Skip to content

European Space Imaging a leading supplier of high-resolution satellite imagery to customers in Europe and North Africa, today released the first images collected from DigitalGlobe’s advanced high-resolution satellite WorldView-2, through its Direct Access Facility located in Munich, Germany.

(Munich, Germany, March 19, 2010). Commercial operation for the European DAF is expected to commence on target at the end of the first quarter 2010. Once operational, the DAF will provide WorldView Global Alliance customers with priority tasking through a direct data downlink from WorldView-2, the world’s first commercial 8-band high-resolution satellite at 0.46 meter* GSD panchromatic and 1.84 meter* multi-spectral.

The Alliance DAF will allow European Space Imaging to take into account local real-time weather data to deliver efficient area collections, improved image quality with reduced cloud cover and same-day production and delivery.

European Space Imaging is working closely with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the set-up and ongoing maintenance of the DAF. EUSI continues to be the only European satellite data provider that operates its own high-resolution satellite ground station for direct satellite tasking and local data downlink.

More information and a full resolution image can be obtained at www.euspaceimaging.com

  • Distribution and use of imagery at better than 0.50 m GSD pan and 2.0 m GSD multispectral is subject to prior approval by the U.S. Government.

About European Space Imaging

European Space Imaging (http://www.euspaceimaging.com) is a leading supplier of high-resolution satellite imagery to customers in Europe and North Africa. The company was founded in 2002 and is based in Munich, Germany. Working in close partnership with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), EUSI is the only European satellite data provider that operates its own high-resolution satellite ground station for direct satellite tasking and local data downlink. Through the close cooperation with its parent company Space Imaging Middle East (SIME), EUSI’s customers benefit from fast access to data from Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia.

About the WorldView Global Alliance

European Space Imaging, DigitalGlobe Inc, and Space Imaging Middle East are founding members of the WorldView Global Alliance. The Alliance brings together the world’s leading global provider of commercial high resolution world imagery products and services for defence and intelligence, civil government and commercial customers, with regional leaders in the geospatial industry providing best in class imagery solutions for Europe, the Middle East & North Africa.

More information can be obtained from www.worldviewglobalalliance.com

About DLR-DFD

DLR is Germany´s national research center for aeronautics and space. As Germany´s space agency, DLR has been given responsibility for the forward planning and the implementation of the German space program by the German federal government as well as for the international representation of German interests. The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) is an institute of DLR with facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich and in Neustrelitz. DFD develops and operates payload ground-segments for national and European Earth observation missions.

More information can be obtained from www.dlr.de/caf

European Space Imaging GmbH
Arnulfstr. 197
80634 Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 130 142 0 – Fax: +49 89 130 142 22
info@euspaceimaging.com
www.euspaceimaging.com

GAF has been providing a clear view of our planet for a quarter of a century

The ability to take a bird’s eye view of the Earth and analyse the planet from above are critical aspects of supra-local planning as well as numerous other disciplines. GAF has now been carrying out pioneering work in this field for 25 years. In the process the company, together with its subsidiary Euromap, has become the largest provider of a range of commercial satellite imagery and geodata sets in Germany. In addition to the provision of data, GAF offers a combination of GIS technology and software development carried out in-house that is unique well beyond the borders of Germany. The company’s portfolio is also strengthened by the provision of customer-oriented consultancy services.

Dr. Rupert Haydn was behind the initiative that led to the creation of GAF. He founded the company in Munich in 1985 together with partners Agrar- und Hydrotechnik (AHT) and the Wittelsbacher Compensation Fund (WAF). Following exemplary development of the company during its first 15 years of experience, the limited liability company (GmbH) was converted into a public limited company (AG). From 2003, the shares in the company were gradually acquired by the Italian company Telespazio SpA, which had identified at an early stage the excellent positioning and potential of GAF in the field of domestic and international geoinformation services and products. Three years ago, responsibility for the GAF AG Management Board passed to Dr. Peter Volk, an employee with many years of experience at the senior management level in the company. Very satisfied public and commercial clients from almost 100 countries form the basis of the GAF success story: the company is now known as a skilled and reliable partner for the entire project cycle. As one of the first companies to be active in the field of geoinformation, GAF set new standards in terms of quality, sustainability and reliability. Consequently, a high quality and multi-disciplinary portfolio of products and services has been developed. With its experience and outstanding expertise, GAF has for many years been at the cutting edge of spatial software development, GIS and database applications and institutional consulting.

