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Category: Member News

On January 1st, EADS ASTRIUM announced the creation of Infoterra France
SAS and the integration of the agriculture (FARMSTAR) and natural risk
management activities – previously part of EADS Astrium´s Earth
Observation Applications division – into this new company.

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On January 1st, EADS ASTRIUM announced the creation of Infoterra
France SAS and the integration of the agriculture (FARMSTAR) and
natural risk management activities – previously part of EADS Astrium´s
Earth Observation Applications division – into this new company. The
company ISTAR, a wholly owned French subsidiary of EADS Astrium,
specializing in image processing and 3D cartographic data production,
has also been transferred into Infoterra France.
The merge of these complementary teams
will enable Infoterra France to widen its range of products and
services, whether in environment and security, spatial planning,
agriculture, telecommunications, or in the space and geomatics
industry. Furthermore, the move is part of a close-knit operational
partnership with Infoterra Ltd and Infoterra GmbH, the British and
German subsidiaries of the EADS Astrium Group, which will help sharing
experience from each entity and promote global earth observation
solutions to European and worldwide markets.
(Credits Infoterra-Global)

Critical Software successfully concluded ESA‘s Near Operational
Demonstration project. The demonstrator involved space remote sensing
technologies applied to forest fire monitoring.

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January 16, 2006
The demonstrator involved space remote
sensing technologies applied to forest fire monitoring. Critical has
been responsible for the demonstration activities in Portugal, in close
collaboration with the civil protection and forest resources national
authorities.
About Critical Software SA
Critical Software SA is an international
company established in Portugal (1998) with offices in San Jose (US),
London (UK) and Lisbon (PT). The company employs about 100 people and
operates a quality system certified to ISO 9001:2000 Tick-IT, ISO
15504, and AQAP 2120. Critical Software’s portfolio of customers
comprises companies such as Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Infineon
Technologies, Westland Helicopters, NASA , EADS, Northrop Grumman, and
ESA. The company has been listed in 2005 by Business Week among
Europe’s 300 fastest growing companies. The company has been profitable
from scratch and invested strongly on R&D in order to bring edgeBOX
to the market. edgeBOX addresses a growing market opportunity for
telcos and ISPs to deliver value-added managed services to SMEs and
Branch Offices. The product is currently commercialised in the UK,
Brazil, China, Chile, Germany, Spain, South Africa and Portugal. In
2005, edgeBOX won the Infovision Best Broadband Appliance award
presented by the IEC.

The Executive Committee of EADS has appointed Daniel Baubil as Head of
EADS Global Industrial Development (GID). Daniel Baubil is Corporate
Vice President and reports to Jean-Paul Gut, Chief Operating Officer
(COO) for Marketing, Strategy and Global Development.

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EADS Global Industrial Development has been newly created to
design and implement the group’s global industrial strategy in
collaboration with EADS International, corporate strategy teams and all
EADS Business Units. Its two main goals are to build a transversal
industrial policy in terms of engineering, industrial projects,
structural partnerships, and drive EADS globalization in key countries.
“Creating the GID is an answer for EADS’
global long term growth. As traditional commercial approach faces
strong limits, GID will reinforce the establishment of EADS as a local
industrial player on high potential strategic markets in order to fully
benefit from their growth,” said Jean-Paul Gut. “We are convinced that
Daniel Baubil, on account of his broad industrial and operational
experience, and his newly appointed team, will perfectly manage this
new challenge.”
Daniel Baubil (50), graduated from ESSEC,
was Senior Vice President, Head of Airbus Equipment & Propulsion
systems Procurement. He started his career in 1977 at 3M as Finance and
Business Controller. He joined Snecma in 1978 as Deputy Treasurer.
Since 1980, he has occupied various high ranking positions at Airbus in
Finance, Customer Affairs, Production and Procurement.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace,
defence and related services. In 2004, EADS generated revenues of €
31.8 billion and employed a workforce of about 110,000.
(Credits EADS.net)

Definiens AG, a leader in advanced image intelligence solutions, today
announced a collaboration with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) for the global
implementation of Definiens’ eCognition™ Enterprise Image
Intelligence Solution.

