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RICHMOND HILL, Ontario, Canada – PCI Geomatics, a world leading developer of remote sensing and photogrammetric software and systems, has announced that it has signed a new exclusive distribution agreement with Beijing Space Eye Innovation Technology Co. Ltd (BSEI) of China. The new agreement acknowledges BSEI, as PCI’s exclusive reseller partner for both PCI’s Geomatica desktop software and PCI’s award winning GeoImaging Accelerator (GXL) technology, in China.

Since February 2009, BSEI has successfully partnered with PCI Geomatics, reselling Geomatica to the Chinese market. BSEI has experienced tremendous success distributing PCI technology in the Chinese market, which continues to grow and expand – the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is estimated to be over 10% from 2013-2017, with many investments made across a variety of sectors, in particular the development of geospatial technology. Under the terms of the agreement, PCI will maintain its office in Beijing, providing both local technical and sales support to assist BSEI.

“BSEI has established itself as a trusted supplier of leading edge geospatial technology in China, having developed its expertise and experience since the company’s inception in 2000”, said Xiaoyang Cheng, President of BSEI. “We are poised to help our Chinese customers and the Geospatial Industry continue to grow significantly, through the implementation of the exclusive distribution agreement to sell PCI’s proven desktop and solutions products. Through the exclusive agreement, BSEI and PCI will work more closely than ever to provide our customers with local service and technical support”.

“PCI Geomatics has established a strong and successful relationship with BSEI,” said Terry Moloney, President and CEO of PCI Geomatics. “The Chinese economy continues to expand, with the use of Geospatial imagery growing rapidly. By working exclusively with BSEI, we look forward to offering more leading edge solutions to customers in China”.

PCI Geomatics has recently released Geomatica 2013, which has been available to the Chinese market since September 2012. In addition, PCI has successfully installed several high throughput GXL production systems in China. Find out more by visiting: www.pcigeomatics.com/geomatica and www.pcigeomatics.com/gxl.

About PCI Geomatics

PCI Geomatics is a world leading developer of software and systems for remote sensing, imagery processing, and photogrammetry. With more than 30 years of experience in the geospatial industry, PCI is recognized globally for its excellence in providing software for accurately and rapidly processing both satellite and aerial imagery. PCI has installed more than 25,000 licenses, in over 145 countries worldwide. Find out more about PCI Geomatics at www.pcigeomatics.com.

About BSEI

Beijing Space Eye Innovation Tech Co. Ltd. (BSEI) has many years of experience of distributing satellite imagery and world leading image processing software in the Chinese market. BSEI is also the global channel partner of Chinese imaging satellite, TH-1. BSEI provides professional image processing services, information systems integration and related technical training. Based in Beijing China, BSEI has more than 80% of their staff with specialized, advanced degrees in the fields of Remote Sensing and GIS. Since 2005, BSEI has provided more than 1,000 users in China and abroad with various satellite imagery, software as well as data processing services and training. Find out more at: www.bsei.com.cn

Source

On Friday, January 11, commercial operations of SPOT 4 satellite were terminated. The joint decision on stopping commercial operations of the satellite was made by the SPOT 4 owner – CNES (French Space Agency) and the satellite Operator – Astrium GEO-Information Services. The satellite has been operating for almost 15 years (177 months) from its launch in March 1998. Over 6.8 mln images of the Earth have been acquired since then.

Nonetheless, SPOT space program keeps developing. ScanEx Research & Development Center carries on direct reception and processing of SPOT 5 satellite data (announced lifetime is until 2015). In addition, commercial operation of the new SPOT 6 satellite will start soon – its data was for the first time in Russia received and processed by ScanEx’s specialists on October 17, 2012 using “UniScan” ground station at the Moscow remote sensing center. Now UniScan ground stations can be supplied to the interested organizations for SPOT 6 data reception (and similar SPOT 7 satellite, which is to be launched in the first half of 2014), whereas the already installed stations can be upgraded. SPOT 6/7 data processing software has been developed by ScanEx RDC within the frames of the international cooperation with Astrium GEO-Information Services company.

