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A side event co-hosted by the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) and GAF AG Munich, Germany was organized on the 11th of December 2009 at the Bella Centre COP15 Copenhagen.

The event was also supported by the German Development Bank (KfW), the German Technical Corporation (GTZ) and Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). Important to note is the participation of key Environment and Forest Ministers from the COMIFAC sub-region; more specifically the Ministers from the Central African Republic (current President of COMIFAC), the Secretary General of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the Ministers from the Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Finally the German Minister of Economic Development and Cooperation also supported and participated in the Side Event. Additionally representatives from governments, NGOs and the scientific community were also present.

For more information, please refer to the GSE Forest Monitoring website.

In the Parliament Magazine’s Research Review, FDC reports on the first GMES services available to users.


First GMES services are now available

GMES, the European Earth observation system, will provide policy makers, public authorities and more generally EU citizens with reliable and up-to-date information on environment and security. The GMES services are being developed by projects co-funded by the European Commission. They address land, ocean and atmosphere monitoring as well as emergency response and security.

In an article published in the November issue of the Parliament Magazine’s Research Review, FDC reports on the first GMES services which are now available and indicates how these services can be accessed. More information on GMES can be found on www.gmes.info the web portal operated by FDC in the framework of the SWIFT project, a Coordination and Support Action funded by the European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry.

FDC joins the NEREUS Network!

Convinced of the crucial role that Regions can play in the GMES and GNSS programmes and in the development of their applications, FDC is pleased to join the Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies (NEREUS) as Associate Member.

NEREUS aims to explore the benefits of space technologies for Regions and their citizens and to play an active role in the construction and development of space technology markets. As a strong voice for the regional dimension of European Space Policy, NEREUS wants to increase and enhance the participation of citizens and companies in European Space Policy and Programmes. Ultimately, it strives for an adequate representation of end users’ needs in terms of space applications and services.

Source FDC

EDISOFT welcomes the adoption of the first White Papers of the European Organisation for Security (EOS) on Border Management, Border Surveillance, Civil Protection, Energy Infrastructure Protection and Resilience, Civil Aviation Security, ICT Security, Supply Chain Security and Surface Transport Security.

They are publicly available to the broader public on http://www.eos-eu.com/WHITEPAPERS/tabid/225/Default.aspx.

These White Papers promote a transversal approach that covers all aspects and sectors of security, including cross-cutting aspects. To ensure consistency, the White Papers are incorporated in a global vision for a comprehensive European security approach considerate of local and national security concerns and promoted by EOS Position Paper on Priorities for a Future European Security Framework, which is retrievable from http://www.eos-eu.com/Publications/POSITIONPAPER/tabid/235/Default.aspx.

EDISOFT is an active member of EOS, which, after two years of intense work to build these common positions, is proud of this big achievement that for the first time sees stakeholders of the European Security Market brought together to agree on common messages for the consistent development and harmonization of the market to be proposed to the EU Institutions, the Member States, the Users and Operators and the broader public. The suggested priority actions, and in particular the establishment of sector specific EU Security Programmes, will now be proposed for discussion to the new Commissioners and the European Parliament.

EDISOFT is confident that the recommendations contained in the EOS White Papers and Position Paper will contribute to reducing the fragmentation of the national and European security market, thus promoting the development of a stronger market for innovative security technologies as well as the consistent implementation of security solutions and services.

EOS Members, end of 2009, having contributed to the released White Papers.

Source Edisoft

New Image Analysis Software facilitates fast and accurate geo- information extraction from any kind of remote sensing imagery

Munich, Germany / Parsippany, New Jersey – November 10, 2009 – Definiens, the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence® company, today announced the launch of its latest software offering for earth science professionals, Definiens eCognition® version 8. The new software suite delivers functionality specifically designed for geospatial image analysis while also achieving marked improvements in processing performance.

