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A group coordinated by the University of Washington in Seattle has developed a tool to facilitate continuous monitoring of tropical cyclones through the combination of lightning and microwave satellite data. The World Wide Lightning Location Network’s (WWLLN) tropical cyclone (WWLLN-TC) platform is publicly accessible and visualizations of the global data are updated every three hours.

Lightning is a rich source of information

2017 marked one of the worst tropical storm seasons on record, leading to large disasters in affected regions. Forecasts of changes inside cyclones are crucial to prevent people from being affected and to strengthen preparedness for effective disaster management and response.

Past research has revealed that intensity changes are closely connected to the density of lightning strokes surrounding the storm centre. Hurricane Matthew, which caused widespread damage in October 2016 for example, weakened and came to its final stage just after an obvious peak in stroke rates was detected by the WWLLN.

Making monitoring outcomes visible in near real-time

The foundation of these measurements is a combination of microwave radiometric data by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and stationary lightning data, which is detected by measuring electromagnetic pulses from more than 70 WWLLN receiver stations worldwide and combined with measurements by Earth Networks. The microwave images are gathered by different satellites such as NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) and Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The combination helps to fill gaps in between satellite cycles and increase the spatial and temporal resolution of the data.

The data is then published on the WWLLN-TC website. It provides four categories of images and histograms that help to both follow the course of the cyclone and keep track of its activities, in terms of the location and intensity of lightning strikes as well as its current pressure condition and wind speed. Information for more than 700 tropical cyclones that have occurred since November 2009 can be accessed on the website.
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Finnish companies Aker Arctic Technology, the world leader in ice-going vessel design and engineering, and ICEYE, the leader in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology for microsatellites, joined forces to develop and provide satellite ice information and related services for customers operating in icy conditions.

Combining the new SAR data from microsatellites with data from maritime environments provides an innovative and cost-effective service for marine users, Aker Arctic said.

During a one-year pilot phase Aker Arctic plans to develop and test these services with its partners. The company runs a special testing facility in Helsinki and offices in Canada and Russia. In addition, ICEYE is launching two more SAR satellites to increase data availability. The aim is to improve situational awareness in polar sea areas.

Aker Arctic sees the new SAR data as beneficial to improving understanding of ice conditions in specific areas, thus also supporting the development of new shipping routes and maritime construction.

With extensive experience in Arctic sea technology and the greater maritime industry, Aker Arctic will utilize ICEYE’s SAR data, collected with satellites such as ICEYE-X1, to extend and improve its services for customers.

ICEYE aims to provide democratized access to reliable Earth observation data by developing efficient SAR sensors and microsatellites, enabling everyone to make better decisions. Through an imaging service available anywhere around the globe, anytime, and with response times measured in just few hours, ICEYE helps clients resolve challenges in segments such as maritime, disaster management and security and intelligence.

ICEYE is the first organization to successfully launch SAR microsatellites and commenced its commercial data operations this year.

The company is on track to launch its next SAR-enabled satellite, ICEYE-X2, as soon as this summer. Providing high resolution images and extensive global data, ICEYE’s vision is to launch a constellation of up to 18 SAR satellites to provide users with accurate images of any point on Earth every few hours.

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Earth observations contribute to increased understanding of complex phenomena occurring in, on and around our planet. Such observations allow the international community to make more informed decisions and policies to address global challenges, such as climate change and disaster resilience.

Data collected on the Earth is increasingly being made openly and freely available to the public, but what happens when those who need it don’t have access?

To ensure that Earth observations underpin decision-making for the benefit of all, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has been working for the past decade to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

Through GEOSS, GEO has already made over 400 million open Earth observation data and information resources available via the GEOSS Portal and through the GEODAB API, both part of the GEOSS Platform, in order to contribute to global development efforts.

Not everyone working with Earth observations, however, has the same access to this data, such as in cases where high-speed landlines and/or Internet connectivity are not available, or in regions where terrestrial communication lines are not reliable or have been disrupted by disasters.

In an effort to increase access to Earth observations, GEO delivers data and products on a routine basis using satellite Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) technology to a worldwide user community through its initiative GEONETCast.

Accessible and affordable data

GEONETCast is a global network of cost-effective satellite-based dissemination systems which broadcast Earth observation data, products and services (including space-based, air-borne and in situ data) to areas with otherwise limited access.

