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(Nov 2010) Thales Alenia Space, the Prime Contractor, and its partner OHB-System, today announce the signature of an Authorization To Proceed (ATP) with the European Space Agency (ESA) for the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system.

This program, co-financed by the European Space Agency and the European meteorological organization Eumetsat, will guarantee access to space data until 2037.

After a long and tough competition, this contract is the result of a rigorous selection’s process made by ESA and Eumetsat.

MTG is a six-satellite system of four imaging satellites carrying imaging and lightning detection mission as well as two sounders satellites providing infrared and ultraviolet capabilities, for both climate and meteorological applications. The launch of the first MTG imaging satellite is currently planned in 2017, marking the beginning of the in-orbit lifetime of the imagery mission, followed by the launch of the first MTG sounding satellite in 2019. The MTG mission will improve significantly the operational services delivered to the European Meteorological services which are the final users.

The sounding satellite will provide unprecedented information on water vapour and temperature profiling. It will also embark the Ultraviolet, Visible and Near-Infrared Sentinel-4 instrument covering Europe and providing atmospheric chemistry and air quality information contributing to the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) initiative.

“Today’s signature confirms our commitment, as a Prime Contractor, to addressing the multifaceted challenges of very high performance requirements and of the operational nature of the mission, requested for the European Meteorological services” said Reynald Seznec, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space. “We are extremely happy and proud to meet the challenge of building the most ambitious geostationary satellites ever developed in Europe, and thank ESA and Eumetsat for their confidence.”

In addition to its Prime contracting role, Thales Alenia Space is in charge of the imaging mission, providing the four imaging satellites and their main instrument. OHB-System is in charge of the sounder mission, providing the two sounders satellites while its sister company Kayser-Threde provides the atmospheric sounders instrument. Furthermore, OHB-System will develop the six satellites’ 3-axis stabilized common platform.

“This contract shows the bright side of our French-German team building for the benefit of this European programme, combining the right complementary skills in order to provide the best value for the customer” said Berry Smutny, President and CEO of OHB-System AG. “We thank ESA and Eumetsat for the confidence to build, integrate and test the two Sounder satellites in Bremen, and DLR for their utmost support and trust in OHB-System.”

Thales Alenia Space has developed the full range of skills and expertise needed for space-based meteorology over the last 30 years. The company built all 11 first and second generation Meteosat satellites, and has logged extensive experience in managing industrial consortiums, developing expertise in optical imaging and atmospheric sounding.

OHB-System contributes with the modern SGEO geostationary platform to the MTG programme. OHB-System has developed a worldwide acknowledged expertise in LEO and MEO satellite constellations like the German radar reconnaissance system SAR-Lupe. OHB-System has recently been selected for the development and integration of the first 14 satellites for the European navigation system.

Contact for media representatives:
Steffen Leuthold
Corporate Communications Manager
Press spokesman
Phone: +49 421 – 2020-620
Fax: +49 421 – 2020-9898
e-mail: leuthold@ohb-system.de

The EUROSENSE presentation at the EC-FP8 Space Research Hearing event held on the 8 December 2010 in Brussels was entitled “Increasing European security in addressing International human risks by combining remote sensing data with socio-economical information”. EUROSENSE demonstrated that Space technology should address two specific questions: “where are people?” and “are they vulnerable to specific risks?”

EUROSENSE contributed to the workshop “Let’s embrace Space”, the EC- FP8 Space Research Hearing event held on the 8 December 2010 in Brussels. Our presentation “Increasing European security in addressing International human risks by combining remote sensing data with socio-economical information” was selected in the fourth session addressing “Emerging space applications to address challenges on and around the Earth”. Security and space applications have been stated by EC representatives as one of the objectives of EC future research.