Leveraging Definiens’ research and development efforts in 3D and 4D image analysis, eCognition 8 introduces new capabilities in multi-dimensional geospatial image analysis. While LiDAR data used to require pre-processing prior to image analysis, with eCognition 8, users are now able to input LiDAR datasets in their native format — a first in the industry. The software can also apply object based image analysis (OBIA) principles to LiDAR data and fuse LiDAR, vector and optical data, allowing users to efficiently manage complex projects.

Another major focus area of eCognition 8 is making the development of semi-automated production applications easier. Within the new version, applications can be wrapped in a powerful and intuitive graphical interface. A range of new manual editing options guide and simplify workflows for production teams, making eCognition 8 more user-friendly and functional than its predecessors.

eCognition 8 also delivers a standardized graphical application called Quickmap. Users can select from alternate start modes depending on their level of experience and the complexity of the image analysis project. As a result, casual eCognition users can quickly create meaningful results using Quickmap, while more seasoned users retain the full functionality of eCognition Developer, which develops rule sets for the automatic analysis of remote sensing data. Quickmap’s code will also be made available so that it can be leveraged in the development of custom applications by the eCognition user community.

“After introducing OBIA to the earth science industry in 2001, we are excited to now introduce eCognition 8, which once again sets new standards for the industry,” said Ralph D. Humberg, Vice President, Earth Sciences at Definiens. “Our latest software incorporates functionality that makes it accessible to new audiences across industries as diverse as insurance, urban planning, defense and forestry while simultaneously allowing experienced users to meet the demands of complex projects more efficiently. We anticipate that eCognition 8 will spur the development of a range of novel applications.”

Beyond improvements to the application building process, eCognition 8 provides advancements in the performance and speed of advanced image analysis. In test cases, eCognition 8 performed up to ten times faster than the previous version, as a result of more effective utilization of processing resources.

Definiens launched the eCognition 8 software suite at the IMAX Theatre in Munich on November 2, 2009 as part of its four-day eCognition User Summit. For more information, visit: http://earth.definiens.com/ecognition-user-summit-munich-2009-information.

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://earth.definiens.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 throughout the United States. Further information is available at www.definiens.com.

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

Press Contacts

Definiens
Eva Tietz
Manager Corporate Communications
etietz@definiens.com Ricochet Public Relations
Garry Clark
Phone: +1 212.679.3300 ×114
gclark@ricochetpr.com

Newfoundland and Labrador�s large geographical area and a low population density make water resources management a challenge, particularly flood forecasting.

Through the adaptation and addition of innovative technologies, this challenge presents an opportunity for the Provincial Government to utilize innovative technologies to enhance flood forecasting services and overall water resources management.

“We have a level of expertise in water resources management that is second to none,” said the Honourable Charlene Johnson, Minister of Environment and Conservation. “Through leading-edge technologies and capabilities, we are providing a valuable service to the people of the province and, at the same time, attracting international attention and showcasing our expertise to the world.”

In 2009, a Russian delegation visited Newfoundland and Labrador to learn more about the province�s water resources management expertise, in particular the Earth Observation Satellites (EOS) Badger River Ice Service. This service was created in 2003 in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) and a local company, C-CORE. It represents a major improvement in the flood forecasting capability for the residents of Badger, as the satellite imagery improves prediction of the timing of any impending floods. This service has drawn international attention and is now used in several countries, including Russia where it is used on the Siberian Rivers � the Lena and the Yenissei.

With a vision to further improve the Badger River Ice Service, web cameras using new and innovative satellite and cellular communication technologies were installed along the Exploits River to provide real-time visual confirmation of ice conditions and verification of satellite imagery. In 2008, a web camera was installed at Badger overlooking the river and, in 2009, a second camera was placed at Badger Steps, a critical and remote section of the Exploits River. Through interaction between the department and Egyptian officials, the technology is now used on Lake Manzala in Egypt.

The department is one of several Canadian agencies to use web cameras for flood forecasting services and water resources management and is considered on the leading edge regarding the remote real-time application of these web cameras. The work undertaken in Badger has lead to the placement of the Badger website on the web camera manufacturer�s product webpage. It can be viewed at www.campbellsci.ca/Catalogue/CC640.html

To improve flood warning for the Humber River Valley communities of Deer Lake and Steady Brook, a web camera has also been installed overlooking the Humber River.

