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SPECIM’s Revolutionary Hyperspectral Imaging Sensor Takes off.

Oulu, Finland; April 6, 2010 – SPECIM, Spectral Imaging Ltd, the world’s leading manufacturer of hyperspectral imaging components and systems, responds to market demand and launches a new high resolution hyperspectral imaging sensor with exceptional performance and the dimensions required for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and other challenging applications.

The new V10M sensor operates in the VIS/NIR range of 380 – 1000 nm, and provides superior spectral and spatial imaging with negligible sub-pixel distortions (smile, keystone). The current sensor has an excellent spatial resolution of 1300 pixels, and a 2000 pixel version will be released later this year. The high resolution does not compromise the imaging speed, which reaches 100 images/s, and even higher rate with spectral binning. Superb optical light throughput, together with the most advanced and sensitive detector technology available, guarantees an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. The specifications meet the most demanding requirements for target detection with a wide swath width for efficiency in airborne uses, as well as provide superior performance in industrial quality control applications. The extreme performance from a light weight sensor of less than 0.9 kg (2 lb), including the spectrograph and camera, and in a format optimized to fit to small payload compartments and gimbals is the signature of the new M series sensors.

The sensor is based on the latest development in SPECIM’s market leading ImSpector series of imaging spectrographs, the ImSpector M series. This compact new technology is particularly designed to increase the spatial resolution of push-broom hyperspectral imagers, and works with detector arrays up to 24 mm wide in the spatial dimension. The design is optimized for operation in harsh conditions, and provides the option of a user exchangeable fore optic.

“Current hyperspectral imagers are either bulky with good performance, or compact, with only moderate performance. With the introduction of the new M Series, SPECIM overcomes these drawbacks, and offers clients in defense, security and industrial applications an off-the-shelf hyperspectral sensor that out performs all other sensors in the market. The M Series VIS/NIR sensor is the first step, which will be followed by the introduction of a high resolution SWIR sensor, as well a high performance, miniaturized cooled LWIR sensor in the near future. They will elevate the use of high performance hyperspectral imaging in the market place to new levels, while adding increasing value to our clients products. “ says Timo Hyvärinen, Managing Director of SPECIM.

For further information, SPECIM welcomes you to visit the booth No. 211 at SPIE Defense, Security+Sensing (DSS) exhibition in Orlando, FL, USA, 6-8 April, 2010, where the new M Series hyperspectral sensor will be displayed. The booth is hosted by both SPECIM and our partner SpecTIR LLC. Alternatively, please contact SPECIM, Spectral Imaging Ltd (tel +358 10 4244 400, email: info@specim.fi), and in the US, SpecTIR LLC (410 820 5591, email: Wbernard@SpecTIR.com) .

Contact
Timo Hyvärinen
Managing Director
SPECIM, Spectral Imaging Ltd.
tel. +358 (0)10 4244 405
cel. +358 (0)40 555 0937
fax +358 (0)8 388 580
email: timo.hyvarinen@specim.fi
www.specim.fi

In order to extend the Soil Geographical Database to the countries of Mediterranean Basin, the implementation of soil geographical database of Turkey at 1:1 million scale was done.

In the current report, you will be informed about the preparation of soil database of Turkey compatible with European database and how the Turkish soil data have been integrated the European Soil Database. A number of attributes have been transformed from local/national soil datasets while some attributes have been obtained from auxiliary datasets using remote sensing and GIS Techniques.

Did you know that every year soil organisms process an amount of organic matter equivalent in weight to 25 cars on a surface area as big as a soccer field? Or that one hectare of soil can contain the equivalent in weight of two cows of bacteria? Or that some fungi are extremely big and can reach a length of several hundred metres? If you are interested in all that, plus the relationship between worms and erosion, microbes and clean water, you will find a wealth of information in the report Soil biodiversity.

http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ESDB_Archive/eusoils_docs/other/EUR24295.pdf

A comparison of satellite imagery with aerial photogrammetry today must take into account advances in both approaches to the production of useful landscape and earth observation data today. Whereas most debate previously surrounded issues related to resolution and accuracy, the costs of purchasing satellite imagery have dropped substantially and satellites revisit the same location weekly or daily in some cases.