ScanEx company has exclusive rights to receive and distribute SPOT series satellites’ data on the territory of Russia and Belarus.

Besides SPOT program Astrium GEO-Information Services is the worldwide commercial Operator of the very high resolution satellites Pleiades-1A and Pleiades-1B (the last one was successfully launched on December 2, 2012). In compliance with the signed distributor agreement with Astrium GEO-Information Services, ScanEx RDC started to accept orders for data from these satellites. ScanEx also is ready to review orders to set up data reception from Pleiades-1A and Pleiades-1B satellites to UniScan stations, as provided by the agreement with Astrium GEO-Information Services.

Source ScanEX

Recently the Danish company GRAS successfully completed a project for the Forestry Administration in Cambodia on “Satellite remote sensing in support of UN-REDD”.

Implementation of policies to “Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation” (REDD) requires effective deforestation monitoring systems to estimate the size and changes in carbon pools at national and sub-national levels. Since 2006, GRAS has provided capacity development support and quality assurance of forest cover mapping to the GIS/Remote Sensing unit of the Forestry Administration (FA) in Cambodia, which is also the country focal point to UN-REDD. As a result, the GIS/RS unit is now a well-functioning department producing national forest cover maps from a range of different satellite types and also local maps supporting forest demarcation, community forestry, evaluation of the function of the forest and forest management plans at local level.

GRAS provided UN-REDD training courses in 2011 and 2012 which included theoretical introductions but mainly focused on hands-on sessions targeting both senior technical staff members as well as junior staff with very different levels of knowledge in terms of GIS and Remote Sensing. By finalizing the training, the FA staff members are now conscious about challenges in implementing UN-REDD projects but most of all updated about different approaches to calculating carbon stocks and changes with tabular as well as spatial data. They can evaluate historical land cover trends and identify the drivers of the changes finally used for modelling future scenarios and finally make the calculation of the estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions that would result from the implementation of a REDD project. This capacity development was made possible with funding from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).


Staff of the GIS and Remote Sensing unit of the Forestry Administration, Cambodia, attending the GRAS training in “Satellite remote sensing in support of UN-REDD”.

Source GRAS

GISAT succesfully completed the UrbanAtlas+ project

End of the year GISAT, has successfuly completeted 3 years project called UrbanAtlas+, supported by ESA. The UrbanAtlas+ project has explored the potential of the recent GMES Urban Atlas service in support spatial planning tasks at local and regional level. At the the same time it has explored also how the recent technological advances in data presentation and exploration can support turning the data into standard information products. For better understanding of urban land cover and land use changes and related processes, the interactive WebTool based demonstrators has been developed, for both monitoring over time and integrating socio-economic data.


Flexible urban structure data exploration at detailed level (source: Gisat)

The aim of the project was therefore not only to make local and regional users aware of such new data sources, but also to explore to which extent and under which conditions Urban Atlas land monitoring service implemented under GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), primarily for the information support at the Europen level, can also serve the much larger community of spatial planners at local and regional level. As more then 75% of European citizens already live in urban areas and sustainable urban growth management is one of the most challenging tasks Europe-wide, that would be an excellet justification we further evolvement of the GMES Urban Atlas service into multi-scale and multi-purposes harmonized monitoring tool for European urbanized areas.

The User organisations involved with the UrbanAtlas+ included:

  • City Development Authority Prague (URM / MHMP) as local/city level user
  • Regional Authority of the Pilsen Region (RAPR) as regional user
  • Regional Authority of the Moravian-Silesian Region (RAMSR) as regional user
  • Regional Authority of the South Moravia Region (RASMR) as regional user
  • Czech Environmental Information Agency (CENIA) as national user

Despite the scale limitation of European Urban Atlas service (comparing to detailed regional/local datasets), the UrbanAtlas+ project results showed clearly huge service potential to support strategic planning at regional and local level, especially on sub-urban city outskirts where despite of the dynamic development, limited information support is available today for urban planners being out of the city mapping responsibility. There is potential in monitoring of these areas to plan, implement and monitor appropriate policy measures related to city and population growth, city competitiveness and quality of life, especially if spatial data are integrated with related socio-economic data. Besides, comparison of city status and development between individual regions or cities within the Czech Republic or beyond was also highly appreciated as it is not currently possible due to general incomparability of regional/urban planning documentation. In this respect, the GMES Urban Atlas datasets can further support INSPIRE harmonisation activities at this level.