Another example of the use of innovative technologies to address the needs of the people of this province is the EOS snow monitoring service that has been developed to provide flood warning to the Humber River Valley communities of Deer Lake and Steady Brook. Using satellites, snow coverage is monitored for the entire Humber Valley in order to alert residents of possible flooding due to snow melt in the higher elevations of the Humber Valley.

The Humber snow monitoring service was developed through technology that was adapted from an ESA project in Egypt in which the department participated. In 2009, the department was invited to participate in a three-year international snow monitoring technology development and testing project named GlobSnow. The GlobSnow project will produce products which will have important applications for flood forecasting, climate change, hydropower generation and wildlife studies in the province.

-For more information on any of these technologies, including the web cameras, flood-risk data and real-time water monitoring data, please visit www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/Env/water_resources.asp_

Media contact
Melony O�Neill
Director of Communications
Department of Environment and Conservation
709-729-2575, 689-0928
moneill@gov.nl.ca

ESOV NG is a public Software tool made available by the European Space Agency to its users for satellite orbit determination.

It is developed by Brockmann Consult GmbH with the objective of improving and modernising the existing ESOV Classic tool.

The software is available at the ESA Download site

ESOV NG allows users to visualize and print Instrument swaths, Ground tracks, Zone coverages, Ground Station Visibility and to generate overpass table for generic Earth Observation LEO satellites.

Support for Envisat, ERS-1, ERS-2, Cryosat, ADM, SMOS, Metop is built in, more satellites can be added easily.

Source Brockmann Consult

Aerodata: Geo-Info Xchange and thermal aerial survey in NL


Aerodata successfully completes Amersfoort (NL) thermal aerial survey, Dec 7th, 2009

On December 1st 2009 Aerodata kicked off its thermography season with success by completing the thermal aerial survey of the municipality of Amersfoort (NL).

Digital thermal acquisition, meant for rooftop heat-loss analysis, is always executed in winter time during the evening hours when the citizens are (usually) at home and houses are heated.
The finished product will help civil servants in the municipality to analyze the level of building insulation within their municipality.
The dataset is used as an aid to raise environmental awareness and has proven to be a very useful communication tool between local government and its citizens.

With the Amersfoort project the 2009-2010 thermal season has taken off, with many more project to follow in the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.

For more information, please check the “thermography” section of our website.

Successful Geo-Info Xchange exhibition, Dec 9th, 2009

On 2 and 3 December 2009 Aerodata exhibited on the leading trade fair “Geo-Info Xchange” in Utrecht, The Netherlands . Over 2500 visitors were welcomed during this 2 day event.

Aerodata promoted its products in a 5 × 4 m booth. The canvas print on the wall showed datasets flowing from a shower.
The metaphore: “Geodata, like water from the tap” (in Dutch: “Geodata, als water uit de kraan”) refers to the increasing WMS possibilities for continuous data serving to clients over the Internet.

Next to this a 3D gallery was constructed allowing visitors to have an exciting stereo vision experience to aerials from all over Europe and to our aircraft in 3D.

Aerodata was able to show and discuss its products and services to many interested people and definitely considers the fair a big success for its business.

Geodata Kiosk Now Ready for Business With Imagery of Germany

RapidEye, the only geospatial solutions provider to own and operate a constellation of five identical Earth Observation satellites, released the German version of their online shop for satellite imagery in December 2009 – “The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk”.

The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk is an online shop for satellite imagery with ready-to-use data available immediately after purchase. After a secure credit card payment is made, the data is ready to be picked up immediately via secure download.

All data available in the Geodata Kiosk are RapidEye Ortho Products (level 3A); orthorectified, five meter pixel sized imagery from the RapidEye satellite constellation, ready to integrate into any GIS system. In addition to the data for Germany this release also includes the data for 16 free demonstration products for potential customers to test.