GAF was established in 1985 with a staff of five. It now employees 150 highly qualified experts from the fields of IT and remote sensing technology providing skills and expertise in a broad range of disciplines. This diverse expert knowledge combined with considerable project experience enables GAF to develop specific products and services tailored to the needs of clients and the market. These activities are complemented by Euromap, a subsidiary that works together with the German Space Agency (DLR) in the field of data reception and distribution,supported by a global network of partners.

A key contribution to the success of GAF is made by the experienced departmental heads. With their highly motivated teams of technical and thematic experts, they realise innovative solutions that utilise cutting edge technology and the latest methods.

There are excellent opportunities for the company to achieve solid and sustainable growth particularly in the European and also international arenas. This is helped by GAF’s extensive network, its close cooperation with DLR, which is a key partner for software and Earth observation data, as well as the integration into the eGeos and Telespazio group of space service companies, which are embedded in the Space Alliance formed by Thales and Finmeccanica.

Dr. Peter Volk sees a positive outlook for the business, “when one has experienced how strong development has been in recent years in the geoinformation and neighbouring markets. We are particularily considering the opportunities that will arise in the upcoming years as a result of the flood of high and ultra-high Earth observation data being made available. GAF with its assets can indeed view the future with great confidence.”

For more information, please contact
GAF AG
Tel. ++49 (0) 89 121528-0
info@gaf.de
www.gaf.de

On 27 February 2010, at 3:40 local time, the earth quaked in Chile with a magnitude of 8.8 on the Richter scale. The epicenter was located at 115 kilometer north from the city of Concepción. The number of victims counted is already more than 800, an estimated two million people are homeless.

EUROSENSE produced in the week after the disaster a pre-and post-event analysis of 2 water treatment plants and 1 oil refinery located in one of the areas that was hit the hardest, Concepción. This production was done on the basis of satellite images and open-source information, within the framework of the G-MOSAIC project (GMES services for Management of Operations, Situation Awareness and Intelligence for Regional Crises) of which EUROSENSE is part. The G-MOSAIC project is funded by the European Commission and the earth observation industry.

The ‘Rapid mapping service’ from G-MOSAIC, led by the European Union Satellite Center (EUSC), was activated on 28 February by the United Nations for the production of maps and data in support of the emergency workers in the field.

In 2009, EUROSENSE produced already a detailed Urban Atlas of Concepción and the surrounding area for the JAGUAR-project, in assignment of INDRA and funded by ESA (European Space Agency). These results were made available immediately.

EUROSENSE is part of the ‘Critical Assets Monitoring Service’ team in G-MOSAIC, which is lead by the Spanish EO company GMV. On Tuesday 02 March at 18.00, EUROSENSE was asked by EUSC to analyze the damage of 2 water treatment plants and 1 oil refinery. Accordingly, the main components of these critical assets were identified and the damage analyzed.

Based on the pre-event analysis, the available post-event imagery and the available open source information, vector files and digital maps were produced. All the collected information was summarized in a briefing report that describes the potential damage and impact of the damage.

All the products were delivered by Friday 05 March at 12.00 h and are available via the links below.

Figure 1: Post-event damage assessment of the ENAP refinery in Talcahuon, Chile. The symbols indicate the potential damage. The satellite in the background is taken before the earthquake: World View-2, 27.01.2010, 50 cm resolution (© DigitalGlobe, Inc.. 2010, provided by e-GEOS SpA under GSC-DA).

Figure 2: Pre-event analysis of Water Treatment Plant “La Mochita” in Concepción. The main components and their functions were identified. The satellite in the background predates the earthquake: Quick Bird, 03/01/2008, 70 cm resolution (© DigitalGlobe, Inc.. 2008).

