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The first known use of the term “Geographic Information System” can be traced back to Dr. Roger Tomlinson’s research paper “A Geographic Information System for Regional Planning” in 1968. Since then GIS has evolved from being a niche scientific tool to a mass-market technology. T

Today, GIS is being used in different industries and applications. Regardless whether the famous quote “80% of all data in the world has a spatial relation” is accurate or not; it is true that there are more than 770 million smartphones (as of 2013) with GPS capabilities and the number of smartphones with GPS/GNSS sensors have being growing each year.

The large scale use of GPS/GNSS has been one of the biggest driving factors for the growth of new applications and analysis that utilise location data. Location data is slowly transforming the mobile industry and the fact remains that most of the apps we use today, require location access.

Perhaps, it’s not difficult to see why the US Department of Labor identified Geospatial technology (besides nanotechnology and biotechnology), as one of the three most important high-growth industries of the 21st century in one of its reports.

But then again, what exactly does the Geospatial industry encompass?*

Definitions can be a tricky thing; sometimes it’s rather difficult to restrict a term to its original and historic definition. If one were to define Geospatial technology as “any technology that enables the creation, management, analysis and visualisation of Geospatial data”, then would it be correct to identify that any field/domain that uses spatial information and maps, as part of the Geospatial industry? And as a natural extension, would it be accurate to identify anyone who works with spatial data as a Geospatial professional?

When you think about it, most applications and technologies utilise location data for some purpose or the other. Self-driving cars, UAVs, Wearables, Augmented Reality, Internet of Things, Connected bikes and other technologies use spatial data and maps for a wide variety of purposes and applications.

Wearable Tech & Internet of Things*

Google Maps democratised GIS technology and Wearable tech could do the same for some of the more niche GIS applications like Geomedicine. Wearable technologies like Fitness bands, Smartwatches, etc., might still remain a niche device but they have quite a few sensors built into them – GPS, accelerometer, heart-rate sensor, etc. These sensors together with the APIs like Apple’s Health Kit and Google Fit are going to be very helpful in bringing Geomedicine applications all the more closer to being a reality and a widely-used tool.

Data from wearable tech are already forming the base layer for some really cool and insightful visualisations like the RunKeeper map by Mapbox that visualizes the routes that people use for fitness activities in different cities across the globe. Visualizations like this can be helpful for the city planners to understand leisure activities in urban areas.

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Luciad software introduces stunning 3-D visualization to the web, allowing everyone to interact with today’s increasingly massive data sets.

LEUVEN – Luciad software introduces stunning 3-D visualization to the web, allowing everyone to interact with today’s increasingly massive data sets.

To demonstrate Luciad’s new capabilities, the company created an application that interactively visualizes 70,000 flights across the globe during a period of 24 hours.

The free app gives users a new perspective on air traffic data provided by FlightRadar24. Fortune Magazine and Gizmodo have recognized the app as “pretty staggering” and “bewilderingly addictive.”

Users can move around the globe, select and zoom in on airports or airlines of their choice, allowing them to understand the complexity, and beauty, of air traffic.

“Luciad is specialized in solving complex situations that require real-time situational awareness,” said Luciad CEO Marc Melviez.

“Traditionally, such applications were only available to users in demanding industries such as aviation and defense and needed to run on powerful desktop computers. Now we have a solution that runs efficiently on any device and allows users to view their data in a beautiful and instinctive way.”

Luciad’s web solution extends beyond flights, explained Melviez, and can be applied to any moving things such as vehicles, pallets, packages and mobile phones.

“The technology and its ability to show extremely large amounts of moving things will drive innovation and generate countless new business opportunities in the months and years to come,” Melviez said.

The free web app is available online at 3d.luciad.com.

About Luciad

Luciad’s software components are designed for the creation of situational awareness applications. By connecting directly to data sources, Luciad’s software not only analyzes and visualizes what is happening now, but also helps predict what will happen next – allowing users to act quickly and safely. “Connect, visualize, analyze, act” is both our method and our motto. www.luciad.com

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Since the launch of the Earth Resources Technology Satellite in 1972 (later renamed Landsat), which ushered in the modern era of global land observations and monitoring, remote sensing has been an integral part of agriculture and food security programs of governments and agencies around the world. Since then there has been a fast progress in application of remotely sensed data to the mapping and measurement of the Earth’s characteristics. The last 35 years have seen amazing improvements in sensor technologies, incredible advances in computing, and impressive innovations in analytical procedures.

Rapid technological advancements in earth observation capabilities, coupled with advances in IT, cloud computing, GNSS, mobile technologies and the smartphone revolution have created a unique opportunity for implementing smarter solutions for the agriculture sector globally.