EUROSENSE demonstrated that Space technology should address two specific questions: “where are people?” and “are they vulnerable to specific risks?”. Our assumption is that Earth Observation data should be aimed to provide accurate, timely and relevant information to better understand and measure human security. Human security deals with risks occurring to people. While remote sensing information informs precisely about extent and exposure to specific risks, the link to the specific population is still a critical step for future research. Knowing where people are and if they are vulnerable to specific risks are two major research questions that are still to be addressed by European projects.

To address the first question, population distribution models are developed (see figure 1 below). The G-Mosaic EUROSENSE population density map disaggregates demographic data from statistical sources (GPWv3, CIESIN) with land use information (LCC2000-UCL-Geomatics) and ancillary data. This georeferenced spatial distribution of population data is an initial step to other socio-economic statistics. Deriving a grid-based/raster dataset of socio-environmental indicators from satellite imagery and statistical data is a challenging but promising technique of combining EO and socio-economic information through specific assumption about spatial patterns. While population information is of poor quality, model assumptions help to identify the spatial pattern of the distribution by indirect factors. Land use information is crucial in such a model.

The second question refers to analysis of risks and vulnerabilities. EUROSENSE geospatial technologies provide already technological support to authorities in the prevention and post-crisis management phases of emergency cycles such as flood, industrial crisis, … Geospatial tools are also developed by EUROSENSE to better represent energy linkages, water flows and risks, urban sprawl and imperviousness of European cities. Their application to address issues outside of Europe needs to refer to local specifications as well as global challenges such as climate change. Remote sensing products should for example be adapted to help the decision makers to improve forest conservation (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation – REDD).

Remote Sensing products developed through GMES research projects at the European level should be extended in FP8 research projects and specifically focused to address international human security. For humanitarian aid, development and environmental reasons, the European Commission should get technical spatial information about risks to humans. This means to make the spatial link between population/ assets and risks. Human security research would allow Europe to address issues in its neighboring countries but also global challenges such as climate change and forest conservation. Geospatial technologies promote European research in developing countries where accurate information is significantly missing. Geospatial technology related to human well-being can support the European policy on the international sphere.


Figure 1: G-Mosaic population distribution map produced by EUROSENSE

Vietnam boasts potential for about 30,000MW power generated by hydroelectric plants. The number of approved small-scaled hydroelectric projects in Vietnam has risen from 340 in 2005 to over 880, with a total capacity of over 5,880MW. However, the booming construction of Small-scaled Hydropower Plants (SHP’s) is gaining more and more critics due to its large impact on the direct environment (deforestation) and the area down-stream (impact on land use and floodings). In a new ESA-funded project called HYDREO, EUROSENSE is demonstrating the application of EO services to study the impact of SHP’s on the environment and the water resources.

According to Vietnam’s regulations, a hydroelectric project of less than 30 megawatts and using 10 hectares is classified as small-scaled. The Vietnamese minister of industry recently stated that: “Projects not remarkably contributing to the socio-economic development of localities where they are located, threatening the environment or flooding, will be stopped”. In November 2010, the VIETNAM BUSINESS NEWS reported that “the government will continue putting the screws on small-scaled hydroelectric projects due to deforestation and environmental fears”.

In a new project called HYDREO, EUROSENSE is applying EO services for better integration of Small-scaled Hydropower Plant development in water resources use planning in Vietnam. In HYDREO, EUROSENSE will study the environmental impact of SHP’s in the Quang Nam province, along the shores of the Thu Bon river and its tributaries. The project has two main objectives:

  • Demonstrate a combination of EO-derived products that can support the decision-making process for permitting SHP-projects
  • Study on how the SHP-projects could be better managed, so that besides power generation, SHP’s also function as water reservoirs that contribute to the water resource management of floods and droughts.

Figure 1: Example of flood simulation from previous project: this flood hazard map represents a dam break during a 100 year flood event along the Danube river in Bratislava city after 48 hours with the water depth in colours blue. The location of the dam break is indicated in red.