Logo’s

||

Contact

EUROSENSE
Nerviërslaan 54
B-1780 Wemmel, BELGIUM
Phone: 32_(0)_2 460_70_00
ides.bauwens@eurosense.com
http://www.eurosense.com

Links

e-Geos Rapid Mapping Service

Reliefweb

G-Mosaic website

eCognition support for LiDAR and Windows extended in latest release

(Munich, Germany / Alexandria, Virginia – April 6, 2010) Definiens, the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence® company and developer of eCognition® software for geospatial analysis, today announced the launch of its latest software update for earth science professionals: eCognition 8.0.1. Among the highlights of the newest release are support for Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and LiDAR point clouds in LAS 1.2 format.

“This release is very much about supporting our core users in how they use eCognition,” says Ralph D. Humberg, VP Earth Sciences. “We’re proud to be running on the latest version of the world’s most popular operating system and offering support for the latest LiDAR file format. In doing so, we’ve taken another step to extend our commitment to the future of LiDAR and object-based image analysis.”

Direct access to point clouds in native LAS format opens up new possibilities for applying object-based analysis methods to solve LiDAR classification tasks. Current work includes classification of ground and non-ground features, extraction of building outlines, impervious surface analysis, detection of power lines and encroaching vegetation, as well as water flattening. The ability to leverage the unique capabilities of object-based image analysis, such as local context as well as feature shape and texture, allows for the automation of processes that have traditionally involved substantial manual interaction.

Definiens in Earth Sciences

Definiens enables organizations involved in Earth Sciences to quickly extract accurate geo-information from any kind of remote sensing data. The company assists data providers, value adders, scientists and end users in integrating earth observation and remote sensing data to generate accurate GIS-ready information. Definiens’ intelligent feature extraction capabilities accelerate mapping, change detection and object recognition–delivering standardized and reproducible image analysis results. Further information is available at: http://www.ecognition.com

About Definiens

Definiens is the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence® company for analyzing and interpreting images on every scale, from microscopic cell structures to satellite images. The Definiens Cognition Network Technology®, developed by Nobel laureate Prof. Gerd Binnig and his team, is an advanced and robust context-based technology designed to fulfill the image analysis requirements of the Medical, Life and Earth Sciences markets. The technology is modeled on the powerful human cognitive perception processes to extract intelligence from images. Definiens provides organizations with faster image analysis results, allowing deeper insights enabling better business decisions. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and has offices in the United States. Further information is available at: http://www.definiens.com

Definiens, eCognition, Definiens Cognition Network Technology, Definiens eCognition, Enterprise Image Intelligence and Understanding Images are trademarks or registered trademarks of Definiens.

Press contacts:
Definiens AG
Todd Douglas Taylor
Senior Marketing Manager
ttaylor@definiens.com

Ricochet Public Relations, Inc.
Garry Clark
Phone: +1 212.679.3300 ×114
gclark@ricochetpr.com

Inofterra news: Spring, ‘AssetMonitor’ service, Infoterra SGSA acquires Enifosa


01 April 2010. Spring, as you have never seen it before

Infoterra Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS Astrium, along with its partners Southampton University and INRA France, has successfully mapped the start of Spring using satellite technology.
Infoterra has developed the PHenology And Vegetation Earth Observation Service (PHAVEOS) to monitor seasonal changes in the state of vegetation and has produced a series of maps, which show the British Isles emerging from Winter.

View website
Read press release in english

10 March 2010 . New ‘AssetMonitor’ service launched to protect underwater cables and pipelines from shipping damage

Today Infoterra launched AssetMonitor, a new submarine asset protection service aimed at helping to protect valuable underwater assets – such as electricity & telecoms cables and oil & gas pipelines – from accidental damage by anchors and fishing activity. The company is also pleased to announce that Guernsey and Jersey Electricity’s Channel Islands Electricity Grid (CIEG) has become the first organisation to deploy AssetMonitor, and will use it to protect the two 90,000 Volt submarine cables that supply power and fibre optic communications from France to Jersey and on to Guernsey.

Read press release in english

09 March 2010. Infoterra SGSA acquires Enifosa

Infoterra SGSA, part of Spot Infoterra, the Earth observation division of Astrium Service, has acquired 100% of Enifosa’s (Enginyeria i Fotogrametria S.A.) shares, a leading Spanish firm in 3D urban atlas production and updating.