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Definiens will provide Pfizer with eCognition, a scalable,
hyper-spectral, hardware independent platform for image analysis that
can accommodate future innovations in imaging dyes and hardware. Under
the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will gain access to all the features
of the eCognition™ Enterprise Imaging Intelligence Solution along
with maintenance, training and consulting services from Definiens.
About Definiens
Definiens is a global leader in providing
advanced image intelligence solutions and services that enable its
clients to harness all relevant information from digital image to
support fast and accurate decision making crucial to its business
process. Definiens’ products are built on its platform technology
(eCognition) that represents a quantum leap in the realms of digital
image analysis. Our products are offered across chosen markets,
initially focusing on Earth Observation/Remote Sensing (EO/RS) and Life
Sciences. Definiens offers advanced and robust image analysis solutions
to accelerate the drug discovery, development, and diagnostics
processes in life sciences, and perform satellite and aerial image
classification more intelligently, accurately, and efficiently than
traditional methods. Definiens is a multi-national organization with
headquarters in Munich, Germany and offices in Boulder, Colorado and
Boston, Massachusetts. For further information regarding the company
and its products please visit www.definiens.com.
CONTACT:
Definiens AG Andrea Mueller-Beilschmidt,
+49 (0)89 23 11 80-36
pr@definiens.com
Mobile: +49 (0)171 76 66 518
Fax: +49 (0)89 23 11 80-90
(Credits Definiens)

Due to the large forest fires occurred in the Portuguese mainland
during 2003 summer season, COTEC Portugal, Enterprise Association for
Development and Innovation, launched in 2004 a large initiative, aiming
at providing solutions to minimize this dramatic problem.

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From this initiative a two year project emerged with three
workgroups: (1) Benchmarking of forest fire prevention and combat
systems, (2) Support to forest fire prevention and combat information
systems, and (3) Forest surveillance, detection and alert on forest
fires.
With a direct participation in this
initiative, trough the coordination of the second work group, Critical
Software implemented the Integrated Forest Fire Risk Map, originally
developed in the scope of Premfire project, a European Space Agency project, awarded to Critical Software in 2001.
Based on information collected through
satellite imagery (land cover, vegetation moisture and meteorological
data), integrated forest fire risk results in 232 meters spatial
resolution map with two versions (risk for the current day and a
forecast for the next day) produced on a daily basis.
Since land cover could easily become
outdated due to the large forest fires occurring every day, a
methodology was developed to automatically detect forest burnt areas.
This methodology, based on MODIS imagery, was implemented in order to
update land cover, thus eliminating false alerts occurring in these
areas. First results on this automatic burnt areas detection
methodology point to 18 % omission errors and 20 % commission errors,
although possible improvements were already identified and better
results are to be expected in the near future.
With the end of forest fire season, risk
index effectiveness was calculated with the daily evaluation of burnt
areas incidence in the different risk classes.
As it could be shown, in 2005, nearly 60%
of burnt areas larger than 50 ha occurred in the two higher risk
classes (Extreme and Very High), which corresponded to 39 % of the
Portuguese territory. However, when the same study is made with burnt
areas between 50 ha and 500 ha, the percentage of burnt area in the two
higher risk classes rise to 72%. These results mean, whenever a fires
run out of human control and reaches huge proportions, even low risk
areas are affected.
Risk class
Area
of each class in the total territory /em>
 /div> /em>
Extreme
17.3
70.8
32.4
57.6
Very High
21.5
21.9
27.1
38.6
High
24.5
7.3
25.3
27.8
Medium
18.5
0.0
14.2
19.6
Low
6.6
0.0
1.0
2.1
These forest fire risk maps became crucial tools to allocate firefighters on the field. Automatic burnt areas detection allowed not only to update fire risk maps but also provided an invaluable tool for rapid damage assesmet.

