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NUREMBERG, Germany, Sept. 27, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced the release of eCognition 8.7, a new version of its advanced software suite designed to extract information from a range of geospatial data including images, point clouds and Geographic Information System (GIS) vectors.

The software suite enables aerial imaging companies, geospatial data providers, scientists and end users to integrate and analyze earth observation and remote sensing data to generate accurate GIS-ready information.

The announcement was made today at INTERGEO 2011, the world’s largest conference on geodesy, geoinformatics and land management.

The software release features selective 3D: an innovative approach to combining 2D raster and vector data with statistical attributes derived directly from 3D point clouds. This is achieved by pinpointing the portions of a point cloud most relevant to the analysis and including just those portions within the processing. This offers the advantages inherent to 3D analysis without burdening CPUs with unutilized 3D datasets—a critical advantage for production image analysis.

Trimble’s eCognition 8.7 also incorporates state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to supplement its object classification ruleset environment. Classification and Regression Tree (CART) and Support Vector Machines (SVM) enable sophisticated data patterns to be detected with greater autonomy than previously possible. These capabilities are particularly valuable for the analysis and understanding of complex ecosystems.

“The eCognition software suite provides Trimble’s geospatial solution portfolio with key capabilities for the transformation of geospatial data into information. For example, this latest eCognition release offers improved utilization of point clouds, whether they are created using Trimble Harrier laser scanning or generated using image matching within Trimble’s Inpho software,” said Katherine Sandford, general manager of Trimble’s GeoSpatial Division. “The information extraction capabilities included within the latest eCognition release enable geospatial analysts to better understand the Earth’s complex systems and create the next generation of value-added mapping products.”

Trimble’s eCognition software extracts accurate geo-information from remote sensing data. eCognition’s intelligent information extraction capabilities accelerate mapping, change detection and object recognition by delivering standardized and reproducible image analysis results.

Availability

The eCognition 8.7 software suite is available now through Trimble’s eCognition distribution channel. Customers with a current maintenance contract can receive the upgrade at no additional cost.

About Trimble’s GeoSpatial Division

Trimble applies geospatial technologies to a variety of industry-specific workflows, enabling the seamless creation of geo-information from raw data. Trimble’s land and aerial mobile sensors capture geo-referenced images and point clouds that are interpreted using Trimble’s production-scale photogrammetry, terrain modeling and feature extraction software. The resulting high-fidelity models increase business productivity and improve decision-making for a diverse community of global customers, including aerial and land mapping service companies, governments, utilities and transportation. For more information, visit: www.trimble.com/geospatial.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit Trimble’s Web site at: www.trimble.com.
“Read more”: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/09/27/3941501/trimbles-introduces-ecognition.html#ixzz1ZL0tjwtR

Policy makers would be much better placed to combat the effects of global warming if scientists had access to accurate measurements of the Earth’s radiation balance from a dedicated satellite, claims an international group of physicists.

As well as collecting its own data, the spacecraft would also calibrate other Earth-observation satellites. The group is led by scientists at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and it estimates that the satellite could cut a decade or more from the time needed to make useful projections of global temperature at the end of the 21st century.

Climate scientists have become increasingly convinced that much of the global temperature rise seen over the last 50 years or so is due to the emission of man-made greenhouse gases. But they are not able to predict with any certainty the extent to which temperatures will increase over the course of the coming century. Indeed, the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the increase could vary anywhere from about 1 to 6 °C. This uncertainty stems from the fact that a variety of different models are used – each making different assumptions about the Earth’s climate. One of the biggest single sources of uncertainty is the nature and magnitude of the feedback provided by changes to cloud cover as the planet warms.
Time cut in third

Reducing the uncertainties will involve continued space-based measurement of key climate variables such as cloud cover in order to compare these data with the values predicted by each of the various models. According to Nigel Fox of NPL, today’s space-based instruments require an observing period of 30 or 40 years before the uncertainties can be restricted to a range of about 1–2 °C. At this point governments will know whether and when they need to take major steps to combat climate change, such as building large flood barriers, or whether more modest changes will do the job. However, he and colleagues from the UK, US and Switzerland argue that this period could be cut to just 12 years following the launch of a satellite known as TRUTHS.

TRUTHS would measure the intensity and spectral composition of radiation coming directly from the Sun and radiation reflected back into space from Earth – with an accuracy about 10 times better than existing satellites. At the heart of the spacecraft would be an instrument containing a black cavity that absorbs incoming light. The power of that light is obtained by measuring the cavity’s temperature rise and then using an electrical heater to deliver a known power to cause the same increase in temperature.

This “electrical substitution radiometry” is already used in existing satellites, but is carried out at ambient temperatures, whereas the instrument inside TRUTHS would operate at about –250 °C. As such, it would be as accurate as radiometers used in metrology institutes on the ground. Although this accuracy will degrade with time, the TRUTHS instrument will remain more accurate than today’s instruments.

Taking NPL into orbit

Another satellite would be calibrated by pointing it and TRUTHS at the same bright surface (such as a snow field) and comparing the values obtained by each. “We would be effectively taking NPL into orbit”, says Fox, “just as if we were checking a customer’s light meter against our reference light meter.”

TRUTHS was first proposed to the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2002, and the proposal was updated last year with a €50–100m cost estimate. Since then a very similar but larger NASA mission called CLARREO has been put on hold, so Fox is hoping that ESA, or perhaps even the UK, will back the project on its own. “I’ve no doubt the mission will happen at some point,” he says, “but it is a question of how quickly it will happen.”
Some are unconvinced

However, Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University in the US, says he is “unconvinced that such a mission will provide any definitive answers”. In particular, he believes it will be difficult for TRUTHS to quantify cloud feedbacks given the dominant natural year-to-year variability in cloud cover.

Michael Lockwood of Reading University in the UK is more persuaded. He believes that poor calibration between different satellites hampers our understanding of long-term climate change, adding that “future generations will curse us” for not paying more attention to the problem. And he thinks that TRUTHS could offer a way of improving such calibration for measurements of cloud and surface reflectance. But he says the detailed implementation of this improvement still needs to be worked out.

Source
The research is described in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 369 4028.

The second edition of MundoGEO#Connect (http://mundogeoconnect.com/2012/), the largest event of the geotechnologies sector of Latin America, has its dates already set: from May 29th to May 31st, 2012, at Frei Caneca Convention Center, in São Paulo (SP).

From now on, you can follow all of the innovations of the event, through the official site http://mundogeoconnect.com/2012/en. The portal of MundoGEO#Connect 2012 is a source of information to the event’s participants, press, lecturers and debaters, public bodies, private companies, and all the parties interested in the matters that involve the geospatial industry.

Reiterating the success of its first edition, which took place from June 14th to June 16th, 2011, MundoGEO#Connect 2012 should gather more than 10 thousand professionals, among those participating in the technical activities and in the trade fair, and those connected through the social nets and online seminars, (about 10% of the event will be broadcast).

Besides, great companies of the sector have already confirmed their sponsorship, such as Hexagon, one of the most important groups of the metrology sector and holder of Leica Geosystems, Erdas, Intergraph and recently of the brazilian company Sisgraph; Furtado Schmidt, representative, in Brazil, of the brands Garmin, Nikon and Spectra Precision; the group Santiago & Cintra, representative of Trimble, Topcon, Faro, Erdas, RapidEye and Navteq; and Alezi Teodolini, representative of Astech and Datageosis.

Other institutions, national and international, are also supporting the event, such as the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), Embrapa, São Paulo Company of Metropolitan Planning (Emplasa), City hall of São Paulo, Geospatial Information & Technology Association (Gita), International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).

Innovations of the event

Having the theme “Sharing information for a better world”, MundoGEO#Connect 2012 will highlight the current challenge involved in the production of geospatial data, following patterns that facilitate its full use by the community of users of information systems.

In this edition, the offer of stands at the fair of products and services of MundoGEO#Connect 2012 was enlarged in 50%. Moreover, the number of auditoriums for the activities of the event was enlarged in 100% in relation to the 2011 event.

According to Emerson Granemann, director and publisher of MundoGEO Group, the event will hold several seminars, courses and parallel events that will discuss the trends of geoprocessing, remote sensing, surveying, GPS and spatial data infrastructure, in the areas of oil & gas, mining, e-government, agribusinesses, mapping of big cities’ underground, environment, among others. “We have a lot of innovations for this second edition of the event. The MundoGEO#Connect awards will be enlarged in order to choose the best professionals, companies and projects of the year, starting with voting online and the votes from the judging committee.”

Some parallel events are already confirmed: Users of Geotechnologies from the State of São Paulo, Users of Geotechnologies from the Municipal district of São Paulo, National Spatial Data Infrastructure (Inde) and OGC Patterns.

As in 2011, this year’s edition of the event will also hold the 2nd MundoGEO#Connect Awards, an initiative that recognizes the works developed by companies, institutions and professionals of the geotechnologies sector.

MundoGEO#Connect 2011: success of audience

MundoGEO#Connect came from the perception of its creators on the subjects that had more repercussion in the main social nets, such as Twitter and Facebook, one of the platforms that provide the most interaction among the people. Thus, one of the objectives of the event is to connect the geospatial technologies users who are present at the event as well as the ones who are online, so that there is the sharing of ideas on the current scenery of the sector.

Statistics

In its first edition, MundoGEO#Connect counted on 88% of the sponsors’ and participants’ approval, according with a poll on the organization of the event. There were over 7,5 thousand connected professionals: 900 participants of seminars and mini-courses, 1,8 thousand visitors to the fair and more than 5 thousand internet users that followed the event online, through Twitter and through webinars.

The poll numbers point out that 32% of the participants are directors and 33% are managers or coordinators; 50% come from the private sector and 36% come from the public sector; and that the areas of interest with larger percentages are environment, natural resources, utilities, infrastructure and territorial planning.

Pablo Santos, who works at the Superintendency of Economical and Social Studies of the State of Bahia, points out that the event provides “a unique opportunity to work, and share experiences with other public or private organizations in relation to the projects that take place in the most diversified Brazilian states”.

Furthermore, over 100 lecturers were present at the event, including representatives of international companies, such as the president of Erdas, Joel Campbell. “This is an extremely important event to the geotechnologies market, especially in Brazil, because there are more than 2 thousand people participating, who came from all around Latin America, Europe, Africa, and it is also an important conference where the hardware and software suppliers, the data providers are gathered to share ideas on how they can work together”, comments the executive, at an exclusive interview to MundoGEO.

Among the outstanding people who participated in the event were Tarun Bhatnagar, director of enterprise geo of Google in Latin America, that took part in the 2nd Google Earth for Companies Seminar; Wolfgang Bidermann, businessman from RapidEye; Dale Lutz, vice-president of products development of Safe Software; and Mike Reslow, representative of ISPRS.

On MundoGEO#Connect

MundoGEO#Connect 2012 is the largest event in the section of geospatial technologies of Latin America and it will take place from May 29th to May 31st , at Frei Caneca Convention Center, in São Paulo (SP). Holding the theme “Sharing information for a better world”, the expectation is to gather 10.000 professionals from the sector, among those participating in the seminars and courses, the visitors of the trade fair and the ones connected from distance through webinar and social nets. The event is an accomplishment of MundoGEO Group, along with the popularization of MundoGEO and InfoGPS web portals, InfoGEO, InfoGNSS and A Mira magazines, and it also counts on the international support from OGC, ISPRS and Gita, and popularization of Directions Magazine, GIM International, V1 Magazine, Professional Surveyor and Geo Connexion. The first edition of MundoGEO#Connect was held from June 14th to June 16th, 2011, in São Paulo, and it gathered more than 7,5 thousand people.

On MundoGEO Group

MundoGEO Group, which promotes MundoGEO#Connect, has been working in the production of contents for printed and online media, trade fairs, seminars, courses and webinars in the geoinformation area since 1998. It also publishes two important magazines addressed to the sector: InfoGEO, on satellite images and Geographic Information Systems (GIS); and InfoGNSS, which focus on land surveying and cartography. In this area the company counts on MundoGEO Web Portal, which provides daily content in Portuguese, Spanish and English, and which is a leader in the number of visitors in Latin America. In content partnership with UOL, it acts in the geo mobility area with InfoGPS Portal, which, along with MundoGEO, has over 50.000 registered professionals and more than 10.000 thousand followers in the social nets. In relation to the sustainability area, it maintains the Sustainable Attitude Web Portal, also in partnership with UOL.

Source

Decommissioning has been completed successfully

After 16 years orbiting Earth and taking pictures of its surface, ERS-2, the successor to ESA’s original European Remote-Sensing Satellite, was decommissioned and removed from its operational orbit on 5 July 2011.

This summer, the satellite ERS-2 took one last image over the Antilles Islands in the Caribbean before it shut down for ever.

ERS-2 was launched in 1995 with a mission to observe land, ocean, atmosphere and polar regions using its variety of remote-sensing instruments. The data collected from the satellite represented a major asset for the Earth observation community.

More information at “ESA”: http://earth.esa.int/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=7875

and

Space

Spaceref

Source GMES.Info

DUBAI — DubaiSat-1, the UAE-owned and operated earth observation satellite, has relayed a pan-shaped, multi-spectral image of the Mirny Mine in Russia, the largest open pit diamond mine in the world.

The legendary mine, founded in 1957, was captured by the satellite on the 13th of September 2011.

Located in Eastern Siberia, the Mirny Mine is 525 metres deep and has a diameter of 1,200 metres. It is also the first and largest diamond mine in the erstwhile Soviet Union. Helicopters are banned from flying over the mine as there have been incidents in which they were sucked in by the downward air flow.

Surface operations in Mirny Mine closed down in 2001 but underground recovery of diamond had started in 1999. Explorations estimate production to continue for another 25 years and the town has been developed around the city to support diamond excavation and export.

The high spatial resolution images relayed by DubaiSat-1 are a valuable resource in infrastructure planning and development. The satellite images complement existing Geographic Information System (GIS) databases and enable more efficient monitoring of environmental changes and natural hazards.

DubaiSat-1 was a joint project between the UAE and South Korea, developed with a major focus on knowledge transfer to the UAE team that participated in building the satellite. EIAST had launched DubaiSat-1 in July 2009, and since then the satellite has been transmitting images that are of great value in several areas.

EIAST is currently working on DubaiSat-2, a joint development programme with the Satrec Initiative of South Korea. Sixteen UAE engineers, currently stationed in South Korea, have been working on the design, development, testing and manufacturing of the satellite. The participation of UAE engineers in the project has increased by 100 per cent compared to DubaiSat-1 and it is hoped DubaiSat-2 will take EIAST to the next level in satellite development.

DubaiSat-2 will be launched on board a Dnepr Rocket through the Moscow-based International Space Company Kosmotras (ISCK) from Yasny Cosmodrome in Russia by the fourth quarter of 2012, as part of a clustered launch, in which DubaiSat-2 will be the primary satellite on board.

Source

The most powerful UK-built imaging spacecraft ever sent into orbit has been demonstrating its capability.

Its first pictures since being launched in August show Salt Lake City in the US – its airport and surrounding roads. picture

The satellite, built for the Nigerian space agency (NASRDA), can acquire images that resolve details on the ground that are just 2.5m across.

Called NigeriaSat-2, the platform will be used by the African nation to map its lands and plan urban development.

It will also assist the Disaster Monitoring Constellation.

This UK-managed fleet of spacecraft is used to picture regions of the Earth gripped by natural calamities.

These might be catastrophic floods or a big earthquake. Images sent down from space will often be critical to organising an effective emergency response.
NigeriaSat-2 NigeriaSat-2 will be used for land management and urban planning purposes

NigeriaSat-2 was part of a double deal that manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) did with the NASRDA (National Space Research and Development Agency).

The second part was to train Nigerian engineers, to help them construct their own Earth observation satellite. This platform, called NigeriaSat-X, was launched on the same Dnepr rocket that took NigeriaSat-2 into orbit a month and a half ago.

Although there are many satellites in operation today – especially with the US military – that can see much finer details than the UK spacecraft, it is the British technology’s capability-for-the-price that has put SSTL in a world-leading position.

The contract for both Nigerian spacecraft, without launch and insurance costs, was valued at £30m.

“I believe NigeriaSat-2 is the most powerful optical Earth observation satellite ever produced in Britain,” said Luis Gomes, the satellite’s project manager and the head of Earth observation at SSTL.

“In terms of resolution, capacity and its different modes of operation – I don’t think Britain has ever done anything better than this,” he told BBC News.

SSTL is now building three satellites for its Chinese customers that will be able to resolve details under a metre across.

Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

23-26th of January 2012, Westminster, London
www.dgieurope.com

Defence Geospatial Intelligence (DGI) is Europe’s largest and most international annual gathering dedicated to the high-level discussion of the importance and the major challenges of the use of geospatial intelligence in both defence and national security operations.

DGI brings together heads of Geospatial Intelligence, Remote Sensing, GIS Mapping, Satellite Imagery and Analysis within the Military, Governmental and National Security sectors. It attracts professionals who are responsible for using, and integrating, geo based capabilities in their operations and organisations. DGI provides a unique forum for defence intelligence to discuss and debate the development of geospatial intelligence capabilities across the globe in defence and security sectors – With over 600 attendees year on year, DGI has becomes Europe’s key forum for geospatial strategy.

Addressing the use of geospatial information in scenarios such as international conflicts, defence operations, C4ISR, humanitarian disasters, crime, national security, border control, arms treaty monitoring and global climate change; a fundamental objective of DGI is to help organisations understand how to build the necessary infrastructure and architecture to take advantage of geospatial intelligence capabilities.

To find out more, contact the organisers today:
W: www.dgieurope.com
E: dgi@wbr.co.uk
T: +44 (0) 207 368 9465

June 2011


1. SPIDER Thematic Partnership for the Pacific Region
2. Expert Meeting on Crowdsource Mapping for Preparedness and Emergency Response in Vienna will produce input for report of Secretary General
3. Technical Advisory Mission to Cameroon
4. UN-SPIDER co-organizes PAIGH/USGS Crisis Workshop in Panama
5. Technical Advisory Mission to Nigeria
6. Technical Advisory Mission to Bangladesh
7. UN-SPIDER at the OGC Plenary week
8. Sustainable Future of Outer Space Activities discussed at the Outer Space Committee
9. Sentinel Asia supports disaster response to floods in Tajikistan
10.International Charter activated for volcano eruption affecting Chile and Argentina
11.RCMRD collaborates with ECHO/UNISDR on Regional Training Workshop
12.ADRC conducted an expert group meeting in response to the Japan Earthquake
13.Nigeria prepares to launch two earth observation satellites
14.NASA flights seek to improve view of air pollution from space
15.Satellite programs aid emergency crews battling wildfires
16.RapidEye reveals full archive through EyeFind
17.CEOS and ISU to use Earth Observation satellites to detect bugs

Information on upcoming UN-SPIDER outreach activities can be obtained from the events section of the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal

06 2011 UN-SPIDER Updates.pdf
Source UN-Spider

Sustainability of Space Activities: International issues & Potential Solutions. STRASBOURG, Tues 21st – Thurs 23rd February 2012

During each academic year, the International Space University (ISU) organizes a three-day symposium as an interdisciplinary, international forum to help both the users and the providers of space-related systems to move forward from the discussion of problems to the formulation of innovative solutions. As an independent organization, ISU has developed a winning formula for a “different kind of symposium”:

  • Addressing all aspects of the subject – policy, business, legal, scientific, technical, etc.
  • Creating ample time for discussion
  • Fostering constructive dialogue among different sectors of the space community, or between different communities, that do not often interact in more specialized symposia.

At each of the past several events we have attracted close to 200 participants from agencies, industry and academia in around 30 different countries.

ISU’s next annual symposium will address the risks faced by spacecraft and crew due to various natural and human generated threats. Looking be¬yond the current situation we ask what can be done to mitigate the threats in order to assure long-term sustainability of space activities particularly through increased cooperation between nations.

The scope of the Symposium will be in line with the main objective of the UN COPUOS Working Group on the sub¬ject established in early 2010, that is, “to examine and propose measures to ensure the safe and sustainable use of outer space for peaceful purposes, for the ben¬efit of all countries”

The program will include invited contributions from leading experts in the field plus presentations and posters selected on the basis of abstracts submitted in response to the attached Call for Papers by the deadline date of 12th October 2011.

More information ISU

Newswise — Space-based technologies — from Earth remote sensing spacecraft to global navigation and telecommunications satellites – are potent tools in both shaping disaster preparedness and in dealing with the chaos of responding to natural disasters.

To augment the use of these space technologies, virtual communities of group intelligence – called “Crowdsourcing” – can aide in emergency planning and post-disaster coordination.

An international gathering of more than 60 experts took part in Crowdsource Mapping for Preparedness and Emergency Response, held July 5-6 in Vienna, Austria.

The meeting was organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs’ Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER), with the support and cooperation of the Government of Austria and Secure World Foundation.

The two-day agenda of discussion and special sessions brought into sharp focus:

  • How the crowdsource mapping community benefitted from space-based information during the Haiti response efforts
  • Understanding of the specific needs of the emergency response community
  • Consideration of what mechanisms are already in place regarding accessing satellite imagery to support emergency response

One of a kind gathering

“Efforts such as this that bring together disparate communities to benefit the use of space systems for human and environmental security fit our agenda very well,” said Dr. Ray Williamson, Executive Director of Secure World Foundation (SWF). “We are committed to facilitating discussion among these communities for the good of all peoples affected by natural disaster.”

Secure World Foundation is very pleased to continue its cooperation with the UN-SPIDER, said Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, an event organizer and Space Policy Consultant for SWF based in Brussels, Belgium.

“The event co-organized in Vienna was one of a kind where space experts, disaster managers, and people from crowdsourcing community got together and discussed better ways of working together in the area of disaster management,” Lukaszczyk said. “We do hope that this effort was only the beginning of a continuous cooperation among these three communities.”

Additionally, there was discussion on strategies to adequately address intellectual property and copyright concerns. This first expert meeting benefited by leading experts representing crowd-sourcing communities, space agencies, disaster management and civil protection agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations, private companies, and regional and international organizations.

The outcome of this expert meeting will be included in a report of the Secretary General of the United Nations which will be considered by the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space when it meets in early 2012. It will also be included as an input to the second expert meeting which is planned for Geneva on November 16 of this year, back-to-back with the next International Conference on Crisis Mapping (ICCM 2011).

“The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs welcomed working this expert meeting with Secure World Foundation which is the first such meeting on the topic organized by the United Nations for the benefit of all countries. Secure World Foundation’s vision and commitment to ensuring that all countries take advantage of these opportunities is to be noted,” said David Stevens, Program Coordinator for UN-SPIDER.

Technological advancements

In December 2006 the United Nations General Assembly agreed to establish the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response — UN-SPIDER — as a new United Nations program.

UN-SPIDER’s mission statement is to “Ensure that all countries and international and regional organizations have access to and develop the capacity to use all types of space-based information to support the full disaster management cycle”.

In recent years, advancements in technologies have made it possible for virtual communities such as OpenStreetMap, CrisisMappers, Virtual Disaster Viewer, Google MapMaker, Ushahidi, Sahana and Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD) to provide increasing support to disaster preparedness and emergency response efforts.

Important cornerstones of this virtual effort are the possibility to access and take advantage of post-disaster satellite imagery as well as the use of other space-based technologies such as telecommunications satellites and global navigation satellite systems.

Furthermore, by tapping the power of Crowdsourcing, a community of volunteers can generate quality geographical information by the use of remote sensing image analysis tools.

One-year project

To facilitate the connection between Crowdsourcing
expertise with the space industry as well as the disaster management community, the UN-SPIDER Program has initiated a one-year project: “Space-based information for Crowdsource Mapping.” This initiative is aimed at identifying specific actions that could ensure a closer cooperation among the three communities.

For more information on the recently concluded meeting, Crowdsource Mapping for Preparedness and Emergency Response, please contact:
Agnieszka Lukaszczyk
Space Policy Consultant
Secure World Foundation
Avenue des Arts 8
B-1210 Brussels
Belgium
Phone +32 2 545 11 50
Fax +32 2 545 11 66
Email: alukaszczyk@swfound.org
Reporter’s Note: To view Lukaszczyk’s presentation — Building Appropriate Institutions to Support the Use of Earth Observations for Human Security – please go to the followong link

About Secure World Foundation

Secure World Foundation (SWF) is headquartered in Superior, Colorado, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Brussels, Belgium.

SWF is a private operating foundation dedicated to the secure and sustainable use of space for the benefit of Earth and all its peoples.

SWF engages with academics, policy makers, scientists and advocates in the space and international affairs communities to support steps that strengthen global space sustainability. It promotes the development of cooperative and effective use of space for the protection of Earth’s environment and human security.

The Foundation acts as a research body, convener and facilitator to advocate for promoting key space security and other space related topics and to examine their influence on governance and international development.

For access to the SWF website

Source