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(“Optimal”), a geomatics solutions provider to engineering and geospatial professionals, is pleased to announce the recent expansion of its linear corridor solutions to the Transportation market.

Accordingly, Optimal appointed Ron Gant as Director of Transportation to strengthen the drive to become the premier provider of surveying, mapping, remote sensing, GIS, and GPS solutions in the Transportation sector.
“Transportation projects depend upon reliable, accurate data and as a result the Transportation Industry has been in the forefront for developing technologies serving data acquisition and compilation for engineering and GIS,” stated Ron Gant, Director of Transportation. “Optimal is a leading edge provider of solutions and services for consulting, remote sensing, GPS, LiDAR and similar technologies. Optimal will focus resources on providing those leading edge solutions to meeting the needs of surveyors, engineers and GIS professionals in the Transportation Industry.”
Mr. Gant brings with him a wealth of experience to this sector including 16 years of executive experience with Bentley Systems and Intergraph Corporation. Mr. Gant‘s focus is on developing strong customer relationships and a growing market share in the transportation sector within North America.
“Mr. Gant has a proven track record in the Transportation sector of building products and market share. I am confident that this market will be well-served by his leadership and benefit from his commitment to bringing the latest geomatics solutions to the customer‘s enterprise,” commented Colum Caldwell, President and CEO.
Optimal Geomatics specializes in the science and technology of gathering, analyzing, interpreting, distributing and using geographic information. Optimal applies the disciplines of surveying, mapping, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and global positioning system (GPS) to provide solutions for engineering and geospatial professionals. Optimal‘s geomatics solutions enable State Departments of Transportation to streamline tasks and projects related to operations, road routes, intermodal connectivity, traffic congestion, safety improvements, engineering, conservations / environmental protection, and more.
This document may contain forward-looking statements. These statements present management‘s expectations, beliefs, plans, and objectives regarding future events and conditions and, as such, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could be significantly different from those projected.
(Source Spatialnews)

POSTEL is a thematic centre associating R&D and services to describe the soil and vegetation from Earth Observation satellite data, at regional and global scales.

It is supported by several national public institutions . It develops through a series of projects .
The POSTEL products are spatialized variables describing :
- Vegetation and Soils with products such as Leaf Area Index, vegetal cover fraction, fAPAR, burnt areas, surface reflectance, land cover
- Radiation with products such as albedo, BRDF,surface temperature , downwelling radiation flux shortwave and longwave
- Water with products such as soil moisture, precipitation, water bodies, evapotranspiration, continental water level
The products are available to the international science community and can be downloaded.
More information at:
Marc Leroy
Centre de Service POSTEL,
MEDIAS-
France
Email: marc.leroy@medias.cnes.fr
(Source POSTEL)

Space and Society
Conference “Space Options for the 21st Century”, February 27 to March 1, 2007

INTRODUCTION
This conference follows on from the 1st Impact of Space on Society conference held as a stand-alone International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) event held in Budapest in March 2005 and is intended to gather experts interested in this broad, complex and international topic at a time when the world is celebrating not only the 50th anniversary of spaceflight, but also the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical/Polar Year. The conference is hosted by the European Space Agency (ESA) at its large R&D establishment in Noordwijk, The Netherlands and is co-organized with the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) and the International Academy of Astronautics. It is anticipated to hold a third such conference, organized by CASI and co-organized with ESA and the IAA in Canada in 2008.
The conference will explore some of the many important and critical issues which are having an impact on society such as global warming and climate change, natural disasters, energy needs and resources, water management and security with a view to emphasizing how space systems, technologies and applications are helping to provide viable solutions to terrestrial problems.
The conference will also examine the role of innovation, creativity and spin-in in conceptualizing, designing, developing and building technologies for space exploration and how this can be harnessed for societal good. To this end, entrepreneurs will be able to show how their ideas and concepts to utilize space technologies for new products and services can help meet society?s needs.
TOPICS
Papers are sought which address such topics as:
? Critical issues and choices facing society in the not so distant future
? How space developments and space technologies can realistically provide solutions to urgent
terrestrial challenges
? Space exploration as a catalyst for providing solutions to terrestrial problems
? Achieving sustainable development through space activities
? National and global space policy issues and priorities
? The impact that space activities are having upon society and how the public perceives them
? Benefits of space in our daily life – technology transfers and spin-offs
? Innovation and creativity in space systems design and development
? New advances and developments outside the space sector which could spun-in to space programmes
? Ethical and humanitarian issues of space activity
?Ensuring greater public awareness of the role played by space systems in preserving Earth
WHO SHOULD ATTEND
In order to obtain an interesting and lively discussion of the important issues facing society and the role that space activities do and can play in this respect, the organizers hope to bring together a group of leading environmentalists, sociologists, economists, philosophers, policy makers and industrialists to interact with visionary and specialist space experts to explore and discuss what viable options space development and space technologies can realistically provide for society in the critical years ahead.
(Source ESA)