As a geospatial software company, PCI Geomatics® is a world leading
developer of image-centric software and solutions. The company’s
flagship desktop product, Geomatica®, meets the growing demands of the
remote sensing, GIS, cartography, and photogrammetry worlds.

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Geomatica has the built-in capability to increase productivity
while fully supporting any organization‘s geospatial data processing
needs. The software breaks down the conventional divisions in
traditional remote sensing, GIS, photogrammetry, cartography, web, and
development tools creating a single integrated environment. With full
raster and vector support for over 100 geospatial data formats,
Geomatica offers solutions for all of your processing needs while
maintaining complete interoperability with both outside software
packages, and spatially enabled databases like Oracle.
The latest version of this revolutionary
software is Geomatica 10; the company’s most automated and
interoperable release to date. Highlights include:
- With the capability to extract,
transform, and load geospatial data in Oracle 10g, Geomatica allows
users to visualize and analyze large amounts of complex data faster and
easier than ever before. All of the functionality that has made
Geomatica the industry’s leading desktop geospatial software package
can now be leveraged, not only by traditional users, but also by
enterprises that require geospatial information.
- Geomatica 10 introduces automatic
ground point collection through advanced image-correlation technology.
Automated ground control point collection, combined with Geomatica®
OrthoEngine® satellite and air photo models, enables fast and accurate
orthorectification. Working in conjunction with the new Geomatica®
Desktop Production Engine — a collection of improvements to the
Geomatica® Modeler batch-processing capability, completely automated
ortho-mosaic workflows are possible.
- With the Desktop Production Engine,
options that allow input file, export file, and parameter-setting
variation throughout multiple runs of a model are available for each
task’s module. These improvements make Geomatica 10 Modeler a much more
powerful visual modeling environment and can turn any series of tasks
into a fully automated process.
-
Enhancements to the OrthoEngine auto-mosaicking tool include a new
mosaic preview feature. You can now test results of several mosaic
parameter settings and inputs through lower resolution mosaic previews.
This feature saves time and disk space, and allows greater workplace
productivity and efficiency.
- New
model-based atmospheric correction for hyperspectral imagery has also
been developed and provides a more rigorous alternative to simple
atmospheric correction. The model incorporates the MODTRAN4 radiative
transfer model, developed by the United States Department of the Air
Force, and is augmented by programs that detect and correct spectral
line curvature, as well as perform atmospheric water vapour content
mapping.
Along with the company’s desktop software,
PCI Geomatics has introduced a series of image-centric solutions
designed to address geospatial industry needs for automation and
production capacity. Geomatica X contains the company‘s software
components used for building complete production workflows, such as
automated DEM extraction, orthorectification, mosaicking, and more.
These custom-built solutions enable the automation of repetitive
time-consuming tasks, reduce labour costs, and shorten throughput time
for the delivery cycle of operationally intense procedures. As experts
in extracting information from imagery, PCI and Geomatica X can help
automate and customize geospatial solutions using a suite of enterprise
products, including a state-of-the-art web suite and Oracle data
management software.
Finally, PCI Geomatics has recently
introduced GeoCapacity® Information Systems (GCIS) –
application-specific spatial information production systems powered by
automation. Built on PCI Geomatics core technology, a GCIS provides the
automation of data collection, image processing, and analysis of large
quantities of data from a variety of sources. Recently, PCI Geomatics,
in partnership with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the Technology
Partnerships Canada (TPC) program, has developed a GCIS Mapping Center
to provide automated mapping functionality nationwide. The GCIS Mapping
Center provides detailed, accurate, nationally standardized mapping
functionality, products, and delivery systems.
Through the integration of five
subsystems, the GCIS Mapping Center has clear advantages over
traditional mapping, data management and access mechanisms.
- Image Correction System (ICS) – automates the processing and preparation of remote sensing imagery;
instantly achieve time/cost savings for orthorectification,
pansharpening, and other image processing tasks.
- Map Generation System (MGS) – provides flexible automated map generation based on user requirements and national mapping standards.
- Feature Extraction System (FES) – an interactive environment for efficient extraction and updating topographic features from satellite imagery.
- Web Services System (WSS) - based on Open GeoSpatial Consortium (OGC) standards which enables the exchange of spatial data from anywhere, to anyone.
- Job Control System (JCS) – provides the tools to define, execute, and monitor jobs from the above four systems automatically.
The Mapping Center offers an automated, efficient, flexible and reliable mapping system.
(Credits PCI-Geomatics)

The Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) has made Spot Image
exclusive distributor of data from the KOMPSAT-2 Earth observation
satellite except for customers from Korea, the United States and the
Middle East.

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“After FORMOSAT-2, this new distribution agreement marks an
important step in the diversification of our product portfolio, which
we are expanding to supply data from partner satellites,” said Spot
Image’s Chairman and CEO Hervé Buchwalter. “It will enable us to offer
optical data at 1-metre resolution starting in 2006. This success
reaffirms the company as a leading player in the global imagery
market.”
KARI developed the KOMPSAT-2 programme in
particular to acquire very-high-resolution imagery for South Korea’s
needs in mapping, urban planning and hazard management. Developed in
close collaboration with EADS Astrium, the satellite is scheduled to
launch late this year.
As the prime contractor in charge of
Korea’s satellite programmes, KARI is pursuing an ambitious space plan:
following the KITSAT series of microsatellites (1 to 4) and the
KOMPSAT-1 Earth observation satellite, it is now preparing to launch
KOMPSAT-2.
KARI has also started the
development of KOMPSAT-3 and KOMPST-5, as the follow-on missions of
KOMPSAT-2.
It is also developing COMS-1, a communications, meteorology and
oceanography satellite, and has plans for 10 more satellites in the
pipeline for the coming decade.
As commercial operator of the SPOT
satellites, Spot Image is a one-stop shop for multisource (optical and
radar) and multiresolution (1 m to 1 km) data. As well as satellite
imagery, Spot Image supplies data reception facilities with agreements
covering reception of telemetry from a range of satellites, manages
projects calling for the provision and processing of geographic
information, and provides equipment and training services.
Headquartered in Toulouse, France, with
subsidiaries and offices in Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico,
Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, the Spot
Image group leverages a global network of ground receiving stations,
channel partners and distributors to bring geographic information
derived from satellite imagery to public- and private-sector
decision-makers worldwide.
(Credits Spot Image)
– Contact: Corporate Communications Spot Image
Phone: +33 (0)5 62 19 40 10

Spacedat has been selected among a number of Italian companies as the
most innovative and technology driven company. INNOVINT which stands
for “international development of new innovative entrepreneurs” is the
name of the project in which Spacedat is taking part.

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Spacedat
is a market-oriented research company using remote sensing and G.I.S
instruments, turning knowledge and technologies into products,
processes and services with increased added value.
Being based in the very south of Italy (objective 1 funding area) where
the prevailing economy focuses on agriculture, Spacedat is part of a
new reality of companies and research centres, providing innovation and
technological change, without doubt the main drivers of economic
growth. As a matter of fact, the National Nanotechnology Laboratory
(NNL), ST Microelectronics, Agilent, and Alenia Marconi Systems are
already operating in this area.
The success of the company relies on the
dynamic R&D networks and competitive costs, turning ideas into
reality, knowledge into a benefit, which may be for commercial use or
for the public good. It is important to stress that, unlike “simply
innovative” companies, applied research firms are very rare in any part
of Italy, being essential to Italy’s economy since they have shown a
remarkable capacity to sustain and reinvent themselves.
Projects like INNOVINT, whose aim is to
improve the partnership between companies from different countries,
should definitely be encourage since they support activities related to
the development and the internationalization process. Spacedat looks
forward to establish further links with private companies and research
institutions, promoting agreements, business partnerships and joint
ventures.
Contact: Via Duca degli Abruzzi 57 Lecce 73100
Tel/Fax (0039)0832308505
info@spacedat.com
(Credits Spacedat)

The Japanese geo-information provider PASCO Corporation is the first distribution partner for TerraSAR-X radar data products.