“Through the GEOSS Platform where internet access is good, and through GEONETCast for areas where internet access is limited, we look forward to a future where everyone has easy access to the Earth observation data and information they need, when they need it.” —
Barbara Ryan, GEO Secretariat Director

Currently serving approximately 6,000 users in 169 countries, this user-driven and low-cost service operates through 3 GEONETCast Network Centres: GEONETCast Americas (US NOAA), EUMETCast (EUMETSAT) and CMACast (China), with established data exchange between them.

The cost of reception stations is kept to a minimum, resulting in an affordable solution for individuals, communities and businesses to ensure access to the Earth observations they need. A typical GEONETCast reception station includes a standard PC, a Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) reception device, and a satellite off-set antenna, and costs approximately 3,000USD for all equipment and installation.

Regional impact

The number of stations in the Americas has doubled over the past year, with a total of 78 stations operating in 19 countries as of February 2018, and 4 more planned for installation. Many of these stations, including 10 recently donated by the United States to Mexico , are intended to improve early warning and disaster monitoring.

The services and data delivered by GEONETCast allow users to better forecast extreme weather events for better prevention, mitigation and rapid response to emergencies and natural disasters.

Covering Europe and Africa, EUMETCast has more than 4,060 registered reception stations. ACMAD, the Weather and Climate Centre for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Africa, has recently developed seasonal forecasts at the continental level dedicated to the DRR community, based on the information delivered by GEONETCast stations. This enables disaster risk management entities at the sub-regional and national levels to improve their disaster preparedness.

RELATED: Satellite-based solutions for smart societies

In the Asia Pacific region, CMACast uses AsiaSat-9 C band transponders to broadcast meteorological and satellite sensing data to over 2,700 registered users. The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) has provided CMACast to 20 countries in the region, in order to improve their capability to predict severe weather and reduce risk.

Global opportunities

The types and sources of data received currently differ by region according to needs and priorities, but GEO envisions a future where GEONETCast is able to transmit the entirety of the GEOSS data and information resources to all receiving stations globally.

As it continues to expand towards this vision, GEONETCast is demonstrating the value of data access, and is contributing to a more resilient society that is better equipped to sustainably face environmental challenges.

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Two recent expeditions that took scientists 26 000 km across the Atlantic Ocean have returned critical information to make sure that the Copernicus Sentinel satellites are delivering accurate data about the state of our oceans.

The RSS Discovery carried scientists from the UK to South Georgia to make in situ measurements of the ocean as part of the campaign to validate the Copernicus Sentinel satellites. (courtesy: PML)

Information from the Sentinels is used in a myriad of ways to make lives easier and businesses more efficient.

For example, ocean forecasting is important for maritime safety and off-shore operations, and biological productivity helps sectors such as the fishing industry.

It is therefore imperative to monitor data quality throughout a satellite’s life – and this means venturing out to make in situ measurements that can be compared with measurements taken from space.

In 2016 and 2017, a team of scientists did just this and braved the seas for months on voyages that took them all the way from the UK to the South Atlantic to collect reference measurements of chlorophyll, sea temperature and more.

ESA ocean scientist Craig Donlon explained, “We rely on these measurements, which are fully traceable, independent and collected according to strict protocols.

“They are an essential part of making sure that the satellite data can be used with confidence for practical applications and scientific research.”

Gavin Tilstone from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory said, “Each expedition took around seven weeks.

En route to South Georgia and the Falkland Islands we took around a million measurements each time, including readings of ocean colour, surface temperature and wave motion.

“We voyaged through many different ocean regimes so that these measurements were as varied as possible, from productive coastal regions to desert-like gyres in the centre of the ocean that are rarely accessed by research ships.”

Importantly, where possible, measurements were taken at the same time as the Sentinels passed overhead.

“It was also important to compare measurements taken by different shipborne instruments, which is all part of making sure they are of the highest quality and rigorously calibrated before they are used to check the satellite data,” added Dr Tilstone.

Some of the initial results suggest that the measurements of chlorophyll by Sentinel-3A’s ocean and land colour instrument can be improved slightly, which is now being addressed in the data processing chain.

Craig Donlon commented, “This is exactly why these campaigns are vital. They build confidence in our missions and data products, and highlight issues that can be easily addressed by our expert teams. Regular-repeat campaigns are a core part of our satellite missions because they provide the evidence of mission quality for our users.”