On the heels of one of the clean technology sector’s biggest success stories—the reduction of ozone-depleting gases in the atmosphere—the Alliance for Earth Observations is bringing leaders from the environmental monitoring and information technology sectors together today to examine the potential contribution of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) to the growing clean tech industry.

GEOSS could not only provide unprecedented data for measuring the performance of clean technologies, but also aid in spurring new entrepreneurial opportunities in related areas such as climate change.
“Just last month, we acknowledged an improvement in the ozone hole. Observation technologies enabled us to identify, visualize and monitor this critical environmental problem, while government cooperation and industry innovation allowed us to solve the problem,” said Nancy Colleton, executive director of the Alliance for Earth Observations, an industry group devoted to promoting the benefits of observations. “We can apply a similar model to climate change and other areas closely connected with clean tech.”
Like Colleton, Craig Cuddeback, senior vice president of Cleantech Venture Network LLC, sees a clear link between Earth observations and clean technology. “It’s exciting to explore the role of Earth observations in clean tech. The investment possibilities are strong,” he said.
Bill Gail, director for strategic development for Microsoft’s Virtual Earth, notes the importance of both the observations themselves and the ability to visualize them.
“Platforms like Virtual Earth will enable governments, businesses and even consumers to visualize and address a host of environmental issues. It is the visualization of these topics that will catalyze action,” Gail said. “The more observational data that is available, the more applications we will see being built using Virtual Earth and Google Earth. It will impact all segments of the clean tech sector—energy, agriculture, water and transportation. The possibilities are endless.”
One area in which experts see a high-impact opportunity to apply observation systems is in the emerging ecosystem services sector. The carbon market, for example, is one that is evolving quickly and could benefit greatly from improved availability of, and access to, space-based remote sensing technology.
“Satellite observations of the Earth are going to be a primary method of measuring, monitoring and verifying carbon credits generated from changes in land use,” said David Skole, chief technology officer for the Climate Investment Network for Carbon Sequestration. “We need imagery from space and other sources to continually monitor carbon resources. Using satellites, we can do large-scale, global monitoring and ensure credibility to the markets.”
The use of space-based satellites in other vertical markets such as homeland security, marine and ocean transportation, and agriculture is nothing new. However, the introduction of tools including Virtual Earth and Google Earth in parallel with more than 60 countries agreeing to share Earth and environmental information through GEOSS opens up new possibilities, according to NOAA Administrator and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr.
“GEOSS will enable applications in areas we’ve never even considered,” Lautenbacher said. “On the government side, we are working very hard for improved prediction of natural hazards like tsunami and hurricane forecasting, and utilization of the data for better resource management. But, on the private sector side, we know GEOSS information will enhance the activities of existing companies in every industry and will help support new entrepreneurial ventures. The underlying, critical piece in all of this is the observations. We need the data and information from satellites, buoys, balloons, ships and aircraft available and easy to integrate.”
********************
For the first time, leaders from the environmental monitoring and information technology sectors come together today to examine the potential of GEOSS to not only provide unprecedented data for measuring the performance of clean technologies, but also generate new entrepreneurial opportunities for the clean tech sector.
Moderated by Dan Dubno, producer and technologist for CBS News in New York, the session is part of the Cleantech Venture Forum XI being held at New York’s Marriott Marquis, Midtown. Joining Dubno will be Bill Gail, director of strategic development for Microsoft’s Virtual Earth; Chikai Ohazama, senior product manger for Google Earth; David Skole, chief technology officer for the Climate Investment Network for Carbon Sequestration; and Carla Sullivan, senior policy advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
Science Applications International Corporation and Northrop Grumman are sponsoring the session, which is organized by the Alliance for Earth Observations.
CONTACT
Dan Stillman
Alliance for Earth Observations
(703) 312-7138 (Phone)
(703) 312-8657 (FAX)
E-mail: dan_stillman@strategies.org