EUROSENSE plans to achieve these objectives by quantifying the impact of the construction of SHP’s on the land cover in its direct environment, as well as in the area downstream of the SHP’s. This will be based on multi-temporal and multi-resolution land cover and land use maps, correlating land changes with SHP’s construction. Different flood scenarios will be simulated to see the impact of the changing land cover and adapted SHP management on flood extents.

Figure 2: Example of land cover map from previous project: Pixel-based Land Cover classification in Concepciòn, Chile, based on Landsat 7 scenes from 2001.

EUROSENSE combines the necessary capacities to do land cover mapping and flood risk analysis. The company has built-up experience in both services via the participation in different GMES projects like GSE-LAND, GEOLAND-2, RISK-EOS, SAFER and G-MOSAIC.

HYDREO is executed in assignment of C-Core Company and Hatfield Consultants LTD. It is part of a larger ESA-project on the geographic expansion of EO Services into Indonesia and Vietnam.

For more information on these services, we refer to the following contact information:
EUROSENSE Belfotop N.V Belgium
Address: Nerviërslaan 54, B-1780 Wemmel, BELGIUM
Phone: +32 (0)2 460 70 00
Fax: +32 (0)2 460 49 58
Website: http://www.eurosense.com

PlanEO

DEIMOS Imaging has started using its new mission planning system (PlanEO) for planning the payload operations of DEIMOS-1.

After several years of development and testing, PlanEO has reached the required degree of maturity and stability to be safely used in the operations of DEIMOS-1.

Brokers (project managers) are using it to manage their projects and to plan new acquisitions. That is, for determining when new data captures must take place and how much data they need for covering the areas of interest in their projects. PlanEO has helped them significantly by reducing the time needed for planning the operations, reducing the time from hours to minutes.

Using this new system, DEIMOS Imaging is able to acquire about 4 million square kilometres per day, more than 65% cloud-free.

PlanEO replaces the planning system provided by the manufacturer of the mission. It provides a range of features and functionality that makes it superior to the previous system.

Its main features are:
• Very powerful Graphical Interface (GUI). Almost all operations can be done graphically and interactively.
• Visualization of the Earth globe, maps, sensor swath, cloud prediction, areas of acquisition, coverage of ground stations, satellite ground track, etc.
• Management of requests and acquisitions.
• Conflict resolution via Earth Globe and Gantt chart UI.
• Long-term planning using the Flight Dynamics System (FDS) developed by DEIMOS Space.
• Integration with Savoir, developed by Taitus.
• Integrated management of ground station schedules and their non-availabilities.

DEIMOS Imaging will market PlanEO, making it available to other Earth Observation missions. These missions should have similar characteristics to the DEIMOS-1 mission. For example, simple systems with one sensor but with great agility in the planning requirements.

PlanEO is fully and easily customisable and provides a quick start in high-volume, efficient commercial operations to EO missions.

For more information about PlanEO, please contact DEIMOS Imaging

Presentation PlanEO
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On December 14, 2010 the TanDEM-X mission has reached another important milestone: fully on schedule, the commissioning phase could be finished in less than six months.

The teams of German Aerospace Centere (DLR) and Astrium have successfully demonstrated the operational readiness of the satellite, thus the collection of data for a global homogeneous DEM can start – as planned – in early 2011.

The TanDEM-X mission was developed jointly by DLR and Astrium and is being operated at DLR’s Oberpfaffenhofen site. The commercial marketing of the TanDEM-X data will be conducted by Astrium’s GEO-Information Services Division. The mission’s goal is the creation of a globally homogeneous Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with an unprecedented accuracy and coverage.

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(26/11/2010) With the commissioning of ESA’s CryoSat-2 now complete, the mission has been officially transferred to the operations team. This milestone marks the beginning of the satellite’s operational life delivering ice-thickness data to understand the impact of climate change on the polar environment.

The handover ceremony took place on 19 November at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, where the responsibility for the mission passed from CryoSat-2’s Project Manager, Richard Francis, to the Mission Manager, Tommaso Parrinello.