The Copernicus Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 satellites return different types of data about the oceans.

For example, Sentinel-1 can be used to look at waves and oil spills, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 both offer information about phytoplankton, which form the basis of the marine food chain and are important in the balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Sentinel-3 is also used to map sea-surface temperature, which is needed for forecasting. In addition, information on both phytoplankton and temperature is important for understanding how our oceans are changing.

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On 27 February 2018, the Riga airTEXT service was officially launched, offering free access to regularly updated air quality forecasts for the capital of Latvia.

Riga airTEXT is a stand-out case of the use of the free and open data and ready-to-use information from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).

It is yet another showcase of the application of the Copernicus Services for the public good, business ideas and international cooperation.

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service is one of the six operational services of the most ambitious Earth Observation and Monitoring programme in history, the European Union´s Copernicus programme. This service is aimed at supporting policymakers, businesses and citizens by providing free and open data about the present and forecasted status of the atmosphere in terms of pollen, NO2, ozone, Particulate Matter and a range of other pollutants, on a global basis but also with a higher resolution focus on Europe.

There are numerous business cases and applications using one or more CAMS information products, which demonstrate how societal and environmental challenges are being tackled using Copernicus data. Riga airTEXT is one of these examples.

What is Riga airTEXT?

The newly launched Riga airTEXT service is a free and independent service that twice daily provides the public with 3-day air quality forecasts, relying on CAMS information and data for pollutant levels. More specifically, the service regularly provides information about air quality, ultraviolet radiation (UV), pollen and temperature in Riga and thus, is especially useful for people who experience respiratory problems, heart diseases, allergies or have a weaker immune system. The Riga airTEXT forecasts are distributed through different channels: Riga airTEXT phone application (downloading the Android App on Google Play), Twitter, Facebook, SMS text messages as well as through its official website.

The Riga airTEXT service is based on an air quality modelling software developed by Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC), a British environmental consultancy. For Riga airTEXT, a local air quality model is combined with data derived from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) Regional Ensemble air quality forecast and weather forecasts from private provider Meteogroup.

Air pollutants, UV radiation and pollen forecasted by Riga airTEXT

The air quality as reported and forecasted by Riga airTEXT is gauged using information on the concentration of four major air pollutants. Based on the concentration of these pollutants a daily Air Quality Index (AQI)(see [1]) is derived for each of them. These four pollutants are: nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM10, and PM2.5) and ozone (O3).

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a powerful oxidant which gets into the air we breathe typically through the burning of fuel, produced by power plants or vehicles. Thus, high levels of NO2 are, for example, a clear indicator of road traffic density. Also, natural phenomena contribute to the formation of NO2 in the air, e.g. volcanic activity, lightning, trees or plants. NO2 has adverse effects on our respiratory system as well as on cardiovascular functions.

Particulates or Particulate Matter (PM10) and (PM2.5) have the most significant effect on human health when compared to other athmospheric pollutants and clearly correlated with increased mortality rates. Particulate Matter are a complex mixture of solid and liquid, organic and inorganic particles in the air, e.g. nitrates, ammonia, black carbon, mineral dust, water, etc. The most health-damaging particles are those with a diameter of 10 microns or less (≤ PM10), which are measured and forecasted by Riga airTEXT.

Ozone (O3) is a crucial component of the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere that acts as a shield against the UV radiation. However, the ozone role as a protector changes the closer it gets to the Earth’s surface. At ground level, ozone participates in the formation of smog, which is aggravated by the sunlight and certain chemicals, for instance those of vehicle and industrial emissions. Ground-level ozone is damaging to lungs and is currently causing major concern throughout the European Union.

Alongside the air quality indicators, ultraviolet (UV) radiation is measured and forecasted by CAMS and reported by Riga airTEXT by taking into consideration the levels and effects of ozone, clouds and Particulate Matter. UV-light from the sun is essential for our bodies as they contribute to the production of Vitamin D, yet overexposure to UV rays is dangerous for health – it is closely associated with skin cancer, accelerated skin ageing and adverse effect on our eyes and immune system.

Riga airTEXT also provides daily forecasts about birch and grass pollen – a common allergen affecting 10-20% of the population in Europe. The pollen seasons triggers an allergic response with sensitive people. Even though pollen-induced allergies are seasonal, they can cause permanent effects. For instance, a long-term study (Settipane et al, 1994) showed that allergic rhinitis, a common form of pollen allergy, can develop into chronic asthma.

