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22 January 2018. UK-based startup KisanHub has raised a £1.75 million ($2.43m) second seed round to expand its farm management and data analytics software platform capabilities, with a focus on enhancing weather predictions. The round was led by UK-based B2B tech venture capital firms Notion Capital and IQ Capital. Calibrate Management and other angel investors also participated in the round.

Founded in 2013, KisanHub uses big data analytics, cloud computing, and machine learning to compile data from satellite imagery, weather stations, soil sensors, and other sources. The platform offers yield predictions, pesticide application monitoring and other features for potato growing, which helps sellers manage contracts and supports farmers’ decision-making.

The platform also integrates market data and compliance requirements for potatoes, and provides information and makes recommendations on crop protection products.

KisanHub’s target customers are agriculture enterprises, such as suppliers, processors, and retailers that own some of their own farmland but work with a network of contract farmers. The company is able to integrate enteprises’ existing software or excel systems to provide a bespoke solution.

Farmers, while not KisanHub’s main focus, also use the technology as enterprise partners roll out the software across their networks. Roughly 2,300 growers in the UK and 700 in India use KisanHub’s software, all paid for by the enterprise customers.

KisanHub sources data via hardware and imagery partnerships, including one with satellite imagery provider Planet Labs. It also integrates public data.

The startup is planning to use its latest round of funding to deploy 100 of its own weather stations across the UK. KisanHub has not been able to get the level of granularity it wants from publicly available weather data, says Sachin Shende, KisanHub’s co-founder and CEO. Installing its own wealther stations will enable the platform to deliver more precise weather predictions.

Another focus for the company this year will be integrating telematics data from farm machinery into the platform.

Shende hopes these enhancements will help researchers support farmers in achieving better yields and bring value to KisanHub’s customers and growers. “At the moment there is a yield-gap between research and the fields,” he said. “We want to close that gap by capturing that data in our platform.”

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A team of data scientists at the Satellite Applications Catapult is leading a new study, funded by Innovate UK, to see if it is possible to detect a lithium ‘fingerprint’ from space by imaging vegetation and minerals on the ground using satellites.

The data from this study will be integrated with geological information to create a ‘prospectivity map’ to help identify indicators of geological structures which may host lithium in waters (known as brines) deep below the surface.

The study is taking place in Cornwall where there are many intriguing historical accounts of brine containing lithium, some dating back to as early as 1864. Now that lithium has become a crucial material for the development of electric car batteries the lithium in Cornwall may represent an important resource. Lithium consumption is expected to grow rapidly over the next few decades as electric vehicles become mainstream. Additional demand is expected to come from power storage batteries that will be used to store electrical power harvested from renewable sources such as wind and solar.

The challenge posed by the study is to understand whether satellite techniques can assist in prioritising areas for exploration for the future production of lithium. Such techniques include the evaluation of geology and vegetation that might indicate the presence of structures bearing lithium-rich brines deep below the surface. The study explores how certain characteristics might appear on satellite images and how the processing of satellite Earth Observation (EO) data may assist exploration.

There are eleven organisations involved in the study, exploring four areas of research: geology, vegetation, fault detection and environmental monitoring of mining operations. Using the data from the project, the team will also develop a visualisation tool to show how EO and geological data can be integrated to develop software that can monitor the impact of a mine throughout its lifecycle.

The project has been funded through a grant of £850k from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency and the team comprises experts from the British Geological Survey, Camborne School of Mines (part of the University of Exeter), Carrak Consulting, North Coast Consulting, Cornish Lithium Ltd, CGG, Terrabotics, Telespazio Vega UK, Geo Performa and Dares Technology.

Cornish Lithium Ltd. is leading the search for lithium in Cornwall and the results from this project are expected to expand the company’s understanding of the geological structures which are the main targets for where lithium may be extracted from in the future.

Jeremy Wrathall, Founder & CEO, Cornish Lithium Ltd, said: “We are delighted to be part of this exciting project, as well as for the recognition that our project has received from Innovate UK. Lithium has significant strategic importance to the UK economy and we hope that the funding will accelerate understanding of the potential to extract lithium in Cornwall. We believe that techniques developed from this study will prove of great interest to the mining industry globally given the growing importance of Earth Observation techniques as an unobtrusive exploration tool worldwide. We look forward to taking this exciting project forward to the next stage of its development.”