Richard Francis had held the mission’s reins since the decision was taken to rebuild CryoSat in 2006 following the loss of the original satellite during launch. However, his experience with the mission goes right back to 1999, when CryoSat was selected as an Earth Explorer mission and he worked as the System Manager.

Launched in April, the mission has recently completed commissioning – an important phase that ensures the satellite, instruments, data retrieval and data processing procedures are in optimal working order.

Now that this period is over, the mission has entered its exploitation phase and will start delivering vital data on ice thickness to the scientific community.

The satellite will continue to be monitored, operated and controlled by the Flight Operations Segment at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

Together with GOCE and SMOS, both launched in 2009, CryoSat-2 forms part of the earth observation satellite series called Earth Explorers. These satellites have been designed by ESA to address areas of concern identified by experts working in the earth-sciences field, each satellite centering its research on different aspects of the earth system. CryoSat-2 will furnish hitherto unknown information on the earth’s crysophere (ice sheets and caps, glaciers and permafrost), with the main aim of helping scientists to come up with solutions for diminishing ice cover.

In Spain GMV took charge initially of part of the mission analysis activities. Subsequently, in a project for ESA’s Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany, GMV led the design, development and maintenance of the mission control system. This system is responsible for generating control orders and receiving the satellite-sent telemetry for checking the operation of the onboard equipment. To ensure correct system operation a four-person GMV team gave direct backup in ESA’s Operations Centre. GMV engineers will also participate in the orbital dynamics operations to ensure that the orbit of CryoSat-2 is correct at all times.

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News about project on nature, biodiversity and land use, LISA or GMFS

GeoVille maps featured in Wall Street Journal (13/01/2011)

GeoVille maps produced with satellite technology and depicting the extent of the oil spill following the Deepwater Horizon explosion were featured in the Wall Street Journal.

European Commission project on nature, biodiversity and land use awarded to GeoVille (29/12/2010)

The Directorate General on Environment of the EC has awarded a project entitled “Integrating nature & biodiversity and land use data” to GeoVille. Project partners are GeoVille Information Services, GeoVille Environmental Services, the Czech Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection (ANCLP) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

LISA goes public (24/11/2010)

On November 22nd, the results of the first phase of the Land Information System Austria (LISA) were presented to experts in the course of an ÖROK event and the possibilities for an Austrian wide roll-out were discussed.

In reflection to this presentation, a newspaper article was published in the “Special Research” edition of “Der Standard” of 11/24/2010, summarizing the project goals and results.

GMFS Soil Moisture Processing Chain Operational (12/11/2010)

Since October 2010 GeoVille is operationally providing Soil Water Index (SWI) products, derived from MetOp ASCAT, for entire Africa on a daily basis to the Global Monitoring for Food Security project of ESA.

The SWI products also provide the basis for the development of indicators for Early Warning Services. The developed indicators target food security assessments and will be provided to the user community in the form of end-to-end GIS tools, allowing targeted analyses.

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news from November and December


GeoRover® – Free trial version now available (03.12.2010)

GAF AG is pleased to announce the release of a free trial version of GeoRover®- a mobile geological mapping software. GeoRover® is a field mapping software that has been developed on the basis of experience gained from real geological mapping field work. The software integrates GPS navigation, GIS functionality and spatial raster data management in one tool.

Read More…

New REDD website launched (01.12.2010)

GAF AG is happy to announce the new REDD Services project website.
In time for the COP16 in Cancún, Mexico, the website has been activated and offers an insight to REDD Services, Projects, News and Events as well as information about the project background containing background material.

Read More…

GAF contributes to Climate Change Initiative with the Fire…(11.11.2010)

GAF AG provides its industrial project management competence to the Fire Disturbance project (“Fire_cci”) as part of the European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative.

