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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Europe’s future data-relay satellite system to speed Earth observation imagery to users took a concrete step toward realization on April 13 when system manager Astrium Services formalized an initial contract with satellite builder OHB Technology, Bremen, Germany-based OHB announced.

The contract, valued at 7.4 million euros ($10.4 million), is an authorization for OHB to proceed with designs of a satellite expected to cost about 150 million euros to build, OHB said. It would be launched in 2016 as part of a system that is intended to include a piggyback payload on a commercial telecommunications satellite in geostationary orbit. That satellite has not yet been selected.

The two satellites — a dedicated data-relay spacecraft built by OHB, and the piggyback spacecraft — would both carry laser optical terminals to relay data sent from low-orbiting Earth observation satellites to users on the ground. The terminals will be built by Tesat-Spacecom of Backnang, Germany.

The principal early customers are expected to be the 18-nation European Space Agency (ESA), which is financing the European Data Relay System (EDRS), and the 27-nation European Union, whose Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program features a fleet of Earth observation spacecraft, some of which will also carry laser terminals to send data to the relay satellites in higher geostationary orbit.

ESA officials have said they expect the entire EDRS system to cost nearly 400 million euros, a figure that includes the design, manufacture and launch of the laser terminals, the dedicated satellite and ESA’s share of the launch and operations costs associated with the piggyback payload on a commercial telecommunications satellite.

Astrium Services is expected to contribute about 100 million euros of this sum. In return, it will be paid an annual fee by ESA to provide EDRS services.

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Peter de Selding mailto:pdeselding@gmail.com
Spacenews

After just two years in orbit, ESA’s GOCE satellite has gathered enough data to map Earth’s gravity with unrivalled precision. Scientists now have access to the most accurate model of the ‘geoid’ ever produced to further our understanding of how Earth works.

The new geoid was unveiled today at the Fourth International GOCE User Workshop hosted at the Technische Universität München in Munich, Germany. Media representatives and scientists from around the world have been treated to the best view yet of global gravity.

The geoid is the surface of an ideal global ocean in the absence of tides and currents, shaped only by gravity. It is a crucial reference for measuring ocean circulation, sea-level change and ice dynamics – all affected by climate change.

Prof. Reiner Rummel, former Head of the Institute for Astronomical and Physical Geodesy at the Technische Universität München, said, “We see a continuous stream of excellent GOCE gradiometry data coming in. With each new two-month cycle, our GOCE gravity field model is getting better and better.

“Now the time has come to use GOCE data for science and applications. I am particularly excited about the first oceanographic results.

“They show that GOCE will give us dynamic topography and circulation patterns of the oceans with unprecedented quality and resolution. I am confident that these results will help improve our understanding of the dynamics of world oceans.”

The two-day workshop provides the science community with the latest information on the performance of the satellite and details about data products and user services.

Participants are also discussing how the GOCE geoid will make advances in ocean and climate studies, and improve our understanding of Earth’s internal structure.

For example, the gravity data from GOCE are helping to develop a deeper knowledge of the processes that cause earthquakes, such as the event that recently devastated Japan.

Since this earthquake was caused by tectonic plate movement under the ocean, the motion cannot be observed directly from space. However, earthquakes create signatures in gravity data, which could be used to understand the processes leading to these natural disasters and ultimately help to predict them.

The GOCE satellite was launched in March 2009 and has now collected more than 12-months of gravity data.

Volker Liebig, Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes said, “Benefiting from a period of exceptional low solar activity, GOCE has been able to stay in low orbit and achieve coverage six weeks ahead of schedule.

“This also means that we still have fuel to continue measuring gravity until the end of 2012, thereby doubling the life of the mission and adding even more precision to the GOCE geoid.”

GOCE has achieved many firsts in Earth observation. Its gradiometer – six highly sensitive accelerometers measuring gravity in 3D – is the first in space.

It orbits at the lowest altitude of any observation satellite to gather the best data on Earth’s gravity. The design of this sleek one-tonne satellite is unique.

In addition, GOCE uses an innovative ion engine that generates tiny forces to compensate for any drag the satellite experiences as it orbits through the remnants of Earth’s atmosphere.

Prof. Liebig added, “You could say that, at its early conception, GOCE was more like science fiction. GOCE has now clearly demonstrated that it is a state-of-the-art mission.”

Rune Floberghagen, ESA’s GOCE Mission Manager, noted “This is a highly significant step for the mission. We now look forward to the coming months, when additional data will add to the accuracy of the GOCE geoid, further benefiting our data users.”

Source

The European Space Agency (ESA) is making land data maps of Europe and Africa available to the public online in near-real time. The maps target land activities that are of particular interest to the agriculture and food-security user communities.

The Culture-MERIS service demonstration, based on data from Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) at a resolution of 300m, is updated every Wednesday with data acquired Monday to Sunday of the previous week.

Users have the possibility to download maps for selected countries or regions for free of charge at:

ftp://culturemeris:culturemeris@ionia2.esrin.esa.int

(User and Password are both ‘culturemeris’)

A Product Description Manual is also available at the above address. This manual includes a chapter on the Data Policy applicable to the Culture-MERIS products.

(Source ESA and GMES.Info)

Earth Remote Sensing and Observation Systems

The ERSOS (Earth Remote Sensing and Observation Systems) Specialized Master (Post-Master Program) is a one-year professional degree course. Our goal is to deliver an international program in the field of Earth observation, Remote Sensing and Observation Systems. ERSOS aims to develop cutting edge (scientific) skills and competences in every stage of the image chain, from the earth’s surface to remotely sensed data products : systems (satellites…), scientific skills (earth remote sensing, image processing, data analysis, …), technological sensors (satellite sensors, cameras, 3D, RADAR, lidar, microwaves…), and international project management. The spectrum of applications is very wide and related to numerous domains. It can be divided into three areas : Environmental Issues (oceanography, sustainable development, forest and water management, etc.), Civil Issues (GIS, Cartography…) and Safety & Security.

More information at

(23 March 2011) An ESA project has recently demonstrated that new ways of processing satellite data can show how different properties of snow can be observed from space.

This new method is expected to lead to a much deeper understanding of the role snow plays in the Earth system.

Snow is a fundamental component of Earth’s energy and water cycles. It plays an important role reflecting solar radiation back out to space, emits heat and holds a significant percentage of the global freshwater budget.

However, over the last 30 years global snow cover has been shrinking owing to climate change. The consequences could be far reaching.

To improve our knowledge of the effect that declining snow cover is having on the Earth system and to understand how water resources from snowmelt are changing, the properties of snow must be studied in more detail.

Since snow affects the exchange of water and energy between the land and atmosphere, having exact values of snow and ice coverage is important for numerical weather forecasting. Also, snowmelt contributes to river discharge and potentially to floods.

Satellite data from radar and optical instruments are routinely used to monitor the extent of ice and snow, but a recent project has taken archive data and applied new algorithms to yield detailed information on the grain size and temperature of snow.

Carried out by Brockmann Consult through ESA’s Earth Observation Support to Science Element (STSE), the Snow Radiance project worked with data collected in 2004 over Greenland.

The project explored the potential of the future Sentinel-3 mission to retrieve snow parameters, resulting in a number of innovative methods and algorithms.

These methods were also tested on existing data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer on ESA’s Envisat satellite.

Olaf Krüger from Brockmann Consult said, “The STSE programme is an excellent initiative to give scientists the opportunity to test fresh and new ideas.

“For the Snow Radiance project, the new algorithms could be partly integrated into ESA’s data processing facility. This demonstrates the usefulness of the project and direct transition from a scientific idea to an operational product.”

The first results obtained for snow and ice mapping on Greenland show that the size of snow grains during summer range from about 0.01 mm to around 2 mm. Larger grain sizes and higher temperatures are found nearer the coast.

These satellite-derived values for grain size compare well with ground-based data collected during field experiments and campaigns. The satellite data also include information on snow and ice coverage, snow temperature and cloud.

The results are encouraging and demonstrate that the new algorithms, based on radiative transfer modelling, could pave the way for routinely acquiring accurate data on snow properties and how they vary over time.

Moreover, it is expected that this new method will lead to more detailed monitoring of mountain glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

This new data processing method will be applied to the Ocean Land Colour Instrument that will be carried on ESA’s Sentinel-3 satellite for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme.

(source: ESA)

Images from ESA website
First results of snow grain size from ESA’s Support to Science Element Snow Radiance project. Reprocessing archive data from Envisat’s MERIS using a new algorithm reveals variations in snow grain size in Greenland for June 2004. (courtesy: Brockmann Consult)
The temperature of Greenland’s snow in June 2004. This new information is a result of ESA’s Support to Science Element Snow Radiance project. Archive data from Envisat’s Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer were reprocessed using a new algorithm to improve our understanding of snow. (courtesy: Brockmann Consult)
In situ measurements of snow properties were taken in Sodankylä and Lake Orajärvi in Finland as part of ESA’s Support to Science Element Snow Radiance project. (courtesy: Finnish Meteorological Institute)

from GEO Group

IMPLEMENTING GEOSS

GEO monitors, analyzes, and distributes data on the Japan disaster
A new GEO Geohazard Supersite on the Tohoku-oki Event was established immediately after the 11 March earthquake and tsunami to aid rescue efforts and advance scientific understanding. Meanwhile, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters was activated at the request of the Japanese Cabinet and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). JAXA is distributing updated PALSAR, ScanSAR and FBS data via its FTP site , and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is providing data and data products for use by experts. Continued …

Germany’s national GEO coordination strategy
The German experience confirms that establishing a national GEO structure, with a leading coordinating Ministry, a national Working Group consisting of colleagues from concerned authorities, and a national GEO Secretariat can noticeably improve the effectiveness of GEOSS implementation at the national level as well as a country’s contributions to international efforts. Continued …

Strengthening GEOSS support to climate impacts researchers
Some 60 scientists and experts participated in a three-day workshop in February that focused on how to improve the ability of researchers who study climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to access new and existing multi-disciplinary data and data products. Continued …

Promoting EU engagement in GEOSS
The 5th GEO European Projects Workshop (GEPW-5) took place at the Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, on 8-9 February. It was the latest in a series of workshops designed to foster and enhance European participation within GEO and to increase co-ordination between GEOSS implementation and existing, or future, Earth Observation projects in Europe. Continued …

GEO BON assesses biodiversity monitoring capabilities
The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) convened an International Expert Meeting from 1 to 3 March in Wageningen, The Netherlands, to prepare an “Assessment of the Adequacy of Existing Observation Capabilities for the CBD 2020 Targets”. Continued …

Governments pursue GEO African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative
The 2nd GEOSS African Water Cycle Symposium convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 23 to 25 February to explore plans to develop an “African Water Cycle Coordination Initiative” within the GEO framework. Continued …

Supporting sustainable tourism in the Caribbean
The workshop on “Earth Observation Support for Sustainable Tourism in Small Island States,” held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 9 to 11 March, focused on the specific needs, challenges and capabilities related to sustainable tourism in the small island states of the Caribbean. Continued …

GEO UPDATE

Tajikistan joins GEO
The Republic of Tajikistan became the 86th Member of GEO on 3 March.

Technical review launched for GEO 2012-2015 Work Plan
Version 0 of the next and final GEO Work Plan has been distributed to the GEO community for comment by 26 May. The draft Work Plan, which can be found here, has been designed to fully address the 2015 Strategic Targets; establish an operational and sustainable GEOSS; reinforce coordination, user engagement and resource mobilization; and provide information products and end-to-end services tailored to serve society’s needs across the nine Societal Benefit Areas. All members of the GEO community are invited to send their comments to the Secretariat at secretariat@geosec.org so that the next version of the Plan can be submitted for official review in late June.

CBC addresses regional activities, coordination and networking
The major objectives of the 13th meeting of the Capacity Building Committee were to address follow-up actions from the GEO-VII Plenary and Beijing Ministerial Summit, review and implement the current Work Plan (2009-2011), finalize the CBC Roadmap, consider capacity-building actions for the 2012 -2015 Work Plan, advance the 2010 CBC-UIC Call for Proposals, and coordinate with the Architecture and Data Committee. Continued …

ADC pursues improvements to the GEOSS Common Infrastructure
The 15th meeting of the Architecture and Data Committee, held in Campos do Jordão, Brazil, from 28 February to 3 March, addressed preparations for the 2012-2015 Work Plan, enhancements to the GEOSS Common Infrastructure (GCI), and coordination with the Capacity Building Committee. Continued …

UIC sets priorities for 2011
The 17th meeting of the User Interface Committee, held on 25-28 January, decided on the Committee’s work activities over the coming year and agreed to move forward on user engagement strategies. Continued …

ANNOUNCEMENTS

GEO Work Plan Symposium to focus on 2012-2015 Plan
From 4-6 May in Geneva, the 2011 Work Plan Symposium will advance the development of the 2012-2015 Work Plan. The Symposium will also give participants the opportunity to discuss progress, exchange information, and strengthen coordination across the current 2009-2011 Work Plan. The draft agenda and other information have been posted here

Quality Assurance for Earth Observation (QA4EO) Workshop
The Quality Assurance for Earth Observation (QA4EO) Workshop on Providing Quality Information in Harmonised Earth Observation Data by 2015 will be held from 18 – 20 October 2011 at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) near Oxford, UK. The workshop will present and discuss data quality assurance implementation examples across a wide variety of societal benefit areas. For more information see the brochure

ICIMOD vacancy announcement
ICIMOD/MENRIS is looking for several innovative, talented and enthusiastic people to support the new developments within its programmes. Continued …

Leicester – 8th March 2011: Astrium GEO-Information Services has introduced new marine and coastal geospatial data that is now downloadable from its www.geostore.com store.


New data ideal for environmental protection and planning consultants – or coastal projects such as wind farm exploration.
www.geostore.com provides a one stop shop for digital 3D mapping, aerial photography, lidar height data – and now marine and coastal data

The new data includes the Admiralty Raster Charts, and a new generation of vector data known as Marine Themes that is based on information sourced from the UK Hydrographic Office. Easily accessed online, the new marine and coastal data will be particularly relevant for environmental protection and planning professions in the public sector, as well as for commercial organisations – such as utility companies and other organisations – that are planning offshore wind farms or other coastal projects.

“The availability of new marine and coastal data strengthens our core Geostore offering, and confirms Geostore’s position as the ideal choice for organisations requiring online delivery of critical geospatial information,” said Andrew Stroomer, UK Managing Director, Astrium GEO-Information Services. “These new marine and coastal data sets complement our existing expertise in key offshore applications such as the protection of submarine assets and the provision of offshore oil seepage information.”

In addition to marine and coastal geospatial data, GeoStore provides customers with access to digital terrestrial mapping, aerial imagery and lidar height data. As with all Geostore data products, the new marine and coastal datasets can be fully defined by the customer, providing organisations with the ability to select data on demand – either as an immediate download or even delivered on CD or DVD depending on the amount of data purchased for each application.

The Geostore Marine Themes data comprises authoritative data from the UK and other Hydrographic Offices. It consists of a comprehensive suite of individual marine layers corresponding to important marine features: elevation, shipwrecks and obstructions, transport, industrial facilities, administrative and management units and geographical regions.

This data is ideal for general situation awareness, planning, site selection and investigation, and outline engineering design. It is also applicable for projects where features need to be selectively displayed or interrogated to create derived outputs. Alternatively, it can be used as a reference base for the user’s own data layers. Standard symbology details are provided free of charge allowing for immediate use of the data in GIS.

The new Raster Chart data provide a comprehensive marine map base and is ideal for applications where a set of familiar features and symbology is required for reference or as a backdrop to other datasets. Supplied as separate image files, users can easily load the charts they need and use them directly in their Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

Our growing reliance on coastal waters for food, trade and tourism means that these delicate ecosystems need to be more closely monitored to guarantee their future sustainability.

ESA’s CoastColour project is helping scientists develop techniques to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) sensor on its Envisat satellite.

With a resolution of 300 m, MERIS provides the sharpest view of coastal waters to date, and includes spectral bands specially designed to characterise the complex mixing of pollutants, suspended sediments and phytoplankton typically found in coastal zones.

Stressing the need for information to help manage these ecosystems, more than 40 user organisations have already signed up to the CoastColour project, which is now processing MERIS data with state-of-the-art techniques over 27 high-priority coastal regions selected by users worldwide.

Coral reef monitoring

Arnold Dekker from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is working with CoastColour to develop techniques to monitor the health of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

During the wet season large plumes of sediment-laden river water flows into the reef lagoon. Sediments can smother corals and deprive them of the sunlight they need to survive, while river-borne nutrients may influence the frequency of naturally occurring algal blooms.

ESA is to be commended for supporting the use of Earth observation to help solve the management issues of these truly complex coastal aquatic ecosystems,” Dr Dekker said.

Algal bloom monitoring

MERIS data are being used to monitor harmful algal booms along the west coast of South Africa in the Southern Benguela upwelling system. Red tides and algal blooms with extremely high phytoplankton concentrations frequently occur in the region’s bays, threatening fisheries and tourism.

Dr Stewart Bernard of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research is developing systems aiming to integrate the satellite data with hydrodynamic models to monitor and predict harmful algal blooms operationally.

Coastal resource managers and the aquaculture industry in the region greatly need these predictions to minimise risks to public safety and financial losses, according to Dr Bernard.

“The involvement of local scientists in CoastColour has already increased South Africa’s technical ocean-colour capability, and is expected to significantly aid the implementation of the ocean-colour components of developing African operational oceanography systems.”

Port maintenance monitoring

In the Baltic Sea, the sustainable development of seaports requires shipping channels to be dredged every two years. Dredging mixes large amounts of suspended sediments into the water, affecting coastal water quality which is regulated by internationally agreed standards.

Dr Liis Sipelgas of the Tallinn University of Technology is working with the Port of Tallinn, which runs four harbours on the Estonian coast, to understand the environmental impact of their dredging operations by mapping sediment plumes.

“The new site-specific CoastColour water quality products improve significantly the operational environmental monitoring of harbour dredging activities,” Dr Sipelgas said.

“The products also enable us to estimate and quantify the long-term water quality changes in the harbour area.”

Source

On 25 February 2011 and following the approval of Belgium, all Member States of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) committed to the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) programme.

MTG consists of six satellites operating from geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometres above the Earth’s surface. The collection of weather and climate data for Europe by Meteosat satellites began in 1977 and thanks to this programme it will still assure geostationary observations during the next 30 years. MTG will also bring significant improvements compared to the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), which will start being replaced in 2018. Key applications will include timelier forecasting of severe thunderstorms, improved monitoring of aerosols and volcanic dust clouds, as well as air quality monitoring.

More information can be found at: http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/News/Press_Releases/804158

Source GMES.Info

On 3 February 2011, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) of the European Parliament (EP) published a report on “An Industrial Policy for the Globalised Era”.

Among others, the EP takes the view that EU industrial policy should be based on practical projects which bring tangible benefits to European businesses and citizens, such as the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), Galileo and ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) projects.

More information is available at

Source GMES.Info