Chinese scientists plan to put into orbit the Haiyang 1-B (Ocean 1-B), an advanced version of the Haiyang 1-A oceanic satellite, by the end of this year to monitor marine environment and disasters.

The Haiyang 1-B Satellite was still undergoing testing, said Sun Laiyan, vice director of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense.
Sun told a national conference on oceanic science and technology that the technical flaws of the Haiyang 1-A had been removed from the upgraded satellite, and the data quality to be collected would be improved.
Bai Zhaoguang, chief scientist on the Haiyang 1-B project, said the main function of the Haiyang 1-B would be to observe sea surface height, waves, currents and temperatures.
The satellite‘s operational life was expected to reach three years, one year more than that of Haiyang 1-A, Bai said.
The Haiyang 1-A, China‘s first experimental satellite to use ocean color detecting, was successfully launched in May 2002 and had a designed lifespan of two years.
The “color” of the ocean is determined by the interactions of light with the water. The satellite can measure a wide array of shades to determine levels of phytoplankton, sediments, and dissolved organic chemicals, which most affect the color.
The oceanic satellite would be China‘s most important satellites together with a series of weather and resources satellites, said Sun Zhihui, director of the State Oceanic Administration.
The administration would actively participate in the country‘s space plan and develop satellite projects to realize three-dimensional monitoring of the ocean, Sun added.
(Source: Xinhua News Agency & Spacedaily)

The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has placed a contract for a second year with DMC International Imaging to acquire high-resolution satellite images of the entire 5 million square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest.

In 2005 DMC rapidly acquired images of the whole Amazon Basin in 6 weeks to provide Brazil with vital information for the annual programme to monitor deforestation and combat illegal logging. The programme is now repeated in 2006.
Imagery is provided by the five-satellite international Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). The Earth Observation micro-satellites use wide area cameras to capture the high-resolution images. The latest satellite, built for China, was launched into the DMC on 27 October 2005.
Dr. Joao Vianei Soares, Director of Earth Observation at INPE said, “The DMC has achieved a significant new step in remote sensing through coordination of five nations in space. The unique constellation of low cost micro-satellites enables rapid imaging of large areas at high resolution. This opens up many new possibilities in remote sensing, especially in cloudy areas, because of the ability to re-image an area almost daily if needed.”
Paul Stephens, Marketing Director, DMCii said, “We are proud to supply DMC data to INPE for the important DETER programme monitoring the vital resources of the Amazon rainforest. The recent drought in Brazil highlights the need to collect good information to help understand changes in the environment and their consequences for both the local people and the global climate.”
The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) INPE‘s mission is to make it possible for Brazilian society to benefit from new developments in space science and technology, mainly focusing on:
+ Increasing Brazil‘s autonomy in a number of strategic areas;
+ Providing the means for Brazilian industry to participate and become competitive in the space area;
+ Encouraging the development and dissemination of space technology;
Deforestation rates in tropical Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America have remained constant or have increased over the past two decades, altering global carbon emissions and climate while elevating the need for frequent and accurate assessment of forest loss. In the Brazilian Amazon alone, where the growth of cattle ranching and cropland agriculture are the primary causes of forest clearing, about 20,000 square kilometres of forest are clear-cut and burned each year.
INPE has developed a near or almost real time monitoring application for deforestation detection known as the Real Time Deforestation Monitoring System (DETER) system. High-resolution imagery is needed when estimating the total area of deforestation and when identifying small clearings.
DMC International Imaging Ltd. (DMCii) is a UK supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). DMC data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.
The small satellites of the DMC provide daily revisit in combination with an unmatched 600km imaging swath width at 32 metre ground sample distance (GSD) for frequent broad area coverage. DMC data products are calibrated and processed to a variety of levels according to customer requirements.
In partnership with the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the other DMC member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey) DMCii uses the commercial exploitation of the DMC small satellite constellation to fund co-ordination of the DMC for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters. DMCii works with the UN, the European Space Agency and The International Charter: Space and Major Disasters during disasters such as Tsunami, Fire, Flooding and Hurricanes.
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The official programme of events celebrating EUMETSAT’s 20th anniversary kicks off today July 3rd at the 59th Council Meeting, which takes place at the organisation’s Darmstadt headquarters.

