on a Website where demand and offer will meet and where exchanges can take place by using the most advanced web-based technologies;
  • To increase awareness of GMES among LRAs and potential Service Providers.

The GRAAL consortium is led by Syseco and the team consists of 10 partners from 8 countries covering 4 of the GMES priority areas (Land, Atmosphere, Ocean and Emergencies). Gisat brings to the project the views and experiences of the respected GMES service provider as well as the knowledge of the needs of new Member States.

You may find more Gisat news here

VITO recent news on APEX, ESA’s first airborne imaging spectrometer and E-farming


APEX, ESA’s first airborne imaging spectrometer

In December 2010, the Airborne Prism EXperiment (APEX) was officially accepted by ESA-PRODEX. This means that after a long development phase that started in the mid 90’s, the instrument is now ready for operations. APEX has been developed by a Swiss-Belgian consortium led by the Remote Sensing Laboratories (RSL) at the University of Zurich and the Flemish Institute of Technological Research (VITO). The latter will be responsible for the airborne campaigns and the data processing, while RSL is primarily responsible for the scientific aspects.

APEX is intended as a simulator and a calibration/validation device for future spaceborne sensors. It is an advanced scientific instrument for the European remote sensing community, recording hyperspectral data in approximately 300 bands in the wavelength range between 400 nm and 2500 nm and at a spatial ground resolution of 2 to 5 m. Hyperspectral remote sensing or imaging spectroscopy greatly extends the scope of traditional remote sensing. It is based on the detection of many narrow, contiguous spectral bands. This presents opportunities for more precise identification of surface materials than is possible with broadband multispectral sensors. Possible applications are endless, but the most promising ones are in the field of geology, mineralogy, agriculture, vegetation analysis, aquatic monitoring (as well as snow & ice), and atmospheric applications.

From now on acquisitions with APEX can be requested via:
Koen Meuleman, operations manager
e-mail: koen.meuleman@vito.be
Tel: +32 14 33 68 63
Please note that the instrument is also offered via the EUropean Facility for Airborne Research (EUFAR – http://www.eufar.net/).


APEX cube: APEX quicklooks acquired above Oostende (B) in June 2009 during the acceptance campaign.

VITO goes E-farming

On 24 March, the E-AGRI project had its kick off meeting at VITO in Mol, Belgium. Its purpose is to support the uptake of European ICT applications in agriculture in developing economies. This will be achieved by setting up an advanced European E-agriculture service in two developing economies, Morocco and China, by means of crop monitoring. The activities of capacity building will be carried out in the third developing country, Kenya, to raise the interest of local stakeholders on European E-agricultural practices and to pave the way for an eventual technological transfer in the future.

The European research institutions including VITO, Alterra, JRC and University of Milan, have developed series of agricultural monitoring approaches to support European Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). These approaches are based on the European Information and Communication technologies including space-based Earth Observation (EO), geographical information systems and agro-meteorological modelling. The transfer, adaptation and local application of these E-agriculture practices will assist the policy makers of developing countries in their challenge to sustain agriculture’s productivity growth. It helps to achieve the food security, increase farmer incomes and protect local farmer interest, in the context of agricultural liberalization. On the other hand, the feedback from this project will enhance the applicability of European crop production forecasting technology on a global scale, thus ultimately strengthen its capacity in global monitoring of food security.

The partner institutions based in the three developing countries include the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) from Morocco, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Jiangsu Agricultural Academy of Sciences from China, Anhui Institute for Economical Research from China and the Ministry of Environmental and Mineral Resources from Kenya.

The kick-off meeting highlighted the progress and the adaptability of Europe’s crop monitoring technology in different continents of the world and defined the specific objectives of the activities. Especially, in the frame of capacity building, the consortium decided to strengthen the activities in the third study region in Kenya by including them in the task of yield monitoring using remote sensing. Furthermore, in order to strengthen the visibility of the project, the consortium has planned several E-AGRI workshops attended by decision-makers from the local governments as well as the European Union. These workshops intend to promote globally the importance of E-Agriculture tools in the domain of food security and agricultural commodity trading.

The E-AGRI project is an FP7 collaborative project of the European Commission and will be implemented between 2011 and 2014.

E-Agri: Participants at the E-Agri Kick-off meeting at VITO in Mol.