Of late multilateral agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have taken up a more focussed approach towards use of spatial technologies and information for ensuring food security. Geoinformation also plays a crucial role in crop insurance schemes.

The UN organisations are promoting GGIM (Global Geospatial Information Management). The thought is that land ownership or tenure etc requires a good land administration, which is the basis for more responsible and sustainable farming practices and certainly also for access to loans and investments. The UK Ordnance Survey and the Dutch Cadastre are promoting that a lot.

The Group on Earth Observations (a partnership of governments and international organizations) developed the Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) initiative in response to the growing calls for improved agricultural information. The goal of GEOGLAM is to strengthen the international community’s capacity to produce and disseminate relevant, timely and accurate forecasts of agricultural production at national, regional and global scales through the use of Earth Observations (EO), which include satellite and ground-based observations. GEO’s GEONETCast programme uses free satellite imagery obtained through low-cost receiving stations is used for detection of agricultural pests. The World Food Programme (WFP) of the United Nations uses geospatial data and technologies for assessing crop vulnerability.

The Web site of NASA’s SEDAC offers a variety of interdisciplinary data and related resources grouped under socioeconomic and Earth science themes. The Agriculture and Food Security theme spans global data holdings and resources that touch on the proportion of cropland and pasture, the extent of poverty, biodiversity, environmental indicators, and human consumption measures.

Another interesting programme is GODAN – Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition. Global GODAN works to support global efforts to make agricultural and nutritionally relevant data available, accessible, and usable to deal with the urgent challenge of ensuring world food security.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network is a leading provider of early warning and analysis on acute food insecurity. It was created in 1985 by the US Agency for International Development. FEWS NET is a longtime user of Esri technology and creates maps showing areas vulnerable to food insecurity.

The World Resources Institute has a free mapping tool called Global Forest Watch Commodities that provides forest-related data and analysis of various commercial agricultural products. It was created for the WRI by Blue Raster LLC in partnership with Esri and is being used to support analysis related to agriculture and deforestation.

There are a lot of initiatives to do some kind of ‘wall-to-wall’ mapping of agricultural productivity using MODIS and other satellite data. But also in measuring rainfall – like to ‘old’ ARTEMIS programme of FAO. Europe is famous for its MARS project, which monitors agriculture with remote sensing (check box) . And USDA has a website called VegScape with weekly vegetation index imagery from MODIS. MARS, or the Monitoring Agricultural ResourceS Unit Mission Focusing on crop production, agricultural activities and rural development, provides timely forecasts, early assessments and the scientific underpinning for efficient monitoring and control systems. The work serves the Agriculture and Food policies of the European Union, their impact on rural economies and on the environment, encompassing the global issues of food security and climate change.

The Dutch government has started a programme called Geospatial for Agriculture and Water (G4AW). This has the ambition to use geospatial data to reach out to smallholder farms to improve their productivity. It has projects in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Mali, Kenya and more.

In Africa these initiatives are also moving fast. The Gates foundation is supporting a big research project STARS — Spurring a Transformation for Agriculture through Remote Sensing – which is looking for ways to use remote sensing technology to improve agricultural practices in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The project hopes to significantly advance the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in some of the world’s poorest countries. Through its Seeing a Better World Program, DigitalGlobe is partnering with scientists of to provide better information in order to increase productivity and decrease vulnerability for millions of family farmers who often have plots of land no bigger than a football field, and may face insecure tenure on that land.

Geospatial information has always been there (soil maps, vegetation maps etc), but in recent years the ability to take that georeferenced information in to orchards or fields have given us the ability to make real time decisions that has drastically increased the sustainability and profitability of the fruit industry globally.

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Geospatial World Forum 2016 offers opportunities to conduct workshops as part of the conference programme.

Who Can Submit Workshop Proposal?

  • Are you coordinating a new collaborative project and need to gather all stakeholders in one place? Or you just completed one and need to present the results?
  • Are you preparing a policy paper and looking for inputs and feedbacks from
    multiple experts?
  • Are you planning for a new product release and would like to share the updates to maximum number of users?

Take advantage of the biggest geospatial congregation in 2016! Workshop proposals submission is open till 30 November 2015.

The document discuss the future direction of Earth Observation instrumentation in the UK with a wide community.

The evaluation

The CEOI-ST programme has been funded by the UK Space Agency to develop UK capabilities in future space instrumentation for Earth Observation (EO) through the teaming of scientists and industrialists since 2007.

UKSA are undertaking an evaluation of the outcomes over the last 8 years and want to discuss with a wide community the future direction of Earth Observation instrumentation in the UK.

