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(Bari, Italia – May 5th, 2017) Planetek Italia and Airbus Defence and Space have been awarded a contract for the supply of high-resolution Earth observation imagery and services by Eni, the Italian multinational oil and gas company. With the data and services provided, Eni will have actionable information at hand to improve their wide range of onshore and offshore activities.

Both companies will support the capacity of Eni to get valuable information for its planning, monitoring, analysis and reporting activities, by offering remotely sensed satellite products and value added services, as maritime surveillance and vessel detection, oil spill detection, sea ice monitoring, onshore oil and gas prospect detection.

“We are excited to start this new contract”, said Giovanni Sylos Labini, CEO, Planetek Italia. “We are given an excellent opportunity to assist a supermajor energy company such as Eni in critical operational and decision making activities, providing state-of-the-art satellite products and value added services”.

François Lombard, Head of the Intelligence Business Cluster at Airbus Defence and Space, said: “We are eager to support a big international Group like Eni with our fleet of optical and radar satellites. Thanks to our intelligence and monitoring solutions tailored for the oil and gas industry, Eni will get actionable information wherever it is needed.”

Download here the press release

Clermont-Ferrand, France – 26 April 2017 – The French company PlanetObserver , supplier of geospatial data for all civil and military visualization and simulation applications, and GIS solutions, announces the release of PlanetSAT Global #2017, the unique seamless and global imagery basemap processed with fresh and cloud-free satellite images.

Processed with current Landsat 8 source data for 40% of the global and more than 300 major urban areas across the world, PlanetSAT Global version #2017 is the high quality natural color imagery basemap that offers detailed and up-to-date geographic information, perfect for 1:50,000 scale mapping.

PlanetSAT Global imagery basemap is ready-to-use as a unique backdrop map of many military, commercial and consumer applications, from visualization and simulation solutions, flight simulators, geo-intelligence and mission preparation systems, to GIS software, web-mapping applications and graphic solutions for broadcast and weather.

Key benefits for users are:

  • Up-to-date and reliable geographic information, available immediately,
  • Plug-and-play product, ready-to-use in all professional applications,
  • Cost effective solution with special packages for continental subsets and global coverage.
    As part of our annual maintenance program, PlanetSAT Global basemap is updated every year in order to offer global data totally consistent with all local changes and enhance user experiences.

Laurent Masselot, CEO of PlanetObserver said, “PlanetSAT Global is the new generation of global imagery basemap. By adopting PlanetSAT Global imagery layer, users benefit from high quality, up-to-date and cloud-free imagery that is easy to implement in any professional solution, from GIS to visualization and simulation systems, both for civil and military applications.”

Check out some satellite images of Western Europe extracted from PlanetSAT Global imagery basemap.

About PlanetObserver

PlanetObserver offers a full range of value-added geospatial products: PlanetSAT range of global imagery basemaps, PlanetDEM global and accurate Digital Elevation Models, and on-demand service for Very High Resolution imagery and orthophotography. All products are developed internally, backed up by PlanetObserver’s know-how in geospatial data processing and more than 25 years of technological expertise.
PlanetObserver geospatial data are perfect for numerous commercial, military and consumer applications, ranging from web-mapping to 2D and 3D visualization and simulation solutions, GIS tools, cartographic mapping to audio-visual production.

Contact us by phone at +33 (0) 4 73 44 19 00 or fill in the contact form to find out more on PlanetSAT Global imagery basemap.

By Kendall Russell | April 25, 2017

Atos announced a solution that captures agricultural data directly via satellite to optimize farming practices. Together with start-up TerraNIS , Atos is using its business analytics solution Atos Codex to convert data into valuable information for the agriculture sector.

Atos uses its Atos Codex analytics platform to capture biophysical indicators via satellite to help farmers best optimize farming practices — such as best crop choice, appropriate crop nutrition and the right fertilization and harvesting periods.