“With the RapidEye Geodata Kiosk we have the ability to accommodate satellite imagery requests from almost anybody; from the GIS professional who might want to use the data as background imagery, to value adders, who can derive expert analyses from it, to the university student, as well as to my neighbor who might be looking for an image of Berlin for his home. By using the Internet to distribute our data we will be able to service large and small orders of our satellite imagery easily, quickly and automatically,” commented Wolfgang G. Biedermann, RapidEye’s CEO. “With the release of our German version we are getting our ‘feet wet’, and we ask that everyone try it out so that we can work out any initial problems before we make a big splash with the roll-out of our international version in 2010.”

RapidEye plans to expand the Geodata Kiosk to include data products from around the world, with a dedication to providing continually fresh imagery and making data from almost every country on Earth available to anyone, anywhere at anytime.

“The big benefits for our customers are that they can choose and buy only the area they really need, as no minimum sized area is required and purchases can be made with as little as 50 Euro. Customers instantly get what they order and can choose between different delivery formats, including GeoTIFF and NITF. Re-projection on-the-fly between UTM and geographic coordinate systems is also an option that will appeal to our more knowledgeable customers,” comments Michael W. Prechtel, Head of Marketing and Sales for RapidEye.

The Geodata Kiosk can be accessed through the direct URL www.geodatakiosk.com, or by visiting RapidEye’s website at www.rapideye.de. This initial version of the Geodata Kiosk may have minor system difficulties, but will not affect the quality of its data. RapidEye would appreciate if any issues with the system will be reported either through the feedback function in the Geodata Kiosk or via a direct email to kioskfeedback@rapideye.de

All updates regarding the progress of the Geodata Kiosk will be available by either following RapidEye on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rapideye_kiosk, or by sending an email requesting a subscription to RapidEye’s newsletter to newsletter@rapideye.de. These updates will not only inform subscribers about the future international version of the Geodata Kiosk, but will include information about new areas that have been or will be added once the future version will be available.

The RapidEye Geodata Kiosk is not the only way to obtain RapidEye satellite imagery, nor is the imagery available on the Kiosk all that’s available from RapidEye. For the opportunity to purchase millions more square kilometers of Earth as single or multi-temporal datasets, RapidEye’s library can be searched either through a local distributor or directly through the RapidEye Customer Service department at sales@rapideye.de. To find a distributor in your area, please visit RapidEye’s website at www.rapideye.de/distributors.

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 imaging and 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 123 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 cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). For more information on ERDF please contact efreinfo@mw.brandenburg.de.

RapidEye is a “Selected Landmark in the Land of Ideas” and therefore part of the event series “365 Landmarks in the Land of Ideas”. This program is run by the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” and Deutsche Bank. Being a “Selected Landmark” RapidEye will stand for Germany being a “Land of ideas” in 2009 and will demonstrate Germany’s spirit of innovation. The initiative is under the patronage of Germany’s federal president Horst Köhler. www.land-of-ideas.org

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
Follow us on Twitter @rapideye_ag and be informed about all latest news and updates.


Copyrights Rapideye

Geodatakiosk
Rapideye
Image gallery

Gisat: Urban Atlas, Fragia project and new office…


Exploring UrbanAtlas

Gisat signed a contract with the ESA for the UrbanAtlas+ project

Gisat has been awarded a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) for UrbanAtlas+ project proposing to explore and demonstrate the full potential of ongoing GMES UrbanAtlas service production for spatial planning applications.

In particular, the subject of the UrbanAtlas+ project is to focus this demonstration on:
• urban growth dynamics monitoring and assessment providing insight into the land consumption & formation processes involved,
• socio-economic data integration supporting integration of Urban Atlas data with conventional statistics in general, testing the standard Urban Audit set of indicators in particular.