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• Infoterra GmbH signs distribution agreement worth 10 Mio Euro.
• Data received by Direct Access Partner in Tokyo directly.
• EADS Astrium builds German Radar Satellite – Launch scheduled for April 2006.
The
Japanese geo-information provider PASCO Corporation is the first
distribution partner for TerraSAR-X radar data products. After a first
agreement had already been reached in November of last year, Joerg
Herrmann, Managing Director of the German Infoterra GmbH and Yoichi
Sugimoto, President and CEO of PASCO, have now signed the official
contract, worth € 10 Mio.
Almost two years prior to the start of
the operative phase of the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X, PASCO has
not only secured the exclusive distribution rights for the Japanese
market as well as a substantial data contingent, but also the
opportunity to receive TerraSAR-X data directly from the satellite,
starting in late 2006 – as a Direct Access Partner.
Japan is a natural disaster prone country
and suffers from earthquakes and typhoons every year. “We have great
expectations from the capability and high resolution images of
TerraSAR-X to provide us the information and monitoring in all weather
conditions” says Yoichi Sugimoto. “Apart from the mapping and
generation of digital surface models, we will target several
applications, such as land slides, change detection, agriculture and
forestry, car navigation and others.”
„We are extremely glad to have acquired
such a renowned company as the exclusive distribution partner for the
Japanese market,” states Joerg Herrmann. “The great interest in such
partnerships, as well as the ambition of future partners to secure
their data access rights and contingents at such an early stage;
reassure us of the unique potentials TerraSAR-X has to offer.”

Surrounding the Earth on a polar orbit at an altitude of 514
kilometers, TerraSAR-X will be collecting new-quality X-band radar data
of the entire planet. The satellite will operate independent of weather
conditions, cloud coverage, and illumination and will be capable of
delivering data at a resolution up to 1 meter. TerraSAR-X, due to be
launched in the second quarter of 2006, is currently being developed by
EADS Astrium, while the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is preparing the
ground segment.
Infoterra GmbH was launched in 2001 for
the purpose of pursuing the exploitation of TerraSAR-X and will be the
only commercial provider of TerraSAR-X data worldwide. Currently, the
company is preparing the global distribution of this data, scheduled to
start in late 2006, by establishing a global partner network. Infoterra
GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of EADS Astrium, the leading European
satellite company. Infoterra has a workforce of approximately 25
employees in Friedrichshafen, Germany and is part of the European
Infoterra Global Group with companies in Germany, the UK and France.
Infoterra collects and processes data obtained from Earth observation
satellites and airborne campaigns. These tailor-made information
products can be used in agriculture and forestry, urban and regional
planning, cartography and resource management. PASCO Corporation is
based in Tokyo and provides advanced and innovative aerial
photogrammetric, survey and GIS services in Japan and around the globe,
backed by 50 years of experience since 1953. The company offers a
complete range of measurement technology, ranging from airborne to
ground and even ship-borne equipments. PASCO possesses world-leading
geomatics technological capabilities, creates new business models and
develops innovative products and services for governments and
administrative agencies, corporations and individuals (http://www.pasco.co.jp/global/english/).
EADS Astrium is Europe’s leading satellite system specialist. Its
activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and
Earth observation systems, science and navigation programmes, and all
spacecraft avionics and equipment. EADS Astrium, wholly owned
subsidiary of EADS
SPACE, which is dedicated to providing civil and defense space systems.
In 2003 EADS SPACE had a turnover of € 2.4 billion and 12,000 employees
in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace,
defense and related services. In 2003, EADS generated revenues of €
30.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 100,000.
For further information and image material, please contact:
Infoterra GmbH Communications,
Tel.: +49-7545-8-3924
Mareike Doepke
This and other texts as well as high-resolution images may also be found at: www.terrasar.de
(Credits Terrasar)

LogicaCMG announced that it has won a contract for the delivery and
implementation of a new Geospatial Information System (GIS) with the
Dutch multi-utility company DELTA, located in the south western
Province of Zeeland. The project has now started and is scheduled for
completion in spring 2007.

