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PlanetObserver, leading supplier of satellite images in natural colours, announces the launch of a new version of its global digital Earth satellite imagery dataset with a resolution of 15 meter per pixel.

Processed from data collected from the civil observation satellite Landsat 7 ETM+, this dataset which offers a truly global coverage of the planet has been upgraded since its first release in 2008.

The new version of the 15-meter global satellite imagery dataset features an upgraded colour balance, reprocessed on all continents, in order to match perfectly the true beauty of planet Earth. Cloud coverage reduction is another major improvement, with a particular focus on African and South American tropical areas.

PlanetObserver Earth dataset comes as a standard off-the-shelf product, available in different data formats tuned specifically for today’s professional applications. From uncompressed GEOTIFF to TIFF-JPEG, ECW or JPEG2000 formats, this product constitutes the new standard for global Earth imagery, which combines beauty, reality and quality.

PlanetObserver global Earth imagery constitutes the perfect resource for IT applications, 2D and 3D navigation and simulation solutions, web mapping, print and film, museographic applications (interactive animations, thematic exhibitions ), etc.

About PlanetObserver

Founded in 1989, the Clermont-Ferrand based company PlanetObserver specializes in satellite imagery processing and in the production of global natural true colour Earth imagery datasets. PlanetObserver imagery is widely used in many application sectors ranging from IT applications, cartography and web mapping, special events, museographic applications to the media sector. For more information, visit www.planetobserver.com

Contact
PlanetObserver
Tel. (+33) 04 73 44 19 00 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (+33) 04 73 44 19 00 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Email : msat@planetobserver.com

Environmental Satellites: Strategy Needed to Sustain Critical Climate and Space Weather Measurements. GAO-10-456 April 27, 2010

Environmental satellites provide data on the earth and its space environment that are used for forecasting the weather, measuring variations in climate over time, and predicting space weather. In planning for the next generation of these satellites, federal agencies originally sought to fulfill weather, climate, and space weather requirements. However, in 2006, federal agencies restructured two key satellite acquisitions, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series (GOES-R). This involved removing key climate and space weather instruments. GAO was asked to (1) assess plans for restoring the capabilities that were removed from the two key satellite acquisitions, (2) evaluate federal efforts to establish a strategy for the long-term provision of satellite-provided climate data, and (3) evaluate federal efforts to establish a strategy for the longterm provision of satellite-provided space weather data. To do so, GAO analyzed agency plans and reports. …

BQ. For full text of article, visit the GAO website here

Source

The ability to collect, distribute and access geospatial data continues to improve in terms of speed and precision of collection, timeliness of delivery, and affordability.

In addition to these expected improvements, brought about by the rising importance of geospatial data and advancements in geotechnology, there are a number of profound changes that will greatly impact the geospatial data market in the years to come.

The changes underway are a combination of increased individual data collection, more open government, the explosion of sensor data, technology that automatically extracts information from data, and the ability to synthesize information from many sources. While there are increasing business opportunities in each of these areas, there are also significant disruptions taking place that threaten the business models of many established geospatial data organizations. The next ten years will be a time of many changes, but will also bring a greater empowerment of the GIS user given the amount of available data, with much of it for free.

Volunteered Map Data

The advent of crowd-sourced geospatial data, such as OpenStreetMaps (OSM), is continuing to gain momentum, and could easily replace the market for much commercial geospatial data. At present, the coverage of OSM data nearly matches that of the commercial providers, and in some cases it surpasses it for accuracy and level of detail. By 2020, the market for navigation data will be much smaller, but there will still be a place for highly-accurate and trusted-source data.

Mobile platforms are of increasing importance for data collection. The better location precision of these devices will help greatly in both the collection of accurate geospatial data, and the delivery of helpful location-aware applications. The mobile platforms are quickly dwarfing all other computing platforms in terms of their number, and their pace of innovation. This trend will continue to the point where we have less robust computing platforms, but much greater connectivity to each other and the details that are of interest to us.

Open Government

The growing government transparency movement, with more open data, and the advent of application-development contests such as “Code for America,” are placing the emphasis on what can be done with government data to improve decision making and offer greater services to constituents. The shift is away from services for citizens toward a collaboration with citizens.