Atos is using the Sentinel 2 Earth Observation (EO) satellite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), which is capable of providing views using visible and near infrared light with a resolution of 10m to 60m, a perimeter of 290km and a revisit frequency of five days, which is ideal for monitoring crops, according to the company.

For one of its biggest clients in the United States, Atos is monitoring more than 100,000 hectares of crops and 6,000 plots of land (including wheat, corn, soy and vegetables) to provide biophysical indicators of plant development, such as the level of chlorophyll and the proportion of green foliage. This monitoring can detect any anomalies or discrepancies within and between plots of land.

Source

Munich, 18/04/2017
A new ground station and a unique 30 cm satellite constellation enable unprecedented capabilities

European Space Imaging announced today that the company has started operations of its new ground station with access to the entire satellite fleet of its WorldView Global Alliance partner DigitalGlobe. The Munich-based company is now in a unique position to directly task five very high resolution satellites (GeoEye-1, WorldView-1, WorldView-2, WorldView-3 and WorldView-4). This speeds up the whole process of planning, collection, data downlink and delivery and allows European Space Imaging to quickly deliver satellite imagery products to WorldView Global Alliance customers in Europe, North Africa, CIS countries and the Middle East.

WorldView-4, the latest addition to the DigitalGlobe satellite fleet, joins WorldView-3 as the second commercial 30 cm optical sensor in a 617 km orbit. Both most technologically advanced satellites offer true 30 cm panchromatic, combined with four 1.24 m multispectral resolution and an accuracy of 4 m CE90 at nadir. These characteristics make WorldView-4 and WorldView-3 the perfect tandem for collecting large areas of 30 cm data very rapidly.

“The capabilities of our new ground station and the direct access to the entire DigitalGlobe satellite fleet start a new era in the availability of highest resolution imagery in Europe. It’s a major milestone especially in the 30 cm resolution class”, says Adrian Zevenbergen, Managing Director of European Space Imaging. “In 2017, we plan to collect more than two times the entire European land mass with the 30 cm satellite constellation alone.”

European Space Imaging has already started the supply of 30 cm WorldView-3 and WorldView-4 satellite imagery to its European key programs and the WorldView Global Alliance channel partners.


WorldView-4 satellite in space © [2017] DigitalGlobe, Inc.


Leaning Tower of Pisa | Italy | 28 March 2017 | WorldView-4 © [2017] European Space Imaging

Milan, 9 February 2017. TRE ALTAMIRA has been awarded by SPEA Engineering S.p.A. (a Company of Atlantia Group) a contract for monitoring over a key motorway corridor in Central Italy, relying on TerraSAR-X satellite data, commercialized and distributed by Airbus.

This monitoring will be based on the Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique, which consists in generating surface deformation maps using images acquired by TerraSAR-X at different dates. The unique level of detail offered by InSAR coupled with the sensitivity and resolution of TerraSAR-X data will help to measure millimetre-scale changes in deformation. This is crucial to support risk management, by identifying unstable areas that could potentially affect structures.

Ground motion monitoring has become an important part of risk management when planning infrastructure projects. It increases the efficiency and safety of the excavation works and assists in asset protection. Thanks to high-resolution TerraSAR-X satellite data, Airbus both provides large area coverage and zoom-in capabilities to identify the smallest details. Combined with unrivalled geo-location accuracy, this allows highly precise change detection and monitoring.

InSAR technology has been used for more than a decade, demonstrating its capability to empower decision-making processes.

TRE ALTAMIRA, a CLS group company, has developed and is using its advanced radar satellite technology (SqueeSAR™) to detect ground motion with millimetre accuracy. SqueeSAR™ offers a time saving and cost effective solution for mapping ground displacement over wide and even remote areas. Moreover, it is a perfect complement to in situ observations enabling engineers to optimize both ground instrumentations and their location.