Inability to revisit sites regularly at short intervals has traditionally been an issue where applications involving up-to-date and shorter visitation times were needed.

Aerial photography, gathered through the use of airplanes flying over the landscape remains an important method for gathering remotely sensed imagery about the planet. Satellites cannot be in two places at the same time, but airplanes equipped with cameras can. Airplanes can wait for improved cloud cover – satellites can’t (they pass over locations and must cycle). And, we are probably nearing the day when aerial cameras will be combined with LiDAR into the same device to provide both kinds of data at the same time, something satellite imagery is likely not about to provide for some time to come.

Vexcel, for example, can provide aerial photography down to 6.50cm resolution today. But satellite imagery is not far off with GeoEye-1, for example, providing panchromatic imagery down to 0.41m resolution – although military customers may only be allowed to use this high-end product with consumers gaining access to 0.50m products. DigitalGlobe is also providing 0.50m resolution imagery through it’s WorldView-1 satellite. Bing Maps is continually releasing new and updated imagery for different locations around the world.

Resolution is only part of the value today. Advances in automated image extraction, GIS and even CAD connected to imagery workflows are shifting aerial photogrammetry from what was primarily oriented around hardware and stereoscopic interpretation toward advanced work flows that result in the development of 3D models, spatial databases with extended attribution and near real-time virtual reality.

When we used to compatr satellite images to aerial photogrammetry, our frame of reference seemed oriented toward ‘the map’ but today the very concept of a map is changing. Cloud services are providing new opportunities for services to be delivered to buyers who have both advanced professional capabilities and use needs while also meeting volunteer organisations and individuals who benefit from the information they provide, but who could care less how it is actually done.

Earlier I reported on BlomURBEX, a European based company that is offering a combination of integrated services online whose aerial imagery provides the basis for their development. Infoterra SKAPE is another product that I have worked with which integrates high-resolution satellite imagery with advanced markup capabilities right on the image using Cloud based services. The benefits of the connection of Vexcel images to Microsoft’s pipeline of Microsoft SQL Server for Spatial Data seems obvious.

While the GIS community has grasped the significance of imagery for Cloud services oriented toward advanced geoprocessing, the connection of aerial imagery to building design and architectural designs in CAD environments, through Cloud services, is not as yet obvious. Imagine designing a building within an imagery environment, crazy idea?

New innovations in computer technology, visualisation and Internet delivered services are stretching the benefits of satellite and aerial imagery away from resolution alone to include processing and delivery of information and ultimately new knowledge that businesses can differentiate upon. If I asked you today, “do you want 1 meter imagery without services or 5 meter imagery with services” which would you choose?

But the differences in revisitation are critically important. And these decisions are highly oriented to the application at hand. It is now hard to imagine agricultural producers accepting imagery of any kind only once a growing season. When earthquakes happen now, As both Chile and Haiti have recently proven, the expectation and demand is for immediate pictures to assess the situation.

A shift toward earth processes is underway that is related to high-resolution and timely imagery. Water movement, carbon dynamics, atmospheric aerosols, security applications and others are all resulting in applications that are ‘deepening’ as they seek to understand and monitor the processes that give rise to the spectral responses within imagery sources themselves. Do we have enough people to understand these processes, let alone how they are interpreted and expressed through imagery?

The comparison of satellite imagery to aerial photogrammetry today is not as simple as it once was. Advances on many fronts including computation, services, knowledge, hardware and software not to mention cost are all considerations. Perhaps the best comparison lies in the alignment of convergence for each of these toward usefulness. If your imagery is not pointing toward increased usefulness today, and in a speedy way, then it probably is not measuring up.

Additional Information:

“Photogrammetry Versus LiDAR: Clearing the Air”:

ISFEREA – Geo-Spatial Information Analysis for Global Security and Stability”:

“Object-Oriented Classification of High Resolution Satellite Image for Better Accuracy”:

“LiDAR and High Resolution Stereo Satellite images for – Map India 2010”:

“Report EuroSDR – State-of-the-art of automated generalisation in commercial software”:

“Towards Integration of Laser Scanning and Photogrammetry”

NASA Mission Bridges Satellite Gap; NSIDC Bridges Data Access”:

Written by Jeff Thurston.
Source V1

Company’s Industry-Leading ImageLibrary Offers Timely Access to Highly Accurate, Current Imagery from All Corners of the Earth

Longmont, Colo. and San Jose, Calif. (Where 2.0 Conference), March 31, 2010 – DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution world-imagery products and services for defense and intelligence, civil government, and commercial customers, today announced that its industry-leading content library now contains more than one billion square kilometers of earth imagery, 33 percent of which is less than one year old.