Comparison of integrated spatial and statistical data including scatterograms (source: Gisat)

On the other hand, the UrbanAtlas+ project also clearly showed that certain minimal contents is essential for utility of analytical power of the GMES Urban Atlas data and that some aspects of the GMES Urban Atlas implementation specification has to be enhanced in favour of its future use beyond the European institution level. Main issue identified during the UrbanAtlas+ projects has been communicated and as these issues don’t represent the major cost drivers, hopefully they can be resolved during upcoming Urban Atlas data update organised by DG Regio.

The UrbanAtlas+ demonstrators created using the web-based framework allows original Urban Atlas data, statistics, indicators and encapsulated functionalities to be provided in a easy way, which can be directly utilized in spatial planning procedures or further explored or modified by the users seeking for new applications potential. In fact, the web-based approach to the demonstrator developed demonstrates not only potential of EO based GMES data. but also potential of the new emerging technologies to present in the EO based information in a way, which can effectively support user-friendly exploration and analysis of large spatial datasets.


Flexible integrated zoning analysis e.g. situation in flooding and conservation zones (source: Gisat)

Despite some contradicting GMES development in last year, number of follow-ups has been achieved and further demonstrations were developed focused both on the GMES Urban Atlas / Urban Audit potential on European level as well as on potential of WebTool software framework in general including first commercial project currently provided for the World Bank client.

About UrbanAtlas+ project

The UrbanAtlas+ project has been supported by ESA under the Czech incentive scheme. Although serving primarily urban and regional planning user community in the Czech Republic, it reflects also national and European directives context, thereby results could support spatial planning authorities in general across Europe in their efforts to fulfil a broad range of monitoring and reporting obligations.

GISAT as the project leader has utilized its long term expertize in land cover / land use applications in spatial planning domain as well as in the GMES context.

Source GISAT

FLOREO and UrbanAtlas+ projects have been selected to demonstrate successful regional GMES applications.

NEREUS and ESA launched their joint publication “The Growing Use of GMES across Europe’s Regions” on 10 October 2012. It collects 67 case studies of 17 European countries showing how GMES applications are used across Europe’s regions.

Operational snow cover mapping service is run by Gisat to support hydrological flood forecasting provided by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. This service has been developed within the FLOREO project which was implemented by Gisat in cooperation with SPRINX and Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague within the ESA PECS programme.

Find the on-line or pdf version of this publication here

“Window on GMES” is another publication discovering what GMES can do for European regions and cities. The publication has been published by GMES4Regions, joint activity of DORIS_Net and GRAAL FP7 funded projects.

UrbanAtlas+ project has been selected among 12 successful GMES applications to be featured in the publication. UrbanAtlas+ was focused to explore and demonstrate the potential of ongoing UrbanAtlas service production for spatial planning applications, especially:

  • 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.

Find the pdf version of this publication here

More information at GISAT

We at Chelys are proud to announce the availability of two new SRRS real-time processors:


  • MetOp AVHRR/3 (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer)
  • SuomiNPP VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite)

Fully integrated in the SRRS infrastructure, the new processors boast amazing performances and stunning image quality.

Here below are some examples of images generated by the new AVHRR/3 and VIIRS processors:

In the meantime, we are developing incredible new Sentinel processors for data from S1/CSAR (C-Band SAR Instrument), S2/MSI (MultiSpectral Instrument) and S3/OLCI (Ocean and Land Colour Instrument).

Source Chelys

At the end of 2012, EUROSENSE was awarded by the Flemish Geographical Information Agency (AGIVFGIA) with a large LiDAR and orthophoto-project in Flanders.
Also three additional tree inventory projects have been awarded to EUROSENSE.