The Urban Atlas is part of the implementation of the Global Monitoring of Environment and Security (GMES) land monitoring service, financed by the European Commission with the support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and produced in collaboration with the Member States the European space industry. The Urban Atlas cover all EU capitals and a large sample of large and medium-sized cities participating in the European Urban Audit, a data collection covering over 300 cities in the EU, with full operability foreseen for 2011. Future editions of the Urban Atlas are planned in 3-5 year intervals to complement the Urban Audit exercise. More on GMES Urban Atlas activity can be found here

The Urban Audit, initiative of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy, regularly provides urban statistics for cities across EU. It is co-financed by the European Commission and managed in close consultation with EUROSTAT and National Statistical Institutes in EU Member States. More on the Urban Audit activities can be found here

Gisat has long experience with Urban Atlas and Urban Audit data utilization from ESA GSE GSELAND project, where Urban Atlas service has been already demonstrated for comparison of urban territories structure nationally or across Europe. Also, Gisat is familiar with land accounting approaches from the land and ecosystem accounting (LEAC) activities done for European Environmental Agency (EEA). Some parts of the UrbanAtlas+ methodology have been already pre-tested by GISAT during Prague M11 demonstrator work (prepared for the City Development Authority of the Municipality of Prague during the GSELAND project) with very promising results. Nevertheless, the above mentioned capabilities for Urban Atlas datasets have not been fully explored yet, so methodology for their implementation has to be still developed.

UrbanAtlas+ project represents follow-up of these activities and aims full design, implementation and demonstration of such framework. While during the UrbanAtlas+ project duration (26 months) focus is primarily on the application areas serving urban/regional planning user community in the Czech Republic, the results is foreseen to be applicable to support Europe-wide acceptance and application of GMES Urban Atlas service.

JRC chose Fragria

Gisat in winning consortia responding to the JRC tender on agri-environmental studies

Gisat is a member of winning consortia responding to the JRC tender on agri-environmental studies. The consortium led by Alterra (Centre Geo-information), the Netherlands has been awarded the FRamework Contract for the Provision of Thematic Studies in the field of AGRI-Environmental Assessment (FRAGRIA).

FRAGRIA will contribute to the improvement of the timely monitoring of agricultural land use state and changes, and their impact on the environment at the European, national and regional levels.

The objective is to fulfill the needs of:
• European users who are involved in the definition of European directives, strategies and of the CAP: DG Agri, DG Env and EEA,
• Users responsible for the implementation of European directives, strategies and of the CAP: agriculture and environment ministries, national and regional environmental agencies, national payment agencies, regional water agencies.
Based on users’ requirements, the FRAGRIA aims at developing and improving agri-environmental indicators assessing:
• Conceptual development for agri-environmental indicators,
• Assessment of the environmental performance of different farming systems,
• Assessment of climate change impacts and mitigation strategies on agriculture.

GISAT has moved to a new office

Since 2010 Gisat can be found in the brand-new office close to the Prague City Center

We believe this opens us new possibilities for further expansion and improvement of our services and products. We are looking forward to meet you in our new office.

Please note our new address as of 1st January 2010:

Gisat s.r.o.
Milady Horakove 57
170 00 Praha 7
Czech Republic

You may find detailed info how to get to our new office here

All news can be found also on GISAT web site

VCS: Eumetsat collaboration

EUMETSAT Assigned VCS to Deliver a HRPT Reference User Station (RUS)

VCS Space has been awarded a new contract by EUMETSAT to deliver a HRPT Reference User Station (RUS) which predicts the satellite track and which receives satellite images and other related information/data from meteorological polar orbiting satellites.
For reception of data from meteorological satellites like NOAA, FengYun and MetOP a so called High Resolution Picture Transmission receiving system is required. All those satellites are equipped with radiometers for capturing cloud images in real time having spatial resolutions of about 1 km in several spectral channels reaching from visible to infrared channels.

The HRPT Reference User Station is consisting of the following components
HRPT El/Az tracking antenna with 2.0m reflector,
• Combined feed, low noise amplifier (LNA), downconverter,
• Tracking system for L-band satellites,
• Digital Receiver and Demodulator,
• Acquisition workstation equipped with 2met!® Application Software