“The unrivaled quality and quantity contained in DigitalGlobe’s ImageLibrary is what allows us to deliver the imagery our customers need when they need it,” said Jill Smith, CEO of DigitalGlobe. “The power of our industry-leading constellation enables us to persistently break new ground for the industry and we strive to offer our customers the largest collection of accurate, current satellite imagery available.”

DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-1, QuickBird and recently launched WorldView-2 satellites combine to form the industry’s largest satellite constellation. These three satellites, together with DigitalGlobe’s aerial network, enable the company to offer the highest collection capacity of high-resolution earth imagery to customers around the world, adding roughly 1.5 million square kilometers of imagery every day or three times the Earth’s landmass annually. The result is DigitalGlobe’s highly complete ImageLibrary, containing imagery used to inform critical decisions across a range of industries.

To see samples of DigitalGlobe’s diverse imagery, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalglobe-imagery/.

To learn more about DigitalGlobe and its ImageLibrary, please visit www.digitalglobe.com.

About DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe (http://www.digitalglobe.com) is a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services. Sourced from our own advanced satellite constellation, our imagery solutions support a wide variety of uses within defense and intelligence, civil agencies, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, internet portals and navigation technology. With our collection sources and comprehensive ImageLibrary (containing more than one billion square kilometers of earth imagery and imagery products) we offer a range of on- and off-line products and services designed to enable customers to easily access and integrate our imagery into their business operations and applications. For more information, please visit www.digitalglobe.com.

After several decades of research and development into hyperspectral imaging, which greatly enhances our ability to characterise the state of Earth, the technique has been embraced by the Earth-observation community and has entered the mainstream of remote sensing.

The idea behind hyperspectral imaging, also known as imaging spectroscopy, is simple. In the 1970s, multispectral remote sensors produced images with relatively few broad wavelength bands that allowed us to understand our environment better. If acquiring images in just a few spectral bands afforded this, wouldn’t a few hundred narrow spectral bands offer even more?

This thinking led to the birth of hyperspectral imaging in the early 1980s with the Airborne Visible-Infra Red Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) developed at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Before AVIRIS, technological limitations prevented spectrometers from being used on moving platforms.

Only two such sensors are currently in orbit – Hyperion on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite and CHRIS on ESA’s Proba-1 – and none that enables the global mapping of Earth.

CHRIS is Europe’s only flying imaging spectrometer, with a spatial resolution of 17 m in up to 62 bands. Despite being designed for a one-year life, it is now operating in its ninth year and is serving more than 300 scientific groups in more than 50 countries. Its data support a wide range of applications, such as land surface, coastal zone and aerosol monitoring.

These hyperspectral instruments will not be alone in space for long: three missions are planned to join them within the next five years.

Italy’s ASI space agency plans to launch Prisma, a medium-resolution hyperspectral imaging mission, in 2012. Prisma’s hyperspectral camera will be able to acquire images in about 235 channels in the visible and near-infrared and short-wave infrared.

“Prisma is an Earth-observation system with innovative electro-optical instrumentation that combines a hyperspectral sensor with a panchromatic, medium-resolution camera,” said ASI’s Prisma System Manager Giancarlo Varacalli. “The advantages of this combination are that, in addition to the capabilities offered by hyperspectral sensors, which can determine the chemical-physical composition of the target, the panchromatic adds a higher spatial resolution and the recognition of the geometrical characteristics of the scene.”

“This offers the scientific community and users many applications in the field of environmental monitoring, resource management, crop classification, pollution control, etc. Further applications are possible even in the field of national security,” explained ASI’s Prisma Mission Manager Francesco Longo.

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) are planning to launch the EnMAP hyperspectral satellite in 2014 to map Earth’s surface in over 200 narrow colour channels at the same time.