The increased involvement of citizens with both the data and the services that are offered, will mean a vested partnership in assuring the quality and accuracy of data. With more people accessing and using the data, the data exposure will mean quality improvements, particularly if there is a means for the crowd to conduct quality control and create updates. With an open data approach, there will be less data drudge work, and this freeing of time and effort will enable governments to employ greater analytics to make sense of inputs and predict and chart future courses.

Automated Collection and Extraction

Machine learning and automated extraction tools that pull information from data are on the rise. The ability to pull different data products from raw imagery or other sensor inputs will become a focus area for many. The users will have the capability to use and tune data inputs for their own purposes, and data providers will concentrate on creating more diverse data products. The more specialized data products that can be derived, the more value there is in the sensors themselves.

The demand for this specialized data is already high, but the ability to deliver real-time information to create sophisticated programs that monitor and react to data inputs autonomously and adaptively will really see this interest take off. The “app for that” mentality could easily take hold toward a “data for that” ability, with the software developer orchestrating the different data feeds in order to create custom solutions.

Synthesis and Fusion

Geospatial data interoperability plays a huge role in the ability to pull together a variety of data, particularly when moving toward real-time. The more normalized the data are to each other, the faster and greater the synthesis of information.

Experts, such as today’s geospatial technologists, will evolve toward more active developers of software, but also as synthesizers of data. The huge volumes of data available will require skilled technicians to verify, aggregate and analyze this information for rich insights. The connectivity of the Web will feed these specialists, and organizations and governments might simply subscribe to regular data scrubbing and synthesis services. The ability to craft solutions that return reliable results and improve organizational efficiency means that these knowledge workers will be in high demand.

Source V1

ESA’s CryoSat-2 has delivered its first data just hours after ground controllers switched on the satellite’s sophisticated radar instrument for the first time. CryoSat-2 was launched on 8 April and has been performing exceptionally well during these critical first few days in orbit.

Europe’s first mission dedicated to studying variations in our planet’s ice cover entered polar orbit just minutes after launch last Thursday, marking the start of three days of intense activity. Mission controllers at ESOC, ESA’s European Space Operations Centre, have been monitoring CryoSat-2 around the clock to ensure the satellite’s systems and payload were functioning normally.

The CryoSat-2 satellite was launched at 15:57 CEST (13:57 UTC), 8 April, on a Dnepr rocket provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The signal confirming that it had separated from the launcher came 17 minutes later from the Malindi ground station in Kenya.

By Sunday morning, 11 April, ESA’s Flight Director Pier Paolo Emanuelli declared that the formal Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) was complete and said, “The satellite is in excellent condition and the mission operations team quickly resolved the few problems that came up. It’s been a very smooth entry into orbit, precisely as planned.”

Later on Sunday, CryoSat-2’s primary instrument, the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), was switched on for the first time and started gathering the first radar echo data.

SIRAL’s first data were acquired at 16:40 CEST and were downloaded and processed at ESA’s Kiruna ground station.

“We switched SIRAL on and it worked beautifully from the very start. Our first data were taken over the Antarctic’s Ross Ice Shelf, and clearly show the ice cover and reflections from underlying layers. These are excellent results at such an early stage and are a tribute to the hard work of the entire CryoSat community,” said Prof. Duncan Wingham, CryoSat’s Lead Investigator.

The satellite is in a polar orbit, reaching latitudes of 88°. This orbit brings it closer to the poles than earlier Earth observation satellites, covering an additional 4.6 million sq km – an area larger than all 27 European Union member states put together.

CryoSat-2’s sophisticated instruments will measure changes at the margins of the vast ice sheets that lie over Greenland and Antarctica and marine ice floating in the polar oceans. By accurately measuring thickness change in both types of ice, CryoSat-2 will provide information critical to scientists’ understanding of the role ice plays in the Earth system.

“The combined ground teams proved the value of months of extensive training and preparation and the satellite has shown to be a high-quality machine with very few problems. The launch and orbit injection have been almost flawless and we are looking forward to an extremely productive mission,” said Richard Francis, ESA’s Project Manager for CryoSat-2.

With LEOP complete, ground experts will now put CryoSat-2 through an exhaustive commissioning phase lasting several months, during which the systems on board the satellite and on the ground will be optimised to provide the best-ever ice thickness data from space.

“We are very happy with the first calibration results from SIRAL. The data are now being processed and made available almost immediately to the commissioning teams. We are now optimising the data-processing system and results will be released once we have accumulated enough data,” said Tommaso Parrinello, ESA’s CryoSat mission Manager.

