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INSA leads a Consortium with EXPAL and HISPASAT that has been selected by ESA for the “Space Assets for Demining Assistance” project in the framework of the Integrated Applications Programme (IAP). Remote sensing information is useful in identifying minefields and determining their boundaries. The satellite solution proposed by INSA will improve the minefield clearing process, thus helping to save lives and to improve the socio-economic impact in target areas. But Mine Action is more than just clearing, it is also survey, research, resource allocation, tool selection etc. and this study will cover the whole range of aspects.

The Spanish consortium led by INSA Ingeniería y Servicios Aeroespaciales S.A. with EXPAL Explosivos Alaveses S.A. and Hispasat S.A has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) for the “Space Assets for Demining Assistance” project in the framework of the Integrated Applications Programme (IAP).

Space-based Earth observation technologies, whilst being a fundamental pillar in some fields such as meteorology, are far from being fully exploited in other areas. In the case of demining management activities, the combination of integrated applications based on remote sensing, navigation and Satellite communications might provide a step forward in the performance of the current systems already available.

Some mature imagery applications, notably those related to static information integrated in Geographic Information System (GIS), are widely used in their operations, but there is a gap in the use of all the potentiality arisen from the new satellite input data available as well as the communication technologies in areas where network deployment is still deeply below the desired standards.

The satellite systems could work in a synergetic manner with the ground facilities, reaching a more efficient utilisation of available technology.

Landmine Monitor Report 2009 reported that as of August 2009, more than 70 states were believed to be mine-affected, as well as seven areas not internationally recognized (see Table 1 below).

In the past year Landmine Monitor has removed two states from the list: the Gambia and Tunisia. Although any estimate should be treated with caution, Landmine Monitor believes that less than 3,000km2 of land worldwide was mine contaminated as of August 2009. Increasingly, data gathering efforts are—rightly— seeking to define more accurately the perimeters of Suspected Hazardous Areas (SHAs) and to ensure there is sufficient evidence of contamination for these SHAs to be entered into national mine action databases.

Table 1: Mine-affected states and other areas as of August 2009 (from Land Mine Monitor on Mine Action status, link, http://lm.icbl.org/lm/

Experience in many mine action programmes indicates that large areas that have been cleared were, in fact, hazard free. In many cases, the targeting of clearance assets could have been improved if appropriate surveys had been conducted. The challenge is to attempt to better define the land that contains explosive hazards so that clearance activities can be limited to those areas. In that way a more efficient use of resources and a faster land release can be achieved.


Figure 1:Demining flow chart (adapted from “A guide to mine action” 2010)

Information obtained through space and airborne remote sensing can contribute substantially to many aspects of mine action and mine clearance planning. Earth Observation satellites have been recording the earth surface in increasing resolutions from 1972 onward. Recently high-resolution images have become commercially available. Declassified high-resolution panoramic camera data from 1960 onward of many areas around the world are now also available (Day et al., 1998 (1)). These image archives provide a wealth of historical information. For topographical, map production and updating conventional aerial photography can be used. These images also provide a high spatial resolution and multi-temporal coverage. All this information can be used to support the mine action effort. In addition, indicators of mine presence can be assessed using satellite data, although often the combination of different types of data (visible, infrared and radar) and techniques is required, in order to improve the detection accuracy and reduce both commission and omission errors.

Among the different types of explosive, INSA’s study focuses on detection and clearance of landmine and Explosive Remnant of War (ERW). Explosive Remnant of War (ERW) refers mainly to ammunition and abandoned artefacts and they are usually located on the surface. They differ from Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) principally because ERW were not shouted; that implies that some action is required to induce the explosion.

At project level, INSA’s concept definition shall take into account the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) tool already available, and it shall be integrated into the architecture for the services provision. Space assets shall be a key part of the architecture, allowing filling the gaps identified with the already used technologies.

The architecture is based on a distributed configuration, following the approach of IMSMA solution. This concept is based on a network of facilities providing services at different levels of the end user organisation ranging from national centres to field facilities. Remote sensing based information will be made available at the national level, where data fusion and integration with the latest version of IMSMA would take place. This national facility is where decision makers need all the information for prioritization of regions for survey and further release effort. At regional level, regional centres or UNMAS coordinate the activities of demining organizations, which may be NGOs (Non-governmental organizations), military, commercial demining companies, or even own demining action. This intermediate level will be synchronised with the national one for information updates. Finally, filed facilities will be provided with services based on information tailored to their operational needs through either terrestrial or satellite communications depending on availability.