Dr. Cristian Rossi, Principal EO Specialist, Satellite Applications Catapult, said:“Project Lithium is a very exciting project for the Catapult. We get to push boundaries by integrating cutting edge Earth Observation techniques with local surveys to develop the first digital maps that display the probability of occurrence of lithium in Cornwall. Initial investigations show promising outcomes and the team is currently working on their validation.”

The project is due to have results by the end of March 2018.

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Helsinki, FINLAND – January 12, 2018. Historical launch of ICEYE-X1 on India’s PSLV-C40 rocket sends first ever under 100 kg SAR satellite into orbit.

ICEYE, the leader in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology for microsatellites providing expanded access to reliable and timely earth observation data, today announced the successful launch of its proof-of-concept satellite mission, ICEYE-X1, on ISRO’s PSLV-C40 rocket. The success of the launch, from Satish Dhawan Space Center in India, distinguishes ICEYE-X1 as the world’s first microsatellite equipped with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) to ever be deployed in space and as Finland’s very first commercial satellite. Making further history, ICEYE has also successfully established communications with the 70 kg satellite at 05:20, GMT (07:20 Finland time) now in orbit, signaling the next step in the mission’s success.

ICEYE-X1 is ICEYE’s initial proof-of-concept microsatellite mission using a SAR sensor. The goal of the mission is to validate in-orbit performance of the satellite and begin operations with select ICEYE customers. Data received from the satellite in space can be used for a wide variety of use cases including monitoring changing sea ice for maritime and environmental uses, tracking marine oil spills and helping to prevent illegal fishing, to name a few examples.

“ICEYE has been committed to enabling better decision making for everyone with Earth observation capabilities, and now through this new SAR data source, we are closer than ever to unlocking that potential across many different industries,” said Rafal Modrzewski, CEO and co-founder of ICEYE. “I am extremely proud of the ICEYE team who have now, for the first time in the world, opened up the possibilities of the miniaturization of SAR technology. With the support from the Finnish and European communities, Aalto University, Tekes, Horizon 2020, all of our investors, our extremely talented advisors, and so many more who’ve supported us, we have been able to achieve this crucial milestone.”

Throughout 2018, ICEYE has at least two additional proof-of-concept satellite missions planned to further develop and demonstrate the capabilities of the company’s SAR technology. To mitigate the inherent risks associated with rocket launches and to verify specific provider capabilities, ICEYE has opted to launch its three initial missions each through different launch providers. ICEYE’s next launch of a proof-of-concept satellite, ICEYE-X2, is currently indicated by the next launch’s provider to occur during the summer of 2018.

At the conclusion of the initial proof-of-concept missions, ICEYE will launch a constellation of more than 18 SAR-enabled microsatellites to bring reliable high-temporal-resolution imaging to the market. ICEYE’s constellation, once fully deployed, will allow users to accurately image any point on Earth within only a few hours, regardless of weather or darkness.

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Dubai is one of the most rapidly developing cities in the world. This growth has a big impact on the natural environment, natural resources and native habitats.

Satellite Earth Observation (EO) data has long been an important source of information for measuring and monitoring impacts on the natural environment. However, producing geospatial information for large areas from EO data is time consuming and costly.

Now EO data can be analysed at much greater speed with automated processes and intelligent algorithms. Ordnance Survey and Deimos Space UK worked with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai to automate the production of geospatial information from satellite EO, to produce an interoperable data model in which to store this information. The project was supported by the UK Space Agency and BEIS, as part of the Gulf Science, Innovation and Knowledge Economy Programme.

What were the challenges?

  • Measuring and monitoring impacts on resources and the natural environment
  • Tracking the growth and health of important vegetation
  • Providing reliable data to ensure correct subsidy payments to farmers
  • Maximising data production efficiency and value from satellite EO data
  • Creating an interoperable data storage capability and strategy to align with other Dubai data initiatives

What was the solution?
The project automated the production of geospatial information, based on satellite data, which can be used by other government departments to aid planning and monitor change. Palm trees and mangroves were the focus for the project based on their cultural and economic value, their impact on the environment and the ecosystem services they provide.

Ordnance Survey and Deimos Space UK developed a prototype palm tree and mangrove feature extraction and counting algorithm using state of the art deep learning techniques and an interoperable data model to store the data and easily share it with other government departments.
Ordnance Survey also created a Spatial Data Infrastructure Strategy for MBRSC which will ensure the data they produce will meet the requirements of the wider Dubai geospatial sector and align with the latest developments in the Dubai Spatial Data Infrastructure.