EUROSENSE awarded with large LiDAR and orthophoto-project in Flanders

As an update of the digital terrain model (DTM) of Flanders created more than 7 years ago, the FGIA tendered a LiDAR-project on the entire Flemish and Brussels Capital Region, divided into 7 parcels. The project consists in a LiDAR-data acquisition during the leafless season with a point density of min. 16 points per m² (8 points per m² with at least 50% sidelap) and a simultaneous image acquisition with a GSD of at least 10cm. The LiDAR-data needs to be processed into an accurate DSM and, after filtering, into a DTM providing detailed information on the (micro)relief in Flanders. The acquired imagery needs to be processed into a detailed orthophoto with a GSD of 10cm.

Each supplier could submit an offer for maximum 4 parcels and EUROSENSE has been awarded with the 4 parcels for which it offered. In total, the awarded parcels comprise 10.458 km² or ca. 60% of the entire project area (Flanders and Brussels Capital Region, including buffers). The flights need to be executed over three winter seasons of which the first season already starts on the 15th of January 2013.

EUROSENSE broadening their tree inventory services

At the end of 2012, EUROSENSE was awarded with three additional tree inventory projects in Belgium. This means that in the coming year EUROSENSE will assess the health status of ca. 40.000 trees using a combination of terrain work and remote sensing.

An overview of the recently awarded projects:

  • East-Flanders and West-Flanders: inventory of trees along national roads. This includes the positioning of trees (by Mobile Mapping), dimension measurements, Visual Tree Assessment analysis (VTA), creation of a GIS database and maps.
  • The Brussels Institute for environment (BIM/IBGE): a complete inventory of all parks is to be set up, including the positioning of trees, dimension measurements, VTA analysis and a GIS database. Additional information for dangerous trees is gathered by resistography, tomography and traction tests. The overall aim is to determine a tree policy by creating a management plan for each park with clearly defined measures for every tree.

Contact us for more information
EUROSENSE BELFOTOP N.V.
Nerviërslaan 54
B-1780 Wemmel, BELGIUM
http://www.eurosense.com

(November 2012) GAF AG, together with the Institute for Environmental Security (IES), the Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are pleased to announce the launch of the SYMIN Project’s new website: www3.gaf.de/symin. The website aims to showcase how Earth Observation (EO) can assist mining authorities with the regulation of informal mining activities through the detection of informal mining sites.

The SYMIN Project focuses specifically on five pilot areas in Afghanistan which are rich in coal, gold, gemstones as well as quarries. It is demonstrated that satellite-based remote sensing can be an efficient tool for area-wide mapping and monitoring of informal mining activities in remote, poorly accessible or security sensitive areas.

Based on very high resolution (VHR) optical images data, stereo data and radar-based coherence analysis, together with other geo-data such as mining cadastre information, our team is able to extract information such as the location and description of mining activities as well as the presence of infrastructure.

This information is then used to create up-to-date reconnaissance maps and dossiers with a description of current mining activities in order to facilitate the work of in-situ mines inspectors.
Dr. Stefan Saradeth – GAF Director of International Consulting – comments: “GAF offers globally a comprehensive service package to mining authorities – this includes capacity building and consulting, training and know-how transfer up to geoinformation- and software solutions. SYMIN combined with our new mobile GIS offers exciting new options for mining inspectors.”

Picture: ASM Gold mining activities overview map, including formal license area (image not to scale).Credits: GAF AG

It is hoped that the SYMIN website will contribute to raise awareness on the possibilities offered by satellite-based remote sensing for the detection and monitoring of informal mining activities aimed at law enforcement agencies dealing with remote and sensitive areas throughout the world.