Marking a significant achievement for ESA’s Earth observation programme, CryoSat-2 is the third of its Earth Explorer satellites to be placed in orbit, all within a little over 12 months. CryoSat-2 follows on from the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) mission, launched in March 2009, and the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, launched last November.

Source ESA

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) was awarded a NASA Goddard contract to maintain and manage large volumes of sensing data and imagery from space instruments.

The Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) evolution and development contract will give climate researchers access to valuable data about the earth’s atmospheres, oceans, lands and their interactions.

The evolution and development program, an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity cost plus award fee contract, will have a $250 million ceiling for the five-year base period of performance and an initial value of $75 million.

“This contract enables Raytheon to continue to build upon our strong legacy of providing program excellence, innovation and reliable engineering solutions to NASA’s earth observing systems,” said TW Scott, vice president of Raytheon’s Mission Operations and Solutions. “We look forward to supporting the EOSDIS evolution and ensuring that NASA Goddard’s earth sensing data and imagery are available to educators, scientists, researchers and policy makers.”

Raytheon developed the core components of EOSDIS, called the EOSDIS core system, which became operational in 1999; it provides data ingest, archive and distribution services at data centers that manage earth observing data. In 2003, Raytheon won the core system maintenance and development contract and has continued its partnership with NASA to maintain and evolve key elements of EOSDIS.

NASA developed EOSDIS to manage and provide access to data collected by a suite of earth observation satellites. This data is used by a growing international user community that includes earth scientists, educators, federal, state, local and tribal agencies, and the public. The data has many uses, including climate change research, disaster planning and response, natural resource assessment, and understanding the earth as an integrated system.

Raytheon Company, with 2009 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 88 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 75,000 people worldwide.

Source Raytheon

China aims to snatch 20 percent of the world’s space business
by 2015, the president of the nation’s sole satellite launch contractor said

The expected use of high thrust satellite launch vehicles
in 2015 will meet customers’ various needs, said Yin Liming, president of China Great Wall Industry Corporation
(CGWIC) in Xichang, in southwest Sichuan Province, where most satellites in China are launched.

He said CGWIC is willing to cooperate with other countries on aerospace development. The company is researching providing tailored services to meet the needs of different countries and projects.

Hao Zhaoping, deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, said China’s Long March Series rocket boasts reliable quality and a reasonable price, with 94 percent of satellite launches via the rocket successful.

He said research on the Long March 5, the latest model of its series, is proceeding smoothly.

China has launched 36 commercial satellites since 1990, when it started the program.

It has signed five satellite export contracts with foreign countries since 2007 and two satellites have entered into orbit.

Source: Xinhua

ESA has awarded a contract to Eurockot for the launch of two of its Earth observation missions. The first will be the next Earth Explorer: Swarm, a constellation of three satellites to study Earth’s magnetic field.

With the successful launch of the CryoSat-2 Earth Explorer, this new contract highlights ESA’s commitment to learning more about Earth from the vantage point of space.

The contract covers the launch of ESA’s Swarm magnetic-field mission and a ‘ticket’ for one other mission, yet to be decided. Both will take place from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia using a Rockot launcher.

Swarm will be the fourth Earth Explorer satellite in orbit, following the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE), launched by Eurockot in March 2009, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite, also launched by Eurockot, in November 2009, and CryoSat, launched by Kosmotras yesterday.

An event was held today in Bremen, Germany, to mark the signature of the contract, and attended by Volker Liebig, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Matthias Oehm, CEO of Eurockot, and Sergey Anisimov, Deputy Director General of Khrunichev, builder of the Russian rocket.

Volker Liebig said, “We all know that for an ambitious mission such as Swarm it is of utmost importance to choose a reliable launch provider. After the successful Eurockot launches of GOCE and SMOS, we are looking forward to a full launch service that will deliver all three Swarm satellites into their orbits.”

The series of Earth Explorer satellites provides a unique approach to observing Earth from space. Developed in direct response to issues raised by the scientific community, they improve our understanding of how the ‘Earth system’ works and the effect that human activity is having on natural processes.

While focusing on specific aspects of the Earth system, they use cutting-edge technology and remote-sensing techniques and, together with the scientific questions addressed, lead to new applications for Earth observation data.