This purchase, which supports Spot Infoterra’s strategy of strengthening its position as a key player in the Earth observation market, is the first phase of a merging process that will culminate during the second quarter of the 2010, and make Infoterra SGSA one of the most important supplier and producer of geographical information in Spain.

Read press release in english

Source Infoterra Group

Scientists worldwide are impatiently awaiting critical data to be supplied by the Thales Alenia Space-designed SIRAL interferometric radar altimeter, which will help them assess the size and thickness of polar ice and how it changes over time. By more precisely measuring its surface and changes in elevation, scientists will be able to better understand the ice cycle and our changing climate.

(Cannes, April 1st, 2010) Slated for launch on April 8th from the space centre in Baïkonur, Kazakhstan, the CryoSat – ESA’s Ice mission is part of the ESA’s Living Planet programme. The satellite was built by EADS Astrium as prime contractor, and features the SIRAL (SAR Interferometric Radar Altimeter) instrument, designed to study polar terrain elevations to provide a highly accurate topography of this shifting environment. The satellite will be placed in polar orbit at an inclination of 92°. It will fly over the poles at an altitude of 720 km, and will circle the Earth once every 100 minutes.

According to Laurent Rey, SIRAL project manager at Thales Alenia Space: “Thanks to SIRAL, scientists will be able to combine data on the size of polar ice sheets with elevation measurements. This will enable them to study not only the current state of this natural environment, but also how fast it is changing globally. The data gathered will give us additional information to help us better understand the Earth’s climate.”

SIRAL is an interferometric radar altimeter derived from the Poseidon altimeter on the Jason satellite. An innovative instrument in a compact package weighing just 90 kg, SIRAL combines three measurement modes:

* Low-resolution, used for conventional altimetric measurements of the relatively stable continental ice sheets in the Antarctic.

* Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mode, used for high-resolution measurement of floating sea ice, enabling the indirect measurement of the thickness of ice floes.

* Interferometric radar mode, to study more contrasted elevations, like the very active areas located at the junction between the ice floes and Antarctica, and Greenland.

SIRAL features very high resolution; using its two antennas, it can scan the ground in 250-meter swaths, enabling it to more precisely determine the transitions between sea and ice. The CryoSat satellite is fitted with a redundant SIRAL instrument, used as a backup if necessary to ensure the long-term success of this critical scientific mission.

“Our challenge was to develop and produce two high-precision SIRAL instruments for this CryoSat mission,” adds Laurent Rey. “This type of instrument demands an extensive effort to deliver the required performance. The adjustments needed are extremely delicate, and doing this successfully depends on real technological prowess.”

A 6-month in-orbit validation phase is scheduled to check all instrument configurations, and to analyse its in-orbit performance in relation to the highly variable terrain that it has to measure.

The importance of polar ice

The ice in our polar regions plays an essential role in our environment, in terms of climate stability, sea levels and the circulation of major ocean currents. Observing this ice is therefore a necessity if we are to study global warming, which is one of scientists’ leading concerns today.

Ice sheets, glaciers, ice caps and snow are all highly sensitive indicators of changes in our climate, some because they are subjected to new climatic conditions that affect their survival, and others because they are located in the Arctic, where the global warming phenomenon is at its most intense. For all these reasons, it is more important than ever to keep an eye on our planet’s changing ice.

Thales Alenia Space, more than 20 years of success in space altimetry

Thales Alenia Space has worked on radar altimetry for over 20 years, and our instruments are widely recognized as among the best in the field. From 1980’s with the first Topex/Poseidon mission to current CryoSat satellite, Thales Alenia Space has provided Earth Observation missions with state-of-the-art altimeters.

The company is also the prime contractor for Sentinel-3 satellites (Sentinel 3A & 3B), part of the GMES program, devoted to cover the topography of ocean surfaces near coastal zones and ice masses.

CryoSat will be the third of ESA’s Earth Explorer satellites in-orbit (in the past twelve months), following on from GOCE and SMOS, for which Thales Alenia Space was respectively the prime contractor and main industrial partner.

