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China is going to set up its own three-dimensional (3D) Internet mapping system to provide high resolution photos to domestic online users, Changjiang Daily reported last February.

The program, launched by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, is equivalent to “Google Earth”, a global mapping server with a database storing numerous geographic images.

Engineers from the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping discussed the technology in a conference held in Shanghai at the end of last November.

Assistant Professor Chen Jing from State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, said:

“In view of market demand, Google Earth only provides high resolution pictures taken from North America and Europe.”

According to Chen, compared with Google Earth, the pictures provided by the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping feature higher resolution and cover a wider range of national territory. As long as the place is not subject to significant security restrictions, online users can search wherever they want in the country, said Chen.

“We have the edge on building a domestic geographic database by collecting the pictures drawn with global position system (GPS) or taken from the sky,” she explained.

China used to operate tight restrictions on geographic photos with resolution higher than 30 meters. But the launch of Google Earth, featuring pictures with best resolution of 0.6 meters, acted as an inspiration on domestic researchers, Chen said. “We can provide pictures not involving confidential information to the public to meet market demand.”

Google Earth’s reports of its US$1-billion advertising revenue and India’s eager involvement in online mapping technology have motivated China to speed up its development in the mapping server program. To date, a research group led by Li Deren, an academician from the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping, has designed a soft-ware called “Geo Globle” with the capability of dealing with the data involved, including 3-D pictures, aerial photos and information concerning borders, railways and aircraft routes.

According to Chen, although the soft-ware, having taken 10 years to complete, still needs to be tested, the technology will become the backbone of a domestically-designed mapping server program. The researchers do not want to take any risk with national security by using overseas software. So far, Geo Globle has been applied in the Heilongjiang Geographic Information System, the Fujian Electric Power System and the national defense system. The technology is now awaiting approval from the State Council.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, February 12, 2009)

Source

The MORSE Initiative focuses on the information needs of Arctic coastal users in government, non-governmental, municipal, industrial and scientific organizations.

Particular emphasis is on those needs that can be satisfied, in whole or in part, by Earth Observation (EO) data from satellites. This new initiative is jointly managed by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and European Space Agency (ESA). The MORSE consultation workshop opens a dialogue with users and lays the foundation for a subsequent Request for Proposals and Invitation to Tender early in 2009 by CSA and ESA, respectively. The MORSE initiative is summarized in a Concept Paper (in PDF format). http://www.morsearctic.net/docs/concept_paper.pdf

Source Geodatapolicy

MORSE

British satellite manufacture, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), has signed a 30M€ contract with Astrium GmbH, Germany for the supply of a Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) EarthCARE mission.

Mr Bruno Le Stradic, Director of Earth Observation and Science, Astrium Satellites and Dr Matt Perkins, SSTL’s CEO signed the contract at SSTL’s Optical Payload Group facility in Sevenoaks, Kent.

The EarthCARE mission aims to improve the understanding of the Earth’s radiation balance and to minimize uncertainties in climate change prediction models by measuring simultaneously the vertical structure and horizontal distribution of cloud and aerosol fields together with outgoing radiation over all climate zones.

The contract demonstrates SSTL’s expertise in providing high quality scientific instruments which complement its world renowned small satellite capability. The SSTL-built MSI will use new technologies developed in Europe to provide information on the horizontal structures of clouds, such as cloud type and cover, and cloud optical and microphysical properties. Operating from an orbit of around 400km, the MSI will image the Earth at 500-metres ground sample distance (GSD) over a swath width of 150km. The instrument will provide spatial context for the single-point measurements made by the radar and LIDAR systems, imaging the Earth in 7 spectral bands: one visible, one near-infrared (IR), two short-wave IR and three thermal IR.

The EarthCARE Mission is part of the Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP) led by ESA, to cover primary research objectives. The EarthCARE Mission will be the third Earth Explorer Core Mission and will be implemented in collaboration with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) who will provide one of the core instruments.

SSTL is supported in the MSI programme by TNO from The Netherlands who are acting as subcontractors to SSTL.

About SSTL
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) develops innovative technologies to change the economics of space, delivering cost effective satellite missions within rapid timescales that provide critical and valuable services to customers across the globe. The Company is a world leader in the design, manufacture and operation of high performance small satellites with experience gained over more than 25 years and 32 satellites launched.

SSTL employs almost 300 staff working on LEO, MEO, GEO and interplanetary missions, turnkey satellite platforms and space-proven satellite subsystems and optical systems. The Company also provides training and development programmes and consultancy services, and performs studies for ESA, NASA and commercial customers related to platform design, mission analysis and planning.

Based in Guildford, UK, SSTL is owned by EADS Astrium NV.

About Astrium
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to providing civil and defence space systems and services. In 2007, Astrium had a turnover of €3.5 billion and 12,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and its wholly owned subsidiary Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.

EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007, EADS generated revenues of €39.1 billion and employed a workforce of more than 116,000.

Notes to editor:
Supporting photography for this press release can be downloaded from the online press room. These can be previewed in the printable pdf version of this press release, that can be downloaded from the SSTL online press room :
http://www.ballard.co.uk/sstl/

SSTL Contact:
Audrey Nice, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804200 Email: a.nice@sstl.co.uk

Press Contact:
Robin Wolstenholme, Ballard Communications Management (BCM)
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288 Email: r.wolstenholme@ballard.co.uk

Global Marketing Insights, Inc. has completed the “2008 Africa Survey and Analysis of the Remote Sensing Market, Aerial and Spaceborne-10 Year Trends” and delivered the final report to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

The USGS contracted Global Marketing Insights to conduct a research study of the Africa remote sensing market as it relates to aerial and satellite data technologies. Global Marketing Insights created a series of extensive on-line surveys encompassing trends impacting the remote sensing industry as well as application usage, and data needs concerning aerial film, aerial digital, aerial sensors and satellite data. These surveys were completed between January 2008 and January 2009.

“USGS’s primary goal for the survey was to learn more about the remote sensing needs for Africa in order to support and assist the users,” said Dr. Shawana Johnson, President of Global Marketing Insights. “The survey study also provides a comparison to the Western and Asian studies that were previously completed (through NOAA contracts) and it provides insights into where the worldwide remote sensing market is heading – from the viewpoints of both data and service providers and end users.”

Global Marketing Insights established an international network of 13 Alliance Research Partners that hosted the website for the surveys and encouraged in-country clients to participate in the online survey. Ultimately, 377 online surveys were completed, as well as 20 in-depth personal interviews recorded.

Participants in all segments of the geospatial industry will find valuable market insight in the USGS 2008 Africa Remote Sensing Survey report. Some of these trends and insights include:

 There is a positive movement in the use of remote sensing and opportunities for the use of geospatial data to make an even greater societal contribution to Africa’s sustainable development in the near future.

 The private sector is starting to drive the process of developing geospatial data on the continent.

 Respondents believe they have an adequate amount of remote sensing expertise but they need a greater number of accessible geospatial data sets. Data becoming a commodity is the number one trend to impact them.

 Overall, the respondents believe that greater ground resolution is the technical advance that will impact their businesses the most followed by improved GPS units and increased data storage capabilities.

About Global Marketing Insights, Inc.:
Established in 1997, Global Marketing Insights, Inc. provides a wide range of business planning and market research services, including targeted product/service market studies and competitive market research. Global Marketing Insights, Inc. provides strategic planning and market research to government agencies and private sector firms seeking to develop their geospatial business interests. Global Marketing Insights Inc. is a sub contractor to the USDA FAS Office of Global Analysis providing market research and business planning capabilities. Global Marketing Insights, Inc. is the author of the NOAA 2005-2015 International Remote Sensing Study and the NOAA 2006-2016 Asian Remote Sensing Study. Call Sherry Loy 216-525-0600 with questions concerning the 2009 South America Remote Sensing Research Study.

Visit Global Marketing Insights, Inc. in Booth# 713 at the ASPRS Conference, Baltimore, MD March 10-13th to receive a FREE COPY of the most recent US, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia Remote Sensing Studies.

Sherry Loy (sherryloy@praeis.com)
Phone: 1-216-525-0600
Source

Moscow, Russia – The first to be put in orbit at the end of 2009/early 2010 (WAPA)

The Russian Space Agency plans to launch a series of KANOPUS Earth observation satellites, with the first two due for launch at the end of 2009/early 2010.

KANOPUS-V is being developed for Russia and will record abnormal phenomena to study the possibility of earthquake prediction as well as monitoring agriculture, water and coastal resources. The satellite will carry a Russian-built 2.1m panchromatic imager plus a 10.5m multispectral imager.

Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has delivered to the customer, FSUE NPP VNIIEM, the first two suites of equipment for the KANOPUS-type satellite platforms.

The equipment now in Russia has successfully completed two weeks of tests, marking a major milestone for the project and the customer. Work is now underway to integrate the equipment into the first two satellites, under a joint operation with VNIIEM and SSTL engineers.

(Source Avionews)

More info at v1

Spacemart

Following the survey of the EO Service Industry in Europe and Canada conducted in 2003 to characterise its composition, the EO products and service offerings as well as working practices and financial health over the 2000-2002 period, a new survey has been successfully completed to analyse the private sector service providers’ evolution in 2003-2007.

Final Report on the 2003 – 2007 period

The study, conducted by Vega and supported by representatives of the EO service industry , gathered information from 74 companies from an identified population of 151 companies. Further detailed financial information was gathered for 40 companies.