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2015, it generated revenues of €64.5 billion and employed a workforce of around 136,600. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as Europe’s number one space enterprise and the world’s second largest space business. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

Source

Copied from Pixalytics’ blog posted on 29 March 2017

Uganda is a landlocked country of just over 240,000 square kilometres. Agriculture is a key element of the country’s economy and was responsible for 23% of gross domestic product in 2011 and almost half the country’s exports the following year. According to the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 80% of the population relies on farming for its livelihood.

It has an equatorial climate, with regional variations, although recent recurrent dry spells have impacted on crop and livestock productivity. Pixalytics is delighted to be part of a consortium led by the RHEA Group, working with the Ugandan Ministry of Water and Environment and local NGOs to develop a Drought and Flood Mitigation Service (DFMS) to give practical information to help local communities respond to the effects of climate change.

Using computer models populated with satellite, meteorological, water resources and ground based data an innovative Environment Early Warning Platform will be developed to provide Ugandan farmers, via local NGO organisations, with forecasts throughout the growing seasons to enable them to take actions to maximise their crop yield.

Pixalytics, along with fellow consortium member, Environment Systems, are responsible for the Earth Observation data in the project. They’ll be looking at variety of optical and radar data to provide information about flood and drought conditions alongside crops and their growing conditions.

The project should benefit local communities by:

  • Improving the ability to forecast and mitigate droughts and floods on a local actionable scale.
  • Allowing NGOs to target resources saving time, money and lives.
  • Allowing farmers to improve their lives and better protect their livestock and crops.

Alongside Pixalytics, and RHEA Group, the consortium includes Environment Systems, Databasix, AA International, AgriTechTalk International, HR Wallingford, UK Met Office, Mercy Corps, and Oxford Policy Management. They will also work with international partners, including the Uganda Government Ministries, Kakira Sugar Company, and the NGO Green Dreams/iCOW.

This work is part of the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme and this is one of 21 projects chosen to provide solutions to local issues in counties across Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

Read more

The Director General of the Civil Guard, José Manuel Holgado, closed out the CLOSEYE Project on 23 February 2017 in Málaga.

This is a maritime border surveillance and control initiative whose goal is to incorporate new tools such as unmanned aircraft, satellites and balloons into surveillance systems in an effort to improve the security of external maritime borders.

CLOSEYE is the first European innovation project led by Spain’s Civil Guard, and it represents its commitment to protecting and managing Europe’s southern border. All of the consortium’s members, including Isdefe, have devoted great efforts to this initiative, making available to it all of the material, aerial, maritime and human resources that were required.

The project lasted 47 months and was financed by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. CLOSEYE was kicked off in 2013 with help from the European Commission as part of a pioneering initiative on the application of new technologies to maritime surveillance, the first time such an initiative was led by Spain’s law enforcement agencies.

Isdefe is a partner in the consortium that successfully developed the CLOSEYE Project. Its participation was essential not only as an expert consultancy in areas related to the project, but also due to its expertise and knowledge in managing and implementing surveillance services. Isdefe thus reaffirms its constant commitment to innovation by taking part in cutting-edge R&D projects.

The CLOSEYE Project successfully accomplished its goals and is, in the words of the Civil Guard’s Director General, “the first and only example of an R&D project that paves the way to an initiative for community action amongst member States and that is going to be financed by Internal Security Funds”.

Source

(MADRID, Spain – March 7th, 2017) Hisdesat , the Spanish government satellite services company, has signed an agreement with U.S. company SpaceX to launch the Earth Observation Radar satellite, PAZ, on board a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is targeted to take place during the last quarter of 2017, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Hisdesat , the Spanish government satellite services company, has signed an agreement with U.S. company SpaceX to launch the Earth Observation Radar satellite, PAZ, on board a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is targeted to take place during the last quarter of 2017, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The numerous successes of Falcon 9 have been a driving factor for the election of Hisdesat to launch on board this rocket, which already has the confidence of other great companies.