Riga airTEXT, a prime example of how the CAMS services can be used to support citizens and local authorities

Riga airTEXT is a step forward for public health care in the Latvian capital. Therefore, national authorities encourage the residents and visitors of Riga to use the Riga airTEXT forecasts, for example, to plan their trips outdoors.

“Air quality management is one of key priorities of the environmental protection policy in Latvia and the EU. The provision of information on air quality to the citizens, including alerts on possible short-term pollution accidents, is an important element of this policy. Riga airTEXT is a good way to show that air quality is not only policy documents, legal acts and scientific reports, but a vital factor in our everyday life, which often is taken for granted, while having significant impact of human health. Now Riga citizens will have access to important air quality data presented in a modern and user-friendly manner.” says Alda Ozola, Deputy State Secretary of Latvian Ministry of Environmental and Regional Development at the inauguration of the new service.

Riga airTEXT is yet another showcase of the application areas of the Copernicus Services for public good, business ideas and international cooperation. Richard Engelen, Deputy Head of CAMS stated: “The Riga airTEXT service is a prime example of how the CAMS services can be used to support local citizens. Small and Medium-sized enterprises using the data for new services at country and city-level is key to the success of the Copernicus programme.”

Riga airTEXT was developed and is operated by the Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants (CERC) Ltd, a British environmental consultancy and SIA Estonian, Lithuanian and Latvian Environment (ELLE), a local SME, in partnership with the Municipality of Riga and the Ministry of the Environment and Regional Development. The service was created following the airTEXT initial prototype, which provides forecasts for the regions of Greater London. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) funded the development phase and the 2-year market trial phase of Riga airTEXT. The results of these two phases are available in the Public Final Report.

There is a crucial role of GIS and Remote Sensing tools for improved landslide inventory mapping and landslide assessment and susceptibility. In this concept note, the application of GIS is emphasized for the prediction and mapping of landslide susceptible areas in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Landslide is a general term used to describe the down-slope movement of soil, rock and organic materials under the influence of gravity (Varnes , 1984).

There are three major causes that create the occurrence of landslides – Geology, Morphology and Human activity.

Geological Causes
Geology refers to characteristics of the material itself. The earth or rock might be weak or fractured, or different layers may have different strengths and stiffness.

Morphological Causes
Morphology refers to the structure of the land. For example, slopes that lose their vegetation to fire or drought are more vulnerable to landslides. Vegetation holds the soil in a place and without the root system of trees, bushes, and other plants, the land is more likely to slide away or eroded by the rainfall. Other causes are: Climatic conditions, Earthquakes, Weathering, Erosion, Volcanoes, Forest fires and Gravity.

Human Activities
Human activities like agriculture and construction can increase the risk of a landslide. Mining activities utilizing blasting techniques contribute extremely to landslides. Vibration produced from the blasts weakens soils in nearby areas and make the land susceptible to landslides.

Types of Landslides
There are many ways to describe a landslide. The nature of a landslide’s movement and the type of material involved are two of the most common.

Landslide Movement: There are several ways of describing how a landslide moves. These include falls, topples, translational slides, lateral spreads, and flows.

In falls and topples, heavy blocks of material fall after separating from a very steep slope or cliff. For example, Boulder tumbling down a slope would be a fall or topple.

A lateral spread or flow is the movement of material sideways, or laterally. This happens when a powerful force, such as an earthquake, makes the ground move quickly, like a liquid.

Application of GIS and Remote Sensing in Landslide Hazard Zonation Mapping and Analysis
Landslides are one of the major disasters that occur in hilly region. They are unpredictable by nature and thus their analysis is complex to study. RS and GIS tools can be of utmost importance in analyzing the effect of factors on which the occurrence of a landslide event depends.

The definition of “Landslide Hazard Map” includes “zonation showing annual probability of landslide occurring throughout an area” (USGS). A landslide susceptibility map is a basic concept of landslide susceptibility (Radbruch 1970; Dobrovolny 1971; Brabb and Pampeyan 1972) includes the spatial distribution of factors related to the instability processes in order to determine zones of landslide-prone areas without any temporal implication. This approach is useful for areas where it is difficult to secure enough information concerning the historical record of landslide events ranks the slope stability of an area in categories that range from stable to unstable. Susceptibility maps show where landslides may occur.

Methodology Selection:
First the objective of the study is defined. Danger exists that the data that will be collected will not be in accordance with the scale of analysis, or the method of analysis. This might lead to a waste of time and money if too detailed data is collected, or an oversimplification if too general data is collected.

The following things should be considered:

-The objective of the study
-The scale of the study
-The type of analysis that will be followed
-The types of input data that will be collected

Defining Objective:

Landslide hazard studies can be made for many different purposes. Some of these might be:

-For an environmental impact study for engineering works;
-For the disaster management of a town or city;
-For the modeling of sediment yield in a catchment;
-For a watershed management project;
-For a community participation project in disaster management;
-For the generation of awareness among decision makers;
-For scientific purposes
-Each of the above objectives will lead to specific requirements with respect to the scale of work, the method of analysis and the type and detail of input data to be collected

Scales of Analysis
National scale:
Smaller than 1:1.000.000, covering an entire country, mainly intended to generate awareness among decision makers and the general public. Maps on this scale are often intended to be included in national atlases.

Regional scale:
Between 1:100.000 and 1:1.000.000, covering a large catchment area, or a political entity of the country. The maps at this scale are mostly intended for observation phases for planning projects for the construction of infrastructural works, or agricultural development projects.

Medium scale
Between 1:25.000 and 1:100.000, covering a municipality or smaller catchment area. Intended for the detailed planning phases of projects for the construction of infrastructural works, environmental impact assessment and municipal planning

Large scale
Between 1:2.000 and 1:25.000, covering a town or (part of) a city .They are used for disaster prevention and generation of risk maps, as well as for the design phase of engineering works.

Site investigation scale
Between 1:200 to 1:2000, covering the area where engineering works will be carried out, or covering a single landslide. They are used for the detailed design of engineering works, such as roads, bridges, tunnels, dams, and for the construction of slope stabilization works.

Hazard Zonation
Slope instability hazard zonation is defined as:

The mapping of areas with an equal probability of occurrence of landslides within a specified period of time (Varnes, 1984)

A landslide hazard zonation consists of two different aspects:

The assessment of the susceptibility of the terrain for a slope failure, in which the susceptibility of the terrain for a hazardous process expresses the likelihood that such a phenomenon occurs under the given terrain conditions or parameters.
The determination of the probability that a triggering event occurs.
Often slope instability hazard assessment uses the assumption:

Conditions which led in the past to slope failures, will also result in potential unstable conditions in the present.

Direct/Indirect Hazard Mapping:

Direct hazard mapping:

Experience driven applied geo-morphological approach, where the earth scientist evaluates the direct relationship between the landslides and the geo-morphological and geological setting during the survey at the site of the failure.

Indirect hazard mapping:

The mapping of a large number of parameters and the (statistical or deterministic) analysis of all these possible contributing factors in relation to the occurrence of slope instability phenomena, determining in this way the relation between the terrain conditions and the occurrence of landslides. Based on the results of this analysis statements are made regarding the conditions under which slope failures occur.

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Scotland/London, 6 March 2018 – Double recognition for Ecometrica, the downstream space and satellite mapping company, sees the business propelled onto the prestigious Inc.’s 5000 Europe ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies on the European continent, which also includes notable firms such as HelloFresh, Dyson, Moo and Coolblue.

The firm has also earned a placed on the GP Bullhound Northern Tech Awards, which recognises the fastest growing exceptional technology companies in the North of England and Scotland.

A leading international provider of digital infrastructure for earth observation services, Edinburgh-headquartered Ecometrica, which has offices in London, Boston, Montreal and Mexico, has won a string of awards for its products and stellar growth, including the prestigious Environmental Leader Product of the Year Award for the second time in a row, and earned rankings in the FT1000 and Deloitte’s 500.

Gary Davis, chief executive of Ecometrica, said: “The recognition by both Inc. 5000 Europe and GP Bullhound’s Northern Tech Awards is further validation for Ecometrica and our talented team.

“What is most pleasing for me is that our growth is not at the cost of the planet or its resources. In fact the more we grow the more we are helping business, governments and society to understand, monitor and protect our planet’s resources for the benefit of existing and future generations.