Highlights

· -Companies remain predominantly small (less than 10 employees) or medium (11 – 60) with only 9% of the companies classed as “large”. However, much of the innovative development is found among the large number of smaller companies.

· -Employee numbers have been growing at a rate of 6.6% annually from 2003 to 2006, with a final total number of employees estimated to be approximately 3000.

· -Revenue levels have shown a growth of just above 7% for the same 2003-2006 period while productivity has remained stable at 105k€ per member of staff, and so total value adding revenue for the industry in 2006 is estimated to be 306 M€ while profitability is typically below 10% and concentrated in a few larger companies.

· -What has changed over the period is a widening range of EO thematic services, where Land use monitoring and Cartographic & Topographic Mapping, Marine and Coastal Surveillance and Agriculture are the primary thematic areas.

· -Similarly, EO products are supplied to a wider range of market sectors and now have strong presence in Environment, Regional planning, Oil, Gas & Mining and Forestry. The largest customer group is public sector operational entities.

· -Another notable change is a shift in primary price drivers away from staff costs and competitive pricing pressures towards recognising costs of data and return on development costs.

· -The anticipated impacts of emerging market forces such as Google Earth have yet to filter through to this sector, although many report a growing awareness as a secondary result of their presence.

The full executive summary (353KB) is available for download
To access the previous 2004 report please follow this link

SOURCE ESA

(March 2009) Perspectives Written by Matt Ball.

We need to do a better job as an industry educating decision makers about why geospatial technology matters. This was one of the main points that Anne Hale-Miglarese, principal at Booz Allen Hamilton and chair of the National Geospatial Advisory Committee, made in her talk at the 75th ASPRS Annual Meeting. While the complaint is not new, this time it really struck me because we’re living in a time that requires strong actions, and GIS is essential to informing that action for maximum efficiency.

Despite years of advocacy and outreach, there’s still a disconnect between the capability and promise of geospatial technology, and the public’s perception. In these days of belt tightening, you may be hearing the suggestion from uninitiated executives to jettison GIS, and all our sophisticated data collection efforts, and just use Google Earth. As the current most visible face of the industry, the Google map environment does a good job of representing, with continuously updated content and a strong focus on the user experience. But Google is just an aggregator of maps and geographical information, and will never be a provider of professional applications.

We need to reinforce this distinction between maps and GIS loudly and clearly, and we must illustrate how much more can be done with geospatial technology. We need to show the benefits of investing to collect nationwide imagery, to map elevation and features more accurately, and to collect data in geospatial systems. It’s these enhanced activities, done by a legion of professionals, that provide the underpinnings for sophisticated solutions. But the public largely isn’t aware of these behind the scenes systems.

Global Change

The heightened awareness of global change provides an incredible platform for geospatial technology to make a difference, and to be recognized for its importance. Issues of energy and environment are central to global policy directions right now, and the geospatial toolset is increasingly important for this decision making. Topics such as renewable energy, smart grid, carbon cap and trade, climate warming, coastal impacts, water and food all are geospatial problems with some established solutions.

If you are working on applying GIS to any of these problems of global change, it’s time to become an advocate. Maybe you’re with a municipality that’s starting to consider climate change as it relates to water use or flooding implications or perhaps you’re with a utility that’s starting to consider Smart Grid planning or renewable energy integration. These topics resonate with the public right now, and it’s your duty to your profession to reach out to local media to show how geospatial technology is making a difference.

There’s too much news about impending doom to just sit back in our cubicles and remain anonymous. Let’s show the public that there are tools that are being applied to help us get a better handle on our complex problems.

Analyzing and Communicating

Directives from the Obama administration to make government more accountable and transparent in their actions could prove key for broader awareness of the role that geospatial technology plays. There’s no better tool available for analyzing, prioritizing and communicating policy directions than geospatial technology.

We’ve already seen one state stand up a website to map stimulus spending, and there will likely be more. With billions of dollars being spent in the United States, and trillions being spent globally, the location of projects that receive funding are of strong public interest. The public wants to know where this money is going and how the spending affects their lives. Beyond just a dynamic map, I’d love to see communication of 4D construction tools to illustrate project status and time to completion.

A good deal of work has been done on communicating geospatial ROI, with GITA’s methodology and worksheets and the recent book from ESRI Press. But I think we’re at a point now where in-depth exercises to justify technology spending won’t matter so much. The focus is on results, and the sooner the better.

In this time of great global change, when our society could greatly benefit from broader and deeper applications of geospatial technology, let’s highlight applications and solutions that are having impact. With greater public awareness, we can ride this time of action to realize more technology advancement.

——————————————————————-

Note: This column alternates weekly between Vector1 Media editors. Matt Ball is editor Americas/Asia Pacific for V1 Magazine and V1 Energy magazine.

SOURCE V1

India is all set to launch a radar imaging satellite (RISAT) built with “substantial inputs” from the Israel aerospace industry from Sriharikota spaceport, an ISRO official said.

Israel has supplied Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is in fact “heart” of the 1780-kg remote sensing satellite, the official told PTI on condition of anonymity. “Israel has supplied substantial systems,” the ISRO official said.

The Israeli “inputs” are seen as a “return gesture” by the Jewish State to New Delhi for launching an Israeli spacecraft Techsar on board India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from Sriharikota last year.

RISAT is likely to be launched in the first half of April. We are looking at April five or six,” the official said.

An active sensor, SAR operates in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum and provides the target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness, and geometry.

Source: Press Trust of India

Due to popular demand DMCii has extended the proposal deadline for the free imagery for Science until 30th of April 2009.

Free high resolution multispectral satellite imagery from the next generation DMC satellites (UKDMC2 and Deimos-1) is offered to UK and Spanish researchers in support of important global environmental monitoring projects. DMCii and Deimos will provide free high resolution multispectral satellite imagery to 10 projects (5 in UK and 5 in Spain) from the two 22-metre multispectral satellites, due for launch in spring 2009.

For further information please have a look at DMCii

“related artcile“http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102628335197&s=12493&e=001tYYdO3ifR-P6hs-w6LguPEcQXOYfKL16Duot2T728260bpJ7×2xGNObeq-Jd5qmAmdpzDfCv79TMQK0G7XFH2iM8nLXDQFuyUm4qiMVOpYTcE3UAli1pFMCj82SOLo19UEMQ8SQFhm_mazuGCTZWY3jwmWlsLZgYU4bQK5_Iw9Sbq5-5FpUcd0-w8XZm2m2MCBpXyrMy-_0R9lRZdxFYGg==

More than 200 scientists from around the world have attended the weeklong POLinSAR 2009 workshop hosted at ESRIN, ESA’s Earth Observation centre in Frascati, Italy. Discussions among the participants include new techniques for providing vital information on our planet that could help to combat global warming through carbon accounting, wetland preservation and improve climate models.

Using the novel polarimetric mode of the PALSAR synthetic aperture radar (SAR) aboard Japan’s ALOS satellite, Dr Shane Cloude of the UK-based AEL Consultants has mapped the biomass of Scotland’s forests. This marks the first time biomass data has been extracted over a large area using this sensor mode.

Forests are one of the most significant onshore stores of carbon, absorbing carbon dioxide that would otherwise increase global warming. Mapping biomass – a quantitative estimate of the organic material in a forest – is important because it allows scientists to determine the forest’s capacity to store carbon.

This information will assist politicians and non-governmental organisations in planning strategies for combating global warming through international monitoring and carbon sequestering.

“Carbon trading is upon us, which means there is going to be a value to carbon and countries will be able to offset their emissions against carbon which is stored in their forests, for example,” Cloude explained. “There is going to be a need for a third party to assess or validate the estimates given by countries as well to monitor any changes in them such as deforestation or degradation.”

“Since one of the important variables for predicting climate change is to know what the balance between carbon sinks and sources will be, this kind of information can be fed directly into models to help improve predictions of climate change,” he said.

Cloude used the polarimetric mode with ALOS radar data from April to June 2007 to produce the biomass map, which he will update this year. ESA is supporting ALOS as a ‘Third Party Mission’. This means ESA uses its multi-mission European ground infrastructure and expertise to acquire, process and distribute data from the satellite to its wide scientific user community.

Cloude’s findings are now undergoing validation by being compared with data from Forest Research, Great Britain’s governmental department responsible for the protection and expansion of forests.

Another Earth Observation satellite in orbit equipped with the polarimetric mode is Canada’s Radarsat-2.

Dr Ridha Touzi, a Senior Research Scientist at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, is working in collaboration with Parks Canada to use the polarimetric mode aboard Radarsat-2 to map and monitor the wetlands in the Wapusk National Park.

Using the Convair 580 airborne SAR, he demonstrated that polarimetric data could distinguish fens from bogs in the Mer Bleu wetlands near Ottawa, Canada. Fens and bogs are two classes of wetlands, present in northern regions. The water level in fens is around 20 cm below the peat surface, while the water level in bogs is 45 cm below the peat surface.

It is well established that a lot of bogs in the Northern regions have reverted to fens because of global warming. Distinguishing this transformation is very important because the park’s bogs are a critical habitat for polar bears, with more than 1 500 living there.

Using the polarimetric technique with radar data, Touzi is able to detect the level of water, which is used to characterise the wetland’s type. With continued Radarsat-2 monitoring, it will be possible to detect changes that represent transformation and allow park officials to take action and minimise the threat.

Along with applications, scientists discussed the latest developments in SAR polarimetry and polarimetric interferometry and the need for the next generation of radar satellites to be equipped with advanced polarimetric modes.

More info at ESA