This evaluation outcomes will be two fold to determine:

a) What has been the impact of previous funding, requiring case studies to examine the science, social and financial benefits of CEOI programme.

b) Where the UK industry and academia see EO instrumentation capability in 2030. For this we want to collect comprehensive information on what EO technical capabilities currently exist in the UK and to gather community views on which are the ones to focus on in the future.

Recommendations shall be presented to UK Space Agency Executive Board early December 2015.

The themes

There will be six technology themes around which the evaluation (evidence gathering and the workshop) will focus:

  • IR detectors and systems
  • UV/visible detectors and systems
  • Lidar technologies and systems
  • Active microwave technologies and systems
  • Passive microwave technologies and systems
  • Support technologies for sensing systems

Your participation

This is an opportunity for UK industry and academia to inform the UK Space Agency’s future decision making process and your input will be valuable in helping to shape future funding of Earth Observation instrumentation capabilities in the UK.

Please complete the evaluation evidence in the Survey Monkey link provided below and indicate whether you would like to attend the workshop on the 12th & 13th November at Alexandra House, Wroughton. Please note that due to space constraints at the venue, there will be a limit on the number of people invited to attend, with no more than one or two from each organisation.

Complete your submission no later than 5pm Tuesday 27th October to provide us with your written input and to confirm your attendance. Ideally we would prefer a single response from each organisation.

Places at the workshop are free but as stated limited.

The event will start around 1pm on Thursday 12th and finish Friday afternoon. A more detailed agenda will be issued to the invitees at a later date.

Details for the venue can be found here: http://www.swindonalexandrahouse.co.uk/ We look forward to hearing your views which you can tell us here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/72JW5Q7

Key contacts for questions on the evaluation / logistics etc
UK Space Agency: Charles.mccausland@ukspaceagency.bis.gsi.gov.uk CEOI –ST: mick.johnson@airbus.com

Source UK Space Agency

[Via Satellite 10-12-2015] Weather Analytics, a commercial weather data company, has invested in remote sensing startup OmniEarth, and also intends to become a customer of PlanetiQ when its constellation is active. Bill Pardue, chairman and CEO of Weather Analytics, said Oct. 8 that the company is confident in the ideas presented and is eager to see small satellites providing space-based weather data.


“We’ve already signed up to be one of the first clients of PlanetiQ once they get up and running,” Pardue said at the Hosted Payload and SmallSat Summit in Washington, D.C. “We are also an investor in OmniEarth, which we also have a lot of confidence in.”

Pardue described Weather Analytics as a big believer in small satellites, highlighting several markets where the company envisions applications for data provided from Low Earth Orbit (LEO). He said Weather Analytics has had recent discussions with the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank on practical ways to implement weather data, particularly among countries in Africa where preparedness for meteorological phenomenon is low.

“They are in desperate shape to get information that they can use to make a difference in people’s lives and we firmly believe at Weather Analytics that satellites, especially small satellites, offer an acceptable proxy for weather monitoring,” said Pardue.

Both PlanetiQ and OmniEarth have announced significant progress with their SmallSat constellations in the past year or two. PlanetiQ partnered with spacecraft manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies and entered talks with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for its constellation of GPS Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) satellites. In June PlanetiQ successfully tested its Pyxis GPS-RO sensor, and anticipates fielding 12 satellites by 2017, reaching 18 by 2020. OmniEarth teamed up with Ball Aerospace to build imagers for its satellites, with Spaceflight Inc. for rideshare opportunities, and acquired IRISmaps to bolster analytics capabilities. OmniEarth also opened an office in California to focus on drought mitigation, and joined forces with Dropcountr to enable digital water conservation outreach for the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA). Several other SmallSat ventures focusing on Earth observation, weather, and other data, such as Spire, Planet Labs, UrtheCast, BlackSky Global, and GeoOptics, have also gained traction.

Weather Analytics collects data from a variety of sources and has more than three decades of archived information. In-Q-Tel, a nonprofit organization that invests in technology that could benefit the U.S. intelligence community, made an investment in Weather Analytics in March 2013.

Pardue said the World Bank is evaluating ways to leverage feature phones — mobile phones that are more capable than traditional cell phones but not as advanced and costly as smartphones — to bring weather information to people in Africa. This could allow people who are beginning to develop financially to prepare for inclement weather that could otherwise destroy only recently accumulated wealth.

“This can be active and transformational, and the key to all of it, we believe is small satellites,” he added.

Though ready for an influx of new data from SmallSats, Pardue cautioned that based on his observation, not many are adequately prepared for the gargantuan quantity of data that these operators are soon to create.