Published on
LogicaCMG announced that it has won a contract for the delivery
and implementation of a new Geospatial Information System (GIS) with
the Dutch multi-utility company DELTA, located in the south western
Province of Zeeland. The project has now started and is scheduled for
completion in spring 2007.
The new GIS will enable DELTA to optimise
the quality and lifecycle of their infrastructure and to manage their
assets at lower cost. It is vitally important for DELTA to have a GIS
which, apart from managing and providing information on the
infrastructure, is able to rapidly exchange data with other systems.
GIS helps companies such as DELTA to rapidly identify affected areas of
infrastructure during excavation work, utility breakdowns and other
maintenance projects. This allows DELTA to take the necessary measures
without delay.
Many other utilities, in the Netherlands
and elsewhere, are discovering the advantages of modern Geospatial
Information Systems for managing their infrastructure and are planning
to replace their present systems. The DELTA project is therefore of
great strategic importance for ESRI Nederland, ESRI Inc., and
LogicaCMG.
The solution for DELTA is based on the
ArcFM UT product manufactured by ESRI Inc. partner AED-SICAD based in
Munich, Germany. This is the most advanced utility GIS solution on the
market. The major advantage offered by ArcFM UT is that, in contrast to
traditional GIS solutions, it can be implemented without much
customer-specific software development. ESRI Nederland has specialist
knowledge of the multi-utility sector in combination with the most
extensive GIS platform in the world, ArcGIS. LogicaCMG has considerable
experience of implementing major projects involving GIS applications
from a variety of leading vendors for its energy, utility, public
sector and defence customers around the world.
On Geospatial Information Systems

Geo-information concerns the full range of information on objects with
a fixed place on, in, above or beneath the earth‘s surface.
Organisations using this type of information are among others
government, defence, transport and the multi-utility sector.
Ever more organisations are making use of
location-related information. Demand for the effective and efficient
processing, management, collation and analysis of such geospatial
information is growing. The possibilities for doing so have improved
greatly in recent years with the development of Geospatial Information
Systems specifically developed for the manipulation, analysis and
presentation of place-related information.
About DELTA
DELTA
is the result of a merger between the South West-Netherlands Water
Company (WMZ) and the Provincial Zeeland Energy Company (PZEM) in 1991.
Before the merger these two companies had already been operating in
Zeeland for generations. When the two companies joined DELTA started
pooling the tasks in the public utility field. In recent years DELTA
has expanded its services with the provision of Internet cable
facilities and waste processing activities.
About LogicaCMG
LogicaCMG is a major international force in
IT services and wireless telecoms. It provides management and IT
consultancy, systems integration and outsourcing services to clients
across diverse markets including telecoms, financial services, energy
and utilities, industry, distribution and transport and the public
sector. The company employs around 21,000 staff in offices across 35
countries and has more than 40 years of experience in IT services.
Headquartered in Europe, LogicaCMG is listed on both the London and
Amsterdam stock exchanges (LSE: LOG; Euronext: LOG). More information
is available from www.logicacmg.com
About ESRI Nederland
Geographic information plays an important
role in analysing changes in our world. In order to understand the
changes it is vital for proper links to be established, for the
available data to be collated and for knowledge to be shared. This is
best done with the aid of a Geographic Information System (GIS). The
standard ArcGIS products of ESRI Inc. are the most complete, most
widely used and most accessible products worldwide. More information is
available on http://www.esrinl.com or on http://www.esri.com
(Credits LogicaCMG)