For further information see: www.siral-instrument.com

About Thales Alenia Space
The European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups’ “Space Alliance”. Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecoms, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. The company achieved revenues of Euro 2 billion in 2008 and has a total of 7,200 employees located in 11 industrial sites in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium.
www.thalesaleniaspace.com

Thales Alenia Space Press Contacts

Florence Pontieux – Tel: +33 (0)1 57 77 91 26
florence.pontieux@thalesaleniaspace.com

Sandrine Bielecki – Tel: +33 (0)4 92 92 70 94
sandrine.bielecki@thalesaleniaspace.com

Source Thales

ESA has awarded a contract worth €105 million to Astrium to build the second Sentinel-2 satellite. Once both are operational, this pair of satellites will provide global coverage every five days, delivering high-resolution optical imagery for GMES land and emergency services.

Marking another milestone in Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative, this contract follows hot on the heels of the agreement between ESA and Thales Alenia Space to build the second, or ‘B units’, for Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3.

These contracts ensure that the first three Sentinel missions will fly as pairs to achieve fast coverage of Earth’s land surface, acquiring the systematic data needed for the GMES services.

Sentinel-2 carries a multispectral imager that uses 13 spectral bands from the visible and near-infrared to the shortwave infrared to reveal different features of the landscape. Together with its swath of 290 km, this mission will realise a new generation of imagery for land monitoring.

The data, for example, will be used to generate land-cover and land-use change maps, as well as to monitor geophysical variables such as the area, chlorophyll and water content of leaves. In addition, Sentinel-2 data will find applications in disaster management and humanitarian relief operations.

The contract to build Sentinel-2B was signed by ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Volker Liebig, and the CEO of Astrium Satellites, Evert Dudok, in the presence of DLR’s Chairman, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, and the Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Stefan Mappus.

“The Sentinel-2 satellites form an important element of the GMES initiative and will give Europe the ability to monitor environmental changes over an extended period of time,” said Volker Liebig.

GMES is a unique programme and with the Sentinel B units we can ensure global coverage as well as the availability of long-term data, as required by the users.”

The contract follows on from the deal to build Sentinel-2A, which was signed in 2008 with Astrium. Astrium heads a core team and is responsible for the overall design of the satellite, the multispectral instrument, the platform and satellite integration and testing.

This contract demonstrates Europe’s commitment to GMES, which, through the European Commission, will provide a wealth of services and information to understand and protect the environment.

In partnership with the European Commission, ESA’s role is, in part, to realise this dedicated family of Sentinel Earth observation missions to provide the essential data needed for the user services.

The status of the GMES initiative will be presented and discussed at the upcoming Living Planet Symposium, which will be held in Bergen, Norway, on 28 June – 2 July.

Source ESA

RapidEye, the only geospatial solutions provider to own and operate a constellation of five identical Earth Observation satellites, announced that more than 6.5 Million square kilometers of its satellite imagery taken over North and South America is now available on the RapidEye Geodata Kiosk.

Over 4 Million square kilometers of the United States can be searched for, purchased and delivered entirely online including the states of Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. The additional 2.5 Million km² are some of the larger states of Brazil including Bahia, Mato Grosso, Paŕa, Paraná and São Paulo.

“This is the next step in expanding our Geodata Kiosk with global imagery. We are excited about having these new large areas of North and South America available with low percentages of cloud cover, which is quite an achievement, especially in much of Brazil,” commented Wolfgang G. Biedermann, CEO of RapidEye. “Now, anyone globally that needs imagery over these areas will have a quick online source for some beautiful terrain in high resolution. We are planning on having more and more imagery over the U.S., Europe and additional countries available in quick succession over the next few months, which will please many customers on both sides of the Atlantic.”

The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk, RapidEye’s online source for satellite imagery, became available in early December 2009, and was introduced with the entire country of Germany available for purchase. This became the foundation of RapidEye’s commitment to making a selection of its ever-growing catalog of data from around the globe available online to anyone at anytime. Over the course of 2010, its online source for RapidEye imagery will continue to expand on a daily basis. To obtain regular updates on the progress of the kiosk, follow RapidEye on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rapideye_kiosk or email newsletter@rapideye.de and ask to subscribe.|

The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk can be accessed through www.geodatakiosk.com, or through the company’s website at www.rapideye.de. RapidEye values customer feedback and requests that any comments regarding the Kiosk be sent to the email address kioskfeedback@rapideye.de.