The PAZ satellite incorporates as its main payload an active sensor with synthetic aperture radar technology that provides images of different sizes and resolutions, both day and night, and regardless of the weather conditions.This will allow for the provision of Earth observation solutions for multiple applications, both government and commercial, including those requiring very high resolution images, below one meter. The satellite will be able to take more than 100 images per day, delivring high resolution images coveringan area of more than 300,000 square kilometers per day. It will make fifteen revolutions a day around the Earth, at a height of 514 kilometers and with a speed of seven kilometers per second. Given its slightly inclined quasi-polar orbit, PAZ will cover the entire globe with a 24-hour mean revisit time.

In addition, as secondary payloads, the PAZ satellite will carry on board an ICE-CSIC Radio Occultation and Heavy Precipitation experiment (ROHP) and an AIS receiver from the Canadian listed company exactEarth, of which Hisdesat is the largest shareholder. This will be the first time that SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and AIS data fusion are being simultaneously captured, allowing for the best possible monitoring of the maritime domain worldwide. Its total estimated weight is 1400 kg., measures 5 m. of height and has 2.4 m. diameter.

The satellite’s main contractor was Airbus Defence & Space, involving a consortium of 18 Spanish companies and universities. The owner of the ground segment is INTA, which has had as subcontractors a Spanish industrial group headed by INDRA, with GMV and DEIMOS, and the German DLR.

The PAZ satellite will be located in the same orbit as the German satellites TSX and TDX to form a SAR constellation, which will be exploited by Hisdesat and Airbus DS GEO, offering a shorter revisit time and greater number of images to our clients.

The PAZ satellite is part of the PNOTS National Earth Observation Satellite Program, with the Ingenio satellite (optical), led by the Ministry of Industry and the CDTI, being the other member of the aforementioned program.

(27 March 2017) GIM extends its satellite imagery portfolio with SI Imagery Services (KOMPSAT) and InterMap’s Digital Elevation Models.

SIIS: unique acquisition possibilities for tropical regions

GIM recently signed a distribution agreement with SI Imaging Services (SIIS). SIIS is the exclusive provider of the KOMPSAT series of satellites: the optical very high resolution KOMPSAT-2 (1 m), KOMPSAT-3 (70 cm) and KOMPSAT-3A (40 cm) and the radar satellite KOMPSAT-5.

The big advantage of KOMPSAT-3 and KOMPSAT-3A is that they allow image acquisition in the early afternoon, while almost all other remote sensing satellites only acquire imagery in the morning. For tropical regions in the world where it is often cloudy in the morning, but where the sun breaks through the clouds as the day evolves, these sensors provide unique acquisition possibilities at 40 to 70 cm resolution.

InterMap Digital Elevation Models (DEM)

GIM recently entered into a distribution agreement with InterMap , provider of a range of Digital Elevation Models. Elevation data can be used to visualize your area of interest in 3D, or to orthorectify satellite imagery.

InterMap’s flagship product is called“NextMap” and provides affordable 5 m resolution elevation models over the US and Europe. Their range also includes the World 10 and World 30 products, elevation data at 10 m resp. 30 m resolution available worldwide. All these products are “off-the-shelf” and can be made available very quickly.


Follow this link to see GIM’s complete satellite imagery portfolio >

(27 March 2017) GeoVille put together 20 years of experience and launched a new land monitoring system for automatic Land Cover mapping built on Sentinel data streams fulfilling multi-user application requirements.

Global demand for quality-controlled data enabling timely monitoring of the Earth’s land cover has significantly increased. New sensors and continuous big data streams are bringing together high revisit capacities and high spatial resolution (i.e. the Sentinel mission) and there have been significant technological leaps in terms of big data storage, deep data mining know-how and user enabled data retrieval. Thus, GeoVille developed and implemented an automatic, customer proven system for global land cover mapping, called LandMonitoring.Earth, including flexible theme-specific time-series classification modules. This land monitoring system is supporting global classification systems, such as LCCS and Copernicus LMS and enables customers to trigger application specific information solutions.

For more information, please refer to: http://landmonitoring.earth/