Although this project is a viability study, INSA is very proud to collaborate identifying the methodologies and systems, which will allow saving lives through the integrated application of space technology.

(1) Day, D.A., Logsdon, J.M., Latell, B. (1998). Eye in the sky: the story of the Corona spy satellites. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. ISBN: 1-56098-80-4

Paris, 1 December 2010 – In January 2011, a single operational management structure will be implemented, bringing together the imagery and services experts Spot Image and Infoterra to form the new GEO-Information division of Astrium Services.


  • Satellite imagery and geo-information specialists Spot Image and Infoterra, subsidiaries of Astrium Services, will combine forces to form its new GEO-Information business division
  • The GEO-Information division will now offer a unique one-stop-shop portfolio of multisource, multi-resolution optical and radar satellite imagery under the Astrium brand
  • Committed to continuity, innovation and investment with Astrium’s financial and R&D resources to fully serve the needs of customers worldwide.

With more than 25 years’ experience, the GEO-Information division will now offer a fully-consolidated product and services portfolio under the Astrium brand covering the entire geographic information services value chain: from satellite imagery to high value-added solutions.

“Astrium Services is focused on becoming the world leader in the field of geo-information solutions. Our recent commitment to financing the next generation of SPOT satellites and the current TerraSAR-X and most recent TanDEM-X missions are a clear demonstration of our ambition,” said Astrium Services’ CEO, Eric Béranger.

Patrick Le Roch, the new Divisional Managing Director of the GEO-Information division, added, “Our customers will now benefit from unrivalled expertise across the entire geo-information value chain. We will be able to respond to their complex needs with first class efficiency, worldwide.”

With this new fully-integrated management structure, customers will enjoy simplified access to Astrium’s unique extended offer of products and services provided through commercial Business Areas’ teams established on a regional basis worldwide. Timeliness, accuracy and reliability remain at the centre of the GEO-Information division’s delivery strategy. Backed by Astrium’s resources, R&D investment will continue to bring innovative products and services to wider regional and vertical markets.

Unique GEO solutions to be offered by this integrated division include:

  • Optical and radar geo-imagery. Relying on its incomparable access to numerous Earth observation satellites, Astrium Services’ GEO-Information division will continue to promote the innovative combination of both optical and radar satellite data;
  • Value-added products including 3D urban simulations and Digital Elevation Models. Access to global, highly accurate DEM coverage anywhere, regardless of relief and weather conditions is another example of a unique solution only Astrium Services can provide;
  • A set of market-oriented geo-information services for markets such as Defence and Security, Agriculture, Oil & Gas, Urban planning, Insurance and Environment;
  • Expertise to deliver complex project-based geo-information solutions – current examples including the development of a land administration and taxation system in Mauritius and the implementation of a national spatial data infrastructure for Serbia.

Source
Press release

Polish forests cover almost 30 % of the country’s area, which is over 90 thousand sq km. State forests constitute about 78.2 % of the total forest area.

Private forests belong mainly to the individuals. Thanks to the project GSE FM Polish forest administration got an overview of both state and private forest. The project is a support to National UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol Reporting on Land Use (LU)/Land Use Change Forestry (LUCF) Activities.

GEOSYSTEMS Polska Ltd provided the pilot project in 2005 for two Polish forest districts. In March 2009 the company joined the GSE FM project at the implementation phase. The provided products of this service case include: ortho mosaics 1990 and 2006, a forest area map 1990, a forest type map 2006 (s. Fig. 1) and forest area change map 1990 / 2006. All products were elaborated for the entire Poland and are compliant with GSE FM Portfolio specifications. The generation of forest are map comprises archived Landsat TM-5 dataset around year 1990. The forest type map 2006 is derived from the Image 2006 data (SPOT-4 and 5 HRG as well as IRS-P6 LISS III). The maps have been validated by interpretation on aerial photographs for 1990 and on National Forest Inventory for 2006. In order to generate National Volume, Biomass and Carbon Statistics GEOSYSTEMS Polska cooperated with an commercial company Taxus SI Ltd from Warsaw. The Taxus prepared the data from the National Forest Inventory (The State Forests IT System) and Large Area Forest Inventory Fig. 1 Forest Type Map 2006 , Poland.

After a preparation of data biomass and carbon were calculated basing on IPCC factors. The end-users of the Polish forest case are: Ministry of Environment, Poland – Department of Climate Change and Atmosphere Protection as well as General Directorate of Environmental Protection within the frame of the project, a training concerning the GSE FM project is planned and is going to be held in a few weeks. In the future map products of GSE FM can be updated and improved by using very high resolution data.

The map products of Polish GSE FM are located in a geoportal hosted by GEOSYSTEMS on the home page. The service, featuring Web Map Service and Web Coverage Service of ERDAS APOLLO 2010, enables a displaying of data for an area indicated in the web browser. Moreover the project enables both the downloading of data for a selected area, as well as seeing attributes for a chosen layer (s. Fig. 2).

Fig.2 GSE FM service catalogue

GEOSYSTEMS Polska Sp. z o. o.
ul. Smolna 38 lok. 5
00-375 Warszawa, Poland
www.geosystems.pl

Remote Sensing Application Center – ReSAC finalized the first step in creation of database for wetlands and standing water bodies in Bulgaria. Digitalisation of more than 10 500 objects is completed and the database is the first in the country which uses EO data for mapping and monitoring water resources. The prepared database could serve as a reference layer in different national activities, as well as in EU programmes such as GMES.

For achieving the purposes of building the National Web database the following tasks were defined:

  • mapping of standing water bodies such as lakes, reservoirs, fish ponds, etc.
  • mapping of wetlands such as swamps, morasses, bogs, etc.
  • passporting of standing water bodies and wetlands

The database answers the following requirements:

  • assistance in forecasting flood hazard
  • support the decision making process in risk management
  • possibility for receiving the newest and actual information for the condition of water bodies (abounding in water, drained, shape and other)

Fast mapping of wetlands and standing water bodies was performed in scale range 1:10 000 to 1:25 000 over the whole territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, which is approximately 111 000 sq. km. Satellite images from SPOT with spatial resolution 5 m from years 2002 until 2006 were used for the purposes of the project. Satellite images from Landsat with spatial resolution 30 m from 2009-2010 were also used, where it was possible to observe whether the water body exists at the present moment, it has been drained temporarily or it doesn’t already exist.

Topographic maps in scale 1:25 000 were also used. When it is impossible to recognize the water body from the satellite images (it has too small area or it has been drained), but it exists on the topographic map, it is digitized on it.

In addition, for specific territories of the country VHR satellite images and orthophoto published on the website of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works was used to map the most important water reservoirs in scale 1:10 000.

As a result of the mapping more than 10 500 water bodies in the whole country were mapped in scale 1:25 000 (Fig.1).


Fig 1.Distribution of water bodies in Bulgaria

The water bodies on the territory of Bulgaria according to their area are divided into five classes:
≤ 0.5 ha, representing 40 % of the total number of water bodies
0.6 ha ÷ 10 ha, representing 52 % of the total number of water bodies
10.1 ha ÷ 100 ha, representing 7 % of the total number of water bodies
100.1 ÷ 1000 ha, representing 0.8 % of the total number of water bodies
≥ 1000 ha, representing 0.2 % of the total number of water bodies

In the process of comparison of the results from satellite interpretation and topographic maps it was realized that many “new” water bodies exist (they exist on satellite images but not on the topographic maps). The same was valid for the “old” water bodies (they existed on the topographic maps but not on the satellite images). This information was also included in the attributes.

The next step, after digitizing, was to be created attributive data towards graphic objects as the first received data were geographic coordinates and the area of the water body. It was inserted date of the image, from which the water body has been seen for last and the date of the image, from which the water body was mapped.

The other information is also the name of the water body, its location, watershed, some important abiotic factors, species composition, protection status and others, structured in the form of informative passport of water bodies.

With reference to the National System for Environmental Monitoring, it is important to monitor the status of wetlands, as well as the changes in their land use. The following example shows the land cover changes of a wetland, that are followed in three different years (Fig.2).


Fig.2 Historical overview of land use change in wetland “Chepintsi pit”

Ideas for future development of the project are pointed in the following directions:

  • Building a National Web database to perform additional hydrologic and hydraulic analysis
    •Relationship with actual data for river flows;
    •Data for the distance between water bodies and settlements;
    •Identification of local watersheds and their characteristics (area, % land cover, relief and others);
    •Methodology for linking database with hydrometric and meteorological data – from the relevant stations;
  • Completing passporting with attributes in terms of risk, disaster and accidents
  • Other tasks as required by end users

Water bodies mapping with the use of satellite images is very fast method for identifying and defining water bodies location and area. What is more, this method gives most updated and actual information for the water bodies status (high water level, shape, etc.). This information is very important when the dynamics of the water bodies for a longer period of time is analyzed, as well as for the photo revision of the topographic maps. The database is multifunctional and it can be used by a wide range of specialists such as cartographers, ecologists, biologists, hydrologists, hydrogeologists and decision makers. This information system is built to provide consumers with scientific and available information, which to contribute to sustainable policy for managing water resources within the territory of Bulgaria.

Part of the database was used in SAFER FP7 project in which ReSAC is partner, to update the information sources needed for Plain Flood Risk management and Assets Mapping.

For more information:
ReSAC

LES MUREAUX, FRANCE — The head of Europe’s Astrium space hardware and services provider on Jan. 12 said his company is hunting for Earth observation services acquisition targets in the United States.

Astrium Chief Executive Francois Auque said bolstering the Astrium Services division’s Earth observation profile to sell imagery in the United States is a priority, and that Astrium is confident its parent company, EADS, will give it the resources needed to expand.

“It is clear that the U.S. is on our radar screen,” Auque said of a possible acquisition during a briefing with reporters at Astrium’s Space Transportation facility here.

EADS Chief Executive Louis Gallois, addressing reporters earlier here, said the company’s cash reserve of more than 10 billion euros ($13 billion) likely would be used to fund acquisitions in 2011, especially since the company’s Airbus commercial aircraft division is growing so fast.

Gallois has said EADS would like a 50-50 revenue balance between Airbus and non-Airbus activity, a goal that has been made more difficult because of the Airbus expansion.

Auque said EADS in 2010 permitted Astrium to spend 450 million euros on internal research and development, small additions to its physical infrastructure, the purchase of a Skynet 5D military telecommunications satellite and the purchase of two optical Earth observation satellites, Spot 6 and Spot 7.

Astrium Services has ordered a Skynet 5D satellite following an extension, to 2022, of its long-term services contract with the British Ministry of Defence. The company also is financing, for an estimated 300 million euros, the development and launch of the Spot 6 and Spot 7 Earth observation spacecraft following a French government decision not to share development costs. The government had financed all or most of the previous Spot spacecraft.

Auque said Astrium is worried that commercial Earth observation — an industry that was all but invented in France — is changing its shape following a 10-year, $7.3 billion contract from the U.S. government to two Astrium competitors, GeoEye and DigitalGlobe of the United States.

Astrium’s Earth observation services division, which includes Spot Image of Toulouse, France, and Infoterra of Britain and Germany, continues to grow its revenue base but has been held back because of the long delay in the launch of two French Pleiades high-resolution optical Earth observation satellites.

Both Pleiades satellites, financed by the French government, have reserved capacity for commercial and government customers and were designed for launch, one at a time, aboard the European version of Russia’s Soyuz rocket. That vehicle’s inauguration at Europe’s French Guiana spaceport has been delayed repeatedly, forcing delays in the Pleiades launch and depriving Spot Image of the expected revenue.

Astrium’s investments in 2010 investments also included its purchase of Jena-Optronik GmbH of Germany, the space division of Jenoptik; and a majority share in German ground hardware manufacturer ND Satcom.

In what Auque said is proof of EADS’s faith in Astrium’s future, the company has agreed to permit Astrium to spend 10 million euros in 2011, as it did in 2010, continuing to perfect the design and identify customers for a suborbital space plane for wealthy adventurers.

Astrium and EADS have not yet closed their 2010 financial accounts but Auque said Astrium will report 2010 revenue of about 5 billion euros, up 4 percent from 2009. New orders totaled some 6 billion euros, up 43 percent over 2009 once a 4.1 billion-euro order for Ariane 5 rockets is removed from the 2009 figures.

Total Astrium backlog at the end of 2010 stood at about 15.8 billion euros, up 7 percent over where it was in 2009.

Auque said 2010 was a better year for Astrium than he had expected, but that 2011, with government space spending in Europe likely to come under heavy pressure, will be a difficult year.

One possible major 2011 contract, for which Astrium will be competing against its French-Italian rival, Thales Alenia Space, will be the French government’s long-discussed plan to sell its Syracuse 3 military satellite telecommunications system, including the Syracuse satellites in orbit, to a private operator. The government then would purchase telecommunications services from the operator in a multiyear agreement similar to what the British Defence Ministry has done with Astrium’s Paradigm division.

Source

Grace News

GRACE Ltd, an Athens-based Space consultancy firm displays its moderate optimism for 2011 even through the particularly harsh conditions, results of the current economic crisis.

The last quarter of 2010 has been a period of investment and consolidation for this Greek SME, whose operations are concentrated in the zone of Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans area.

Funded by the European Commission in the framework of Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs Programme in 2010, the firm has been particularly active in achieving substantial partnerships with several industry actors.

Taking profit of its strong knowledge of the regional market and its marketing capabilities, GRACE joined P.L.A.N. consulting group: www.planinc.com, a network of high-profile consulting companies and experts in Space applications and Earth Observation sectors. This team is a leading actor in marketing and capacity building, with more than 20 years of experience in its zone of operations which covers more than 15 countries.
Through the EC Entrepreneurship Programme, GRACE became a partner of Mea Intuis: www.earth-observation.com, a consulting firm with an outstanding expertise and long worldwide experience in Earth Observation matters.

In parallel the firm participated in major Space-related events and conferences in Europe and continues to successfully market the survey on the Greek market “Space Technologies and Applications in Greece: A Market Study”, available since the beginning of 2010.

Due to its presence in the export markets and its valuable partnerships with top-caliber actors including first-size industries, GRACE welcomes 2011 with hope and confidence in supporting the development and the progress.

Contact:
www.graceapplications.com

Focus on the benefits of an ‘open-standards approach’. Promoting geo capability across the security sector utilising ERDAS

SymetriGEO Services, part of Astrium Services’ GEO-Information division, is supporting the Geospatial and Situational Awareness Demonstration, which is part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) sponsored Common Geospatial Tool Set (CGTS) research project.

The objective of CGTS, which is being delivered by the Lockheed Martin (UK) led Team SPARTA, is to de-risk future geospatial capability procurement options and to support the delivery of a coherent geospatial capability across the UK MOD.

Earlier this year SymetriGEO was involved in the delivery of a demonstration highlighting “the art of the possible” in 2012, based on a Homeland Security scenario and focusing on the operational benefits of an open-standards based approach.

Phil Cooper, SymetriGEO’s business manager commented:“we are delighted to see ERDAS products, and especially ERDAS APOLLO, utilised within a fully collaborative environment and we are fully committed to help ensure the success of the CGTS capability demonstration.”

John Tate from Lockheed Martin noted: “the support received from SymetriGEO has assisted in the illustration of the delivery of an open-standards based geo capability across the security sector and UK MOD.”

The third and final demonstration will take place at Lockheed Martin (UK)‘s Swift facility (Farnborough) until the 15th October, and will focus on interoperability and include geospatial capability investigations, such as cross-country movement, cultural geography and uncertainty.

Taking full advantage of the fully-integrated combined resources and skills of its Spot Image and Infoterra subsidiaries, the GEO-Information division of Astrium Services has become a recognised world leader in the geo-information market by offering decision-makers sustainable one-stop-shop solutions to increase security, protect the environment, and better manage natural resources. It has exclusive access to SPOT and TerraSAR-X satellite data, while also calling on a full gamut of space data sources and airborne acquisition capabilities, enabling it to offer an unrivalled combination of Earth observation products and services. Its portfolio spans the entire geo-information value chain.

By building on the synergy of Astrium Services, the GEO-Information division can also develop innovative solutions combining Earth observation, navigation and communication applications at competitive prices.