“Huge advances in raw cloud-based computing power, machine learning and artificial intelligence, coupled with steep cost reductions for deploying sensors on the ground, on UAVs or in orbit, mean that we are now able to harness the power of earth observation data at ever greater spatial and temporal resolutions. One example of the kind of solutions we provide, based on our unique geospatial technology stack, is our Forests 2020 project, as part of the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme, where we are helping a number of governments to manage and protect over 300 million hectares of tropical forests much more effectively.”

The exclusive Inc. 5000 Europe list has been compiled for 37 years. As an Inc. 5000 Europe honouree, with a confirmed position of 2747, Ecometrica now shares a pedigree with Intuit, Under Armour, Microsoft, Timberland, Pandora, Patagonia, Oracle, and dozens of other prominent recent U.S. alumni.

The median company on the Inc. 5000 Europe list increased sales by more than 254 percent since the start of 2013, while the average honouree grew a mind-boggling 473 percent. Those are results most companies could only dream of in the economy of the past three years.

The Northern Tech Awards have been running since 2011 and are part of the events portfolio of GP Bullhound, the leading international technology investment bank. Once a year the Top 100 Fastest Growing Technology Companies are ranked in the Tech 100 League Table by revenue growth over the last three years. The top 50 are invited to the Northern Tech Awards ceremony to receive an award – with the showcase presentations for 2018 taking place in Ecometrica’s home city of Edinburgh.

Distributed by The Communications Business on behalf of Ecometrica.

For further information or to set up an interview, please contact Denise Hannestad, The Communications Business tel: +44 (0) 131 208 1500 – deniseh @ thecommunicationsbusiness.com

About Ecometrica

Ecometrica, the downstream space and sustainability company, turns the vast and growing streams of observation data from space, air and land into actionable insights for business, government and society.
A leading provider of sustainability and earth observation services, its satellite mapping technology is being used to protect 300 million hectares of tropical forests as part of the Forests 2020 project, which Ecometrica is spearheading on behalf of the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP).

Ecometrica is one of the world’s top sustainability brands, as named by industry analyst Verdantix. It is the only CDP Gold Software Partner for its climate change, forests and water programmes. Ecometrica’s geospatial data mapping services, which support all aspects of sustainability planning, operations and reporting by businesses and public organisations, are available worldwide, through offices in the UK, USA, Canada and Mexico.

The firm is a winner of the prestigious Environmental Leader Product of the Year Award two years in a row, for its Ecometrica Platform. It is also ranked on the FT1000 list of Europe’s fastest growing companies and Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500.

Founded in 2008, Ecometrica’s formidable story derives directly from the vision of its founding members and leadership – executive chairman Dr Richard Tipper, chief executive Gary Davis and chief product officer Bertrand Revenaz. Backed by a team of recognised experts, Ecometrica has unrivalled experience in environmental sustainability accounting and reporting.

The Ecometrica Platform, a web-based accounting and sustainability management solution, combines earth observation data from satellites with local information and business intelligence, to bring clarity to environmental and natural resource challenges facing corporates and governments alike. It helps businesses to easily track and map their impact on natural capital assets, like forests and water, tracking supply chain activity, verifying sustainable product sourcing, and environmental reporting to established sustainability frameworks. It makes the terabytes of raw data being sent to Earth by satellites easily accessible, bringing limitless possibilities for its application. It is the only sustainability software solution with audit-ready assurance from a Big Four auditor (PwC). For the largest customers who get their accounts externally audited, this means avoiding costly pre-audit fees that often run into hundreds of thousands of pounds per year.
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How can we make cities more eco-sustainable?

Our cities are getting hotter and hotter. Buildings, air conditioning systems, traffic and industrial activities release heat that changes the energy balance of urban areas, affecting the environment and the health of citizens.

How can we make cities more eco-sustainable? This is the answer that the URBANFLUXES project is looking for.

Getting our cities more suitable for urban living at a time of climate change is crucial.

UN forecasts say that, by 2050, around 70% of the world’s population will be living in urban areas. This highlights the importance of managing urban-made heat fluxes.

“The URBANFLUXES project is important because for the first time, using satellite data, we are able to estimate the energy balance and its time distribution,” said Nektarious Chrysoulakis,Project Coordinator, UrbanFluxes
Physicist, FORTH.

“We can also accurately estimate, on a local scale, highly concentrated heat spots and high emissions of anthropogenic heat.”

Several environmental monitoring stations have been installed in several hotspot on the Greek island of Crete.

“From this system, we receive data in our laboratory over the internet; we can get the different (heat) fluxes in the city in real time, then we compare them with the satellite data and we produce an global evaluation,” said Stavros Stagakis, Biologist, FORTH (Foundation for Research and Technology)

Remote sensing data systems have been also tested in the highly urbanized cities, such as London and Basel. They collect meteorological data, such as air speed, wind direction, air temperature and rate of humidity.

URBANFLUXES investigates in depth the cities’ warming by combining in-situ meteorological measurements with imagery from some of the Earth Observation satellites working within the Copernicus Program.

The rate of warming in cities is higher than the average global warming and, especially during heat waves, this may significantly influence human mortality.

This methodology is expected to be easily transferable to any city.

By taking into account these studies, local communities may be able to support sustainable urban development strategies focused to reduce climate change.
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Space information network (SIN) is a promising networking architecture to significantly broaden the observation area and realize continuous information acquisition for Earth observation. Over the dynamic and complex SIN environment, it is a key issue to coordinate multi-dimensional heterogeneous network resources (e.g., observation resource and transmission resource) in the presence of multi-resource variations and severe conflicts, such that diverse Earth observation service requirements can be satisfied. To this end, this paper studies the multiresource coordinate scheduling problem in SINs. Specifically, we first characterize the relationship among multi-resource using an event-driven time-expanded graph (EDTEG). Based on the EDTEG, observation resource and transmission resource are jointly considered, and an integer linear programming optimization problem is formulated to maximize the sum priorities of successfully scheduled tasks. An iterative optimization technique is employed to decompose the problem into separate observation scheduling and transmission scheduling sub-problems, which can be efficiently solved by extended transmission time sharing graph and directed acyclic graph methods, respectively. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and performance impacts of different network parameters.

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Code for Africa, the continent’s largest federation of civic technology and data journalism labs, and Radiant.Earth, a non-profit advocating for open geospatial data for positive global impact, announced their partnership to harness open Earth imagery and tools for improved decision-making, as well as better insight and transparency.

Their combined efforts will focus on research for new and innovative applications of Earth observation data to support investigative journalism and storytelling, as well as capacity development.

Both organizations aim to transform the way data are consumed by civil society to empower informed decision-making, efficient service delivery, and location-based analytics to solve social, economic, and environmental challenges. However, while Radiant.Earth has a global focus, Code for Africa directs its attention to affiliate labs in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Code for Africa’s integrated approach to civic technology development in Africa is breaking new ground every day. Their method is to empower ordinary citizens by creating technological capacity within civil society and the media, to enable them to produce extensive knowledge that will help them shape governments and improve their services to citizens.

“Media organizations are constantly evolving, worldwide. Journalists, as well as citizens, now have access to an immense volume of data. It is essential to build their capacities and equip them with the knowledge and tools to research, refine, visualize and interpret the data,” says Jacopo Ottaviani, CCO of Code for Africa. “We are thrilled about our new partnership with Radiant.Earth, because we believe that geospatial data and open Earth imagery can be turned into a crucial tool for storytelling. Radiant.Earth’s team of experts can lead us to new, groundbreaking discoveries in Africa and beyond.”

Radiant.Earth is well-positioned to support Code for Africa’s efforts, as the two organizations share a desire for transparency to enact change. Radiant.Earth offers an open technology platform that facilitates innovation and solutions by combining the best in discovery and dissemination with the latest trends in image processing and analysis. Radiant.Earth strives to identify and connect new users interested in serving citizens facing socio-economic and environmental challenges using geospatial technology.

“We are looking forward to working with Code for Africa,” says Anne Hale Miglarese, Founder and CEO of Radiant.Earth. “They are changing the way information is disseminated and consumed in Africa, leading the charge for transformative impact locally. Together, we can strengthen our capabilities and cultivate a community of practitioners dedicated to transparency and accountability on the ground.”

The sharing of tools and ideas will augment each organization’s mission through capitalizing on the unique resources and knowledge-base that they bring to this partnership. The identified thematic areas for cooperation include humanitarian disaster management, conflict monitoring, urbanization and population growth, health, climate change, sustainability, land rights, agriculture, conservation, and the environment.