What was the outcome?

  • The automatic production of geospatial information with equivalent or greater accuracy compared to current manual processes
  • Efficiency savings in data production (time and cost)
  • Provision of more frequent data updates for better measurement and monitoring
  • A platform independent, interoperable vegetation index data model
  • Greater understanding of stakeholder requirements of MBRSC data and alignment to wider Dubai initiatives such as Smart Dubai

Source Ordonance Survey

On April, 19-20, 2018 COMNEWS holds the 10th International Conference SATELLITE RUSSIA & CIS 2018 in Moscow, Russia.

The conference SATELLITE RUSSIA & CIS is the only event in Russia focusing on satellite communications and broadcasting, manufacturing spacecrafts, rockets and space equipment, spacecraft launch services, space funding and insurance. SATELLITE RUSSIA & CIS is annually attended by the representatives of all competitive companies from each market segment: from spacecraft development, manufacturing and launch services to fixed and mobile communication services and Earth remote sensing. For more information please visit http://www.comnews-conferences.ru/en/conference/satellite2018

Topics to be discussed during the conference:

  • Overview of satellite services market in Russia, Europe and the world
  • Satellite communication networks in the era of the new industrial revolution (Industry 4.0)
  • Practical coexistence and cooperation of national and international players in the Russian market
  • Joint manufacturing of space equipment in Russia: aspects of partners’ teamwork
  • National production of spacecrafts, carrier rockets and related devices/components/modules
  • Development of VSAT market and new opportunities for satellite broadband
  • Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite broadcasting: on the way to Ultra HD 4K and 8K
  • Funding for space programs: loans, insurance, legal issues
  • Satellite communications for socially and politically important regions of Russia
  • Internetworking of mobile satellite networks and landline cellular networks
  • Private investment into space: low Earth orbit satellite communication systems, new launch vehicles
  • Practical application of Earth remote sensing systems and geo-information systems in Russia

The conference SATELLITE RUSSIA & CIS 2018 will be joined by regulatory authorities, CEOs of the Russian and foreign satellite operators, television and radio companies, broadcast network operators, satellite and space equipment manufacturers, launch service providers, financial and insurance companies, consultants, industry-specialized and business journalists, as well as corporate customers using satellite communication services.

15 December 2017. South Africa’s first United Nations symposium on small satellite technology attended by some 140 delegates from 33 countries drew to a close this week on the campus of Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Rei Kawashima (UNISEC-Global), Francois Denner (SCS Aerospace Group), Pontsho Maruping (South African Council of Space Affairs), Herman Steyn (Stellenbosch University), Sias Mostert (SCS Aerospace Group)

This first-ever focus on Africa’s satellite industry held over 5 days was hailed by one and all as a great success not only in providing a forum for exchanging ideas between the continent’s leading satellite manufacturers but also to engage with international industry leaders.

The symposium titled ‘Small satellite missions for scientific and technologic advancement’ was sponsored by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, the South African Departments of Science and Technology (DST) and Trade and Industry (the dti), the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

It was fittingly hosted by Stellenbosch University where the development of South Africa and Africa’s first home-grown satellite Sunsat was started in 1992 and launched in 1999 with the assistance of NASA. Equally fitting was the fact that Prof Herman Steyn, head of the university’s Satellite Engineering Research Group, and co-ordinator of this symposium also worked on the Sunsat project as a young engineer 25 years ago.

“We were especially pleased to have delegates from all the Africa countries who developed their own satellites to date. Africa now boasts 8 spacefaring nations which are Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Ghana and of course South Africa,” says Prof. Steyn.

Ms Pontsho Maruping, chairperson of the South African Council of Space Affairs (SACSA) was equally delighted with the outcome of the event: “It is the first time an event of this nature took place on our continent. We appreciate the regional focus on Africa’s space industry. It gave Africa’s small sat space community a platform to collaborate and exchange ideas,” she said. SACSA operates under the Minister of Trade and Industry, exercises regulatory functions in the South African space industry including giving the Minister advice on all space-related matters.

In his wrap-up at the symposium of South Africa’s first 25 years in space, Dr. Sias Mostert, also a member of the original Sunsat team and nowadays Executive Chairman of the SCS Aerospace Group (SCSAG), pointed out that South Africa now has the ability to manufacture up to 80% of small satellite components locally. This was proven by SCSAG’s successfully operating nSight1 satellite recently launched from the International Space Station with 28 other satellites in the QB50 project co-ordinated by the European Space Agency.