If you are interested in RapidEye imagery from other parts of the world that are not currently available on the Kiosk, the RapidEye Library can be accessed by contacting a local distributor (for a full list, visit RapidEye’s website at www.rapideye.de/home/about-us/distributors/index.html; or by contacting RapidEye’s Customer Service department at sales@rapideye.de.

About RapidEye AG

RapidEye is an ISO-certified geospatial information provider focused on integrating customized and industry specific solutions into the workflow of global customers in agriculture, forestry, energy, infrastructure, government, security and emergency. RapidEye experts and the satellite system – a constellation of five satellites capable of downloading over 4 million km² of high resolution, multi-spectral imagery per day, and a ground segment for processing and archiving data – allow for cost-effective customized services. The unique combination of large area coverage, high spatial resolution and the possibility of daily revisit to an area provide for superior management information solutions. Currently, more than 120 experts from more than 20 countries are employed by RapidEye, with plans to grow the team to 130 in 2010.

RapidEye benefits from a public-private partnership with the Space Agency of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which is supported by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. RapidEye is also co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of Brandenburg in Germany. For more information on ERDF please contact efreinfo@mw.brandenburg.de.

For more information about RapidEye, please visit www.rapideye.de.

RapidEye Contact
RapidEye AG
Molkenmarkt 30
14776 Brandenburg a. d. Havel, Germany
press@rapideye.de
(4,547 characters)

PCI News Spring 2010


PCI Geomatics Releases New GeoImaging Tools Software for GIS Users

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems is pleased to announce the release of GeoImaging Tools for ArcGIS™. Offering accurate and highly automated tools for correcting raw satellite imagery, GeoImaging Tools is revolutionizing the integration of remotely sensed imagery into GIS workflows.

For online version visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2010_PCI_GITools.html

PCI Geomatics to Participate as Silver Sponsor at GeoTec

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems is pleased to announce its involvement as a silver sponsor at the upcoming GeoTec Event 2010 in Toronto, Ontario.

For online version visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2010_PCI_GeoTec.html

PCI Geomatics Named to Branham 300 List of Top Canadian Technology Companies.

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, is pleased to announce that it has been named to the Branham 300, the annual listing of the top 300 Canadian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies.

For online version visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2010_PCI_Branham300.html

PCI Geomatics TV

Get up to the minute coverage of PCI Geomatics news on PCI Geomatics TV, visit: www.pcigeomatics.com/pci-tv

PCI Geomatics Partners with Microsoft’s Vexcel Imaging

PCI Geomatics is partnering with Microsoft’s Photogrammetry division, Vexcel Imaging GmbH. The alliance is designed to leverage the strengths of the two organizations to produce an end-to-end image processing system developed specifically for customers of Vexcel Imaging’s UltraCam series of high-resolution digital aerial cameras and UltraMap photogrammetric software.

Through PCI Geomatics’ scalable GeomaticaX technology, a complete workflow will be developed to take advantage of parallel processing and Graphical Processing Units (GPUs), to automatically orthorectify and mosaic hundreds of UltraCam images per day.

Development on the end-to-end workflow is currently underway, and will greatly improve processing throughput for orthorectifying, pansharpening and mosaicking UltraCam imagery. Future plans include the ability to accelerate true ortho image production and the automatic generation of digital surface models from stereo UltraCam imagery.

To read the full press release, please visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2010_PCI_Vexcel.html

PCI Geomatics Receives Contract to Assist MDA with Geospatial Solution

PCI Geomatics has signed a significant six-figure contract with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) to develop and deploy an enterprise level image management system to support the processing of RADARSAT-2 satellite imagery for an international customer.

PCI Geomatics offers image processing and analysis solutions through its GeomaticaX technology, an extension of its desktop software converted to pluggable functions. It’s comprised of an extensive list of software functions used for building workflows which can be linked in unassisted processing chains to produce fully automated image and information products. The GeomaticaX product line encompasses the Professional Software Development Kit (ProSDK), ProLines automated workflows, and the GeoImaging Accelerator.