About Astrium

Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2009, Astrium had a turnover of 4.8 billion euros and more than 15,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment, and Astrium Services for comprehensive value-added end-to-end solutions of secure and commercial satcoms and networks, high security satellite communications equipment, geo-information fully integrated one-stop-shop offerings, and navigation services.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2009, EADS generated revenues of 42.8 billion euros and employed a workforce of more than 119,000.

www.astrium.eads.net
www.infoterra.co.uk

For further press information, please contact:
Cheryl Billson, PR Infoterra – 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com

Reccent News


Strengthening a watchful eye over the Northern Gulf

(9 August 2010). The monitoring of environments in the Northern Gulf of Mexico has been strengthened during the summer by the deployment of a Keystone system at the Geosystems Research Institute (GRI) of Mississippi State University in Starkville, MS. This Keystone installation provides an image cataloguing and processing capability for satellite imagery from the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) that will be received directly at the NASA Stennis Space Center.

The DMC satellites are well suited to regional monitoring applications offering wide-swath, medium-resolution imagery and regular repeat coverage. Direct reception services have been offered since the launch in 2009 of the UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1 missions and this capability is being exploited by the GRI together with other data sources such as NASA’s MODIS sensor. Spacemetric has supported the DMC satellites since 2004 and provides systems for DMCii, the UK-based coordinator of the DMC satellites, and several of the partner missions including Deimos-1 and the forthcoming Nigeriasat-2 satellite.

Adding UAV support for Swedish Defence Forces

(23 August 2010). Spacemetric has received an order from system integrator SAAB to add support for video imagery within the image management system developed for the JAS 39 Gripen multi-role combat aircraft in service with the Swedish Air Force.

The new contract supports the provision of functions for video imagery from the Shadow 200 tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). This will extend the capabilities of the existing Sensor Source Intelligence Cell (SSIC) through the addition of a video server with real-time video review and map display, and video geometric enhancement. The SSIC’s image management solution is based upon Spacemetric’s Keystone system and provides an integrated multi-sensor environment for data from air and space assets.

The new UAV will be deployed in support of Sweden’s commitments to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. By building upon technology already delivered for Gripen, the image management system can be highly capable, while being provided to a short delivery schedule.

Smart ground station services previewed in Latin America

(8 October 2010). The Latin American Remote Sensing (LARS) conference in Santiago de Chile was the venue for a preview of smart ground station services offered in a cooperation between Spacemetric and the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), operators of PrioraNet, the world’s largest commercial network of satellite ground stations.

The new service offers added value to users of satellite data reception services by providing rapid cataloguing and geo-enabled online access to the received data. This both decreases the time from satellite to desktop for monitoring applications and enables the interactive review of data for quality before committing processing resources or transfer bandwidth. Imagery is published securely via web services and notification services inform subscribers of new imagery over the “hotspots” they have defined. Geolocation tools can be used to match new imagery to existing data and products generated from single or multiple scenes.

Spacemetric’s Keystone Image Management System is used by several satellite operators as their core image cataloguing and product processing environment. By combining this technology with PrioraNet these capabilities will provide added value to a new group of customers.

About Spacemetric
Spacemetric was founded in 1999 to provide cost- effective systems that streamline the process between geospatial image acquisition and application. The company’s Keystone Image Management System embodies more than 20 years of experience in image processing system development and is used in a range of civilian and security applications. Spacemetric works closely with satellite operators, service providers and solution integrators to meet emerging needs relating to management of image assets.
www.spacemetric.com

Contact
Ian Spence, Sales & Marketing Director
Tel: +46 8 594 770 83, email: is@spacemetric com

A $160 million project will launch three new British satellites by 2013 to image the surface of Earth, a commercial company says.

Spacecraft manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and its data processing subsidiary DMCii say the satellites will be able to make out details down to 1 meter (39.37 inches) at their best resolution, the BBC reported ending September.

Nations without their own dedicated satellites will be able to buy time on the spacecraft, the company said.

“This constellation of three satellites will be owned and operated from the United Kingdom but the capacity on the spacecraft will be leased to different international customers,” Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of SSTL, said.

SSTL and DMCii already operate a fleet of imaging satellites owned by different nations, including the United Kingdom, China, Spain and Nigeria.

DMCii acts as business manager for the countries, processing and distributing their data and collecting revenues earned from selling the satellites images to third-party customers, the BBC reported.

The satellites were particularly active this year in monitoring the impacts of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Source

Online risk analysis for underwriters. Desktop survey for claims management

Leicester – 29th September 2010: Today Astrium launches the TerraSure Services range for the insurance market, delivering easy access to affordable decision support information through a dedicated online portal. Operated as a secure web service, the TerraSure Services enable professionals to gain access to flood and subsidence risk rating both at an individual property level and across their whole portfolio. Users are charged on the basis of the information displayed, giving businesses efficient access to data from anywhere in the country as and when it is needed.

Leading British insurers are now reaping the benefits of using spatial risk assessment in the actuarial and underwriting functions, particularly to assess flood and subsidence exposure across their commercial and residential property portfolios. Loss adjusters have long recognised the communication power of a map.

However, for smaller insurers and claims management companies, the investment necessary to provide access to large scale national datasets and desktop software applications is simply not viable.

With their reliance on historical information and past experience, insurers are ignoring the impact of a changing climate reshaping our landscape, resulting in new opportunities as well as increasing risks.

www.terra-sure.co.uk gives direct, immediate and efficient access to location based risk. Using an intelligent address searching tool, TerraSure pinpoints the property location and the user is presented with clear graphical reports illustrating the risk. The service offers a range of risk models, drawn from various expert providers including JBA Consulting, British Geological Survey and the Environment Agency.

TerraSure features JBA flood model data to help insurers manage the risk of surface water flooding

The risk rating can be presented in the context of backdrop mapping from Ordnance Survey, and imagery with overlaid perils extents. Multiple locations displayed on a map can be grouped to query the total insured value and exposure within a user defined area, such as street, town or city.

For claims management, TerraSure offers a powerful desktop survey tool: the ability to annotate large scale mapping and imagery with symbols, text, shapes and lines, measurement capabilities, including ground and building height, and an optional view of nearby peril risks. This can be used to provide a visual communications tool for surveyor instruction and insurer communication.

“Information about risk allows insurers to make better decisions about pricing, control their exposure in high risk areas and undertake proactive marketing in low risk areas. The estimated £3billion losses incurred in 2007 were largely attributable to surface water flooding – this risk is taken into account within the JBA flood model so that an insurance quotation for a chain of supermarkets, for example, can be priced in the knowledge of the consequences of each building being surrounded by paved car parking,” commented Gill Dickson, Insurance Business Manager, Astrium Services.

TerraSure also features risk models from expert providers such as the British Geological Society

All of the data is maintained as part of the TerraSure Services, ensuring that the latest available version is accessed each time the service is used. The service is managed from Astrium Services’ geospatial data hosting facility in Farnborough, Hampshire.

At launch, the TerraSure Services provide flood and subsidence risk assessment across Great Britain, but will shortly be extended to other perils and other countries.

Taking full advantage of the resources and skills offered by Infoterra and Spot Image, the Geo-information division of Astrium Services has become a recognised world leader in the geo-information market by offering decision-makers sustainable solutions to increase security, protect the environment and better manage natural resources. It has exclusive access to Spot and TerraSAR-X satellite data, while also calling on a full gamut of space data sources and airborne acquisition capabilities, enabling it to offer an unrivalled combination of Earth observation products and value-added services. Its portfolio spans the entire geo-information value chain.

By building on the synergy of Astrium Services, the Geo-information division that includes the Infoterra Ltd subsidiary can also develop innovative solutions combining Earth observation, navigation and communication applications at competitive prices.

About Astrium

Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2009, Astrium had a turnover of 4.8 billion euros and more than 15,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment, and Astrium Services for comprehensive value-added end-to-end solutions of secure and commercial satcoms and networks, high security satellite communications equipment, geo-information fully integrated one-stop-shop offerings, and navigation services.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2009, EADS generated revenues of 42.8 billion euros and employed a workforce of more than 119,000.

www.astrium.eads.net
www.infoterra.co.uk

For further press information, please contact:
Cheryl Billson, PR Infoterra – 07791 720460
cheryl.billson@commacomms.com