“The primary goal of EnMAP is to offer accurate, diagnostic information on the state and evolution of terrestrial ecosystems on a timely and frequent basis, and to allow for a detailed analysis of surface parameters with regard to the characterisation of vegetation canopies, rock/soil targets and coastal waters on a global scale,” explained EnMAP Project Scientist Prof. Herrmann Kaufmann of GFZ.

“EnMAP is designed to record bio-physical, biochemical and geo-chemical variables to increase our understanding of biospheric/geospheric processes and to ensure the sustainability of our resources.”

In 2015, NASA plans to launch the HyspIRI mission, which will acquire images with 210 spectral bands. It will study the processes that indicate volcanic eruption; analyse the nutrients and water status of vegetation; study deforestation; provide early warning of droughts; among others.

Nearly 200 scientists from Europe and North America gathered at ESA’s Earth Observation Centre in Frascati, Italy, last week to discuss the current and future hyperspectral/imaging spectroscopy capacity.

The 2010 Hyperspectral Remote Sensing Workshop, co-organised by ESA, DLR, GFZ and ASI, covered topics ranging from products and applications of hyperspectral data use in agriculture, geology, land surface, atmosphere, coastal zones, urban areas, etc. that have been built up and supported by ESA’s CHRIS Proba mission over the past eight years.

Source ESA

Fifty years ago, on April 1, 1960, the first weather satellite was launched from the United States. Called TIROS-1, the Earth observation satellite saw a typhoon forming east of Australia. Today, NASA and NOAA celebrate the milestone in the history of weather observation from space.

The April 1, 2010 NASA media release “NASA and NOAA mark 50 years of weather watching from space” states that “Fifty years ago, the world’s first weather satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., opening a new and exciting dimension in weather forecasting.”

Leaders of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hail the event as the beginning of modern-day weather forecasting from space.

According to the NASA article “The first image from the Television Infrared Observation Satellite, known as TIROS-1, was a fuzzy picture of thick bands and clusters of clouds over America.”

And, “An image captured a few days later revealed a typhoon approximately 1,000 miles east of Australia.”

The TIROS-1 polar-orbiting satellite was launched at 6:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on April 1, 1960, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in the United States.

Its nearly circular orbit ranged from 435.5 miles (700.9 kilometers ) to 468.3 miles (753.6 kilometers) above the surface of Earth.

Although TIROS-1, at only 270 pounds of mass, only was operational for less than three months, its ability to image atmospheric conditions (with two onboard cameras and two video recorders) from its perch in orbit above Earth proved that space-based satellites were excellent ways to make weather forecasting more accurate.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden stated in recognition of the historic TIROS-1 accomplishment: “TIROS-1 started the satellite observations and interagency collaborations that produced vast improvements in weather forecasts, which have strengthened the nation. It also laid the foundation for our current global view of Earth that underlies all of climate research and the field of Earth system science.”

Please read the NASA article, mentioned earlier, in more detail for additional information on TIROS-1 and the history of weather forecasting from space.

To learn more about the history of weather satellites, please go to the following websites: NASA’s Weather Satellites and NOAA’s NOAA’s Environmental Satellites: A History.

Source ITWIRE

A GIFTSS Implementation Test

In 2009 the Scottish Government launched its Soil Framework for Scotland which highlighted the need for a monitoring scheme to identify trends in soil condition. A central theme for this framework concerns the link between soil erosion and climate change and the large soil carbon reserves that exist in the soils of Scotland.

Environment Systems were commissioned by the Scottish Government, working with the British National Space Centre (BNSC) under the GIFTSS programme (Government Information from the Space Sector), to evaluate satellite earth observation as a cost-effective method for assessing the extent and severity of erosion in the upland organic soils of Scotland.

Environment Systems specialise in the development and use of geographic information in the environment, agriculture, land and property sectors. The company has a strong track record with government and corporate organisations across the UK and the rest of Europe. This has been developed through delivering independent, professional and cost effective services and solutions with the use of geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, database and internet technologies.

The GIFTSS study was set up to deliver an implementation test of the mapping of peat erosion using earth observation. The study was based on the Monadhliath Mountains which are located within the westernmost range of the Grampian Mountains in the highlands of Scotland.