The Swarm mission comprises three satellites, launched together, to provide high-precision and high-resolution measurements of the strength and direction of Earth’s magnetic field. This will provide new insights into Earth’s interior, further our understanding of atmospheric processes connected with climate and weather, and offer practical applications in areas such as space weather and radiation hazards.

The launch of Swarm is planned for before mid-2012. Although Rockot is a small launcher, it can deliver all three satellites into an orbit 490 km above Earth.

Eurockot is based in Bremen, Germany and is a joint venture between Astrium and Khrunichev Space Centre. The company provides low-orbit launches for observation and communication satellites from its dedicated facilities in northern Russia.

Source Eurekaalert

At the opening of the GMES Workshop in Sofia (Bulgaria) on 25 March 2010, Kristalina Georgieva, the Bulgarian Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, addressed the participants through a videoconference.

Throughout her speech she underlined the importance of Earth Observation to the international community and in particular the relevance of GMES as a key European contribution to the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS).

Speaking about the various applications of satellite based imagery, Ms Kristalina pointed out that they can support effective response to natural disasters, climate change and security challenges such as terrorism, illegal immigration, and drug trafficking. She added also that they can allow more effective humanitarian operations, improve land-use and agriculture as well as bring business opportunities for European companies.

Given the nature of her portfolio within the Commission, Ms Georgieva affirmed particular interest in the successful development of GMES as an essential tool for improving the response to major disasters, as well as for disaster prevention and post-crisis assistance. In this context the Bulgarian Commissioner reminded the vital role GMES had played by providing emergency response services after the recent earthquakes that occurred in Haiti and Chile.

Ms Georgieva stressed also the paramount importance of GMES for addressing the biggest global challenge – climate change. She highlighted that GMES will provide a basis of enhanced modelling activities to help better understand the drivers of climate change.

As a conclusion, the Commissioner stated the following: ‘I am therefore very pleased that President Barroso has underlined that the success of EU flagship programmes, such as GMES, needs to be guaranteed’. Finally, she committed to follow very closely the dossier on the successful development of GMES over the next five years.

More information at:
ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/georgieva/files/headlines/speeches/100325-speech-gmes_en.pdf

Source GMES.Info

Natural ecosystems in East-Africa have been changing drastically in the last decades. Drivers of these changes include climate change, population dynamics, market forces and policy changes.

Good governance of the environment requires up-to-date and objective information on the status of natural ecosystems and trends of change. Satellite imagery can provide regularly updated information giving a synoptic view on vegetation dynamics and land cover changes over time.

The ENDELEO project aims at promoting good environmental governance of vulnerable ecosystems in Kenya, by facilitating access to updated remote sensing based information on the status of these natural ecosystems. A web-based monitoring tool, accessible through http://endeleo.vgt.vito.be, has been developed to allow easy exploration of the vegetation conditions. It consists of an image viewer, interactive graphs and the calculation of statistics. These sections are updated every ten days with new images. In addition, detailed patterns of change are analysed for a number of focus areas based on high resolution satellite images. A help section including a manual and background information on remote sensing is available.

As a result, the ENDELEO tool fulfils the increased demand from ecosystem managers, both government agencies and environmental NGO’s, for easy visualisation and analysis of remote sensing data to assess the extent of vegetation changes, to determine the drivers of change and to evaluate policy measures.

ENDELEO is a cooperation between Ghent University (Belgium), the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) (Belgium), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), the Kenyan government represented by the Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS), together with multiple stakeholders. The project is financed by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO).

The release of the first data products to the GOCE user community through ESA’s user services is imminent.

(30 March 2010). Following the start of nominal science operations with the satellite in drag-free mode at the end of September 2009, a first complete coverage of the Earth was completed last December. First results in terms of gravity gradients and satellite-to-satellite tracking data were also presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Following some tuning of the data processing, all associated Level 1b data products have meanwhile been generated, and are presently being assessed by the GOCE Cal/Val teams.

We are pleased to announce that the quality of the data products is excellent, and that we will start distributing Level 1b products to all registered GOCE users at the end of April. We will notify all Principal Investigators in person when data is eligible for retrieval.

An official presentation and discussion of the data quality will be given at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna, on Friday 7 May in session G7. After the Assembly we will make the official presentation available to everyone.

We will present the first Level 2 products and start distributing them from ESA’s Living Planet symposium at the end of June onwards.

For more information click here

Source: ESA Earthnet Online and EOportal