Read More…

world leading satellite mapping specialists, providing unparalleled expertise , products and services into a diverse range of market sectors. Our remote imaging , exploration , surveying and monitoring services are tailored to meet client requirements and are proven to enhance knowledge and reduce costs.

Fugro NPA are one of the world’s longest estbalished independent satellite imagery distributors and value-added service providers. We provide world leading, state-of-the-art InSAR (ground and structure motion) surveying services derived from satellite radar data. In the offshore sector we provide services to map new and unexplored oil reserves, pollution and shallow water bathymetry. We also provide a complete onshore exploration service, from data acquisition, to processing, interpretation and map production.

Services

  • Satellite Imagery
    Fugro NPA is a leading independent provider of Earth Observation and Remote Sensing services.
  • InSAR Surveying
    Fugro NPA’s InSAR Surveying team provide solutions for remotely detecting, mapping and monitoring ground and structure motion through the application of state-of-the-art satellite radar data processing techniques.
  • Offshore Exploration
    Fugro NPA provide a range of innovative offshore mapping and monitoring products and services.
  • Onshore Exploration
    Fugro NPA provide a complete service for onshore resource exploration from data acquisition, through processing and interpretation to digital map production specialising in structural geological interpretation in various GIS formats.

Market Sectors

Oil & Gas

Fugro NPA provide remote, knowledge enhancing, cost-saving information into the oil and gas industry.

From the exploration of offshore and onshore prospects and the monitoring and impact assessment of fields undergoing production and enhanced recovery, to the route planning and stability assessment of distribution infrastructure such as pipelines, Fugro NPA have a range of services to meet the needs of their clients.

Mining

Fugro NPA provide remote, knowledge enhancing, cost-saving information into the oil and gas industry.

From the exploration of offshore and onshore prospects and the monitoring and impact assessment of fields undergoing production and enhanced recovery, to the route planning and stability assessment of distribution infrastructure such as pipelines, Fugro NPA have a range of services to meet the needs of their clients.

Civil Engineering

Fugro NPA use satellite remote sensing to provide knowledge enhancing and cost-saving information into the civil engineering industry.

Fugro NPA acquires, processes and interprets a range of satellite data sources including both optical and radar data to assist clients in a wide variety of engineering projects. These services include site assessment, route planning, geohazard assessment, stability monitoring and a range of change detection services, from land use to geophysical change.

Water & Environment

Fugro NPA use satellite remote sensing to provide information for water and environmental applications.

Fugro NPA acquires, processes and interprets a range of satellite data sources including both optical and radar data to assist clients in a wide variety of environmental projects. These services include site assessment and monitoring, risk and geohazard assessment, landcover classification, stability monitoring and a range of change detection services.

Sustainable Energy

Fugro NPA acquires, processes and interprets a range of satellite data sources including both optical and radar data to assist clients to better understand their sustainable energy infrastructure. These services include site assessment, interpretation and characterisation, stability monitoring and change detection services.

Utilities

Fugro NPA use satellite remote sensing to provide knowledge enhancing and cost-saving information into the utilities industry.

Fugro NPA acquires, processes and interprets a range of satellite data sources including both optical and radar data to assist clients in a wide variety of engineering projects. These services include site assessment, route planning, geohazard assessment, stability monitoring and a range of change detection services, from land use to geophysical change.

Geohazards & Risk

Fugro NPA acquires, processes and interprets a range of satellite data sources including both optical and radar data to assist clients in better understanding geohazards and risk. These services include site assessment, geohazard interpretation and characterisation, stability monitoring and a range of change detection services.

Maritime

Fugro NPA acquires, processes and interprets a range of satellite data sources including both optical and radar data to assist clients in a range of martime applications. These services include shallow water bathymetry and pollution monitoring and mapping, and a range of oceanographic services exploiting satellite technology.

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(November 24, 2010) European Space Imaging, a leading provider of very high-resolution satellite imagery, and Indra Espacio, a leading company in the Spanish space sector today announced that the two companies successfully completed a multi-year supply project to the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

The supply project, with Indra Espacio as main contractor, started in September 2008 and involved the provision of more than 1.2 million km² of very high-resolution satellite imagery to the Cartographic Coordination Service for the Multinational Geospatial Co-production Program (MGCP) initiative.

Twenty-eight countries are working together in this multinational program under the coordination of the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Indra Espacio, in cooperation with European Space Imaging supplies images for 124 1ºx1º cells with quality certificates.

The satellite imagery was provided by European Space Imaging, the only company in Europe that owns and operates regional ground receiving stations for direct tasking and data downlink from commercial, very high-resolution optical satellites.

European Space Imaging supplied more than 13 Terabyte of data. Indra Espacio was in charge of satellite image quality control, using their complete workflow for image acquisition, cataloguing image processing and quality acceptance tests. The Cartographic Coordination Service of the Spanish MoD used the data for vector data extraction in a scale of 1:50,000 according to the MGCP Technical Reference Documentation (TRD) for international interoperability between the different national co-producers of this cartography.

Through multinational cooperation MGCP seeks to provide geospatial information to all participating countries concerning different areas of the planet. This information will be useful for coordinating responses in the event of natural catastrophes or humanitarian crises and will also contribute to the assessment of the natural resources of a given area.

“The Cartographic Coordination Service (CCS) of the Spanish Ministry of Defense is responsible for carrying out the MCGP initiative of Spain. We are very pleased with the timelines and quality of the data delivery through European Space Imaging and Indra Espacio” said Colonel Justo Bernaldo de Quirós, chief of the CCS.

“We have succeeded in this challenge in time and quality thanks to our robust image processing chain and skills” said Indra Espacio’s Remote Sensing Director Victoriano Moreno.

“EUSI is proud to have contributed to yet another key MGCP project in Europe and enjoyed working with the Spanish Ministry of Defense and our close business partner INDRA. The customer’s trust in us emphasizes once again our capability to deliver large volumes of very high resolution satellite imagery in a consistent manner and ahead of schedule.” said European Space Imaging’s General Manager Adrian Zevenbergen.

About European Space Imaging

European Space Imaging (EUSI) is a leading supplier of very high-resolution satellite imagery to customers in Europe and North Africa. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Munich, Germany. EUSI is the only European satellite data provider that operates its own very high-resolution satellite ground station for direct satellite tasking and local data downlink.

In 2010, EUSI, its parent company Space Imaging Middle East and DigitalGlobe, a leading provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services, formed the WorldView Global Alliance. The Alliance was created to provide the best customer service and fastest access to global very high-resolution satellite imagery worldwide, together with the broadest conditions and an extensive product range.

EUSI supports a comprehensive network of commercial partners throughout Europe and North Africa. The company also maintains long-term, direct relations with the major European and international institutions working in disaster management, national and regional security, environmental monitoring and mapping.

About Indra Espacio

Indra Espacio has been active for more than 30 years in the satellite-based communications, teledetection, control and satellite navigation markets. During all these years, it has proved its capacity to manage and plan development, delivery and maintenance of ground complex systems, either for the civil or military sector. The company maintains a growing international presence and has developed projects in more than 20 countries.

Indra Espacio is a subsidiary of Indra, the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. Indra is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to stock market capitalisation, and also the second Spanish company with the most investment in R&D. In 2009, revenues reached € 2,513 M, of which a third came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 100 countries.

About the Cartographic Coordination Service of the Spanish MoD.

The Cartographic Coordination Service (CCS) is responsible for the drawing up of the Armed Forces Cartographic Plan, and coordinates the activities of the cartographic centers in the Army, Navy and Air Forces.

It leads also the participation of the Spanish Ministry of Defense in other geospatial projects carried out in cooperation with other National and International Organizations, and promotes agreements for technical cooperation and exchange of geospatial data and materials between the Spanish Ministry of Defense and geospatial agencies of other countries.

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