Peatlands are one of the most important ecosystems in terms of carbon retention. The spatial extent and mosaic of exposed peat, vegetated bog surfaces and pools is a highly important component in regards to the potential modelling of the carbon budget of peatlands and related climate change phenomena. As long as the erosion rates of organic matter within the peat bog are lower than the rates of accumulation, it functions as a carbon sink.

Peat erosion features range in scale from local events to the extensive degradation of plant cover and associated exposure of bare peat. This exposure leads to the surface layers of the peat mass becoming less structurally cohesive through the action of frost and desiccation. Rain may then penetrate down these desiccation cracks leading to the development of gully systems (Figure 1). Other erosion features prevalent in peatland environments include rills and sheet features, peat slips and peat bursts.

For the study area SPOT5, IRS P6 and ASTER satellite imagery were prepared; including full geometric and atmospheric correction. Critical to the success of the project was the availability and full integration (into the automated processing chain) of current digital aerial photography. This image data was then complemented by GIS datasets that, whilst often historical and at differing scales and nomenclatures, provided a set of core topographic and thematic information.

Definiens eCognition object orientated rule-based classification software was used to classify the imagery into a set of ‘core level’ data, which in turn was used to produce ‘application level’ data; in this case peat erosion maps. eCognition was chosen due to its ability to take into account both the spatial and spectral information in high-resolution remote sensing imagery, its relative ease in realising the processing of a large remote sensing dataset, its ability to include ancillary information in the segmentation process, and its fast execution Outputs include standard vector and raster formats which can be easily used as inputs within future analyses.

The segmentation procedure involved the creation of three levels, which were used to classify object features at different scales. Within the upper level (Integration Level), all external datasets (i.e. OS MasterMap) were synchronised within a chessboard segmentation procedure and excluded from further classification. The multi-resolution segmentation algorithm was then used to segment the remaining areas of the image to aid in the removal of all other areas not associated with peat erosion features (i.e. Woodland, Non Peat vegetation) to separate the areas of blanket bog.

This segmentation was subsequently carried down to create an Earth Observation (EO) level A finer multi-resolution segmentation within the SPOT data applied to areas of blanket bog to aid in the classification of smaller peat features within the EO data.

Finally, within the lowest level (Air Photo Level), a very fine multi-resolution segmentation using the aerial photography was performed to delineate peat erosion features present within the aerial photography (Figure 2). This segmentation was applied within the areas previously classified to be potential peat erosion regions within the EO layer. The integration, of EO and Air Photo levels forms the basic data building blocks for the production of a range of maps at the level of detail required. Figure 3 shows how the classifications could be incorporated into an assessment of erosion risk.

Specific small scale peat erosion features could not be identified through only the use of moderate EO data such as SPOT and ASTER. It was however possible to establish the larger areas of bare peat which are present.

The use of aerial photography enabled the smaller scale peat erosion features to be delineated with features such as peat gullies classified to a high level of detail. The use of aerial photography alone though did not enable the discrimination between areas of bare peat, and dark, vegetated areas dominated by species such as Calluna vulgaris. Therefore it was necessary to utilise the greater spectral information of satellite based EO data to initially target areas, within which the finer resolution aerial imagery could be applied.


Figure 2 – Air photo level classification


Figure 3 – Erosion risk level classification

Overall map accuracy was calculated at over 84%. The classified map and both the in-situ field data and aerial imagery clearly coincided with one another. Within the accuracy assessment for the land cover maps several layers of uncertainty exist. The primary layer of uncertainty was found in the field and consists of ecotones between one land cover type and another e.g., where a degraded bog becomes a peat erosion feature is not necessarily a ‘hard’ line on the ground. In many cases, the slump at the end of a peat hag has resulted in clumps of bog vegetation within the bare peat area. Where these are frequent, the area is eroding bog; where they are infrequent the area would be considered ‘bare peat’, but the land in-between has a degree of uncertainty.

The success of the project is based on not simply considering this as an ecological project, or as a remote sensing project. Rather, the coupling ecological knowledge with remote sensing expertise and EO information content provided a solution to a complex mapping challenge. EO, and in particular the combination of airborne and spaceborne imagery, offers the opportunity for consistent, objective mapping over a range of mapping scales.