Contact us
GAF AG | Tel. +49 (0) 89 12 15 28 0 | www3.gaf.de/symin | info@gaf.de

Notes

  • 1 The SYMIN Project is entitled “System for monitoring law enforcement of informal mining”.
  • 2 The project covers a range of settings with artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) for metals, coal, gold, gemstones as well as quarries in several selected pilot areas. Cases are selected from GAF’s international activities within the mineral resources domain.
  • 3 Artisanal and small-scale mining is largely a poverty driven activity and is typically practiced in the poorest and most remote rural areas of countries by a largely itinerant, poorly educated populace with little else available in the way of alternative employment. Today, an estimated 13 million people in about 30 countries across the world are small-scale/artisanal miners, with about 80 – 100 million people depending on such mining for their livelihoods. ASM can be environmentally damaging and often has serious health and safety consequences for workers and surrounding communities. Many of the potential economic benefits of the small-scale mining sector are also lost as a result of poor practice with regard to mining, processing and marketing. The compiling of an inventory is a first step towards regularizing the sector, i.e. the enforcement of health, safety and environmental standards and the collection of royalties. Governments can then also grant operators proper legal title and provide technical, marketing and training support.
  • 4 The project is funded under the European Space Agency (ESA) “Timely Situation Awareness for Law Enforcement and Intelligence Application” contract, which forms part of the Value Added Element (VAE) programme. The purpose of the VAE programme is to support industry in the use of earth observation data. The project started in autumn 2011 and is scheduled to run for 18 months.

About GAF AG – Germany www.gaf.de
GAF AG, an e-GEOS, Telespazio company, is globally active and has an international reputation as an experienced provider of project design, management and implementation services in the fields of geo-information, satellite remote sensing, spatial IT-consultancy and capacity building for private and public clients. GAF provides solutions in the sectors of mining and geology, natural resources, water and environment, security, land and renewable resources. Over the past 27 years, GAF has been active in more than 100 countries throughout Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.

Job vacancy at Geoville Group

We are looking for a self-motivated, team-oriented project manager with sales background to join our team in Innsbruck for working in international projects related to satellite Earth Observation and geographic information systems. Specifically, the position is situated in the commercial department and will cover high level administrative support to project management and acquisition as well as proposal writing and preparatory sales activities.

The ideal applicant has a proven track record in international business and project management support in the Earth Observation and GIS industry and should have more than 5 years of working experience after graduation.

  • Min. 5 years working experience after graduation
  • Proven record of working in and managing sizeable projects on large spatial & temporal scale
  • In depth knowledge of remote sensing, GI technology and applications
  • Excellent experience in project management and proposal writing, experience in sales, acquisition and promotion advantage
  • Experience with market development and/or international organizations eg.ESA, NASA, EC, EEA, WDB, EIB ADB, etc. of advantage
  • Excellent command in English and German, other EU language advantage
  • Excellent writing and reporting capabilities
  • Excellent presentation and communication capabilities
  • Willingness to travel (also international), motivation skills and team leadership an asset
  • Applicants form related industries, such as engineering, geo-products and IT are welcome !

GeoVille Information Systems is an internationally operating company providing consultancy, services and products related to satellite earth observation, geo-information and geographic information systems.

GeoVille provides a wide range of value-added services in the land domain with focus on urban, regional and spatial planning as well as environmental monitoring, forestry and agriculture applications.
Since its establishment in 1998, GeoVille has established a broad international customer base and successfully participated in more than 250 national and international projects located in 75 countries around the world. GeoVille’s team has experience and expertise in managing and executing projects in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. Our customers stem from private industry sectors, public organisations, research institutions and international organisations. Registered offices are in Innsbruck, Austria, and Niederanven, Luxembourg.

At present, GeoVille is employing a staff of more than 35 experts and consultants graduated in Earth sciences and informatics. All of our staff members are holding MSc grade or equivalent, and 30% a PhD title.

GeoVille is an ISO 9001:2008 and 14000 certified company and offers an attractive work environment in the city centre of Innsbruck, Tyrol, and a competitive entry salary in a growing high-tech market.

Please visit our website (www.geoville.com) for more information and send your CV with a covering letter outlining how your experience and interests match our requirements to
Dr. Andreas Walli
GeoVille Information Systems GmbH
Sparkassenplatz 2, 3rd floor
A – 6020 Innsbruck
Austria
Tel: +43 (0)512 56 20 21-0
Fax: +43 (0)512 56 20 21-22
Email: info@geoville.com

Logica is leading an ESA-funded project called eSurge, to help improve the use of available satellite Earth Observation data for modelling and forecasting coastal inundation from storm surges, one of the world’s most damaging natural phenomena. The project is now entering its operational phase, making data available to users and working with them to maximise its use.