Representatives from the German federal and country governments, the World Meteorological Organization, the European Commission, the European Space Agency and the international meteorological community will deliver speeches commemorating this special event to the audience of Council delegates and VIP guests.
In the two decades since its foundation on 19 June 1986 the organisation has become one of the world’s pre-eminent meteorological and environmental satellite organisations, serving the interests of Europe’s National Meteorological Services as well as an ever-growing community of international users. For more information about how EUMETSAT has developed over the years please visit the anniversary website [External link]here.
‘The success of EUMETSAT is very much the success story of meteorology itself,’ says Dr. Lars P. Prahm, Director-General. ‘Powerful super-computers, increasingly sophisticated Numerical Weather Prediction models and the highly reliable, superb quality satellite data and images provided by EUMETSAT’s fleet of satellites have resulted in radically improved weather forecasts as well as a better understanding of climate and the environment.
‘Our latest generation of Meteosat satellites, the second of which was launched last December, has greatly enhanced our support to Europe’s National Meteorological Services and their capability to accurately predict very fast-moving localised fronts of severe weather, helping with disaster prevention and mitigation and thereby saving many more lives and property.’
EUMETSAT is securing its service for the future with the forthcoming launch on 17 July of MetOp-2, the inaugural satellite of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS), Europe’s first polar-orbiting meteorological satellite service. Planned programmes such as the Jason-2 Ocean Surface Topography mission and the Meteosat Third Generation, as well as the Post-EPS programmes, will further assure EUMETSAT’s service for the long-term.
The organisation is also poised to significantly extend its objective to become the operational satellite agency of choice for European Earth Observation programmes for atmosphere and oceans such as the strategically important Global Monitoring for Environment and Security initiative led by the European Commission and the European Space Agency.
EUMETSAT
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites is an intergovernmental organisation that establishes and maintains operational meteorological satellites for 19 European States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom). EUMETSAT has signed 11 Cooperating State Agreements. Those with Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have entered into force whereas the agreement with Serbia and Montenegro is to be ratified in the near future.
EUMETSAT is currently operating Meteosat-6, -7 and -8 over Europe and Africa, and Meteosat-5 over the Indian Ocean.
The data, product and services from EUMETSAT’s satellites make a significant contribution to weather forecasting and to the monitoring of the global climate.
(Credits Eumetsat)

Parliamentarians from 10 European countries met earlier this week in Brussels at the 8th European Interparliamentary Space Conference to discuss European space policy. Organised by the 2006 Belgian Presidency, the conference was held at the Belgian Senate in Brussels.

Each year this Conference brings together members of the European Interparliamentary Space Conference (EISC), the EU and ESA Member States. Representatives of the Space organisations in Russia, China and the Ukraine also attended the three-day Conference which started on Monday 12 June.
This year’s Conference organised presentations and discussions on:
- current European space projects – Galileo and GMES
- European space policy and international cooperation
- space applications
-human spaceflight
- space and education
The Conference was chaired by Belgian Senator, François Roelants du Viviers, the 2006 EISC Chairman. On 13 June the ESA Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain and Paul Weissenberg, representing the EC Vice-President and Enterprise Commissioner Verheugen, addressed the EISC respectively on ESA’s and EC’s views on European space policy.
All the topics under discussion at the Conference are of particular interest for Europe at this time as a number of important decisions regarding Europe’s future in space are now under discussion:
* the European Union is in the process of finalising the Financial Perspective 2007-2013, in which space has been assigned €1.43 billion under the 7th Framework Programme for Research & Technology
* ESA and the European Commission, together with the ESA and EU Member States, are preparing the European Space Policy, which should be endorsed by the Space Council in the first half of 2007
* European space industry is undergoing a restructuring process leading to a reduction in the number of main of players
The EISC, founded in 1999 by parliamentary groups from France, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom, shares information about space activities to increase understanding of national policies and priorities in space, as well as space awareness among decision-makers, and to review the challenges space offers Europe in a worldwide context.
EISC gives political and institutional managers an opportunity to assess, together, the impact of space technologies on the daily lives of Europe’s citizens and the future of industrial expertise in space programmes.
The Conference issues recommendations and adopts resolutions. Its members favour close cooperation through joint activities between the EC and ESA, national space agencies, scientists and industry to increase Europe’s space know-how.
(Credits ESA)

MetOp-A has successfully completed the first phase of testing at the Baikonur Space Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, confirming the launch date of the first European polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology for 17 July 2006.

With an array of sophisticated instrumentation, MetOp-A – jointly established by ESA and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) – promises to provide data of unprecedented accuracy and resolution on a host of different variables such as temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, ozone and other trace gases.
Since the arrival of the MetOp-A satellite at its launch site in Baikonur on 18 April 2006, the Service Module, Payload Module and Solar Array, which were shipped as individual items, have been integrated and tested. Following a review of the satellite status and results of the testing to date, together with the outputs of EUMETSAT’s review of the readiness of the ground segment, launcher and overall system, EUMETSAT and ESA authorised EADS Astrium on 17 June to commence the MetOp-A satellite fuelling activities, marking a milestone in the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) programme.
Following the completion of the MetOp-A fuelling, the satellite will be integrated with the so-called Fregat upper stage before being encapsulated in the fairing. The resulting upper composite will then be integrated with the Soyuz launcher and the complete system will be rolled out to the launch pad three days prior to the launch.
The MetOp programme, which consists of three satellites to be flown sequentially to ensure the delivery of continuous data until at least 2020, forms the space segment of the EPS programme and represents the European contribution to a new cooperative venture with the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Until MetOp-A launches, meteorological data from polar-orbiting satellites has had to be procured from NOAA weather satellites. After the launch, responsibilities for meteorological satellite services will be shared between Europe and the United States.
Consequently, through the Initial Joint Polar Satellite System (IJPS), which is a cooperative venture between EUMETSAT and NOAA, MetOp-A has been designed to work in conjunction with the NOAA satellite system, whereby MetOp-A replaces the NOAA ‘morning orbit’ service whilst a NOAA satellite occupies the ‘afternoon shift’.
This means that the two satellites fly in complementary orbits, thus offering maximum coverage. This global observing system is able to provide invaluable meteorological data from polar orbit to users within 2 hours and 15 minutes of the measurements being taken.
MetOp-A is equipped with a set of new-generation European instruments that offer advanced remote sensing capabilities to both meteorologists and climatologists along with a set of ‘heritage’ instruments provided by NOAA and the French Space Agency (CNES).
In addition to its meteorological observations and climate monitoring objectives, MetOp-A will contribute to other missions, such as research and rescue and the monitoring of charged particles present in the orbital environment near Earth.
The MetOp-A satellite was developed by a consortium of European companies led by the main contractor EADS-Astrium, France.
(Text and Image credits ESA)

Final Call for Abstracts OceanSAR 2006, the Third Workshop on Coastal and Marine Applications of SAR, will be held in St. John‘s
(Newfoundland, Canada) on October 23-25.

This is the final call for
abstracts for this workshop; the abstract deadline is June 30, 2006.
Abstracts can be submitted online at www.oceansar2006.com.
The participants of the previous workshops identified the need for a set of robust tools that can be made available for systematic marine monitoring and operational applications. OceanSAR 2006 will build on these prior recommendations and offer a venue both for scientists to present the findings of their current research and for operational maritime end-users to present their information needs. The Canadian Space Agency (ASC), the Canadian Ice Service (CIS), C-CORE and MDA are organizing the event.
For more information visit www.oceansar2006.com or contact Desmond Power