It is proposed that the Scottish Government should adopt the use of EO for mapping and monitoring peat erosion across Scotland, initially through a short project to confirm the transferability of the approach to a second area of Scotland. This could take the form of a ‘rapid implementation’ to assess and confirm the biogeographical effect on erosion processes. A project of this nature would also provide an additional short term output for the Scottish Government, including further examination of additional ‘application levels’ that could usefully be generated from the ‘’core levels’ in support of policy delivery, whilst full funding is being considered.

The full report and downloadable PDF can be found here
Environment Systems Ltd
Address: 8G Cefn Llan Science Park, Aberystwyth, SY23 3AH
Phone: +44 (0) 1970 626688
E-mail: mark.jarman@envsys.co.uk
Website: www.envsys.co.uk

ERDAS announces new training courses for ERDAS IMAGINE 2010 in Liège, Belgium. The first course will be held on January 26-27, 2010, with reservations being accepted via www.erdas.com/training.

ERDAS IMAGINE 2010 is an all in one, fully integrated desktop authoring platform, incorporating image analysis, remote sensing and GIS capabilities. Featuring a new ribbon interface, ERDAS IMAGINE makes it easier for users to streamline workflows and customize their workspace. ERDAS IMAGINE also provides enhanced tools for parallel batch processing, spatial modeling, map production, mosaicking and change detection. In addition, ERDAS IMAGINE also incorporates the ERDAS ER Mapper algorithms and implements OGC standards.

This two day course includes instruction on the most recently added functionality and enhancements made to ERDAS IMAGINE. Appropriate for both novice and experienced ERDAS IMAGINE users, this course will include a brief introduction to the product, with the majority of time devoted to ERDAS IMAGINE 2010. Key areas of focus include the new Ribbon interface, added customization options and shortcuts, tips and tricks to streamline and simplify the ERDAS IMAGINE experience. The course also provides an overview of the new and updated modules in ERDAS IMAGINE, including the recently released IMAGINE Feature Interoperability and IMAGINE SAR Interferometry.

Last year, ERDAS opened its expanded training center in Liège, Belgium. Supporting ERDAS’ growth in Europe, the center contains state-of-the art training and meeting facilities, in a convenient and central location for customers and business partners.

This facility offers regular and complete training in ERDAS’ desktop authoring products, as well as introductory courses in ERDAS’ enterprise solutions. Some other upcoming courses include Fundamentals of ERDAS IMAGINE I & II, Introduction to ERDAS Enterprise, Introduction to LPS, IMAGINE Defense Analysis, Multispectral Classification and Spatial Modeling & Expert Systems.

ERDAS’ expanded training center is located within the company’s Liège office at Quai Timmermans 14/01, 4000 Liège, Belgium. The phone number for this office is +32 4 364 03 64.

For more information about ERDAS, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit www.erdas.com.

A major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on 12 January, causing major casualties and damage. The quake was followed by several aftershocks with magnitudes over 5.0.


ESA website

Such a powerful earthquake can make current maps suddenly out of date, causing additional challenges to rescue workers on the ground. Earth observation satellite images can help rescue efforts by providing updated views of how the landscape and the infrastructure have been affected.

IMAGE

Following the event, the French Civil Protection authorities, the Public Safety of Canada, the American Earthquake Hazards Programme of USGS and the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti requested satellite data of the area from the International Charter on ‘Space and Major Disasters’. The initiative, referred to as ‘The Charter’, is aimed at providing satellite data free of charge to those affected by disasters anywhere in the world.

To meet the requirements of the rescue teams in Haiti, Very High Resolution imagery is needed from both optical and radar sensors. Through the Charter, the international space community is acquiring satellite imagery as quickly as possible. Currently, data are being collected by various satellites including Japan’s ALOS, CNES’s Spot-5, the U.S.’s WorldView and QuickBird, Canada’s RADARSAT-2 and ESA’s ERS-2 and Envisat.

Satellite imagery acquired immediately after the event are used to generate emergency maps to provide rescue services with an overview of the current state of the area. These can be compared with situation maps generated from archived satellite data to identify major changes on the ground caused by the disaster.

Comparison of the maps from before and after the event allows areas that have been hit hardest to be distinguished and identify passable routes for relief and rescue workers. Additionally, they can help to identify areas which are suitable for setting up aid camps where medical support and shelter can be provided to people.