For more information, please visit: http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2010_PCI_MDA.html

PCI Geomatics Named to Branham 300 List of Top Canadian Technology Companies

PCI Geomatics has been named to the Branham 300, the annual listing of the top 300 Canadian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. The Branham300 is the most comprehensive listing of publicly traded and privately held IT companies in Canada and PCI Geomatics ranked in the listing at 202.

The results of the Branham300 are available at www.branham300.com.

PCI Geomatics Partners with Microsoft’s Vexcel Imaging

PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of geo-imaging software and systems, announced that it is partnering with Microsoft’s Photogrammetry division, Vexcel Imaging GmbH. The alliance is designed to leverage the strengths of the two organizations to produce an end-to-end image processing system developed specifically for customers of Vexcel Imaging’s UltraCam series of high-resolution digital aerial cameras and UltraMap photogrammetric software.

For more information, please visit:http://www.pcigeomatics.com/pressnews/2010_PCI_Vexcel.html

February News

PCI Geomatics Signs Million Dollar Contract with BSEI for an Automated Image Production System

PCI Geomatics Receives Contract to Assist MDA with Geospatial Solution

PCI Geomatics Releases Upgrade to Geomatica Software

PCI Geomatics Participates in Ontario Olympic Pavilion

Gisat and Sprinx Systems with the support of Faculty of Science of Charles University turn the FLOREO services into the first operational phase. The project is making use of satellite Earth Observation that serves for improving hydrological flood forecasts of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI).

Czech Republic has experienced different types of floods in recent years, such as summer floods due to the long time precipitation (July 1997, August 2002), flash floods (July 1998, June 2009) but also significant floods from snow melt (March 2000, March and April 2006). Wide range of possible types of floods brings also very wide and complex demand on the input data and hydrological methods and models that are used.

Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) regularly evaluates quantity of snow in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, there is always some degree of uncertainty in the ground observations and in the modelling of the the situation outside the area covered by the meteorological stations. Especially when there is not snow cover over the whole territory of the country, uncertainty of the snow amount estimate may reach even several tens of percents.

The particular problem is the amount of snow in forested areas under the tree cover. Snow accumulates slowly at the beginning of the winter season and its melt is also slower due to the vegetation cover. Snow remains in the forest areas for a longer time comparing to the neighbouring open areas where most of meteorological stations are located. This effect significantly contributed to the extent of flood in the spring of 2006 for instance. Observations from meteorological stations didn’t report any snow, but there was still snow hidden in forest which continually melted and caused floods.

Information obtained from the ground stations is naturally not sufficient. In this case Earth Observation satellites may help significantly as they bring the spatial information. Satellite imagery can also provide additional data useful for predicting of floods, such as information about the properties of snow melting in surface layer of the snow cover. In the summer time different type of information can be derived, for instance the soil water content and soil saturation help to predict responses to coming rainfalls.

These facts, among others, were stimulation to come up with FLOREO project (“Demonstration of ESA Environments in support to FLOod Risk Earth Observation monitoring,”) having the aim to bring more reliable data about the current status of snow cover and additional important ground parameters to improve flood prediction services.

FLOREO turns into the first operational phase now. Its main focus is to build complex system of landscape monitoring that provides important data for flood prediction services. CHMI currently integrates the project results into their processes and believes that the entire system will be fully in operation during this year.

Nowadays the snow cover and its changes are monitored using several satellite systems, such as Terra MODIS imagery with spatial resolution of 250 m or Envisat ASAR radar imagery with spatial resolution of 150 m. The advantage of MODIS data is daily acquisition with full coverage of the area of interest and more straightforward data processing but clouds can hide the land surface. In that case radar data can be processed independently of the cloud cover but only with the period of acquisitions about 10 to 14 days. FLOREO combines both optical and radar imagery.

Inevitable part of the project is the information infrastructure providing user-friendly access to selected datasets and analytical tools via internet mapping services. Sprinx Systems, the project leader, is responsible for the design and operation of the whole infrastructure system. Gisat delivers the concept and processing algorithms that are then programmed by Sprinx Systems to build a complex system including control procedures, data visualization and provision of the results to the end user (CHMI).

See the FLOREO web site to find more information about the project activities or visit the public version of the map portal.

Watch the video demonstrating the main features of the FLOREO map portal: