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Category: Earth Observation News

The first MetOp meteorological satellite arrived at its launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, following shipment from the industrial prime contractor, EADS Astrium in Toulouse, on board an Antonov-124 transport plane.

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MetOp-A is the first in a series of three EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. After undergoing a mechanical and environmental test campaign, the spacecraft passed the acceptance review last year and the recent compatibility test between satellite and ground segment cleared the way for shipment of the satellite to Baikonur.

This shipment comprises a service module, a payload module and the solar array, including the electrical and mechanical ground support equipment needed for the launch campaign. The mission includes a total of 12 instruments developed in cooperation with French Space Agency, CNES, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

MetOp is scheduled for launch on 17 July 2006 at 22.28 Baikonur time (18.28 CEST) with the latest Soyuz ST Fregat launcher operated by Starsem.

MetOp is the first polar orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. The MetOp satellite services have been designed to provide global weather data until 2020. MetOp, which will fly at a height of about 837 km, promises, with its 12 sophisticated instruments, to provide data of unprecedented accuracy, thus improving global weather forecasting and providing enhanced climate monitoring capabilities.

For further information, please contact:

ESA Media Relations Division

Tel.: + 33(0)1.53.69.7155

Fax: + 33(0)1.53.69.7690

(Credits ESA)

EADS Fleximage (Paris, France) has released a software platform incorporating geographical information, embedded modules broadcasting of sensors data, and communications networks used for positioning and transmitting positioning information

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This solution allows Hub télécom to offer its customers two dedicated services:
* Assist solution, which is dedicated to Ground Support Equipment (GSE) tracking system management of airport assistance vehicles in order to optimize the processes, improve coordination amongst on-site team members, adapt operations in real time, and manage assistance vehicles.
* Fleet solution for airport vehicles, among others, which is especially adapted for monitoring and managing a fleet of light, commercial or heavy goods vehicles.
(Credits geoconnexion)
More info at www.hubtelecom.com

The practice of States and international organizations in registering space objects was a key item on the agenda of the 45th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), held in Vienna, Austria from 3 to 13 April.

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Source UN-OOSA. April 2006.

Other topics of discussion included the status and application of the five United Nations treaties on outer space, the definition and delimitation of outer space, the draft protocol on matters specific to space assets to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment, review and possible revision of the Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space and matters relating to the character and use of the geostationary orbit. As in previous sessions of the Subcommittee, international organizations were invited to report on their activities relating to space law.

A symposium, which was held following the conclusion of the first day of the session, examined the legal aspects of space-system-based disaster management.

Practice of States and international organizations in registering space objects A key item on the agenda was the practice of States and international organizations in registering space objects. The Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space (the Registration Convention) requires States parties launching objects such as satellites, to provide information on the launched object to the United Nations. Based on this information, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) maintains, on behalf of the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space, for which it also provides an online searchable index.

The Subcommittee agreed that it was important to further promote greater adherence to the Registration Convention, which would lead to more States registering space objects, and also to encourage international organizations to declare their acceptance of the rights and obligations under the Convention.

The Working Group under this agenda item agreed on the elements that could constitute the basis for consensus on specific recommendations and conclusions to be included in the report of the Legal Subcommittee at its next session in 2007. These elements relate to: (a) the benefits of becoming a party to the Registration Convention; (b) adherence to and implementation of the Registration Convention; and © registration practice.

Status and application of the five United Nations treaties on outer space The Subcommittee endorsed the recommendation of the Working Group under this agenda item that member States of COPUOS provide information on any action that might have been taken at the national level as a result of receiving the letter from the UN Secretary-General encouraging participation in the outer space treaties.

The Subcommittee also endorsed the recommendation that the Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) send a letter transmitting information on advantages of adherence to the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects (the Liability Convention), to all States that had not yet become parties to that Convention.

Definition and delimitation of outer space

The Working Group under this item agreed to continue to invite Member States to reply to the questionnaire on aerospace objects until a consensus on criteria for analyzing the replies could be reached by the Subcommittee. The Working Group also agreed to invite member States of COPUOS to submit information on national legislation or any national practices that might exist or were being developed, relating directly or indirectly to the definition and/or delimitation of outer space, taking into account the current and foreseeable level of the development of space and aviation technologies.

Registering property interests in space assets

Another item on the agenda of the Subcommittee were the developments concerning the draft protocol on matters specific to space assets to the Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. The Convention was developed by the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit), an intergovernmental organization not affiliated to the United Nations. The Convention establishes a general legal framework for registering interests in mobile high-value equipment that move across national boundaries, such as aeroplanes and trains, and would result in lower costs of securing funding for the equipment. The protocol on matters specific to space assets is aimed at establishing an international system for registering property interests in space assets, such as satellites.

Symposium

The symposium examined the legal aspects of disaster management and the contribution of the law of outer space.

The symposium was jointly organized by the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) of the International Astronautical Federation and the European Centre for Space Law (ECSL) and was held in the afternoon of the first day of the Subcommittee session. The programme included presentations by leading experts on topics such as the challenges of access to Earth observation data for disaster management, the initial legal issues and experiences related to the International Charter “Space and Major Disasters” and the legal and policy aspects of disaster management support from space in Asia.

The Subcommittee agreed to invite IISL and ECSL to organize a one-day symposium during the forty-sixth session of the Subcommittee, in 2007, that would include presentations by national and international space law institutions with emphasis on their capacity-building activities.

Membership

The Legal Subcommittee, like COPUOS, its parent committee, has the following 67 Member States: Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela and Viet Nam.

The following inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations have permanent observer status with COPUOS: Association of Space Explorers, Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, Committee on Space Research, Regional Centre for Remote Sensing of the North African States, Eurisy, European Space Agency, European Space Policy Institute, International Academy of Astronautics, International Astronautical Federation, International Astronomical Union, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, International Law Association, International Mobile Satellite Organization, Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, International Space University, National Space Society, Space Generation Advisory Council, Spaceweek International Association and The Planetary Society.

The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) was set up by the General Assembly in 1959 to review the scope of international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, to devise programmes in this field to be undertaken under United Nations auspices, to encourage continued research and the dissemination of information on outer space matters and to study legal problems arising from the exploration of outer space. COPUOS and its two Subcommittees each meet annually to consider questions put before them by the General Assembly, reports submitted to them and issues raised by the Member States. The Committee and the Subcommittees, working on the basis of consensus, make recommendations to the General Assembly.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) implements the decisions of the General Assembly and of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its two Subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The Office is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, and assisting developing countries in using space science and technology. Located in Vienna, Austria, OOSA maintains a website at http://www.unoosa.org/.

For information contact:

Qais Sultan

Associate Programme Officer

Telephone: +43 1 26060-4962

E-mail: qais.sultan@unvienna.org

United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS)

Earth‘s wetlands are vital to the water cycle and havens for wildlife, but they are under threat. GlobWetland, an ESA-led initiative in collaboration with the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, has been addressing this issue by using satellite imagery to provide detailed wide-area views of individual wetlands to aid national and local conservation efforts.

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Because the success of wetland conservation ultimately comes down to individual wetland managers, the GlobWetland products and services are user-oriented and based on specific requests of users across 50 sites in 21 countries worldwide.
Based on user requirements, GlobWetland products include base maps, land use-land cover (LULC) maps and change detection maps – with historical Earth Observation (EO) satellite images being compared with current acquisitions to see what changes have occurred during the last ten years or more.
Integrating the EO-derived products and services into the user’s traditional working procedures requires training to secure capacity building and to achieve a well-defined amount of competence. This is especially important in Africa where the lack of updated geo-information and the inefficient in-situ monitoring networks hinder the conservation efforts of wetland managers and water authorities.
In support of all African countries participating in the project, GlobWetland – which is funded by ESA’s Data User Element (DUE) – hosted a five-day training seminar, developed jointly by Wetlands International and Vexcel, last week from 24-28 April in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, for users to understand and integrate the EO-derived products and services into their work.
Participants from Algeria, Egypt, Lake Chad, Senegal, South Africa and Kenya attended the training which featured lectures, ‘hands-on’ work with sample products and field work methods carried out in an area adjacent to the training facility.
Remote Sensing Officer for the Lake Chad Basin Commission Garba Sambo Hassan, said: “The training has been really stimulating. I used to perform these tasks manually, which is tedious and cumbersome. I am now anxious to get back to the office and use these products to update my past work. It is marvellous.”
The seminar also sought to help African users critically assess their requirements, suggest new products, identify inefficiencies and take over the process. All the training materials were consolidated on a CD and given to all African end users at the close of the session. In addition, all attendees received an ESA TIGER initiative training kit. GlobWetland makes up an integral part of the TIGER initiative, which focuses on the use of EO data for improving water resource management in Africa.
Abundant water makes wetlands the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth, more productive even than tropical rainforests. Unlike rainforests, they are scattered across the world, providing regional flood and erosion prevention, water purification and nutrient recycling.
For much of the 20th Century, wetlands were drained or otherwise degraded. However, growing understanding of the vital importance of wetlands led to the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands in 1971.
Today more than 1 424 wetlands – a total area of 129 million hectares – have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance. The Ramsar Convention‘s 145 national signatories have committed to maintaining the ecological character and are obliged to report on the state of listed wetlands they have designated.
(Credits ESA)

A frieze depicting planet Earth, assembled from satellite pictures on a scale of 1:1,000,000,000 will be unfurled around UNESCO’s Paris Headquarters as part of the Organization’s 60th birthday celebrations.

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The “Belle île en ciel” exhibition, which offers visitors a voyage around the world in 600 metres, has been opened on 29 March (5p.m.) by Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director-General of the European Space Agency; and Jean Mallot, President of Vulcania European Park.
The exhibition, supported by the European Space Agency, the Parc européen Vulcania, PlanetObserver, Spot Image, RATP (Paris public transport authority) and L’Express magazine, raises awareness of the Earth’s fragility. Assembled from pictures in the PlanetObserver database, the frieze will go on display with 60 panels illustrating the major challenges facing humanity and the protection of its heritage; from water cycle management to biodiversity, pollution, deforestation, global warming and natural disasters, as well as education, communication, dialogue between civilizations and the preservation of human cultures.
Humanity’s most important heritage is the Earth, “a beautiful island in the sky” where, for better or worse, over 6.5 billion people live. The advent of observation satellites has helped to raise awareness of our home planet’s limits. Study of our environment, using satellites such as Meteosat, ERS and the ESA’s Envisat polar platform, has helped to shed light on major climate changes underway. The data gathered enables scientists to model those changes’ long-term impact. To improve and feed the models, the ESA has set up satellite projects in the framework of the “Living Planet” programme intended to enhance our knowledge about such major issues as ocean circulation, ocean salinity, atmospheric dynamics and the melting of the polar ice caps. In addition, with the European Union it is planning the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) initiative in order to coordinate observations from space for the protection of the environment and people.
The themes dealt with in the exhibition highlight the issues on which UNESCO and the ESA have been cooperating since 2000. Those projects use aerospace technologies to meet humanitarian needs, protect the environment, manage natural disasters, improve education and preserve culture. The satellites’ global coverage and ability to fly over the same regions on a regular basis make them a key tool for managing the planet.
In 2001, for example, the ESA and UNESCO launched the BEGo (Build Environment for Gorillas) project, which uses optical imagery and radar by satellite to help protect mountain gorilla habitats in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. Special products have been developed from the data in cooperation with the main organizations involved in protecting the gorillas, such as the WWF, International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) and WildLife Conservation Society.
In 2002, after the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development, the ESA and UNESCO launched the TIGER initiative, which uses satellite data to manage water resources in Africa. Designed to meet Africa’s water needs, TIGER brings together over 150 organizations – water agencies, remote detection centres and universities — that take part in its various activities, workshops and training sessions. In this way, TIGER supports decision-making processes and contributes to technical, human and institutional capacity-building to ensure sustainable water resources management.
Since 2003, the ESA has also participated in the protection of the 812 World Heritage Sites, under a cooperation agreement that enables UNESCO to use satellite data to help monitor and manage the sites
Contact
Press Relations Section,
tel. +33 (0)1 45 68 17 06
(Credits UNESCO)

Sympoisum on Key Trends and Challenges in the Global Marketplace, September 2006

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Don’t miss this opportunity to network and be a part of an international dialogue
on:
• Commercial Remote Sensing Policy
• The Business Landscape of Commercial Remote Sensing
• What’s next? Bringing Commercial Remote Sensing to Market
• Commercial Remote Sensing in a Global Context: Trends from Outside the U.S.
• The Role of Commercial Remote Sensing in Natural Disaster Assessment and Response
• GEOSS and the Commercial Remote Sensing Sector
• The Industry View: An International Dialogue with CEOs
When?
September 13-15, 2006
Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, DC
Event details can be found at: www.CRSSymposium.com

The European Commission is to boost resources devoted the development of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative. In a decision taken on 8 March 2006, the Commission has established a new focal point for its GMES-related activities.

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To be known as the GMES Bureau, the new body will be responsible for creating an implementation strategy for GMES, developing a federated and structured demand for GMES services across the Commission and promoting GMES to both stakeholders and the wider general public.
The Bureau’s pan-Commission role will be reflected in its staffing. While it will comprise a new unit within the Directorate-General for Enterprise, the decision itself has been proposed jointly by Vice-President Günter Verheugen and Commissioners Janez Potocnik and Stavros Dimas. Staff working within or associated with the Bureau will be drawn from several Directorates-General, including users of GMES services, such as the Agriculture and Rural Development, and Fisheries and Maritime Affairs DGs.
GMES moves up a gear
Set for a 1 June 2006 launch, the Bureau will be guided by a Steering Committee composed of representatives of all Directorates-General with an active interest in GMES. The Commission has already commenced internal recruitment procedures to ensure a timely appointment of the head of the Bureau.
The Commission’s Decision also looks ahead to the next phase of the GMES initiative. The Bureau’s tasks will include developing proposals for managing GMES service provision beyond the Commission to include other EU institutions and bodies. The Bureau should therefore have the capability to encompass other participants, including the Member States.
(Credits Europa)

Jacqueline McGlade, the Executive Director of the European Environmental Agency called for a comprehensive, integrated and sustained infrastructure for observation and early warning to apprehend natural disasters.

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On 20 March 2006, in front of an audience attending a European Parliament Joint Public Hearing on “Natural Disasters – How should Europe respond?”, Jacqueline McGlade, the Executive Director of the European Environmental Agency called for a comprehensive, integrated and sustained infrastructure for observation and early warning to apprehend natural disasters. She also warned on long term gaps if financial mechanisms are not quickly put in place to build and implement satellites and in-situ observing systems.
***
Chair,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have heard eloquent testimony this afternoon from the representatives of victims of natural disasters. I am very grateful that the European Environment Agency (EEA) has been invited to add its voice to this important joint hearing on how Europe should respond.
In the time available I would like to address three issues:
First, what are the facts? What do we know about the occurrence of floods, fires and droughts in Europe in recent years?
Second, what can we say about some of the drivers of recent phenomena? Without over-stating the scientific case, I will say a few words here about climate change.
And third, what can we say about the alert systems we have in place to forewarn us and to allow us to take action – where possible – to minimise the effects of natural disasters.
The Facts
So let us start with some facts; In 2003 the European Environment Agency produced a report “Mapping the impacts of recent natural disasters and technological accidents in Europe”. Copies of this report have been made available for this hearing.
The report looked beyond floods, fires and droughts to also focus on storms, landslides, snow avalanches as well as technological accidents such as oil spills, industrial accidents and mining accidents.
Although the report did not try to discern trends in extreme events themselves, for instance whether they are becoming more frequent, it did map the human, economic and environmental impacts of such events in Europe over the period 1998-2003.
So what has been happening in terms of floods, fires and droughts in the last couple of years?
Flooding:
Between 1998 and 2005, Europe suffered about 100 damaging floods causing some 700 fatalities, the displacement of about half a million people and at least 25 billion EUR in insured economic losses.
Around 1.5 % of the population of Europe was affected.
Looking at the flood events recorded between 1975 and 2005 in EM-DAT, the number of flood events per year increased over the period. However, the number of deaths per flood event decreased somewhat, probably due to improved warning and rescue systems.
Fires:
Turning to the subject of fires, in the five Mediterranean Member States of what was the EU-15 – France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain – the area burnt in forest fires has varied between 200 000 and 600 000 hectares a year over the past 25 years.
In that period the total number of fires reported has risen sharply from around 20 000/year to 60 000/year, although this may partly reflect improved reporting procedures.
The summer of 2003 was particularly bad for forest fires in much of southern Europe.
Portugal, for example, experienced its worst forest fire season in 23 years as at least 215 000 hectares (5.6 % of its total forest area) burned. Forest fires often claim human victims, not least among fire fighters. The summer 2003 fires in Portugal, for instance, caused 15 deaths.
Economic losses generated by fires are estimated at 1 000-5 000 euro/hectare burnt but this figure may underestimate other costs such as landscape loss, with consequences for rural and eco-tourism, that are much harder to quantify. The Portuguese government has estimated the cost of the summer 2003 fires at 925 million euros.
Droughts:
Turning now to droughts, over the past decade severe episodes have taken place across Europe. This is not a phenomenon isolated in a few Member States. Droughts have occurred from Finland to Portugal and from the United Kingdom to Greece.
In the summer of 2003, for example, record low water flows were recorded in the River Danube in Bulgaria. Other European rivers, such as the Rhine, also had unusually low water levels. This situation contrasted with heavy flooding the summer before.
In Europe, droughts do not trigger famines and so they do not kill people. However, human, environmental and economic impacts can be devastating, especially when droughts are associated with heat waves. The fatal effects of heat waves were demonstrated during the summer of 2003, when temperatures in some areas (France, western Germany, south-west England) climbed to record highs. A heat wave across much of Europe during August 2003, considered the warmest August month on record in the northern hemisphere, claimed possibly as many as 35 000 lives, with France alone recording almost 15 000 deaths, mostly among elderly people.
The Science
These are some of the facts. But what does the science tell us?
It is not the role of the European Environment Agency to stand before you and make predictions of doom. If we take a longer time perspective, we see that Europe has always experienced floods, fires and droughts. But our analysis tells us that the pattern of land use in Europe means that we are exposing ourselves more to risk to natural disasters than in the past. In other words, our behaviour puts us at risk – we are living on and cultivating space which is more susceptible to natural disasters.
Climate Change
Climate change is of course an area in which we can say more. Four months ago, in December 2005 EEA published a report and a briefing on adaptation to climate change in Europe.
In Europe, mountain regions, coastal zones, wetlands and the Mediterranean region are particularly vulnerable. Although there could be some positive effects, many impacts are likely to be adverse. Existing adaptive measures are concentrated in flood defence, so there is considerable scope for adaptation planning and implementation in other areas, such as public health, water resources and management of ecosystems.
It is also becoming increasingly accepted that climate change is behind the increase in extreme weather events.
For example, climate change is likely to increase the frequency of extreme flood events in Europe, in particular the frequency of flash floods, which have the highest risk of fatality.
I have already mentioned the summer heat wave of 2003. It is very likely that greenhouse gases have doubled the risk of summer temperatures as hot as 2003.
For example, it is estimated that such a heat wave is now four times more likely. By 2050 every second summer could be as hot as 2003.
The observation and warning Infrastructure
So, to echo the title of this hearing – “how should Europe respond”?
I will leave it to others to speak about the new climate change programme, flood defences, financial solidarity mechanisms, forest fire monitoring, civil protection mechanisms and the range of European financial and legislative responses. I would like to use the remainder of the time available to me to address the question of the observation and early warning infrastructure.
Natural disasters will of course continue to take place. In order to best plan for their impact we need to have in place the infrastructure to better understand their causes, to better predict their likely occurrence and to provide early warnings of their onset. Achieving these goals requires that we have in place a comprehensive, integrated and sustained infrastructure for observation and early warning. Since many of the natural disasters of which I have spoken are driven by global rather than local phenomena integrated observation and warning systems are needed at global, regional and local scales.
It would be a disaster of a different sort – but a disaster nonetheless – if we failed to invest in building and sustaining the systems that helps us to understand, predict and respond to catastrophic natural events.
This infrastructure is complex and of necessity multinational. Maintenance of existing systems and the implementation of new improved capability depend of long-term funding and global collaboration. Neither should be taken for granted.
At present large elements of the infrastructure needed to achieve effective long-tern integrated observation and early warning are at an experimental or pre-operational stage and are funded from research budgets rather than being treated as critical infrastructure. Despite this, these capabilities already form a critical part of our observation and early warning infrastructure which is sometimes taken for granted. Unless financial mechanisms are quickly put into place to ensure long-term operation we are likely to find that critical gaps appear – gaps that may take long time to fill given the time taken to build and implement satellite observing systems and complex in-situ observation networks.
Divergent national policies on sharing of data and information also threaten to undermine capability. We must rise above these differences if we are to build and sustain the best possible capacity to observe the Earth and respond effectively to the threat of natural disasters that have no respect for national boundaries.
(Credits EEA)

A cooperative agreement was signed today between EUMETSAT, the French Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the USA, to secure the Jason-2 Programme, a new Earth observation mission dedicated to Ocean Surface Topography planned for launch in 2008.

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Under the agreement the four partners will design, develop, launch and operate a second generation altimetry satellite, Jason-2. The Jason mission is built around a series of satellites that will collect global ocean surface data on a continuous basis for several decades, extending sea level measurements gathered by TOPEX/Poseidon since 1992, and continued by Jason-1 since 2001.
Jason-2 is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite, flying at an altitude of around 1300 km. The main instruments on board are a radar altimeter, a microwave radiometer, and several precise orbit determination systems. The aim is to measure the global sea surface height to an accuracy of a few cm every 10 days, to determine ocean circulation and sea level rise and its correlation with climate change.
Applications of the data collected by Jason-2 are in the areas marine meteorology, operational oceanography, climate monitoring and seasonal forecasting. The information on sea surface height can be assimilated into numerical ocean circulation and wave models, and in combination with in-situ measurements, provide vastly improved ocean and atmospheric forecasts, both for shorter and longer time-scales.
Acting as an interface for near-real time product distribution to European users, EUMETSAT will provide data processing and the necessary infrastructure for archiving and data distribution. The radome, the antenna and the electronic equipment constitute the Jason-2 Earth Terminal and have been successfully installed and tested in Usingen, Germany beginning of 2006.
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, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have entered into force whereas the Agreements with Serbia and Montenegro and Iceland are 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)

On 24 March 2006, European and American officials met in Brussels to discuss co-operation in space.

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It was the first meeting of the ‘EU-US Dialogue on Civil Space Co-operation’, announced at the June 2005 US-EU Summit. On the agenda were a broad range of activities and key policy issues spanning both sides of the Atlantic, including space applications such as Earth Observation (EO), satellite navigation and communications, space transport systems, space science and exploration, and regulatory issues.
“Europe is moving forward,” said Paul Weissenberg, Director of Aerospace, Security, Defence and Equipment at the Commission’s Enterprise and Industry Directorate-General. Speaking directly to his American guests, he said, “Space is now an EU matter. We are making significant progress on our GALILEO satellite navigation initiative, but also on GMES and in many other areas, and we feel it is important that we meet with our American partners now to discuss our common interests and areas where we can work together. We therefore welcome this occasion to discuss and exchange information on concrete space applications for the benefit of our citizens.”
Speaking on behalf of the American delegation, Ralph Braibanti, Director of the Office of Space and Advanced Technology at the US State Department, said, “This is a very interesting moment and we hope that this first meeting and our new relationship will evolve and grow over time. We in the United States are currently working in co-operation with many nations, but we always look to Europe first and we are very enthusiastic about today’s meeting.”
A broad spectrum
Some indication of the breadth of the discussions is given by the variety of participants. Officials on the European side represented the Commission’s Directorates-General of Research, Enterprise and Industry, Information Society, Transport and Energy, External Relations, and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), as well as the European Space Agency (ESA) and EUMETSAT. The US side was represented by officials from the US State Department, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Geological Survey and the US Mission to the EU.
Luc Tytgat, Head of the EU’s Space Policy Unit, started the programme with a comprehensive outline of what the EU is doing in space, emphasising the EU policy areas. This was followed by a similar review of US space activities presented by the American side, with special attention paid to the fields of remote sensing, space transportation, Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), and space exploration.
Later in the day, discussions focused on specific areas and applications where joint efforts might prove fruitful. Earth Observation was identified as a field where the potential for co-operation is high, especially within the GMES initiative (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), the European Commission’s flagship space programme. The two sides agreed to explore the potential for co-operation, taking account of political aspects.
This first meeting went a long way towards improving mutual insight into the two sides’ space policies and planned space programmes. The talks took place under a climate of confidence and EU officials say they are looking forward now to facing common EU-US challenges constructively, with a particular view to solving critical future path issues. The two sides have now agreed to continue the dialogue through regular meetings on an annual base. Officials on both sides were positive that this could pave the way for more concrete exchanges in the very near future.
(Credits Europa)
More information at:
- US Dept.of State- Space & Advanced Technologies