Radar satellites are able to peer through clouds, which is an asset when weather conditions prevent the use of optical satellite instruments. Radar imagery can be used to identify hazards such as landslides that may be triggered by earthquakes. In the long term, radar data can also be processed to map surface deformations caused by earthquakes to help scientists understand better seismic events.

The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security’s SAFER project is collaborating with the Charter to provide a specialised capacity to produce damage maps over the area. SAFER’s value-adding providers SERTIT from Strasbourg and the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) centre for satellite-based crisis information (ZKI) from Munich are currently working on this.

In the framework of SAFER, other user organisations, including the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and the UN World Food Programme, have requested damage-mapping services. Based on the collaboration between the Charter and SAFER, the first space-maps derived from crisis data acquired on 13 January were produced by SERTIT within 24 hours as rapid situation maps to help locate damaged areas with up-to-date cartographic material.

Together with ESA and CNES, the Charter, founded in 2000, currently has 10 members: the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Argentine Space Agency (CONAE), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the British National Space Centre/Disaster Monitoring Constellation (BNSC/DMC), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Via the Charter mechanism, all of these agencies have committed to provide free and unrestricted access to their space assets to support relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of a major disaster.

The Charter also collaborates with other satellite damage-mapping initiatives within the UN such as the UNITAR/UNOSAT team who is receiving support from the U.S. government to analyse satellite imagery to be provided to the Haitian government, UN sister agencies and NGOs.

To learn more about the Charter and to find updated maps on the Haiti earthquake, please visit the links on the right.

Source ESA

GMES.Info website

The GMES Emergency Response Service has been triggered

SAFER, through a collaboration with the International Charter, has been triggered to provide Emergency Mapping service on the Earthquake that struck Haïti.

The COGIC (French Civil Protection), the BBK (German Civil Protection), the World Food Program and UNOOSA have already expressed their interest and specific requirements.

In order to complement the type of data already tasked by the International Charter, SAFER has been specifically triggered to get through GEST very high resolution radar data.

Today, the GMES emergency service has published maps of the Haitian capital Port au Prince. The maps provide an overview of damages (buildings, bridges, roads, etc.).

Yesterday the service delivered a first reference map with background information (e.g. population, epicentre location, etc).
More information on the GMES Emergency Response Service is available on the SAFER
website. The maps can be downloaded here

Source

Related news at ESA website
Satellite data look behind the scenes of deadly earthquake
Satellites show how Earth moved during Italy quake
Respond consortium making maps out of satellite images to support Pakistan disaster relief
Related Missions
Envisat overview
ERS overview
Third Party Missions overview
In depth
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters
GMES
Earth watching: Haiti earthquake
Related links
SERTIT
GMES SAFER
UNOSAT
DLR

Other related websites:
SpaceFlightNow

Vexcel Imaging GmbH, a Microsoft company, will roll out release 2.0 of its UltraMap photogrammetric software to customers beginning January 25, 2010. UltraMap 2.0 continues the tradition of providing a flexible and scalable distributed system for managing and processing vast amounts of UltraCam data.


The features of UltraMap 2.0 are implemented in five modules:
1. Framework
2. Raw Data Center
3. Radiometry
4. Viewer
5. Aerial Triangulation

UltraMap includes features for managing data download, distributed processing using load balancing and resource management, aerial triangulation, and interactive data visualization for quality control. Use of Microsoft’s Dragonfly technology enables incredibly smooth and high-resolution image browsing and zooming for very large sets of data content. Dragonfly supports multi-channel 16-bit UltraCam imagery for high quality visualization within the complete photogrammetric workflow.

Aerial triangulation has been integrated smoothly into the workflow, and includes new radiometry with gamma and levels dialog. The other new features are concentrated in the Raw Data Center and the Radiometry modules. Of particular note, “Monolithic stitching” is a new feature of the Raw Data Center that improves geometric image accuracy by a magnitude for unstructured terrain. In the Radiometry module, UltraMap 2.0 introduces model-based radiometric correction that enables users to eliminate hotspots, atmospheric effects and haze.

Internet: www.microsoft.com/ultracam/news/umap20.mspx

Source