About Storm Surges

Storm surges – where water is pushed onto a shoreline by extreme weather – are one of the most damaging natural phenomena. The recent “superstorm” Sandy graphically demonstrated this, with at least 130 people killed and $63bn of damage done in the US alone. Many parts of the world’s coastline are at risk of storm surges, including those of Europe. The famous 1953 North sea floods killed 2000 and led directly to the construction of coastal defences in the UK and the Netherlands. The city of Venice is frequently flooded during the winter storm period.

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A particular area of concern is the North Indian Ocean, where frequent severe cyclones make landfall on a shallow, low-lying coastline with few defences, either natural or man-made. Up to 140,000 fatalities were estimated in Myanmar (Burma) from Cyclone Nargis in 2008, and up to 10,000 in Bangladesh from Cyclone Sidr in 2007. In such cases, improving the predictions even marginally could help to save a significant number of lives.

The eSurge project

Satellite data already plays an important role in forecasting severe storms. However the available data is not used as widely as it could be. In particular, newer types of data such as coastal altimetry and high-resolution scatterometry are yet not widely used.
Recognising this, in 2011 the European Space Agency initiated the eSurge project (www.storm-surge.info), to make such data more widely available and to work with users to encourage its uptake.
eSurge is now entering its operational phase, with a wide range of data for historic surge events being available through the project website (www.storm-surge.info/data-access), including scatterometry, wave data, altimetry, sea surface temperature and more. Many of these data sets are already available, however by bringing them together in one place makes it easier for researchers and modellers (who may not be experienced using satellite data) to access and use them.
However making data available is only the first step; the next is to ensure that it is actually used. This is partly about helping users to get familiar with new types of data, for example through training sessions and workshops. In addition, the project is performing modelling experiments to investigate the best ways to add new data to existing numerical models, and to look at the resulting benefits.
A parallel project, eSurge Venice has been set up to look at the special conditions of the Adriatic sea and Venetian lagoon; see their website at www.esurge-venice.eu for more details.

What can satellite data do?

There are several ways in which satellite data could be used to improve storm surge prediction. A simple way is to validate the numerical models used, for example by comparing model outputs with altimetry measurements of sea height (see below), or by comparing satellite images of inundation with forecasts. This can help with tuning of models, assessing which parameters work best.

A more sophisticated approach is to assimilate the new data types directly into the models as inputs. This is not a trivial problem and different approaches have been proposed, some of which will be investigated as part of the project. Once promising approaches have been identified, they must be thoroughly validated before they can be added to actual working models.

Coastal Altimetry

In recent years there has been much work done in the field of coastal altimetry, looking at recovering sea-level measurements from existing data that had previously been rejected as being too close to land. This allows us to directly measure sea level (and also wave heights) in areas where it could not be measured before, which is especially useful in regions without much infrastructure (tide gauges etc).

This has obvious applications for storm surge research, although limited by the number of available altimeter spacecraft, especially since the loss of Envisat, meaning that measurements are not always available where they are needed. However by using coastal altimetry techniques where possible, the project will validate the techniques for possible future use, especially looking forward to GMES Sentinel-3.

Where Next?

Over the coming months eSurge will be adding more historical surge events to its database, including looking in new areas. In spring 2013 eSurge-Live will be launched, this is a demonstration service to show that such data could in principle be used in near real time. There will also be a workshop and training events organised during the course of 2013.

eSurge exists to serve its users, and anyone with an interest is encouraged to contact the project and see how it can help you. Please see the project website (www.storm-surge.info) for more details, or contact Logica’s eSurge project manager Phillip Harwood at Phillip.Harwood@logica.com

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eSurge is funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) through its Data User Element (DUE) programme. It is being undertaken by a consortium consisting of Logica (UK) as prime contractor, with subcontractors NOC (UK), DMI (Denmark), CMRC (Ireland) and KNMI (NL).

Logica is now part of CGI, a leading business and technology services company focused on helping clients achieve results. With 72,000 professionals in more than 40 countries, we have the presence, expertise and complete IT services to meet clients’ business needs anywhere, anytime. Visit cgi.com and logica.com to learn more.

Source Logica