“One thing that strikes me is there are way more pitchers than there are catchers. There are a lot of people getting ready to generate huge mountain loads of data nobody has ever seen before. I don’t feel like most organizations that can actually use this data to great advantage are remotely prepared to catch it. I don’t think they are,” he said.

Pardue said Weather Analytics’ data engine is prepared to ingest not just weather data, but oceanic, agricultural and other data forms. Being “data agnostic” helped the company build a Web-enabled, all-cloud repository for data, he said.

Weather Analytics is targeting the insurance community as one of its main customer bases. Pardue said this vertical takes longer to decide on being a customer compared to others. In March 2015 specialty insurance underwriter HCC Specialty reached a strategic alliance with Weather Analytics for access to historical and real-time global hourly data for more than 100 weather variables and indices. Weather Analytics has more than 100 customers and partners, according to its website. Pardue mentioned other markets such as government and agriculture as interesting to the company, with the surprise standout being retail in terms of the market with the most potential.

“Retail is really interesting because of the insights you get from consumer behavior. When you get five to 10 years of one square kilometer weather to understand what the different buying behaviors were at this store and that store and how it correlates to non-obvious relationships, such as wind and cloud cover, that gets really interesting. That’s the biggest single sector,” he said.

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The Satellite Masters Conference, which will take place from 20-22 October 2015 in Berlin, will host the Award Ceremony of Europe’s major innovation competitions for space applications – the Copernicus Masters together with the European Satellite Navigation Competition.

Experts from the research and industry are selecting the winners of topic-specific challenges.

The overall winner – the 2015 Copernicus Master – will receive EUR 20,000 in cash and a satellite data package worth a further EUR 60,000, which is being provided with the financial support of the European Commission.

The Award Ceremony at the Satellite Masters Conference will be complemented by discussions and roundtables about cutting-edge satellite applications with participation of policy makers and industry experts.

The registration for participation in the event is still open.
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Explore cutting-edge space applications from 20 – 22 October 2015 in Berlin

After the great success last year, the second edition of the conference will showcase a unique portfolio of innovative applications based on satellite data and infrastructures.

The Satellite Masters Conference is much more than just a networking event: it is a unique marketplace for sharing ideas on space-based innovation and connecting with the world’s leading network for downstream satellite business. The conference will feature an outstanding blend of sessions, solution soundbites, and roundtable discussions centred around leveraging satellite-derived data and other space solutions for business and society in the following fields: _tackling global change with sustainable solutions, managing disasters and security with data from space, big data from space for business in the cloud, small satellites with a big impact on the new space economy, satellite services for European infrastructures, smart cities: sustainable living based on data from space. _

The conference is geared toward all those looking to benefit from the emerging satellite applications market, including start-ups, SMEs, researchers, investors, institutional stakeholders, and industry entities.

The annual Awards Ceremony of Europe’s major innovation competitions for space applications – the Copernicus Masters and the European Satellite Navigation Competition – will cap off the event. The most brilliant awardees will also present their business cases during the conference.

The Satellite Masters Conference and the Awards Ceremony will kick off with a high-level roundtable on the subject ‘Space 4 Digital Business’, opened by Dorothee Bär, State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI). Don’t miss the opportunity to join the discussion about the impact of space on the digital economy of Matthias Petschke, Director of European Satellite Navigation Programmes, European Commission (EC) ; Philippe Brunet, Director I – Space Policy, Copernicus and Defence, European Commission (EC); Carlo des Dorides, Executive Director of the European GNSS Agency (GSA); Prof Dr Johann-Dietrich Wörner, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA); Dr Hubert Reile, Program Director Space Research and Technology at the German Aerospace Center (DLR); and Thorsten Dirks, President of Bitkom.

On 22 October, the European GNSS R&D Day will showcase success stories on research applications and instruments designed to support entrepreneurs.

The conference is organised by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO) in cooperation with the European GNSS Agency and will be hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and

Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) in Berlin from 20 – 22 October 2015.
For further information and registration (free of charge), please visit www.satellit-masters-conference.eu

Related links:
Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen: www.anwendungszentrum.de
Copernicus Masters: www.copernicus-masters.com
European GNSS Agency: www.gsa.europa.eu
European Satellite Navigation Competition: www.esnc.info

Media contact:
Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen, Lena Nietbaur, +49 (0) 8105 77277 17 press@satellite-masters-conference.eu

(25 September 2015) The launch of Sentinel-5 Precursor is planned for next spring so the satellite is being put through its paces to make sure it is fit for liftoff and life in orbit tracking air pollution. Vibration and acoustic tests are next up.

Sentinel-5 Precursor is the first satellite dedicated to providing information about the atmosphere for Europe’s environmental monitoring Copernicus programme.

With air pollution a serious concern, this new satellite carries the Tropomi instrument – an imaging spectrometer that can measure a multitude of trace gases such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide and methane, and aerosols affecting air quality and the climate.

Tropomi was developed as a joint venture between several Dutch institutes and the Netherlands Space Office.

The satellite arrived in Toulouse, France, at the end of July after engineers at Airbus Defence and Space in Stevenage, UK, had equipped and tested the satellite with Tropomi.

Now at Intespace’s facilities in Toulouse, it is going through a rigorous series of environmental checks.

The ‘thermal balance and vacuum’ tests have already been completed – in record time. They simulated the vacuum of space along with the huge swings of temperature the satellite will be exposed to as it orbits Earth.

As its name suggests, Sentinel-5 Precursor is the forerunner of the Sentinel-5 instrument that will be carried on the MetOp Second Generation weather satellites, which are expected to start operations around 2021.

Until then, Sentinel-5 Precursor will play an important role in forecasting air quality and supplying decision-makers with accurate information.

With such an important undertaking ahead, it is vital that the satellite is fully tested before it is delivered to the launch site in Plesetsk, northern Russia.

It has now been removed from the chamber and is being prepared for the vibration and acoustic tests.

This involves placing the satellite on a shaker and simulating the worst possible conditions during transport and launch. The acoustic chamber will replicate the very high sound pressure levels during liftoff and its journey into orbit.

In parallel, the ground team at ESA’s ESOC space operations centre in Germany are ramping up efforts to have everything in place for the launch and commissioning phases.

(source: ESA)

The inexorable rush of technology affects all organisations. National Mapping Agencies (NMAs), having celebrated their existence of 100 years or more, at times feel overwhelmed by this rush. Time and tide and, I may add technology, wait for no one. It is a situation of absorb or perish. As the demand and need for geospatial content went up manifold, NMAs had to quickly change strategies to stay relevant in the game.

There was a greater rush for accurate maps, regulations on what is being mapped by private players and how, and more user-friendly applications to cater to the demand of the industry. And NMAs had no choice, but to adopt and adapt to technology in their fields of work. Of course, the adoption has not been uniform. There are two aspects to it — the policy environment for the adoption of new technologies and processes, and the inclusion of data from these new technologies and processes.

“Our overall aim is to deliver the best data to the society; be they private companies, governmental bodies and agencies, including the municipalities, or public at large,” says Anne Cathrine Frøstrup, Director General of Kartverket, Norway. “Everyone should have the right to easy, accessible data. The data we distribute is ‘public owned’, therefore it is important that every user, including the public, also gets the data required,” she adds.
A very forward-looking approach that is worth emulating globally.

Interestingly, as Frøstrup points out, ever since data became open and free of charge, there has been a significant increase in the demand for data, proving how important it is to make data easily accessible in all respects. Almost all countries talk of Spatial Data Infrastructures, or SDIs, as the medium for data sharing and delivery. Developed countries like Norway are creating a single massive depository of all types of data, while in larger countries, one may require a distributed architecture. That said, what is important is the need for data to be freely available to a wide variety of users. Stuart Minchin, Chief, Environment Geoscience Division, Geoscience, Australia, calls it essential in today’s world as geospatial content is becoming economically significant.

Authoritative Data and NMAs

Traditionally, the NMAs have been mandated to be the creators and suppliers of authoritative, trustworthy, comprehensive and regularly updated data, like national and international boundaries, place names, locations of cities, towns and villages, transport infrastructure and most importantly, precise geodetic benchmarks. Such data is of guaranteed quality and contents, so it can be used for conflict resolution, disaster response and management, planning and implementation.

“Authoritative data is frequently updated and because of this, the comprehensive accurate data offers high levels of trust to users and customers,” says Peter ter Haar, Director of Products and Innovation, Ordnance Survey, Great Britain. Location data is used by both public and private sector to deliver a vast range of products and services — which now include emerging areas like Smart Cities, Internet of Things and Big Data — by geospatially connecting datasets and information sources, including sensors and beacons. A common, authoritative geospatial dataset leads to easier decision making, and reduces confusion, conflict and error.

However, in large countries, some of this work gets delegated to local government bodies in their areas of jurisdiction. But, they also have to follow the base authoritative data of the NMA and need to get it vetted and approved for distribution and use. In countries like Norway, the NMA may set the standards for the private companies to collect data, but manage its distribution.

Thus, the question arises whether the NMAs should be the only source of authoritative data. Frøstrup believes We should not be the only ones. Every public agency distributing datasets from our ‘common heritage’ must expect to meet the same expectations from the society

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