Prof Steyn is confident that the symposium will lead to bigger co-operation between the African countries and also expressed the hope that it paves the way for a co-ordinated space program in South Africa ultimately driven by champions at the highest government levels.

This report was compiled by freelance journalist Anthony Penderis.

7 December 2017. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and Radiant.Earth have signed a strategic partnership agreement for knowledge and technology transfer of Earth observation (EO).

Under this agreement, the parties will establish and implement innovative EO and geospatial application services to support monitoring and assessment of climate change related impacts in the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, with a particular focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A large-scale audacious blueprint to ensure socio-economic progress globally without destructing the environment, these global actions are focused on ending poverty, addressing climate change, and combating inequality and injustice.

Climate change is increasingly disrupting the way of life for communities living in the HKH region. People face constant threats of droughts, floods, and landslides. ICIMOD is a regional intergovernmental learning and knowledge sharing center serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The organization helps communities vulnerable to these natural disasters to understand the changes taking place and how to strengthen their resiliency.

David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, says achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals involves dealing with complex challenges such as tackling climate change, coping with natural disasters, ensuring ecosystem services, and improving the resilience of mountain communities. Earth observation in combination with emerging geo-information and communications technologies provides viable options to understand rapid social and environmental changes to develop actionable policy and programmes in the region. “Our strategic partnership with Radiant.Earth will augment ICIMOD’s capacity to provide information services for monitoring and assessment of key concerns of regional significance,” Molden states.

To realize the SDGs, Anne Hale Miglarese, Radiant.Earth Founder and CEO, states that new approaches and innovations are needed, “Climate change does not occur in a vacuum. It integrates with other global problems, which is why progressing action towards the SDGs is so important. Implementing the SDGs requires global availability and deployment of EO data, plus new standardized solutions. Forming partnerships with organizations such as ICIMOD is therefore paramount to Radiant.Earth’s vision of open geospatial data for positive global impact.”

As a first step towards achieving this strategic alliance, ICIMOD and Radiant.Earth are identifying existing, priority initiatives for collaboration.

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‘Bringing remote sensing solutions to the atmospheric sciences and meteorological communities’

Meteorological Technology World Expo is the largest trade fair and conference in the world on the subject of technologies, devices and systems used in environmental and atmospheric monitoring, weather prediction and climate science.

More than 4000 participants and 250 exhibitors are expected to take part in our next event, in October 2018.

Exhibitors are specialists in instrumentation, data logging and transmission, data aggregation and collection services, space and satellite services, weather service provision, ground and reception stations, GIS and visualisation.

Held in conjunction with the WMO’s CIMO Technical Conference (TECO) and the joint WMO/Eumetsat Global Satcom & Data Collection Services Forum, the event is now the meteorological industry’s main meeting point, attracting national weather services, environmental agencies and weather-sensitive industries from all over the world.

Entrance to the exhibition is free. If you would like to take part in the exhibition or conference, go to www.meteorologicaltechnologyworldexpo.com/en/
or contact Sandy Greenway on +44 1306 743744, sandy.greenway@ukimediaevents.com

Nov 14th, 2017 by Dallas Kasaboski, NSR.
Satellite imagery has traditionally been sold by the scene. Customers would look at certain criteria, and satellite operators would match their request with available archived or tasked images. Sales cycles were long, and the focus was on the quality and the resolution of the data.

However, increasing supply, and pressure from downstream services are prompting the development of volume-based imagery platforms, serving customers on the cloud, through a subscription or revenue-sharing system.

But who will be the main users of high-volume imagery platforms? What imagery do they need? And how should these platforms be designed?

NSR’s Satellite-based Earth Observation, 9th Edition report forecasts the global opportunity for the sale of satellite imagery to reach $1.8 Billion by 2026, driven by high demand downstream, and more competition upstream from new players and constellations.

Moving away from pixels to analysis and insights, demand for high volumes of imagery is growing quickly, especially for Big Data analytics applications. Companies such as Orbital Insights, Ursa Space, and Descartes Labs, looking to monitor entire economies, track multitudes of assets, and better model customer behavior, require platforms that streamline, and in some cases, automate the image-selection process.

NSR forecasts optical high-resolution (HR) imagery will be in greatest demand, benefitting from lower prices than very high-resolution (VHR) ones, with high precision suited to asset monitoring. As such, HR optical imagery sales will represent 58% of the global market by 2026. However, SAR data demand is expected to increase, with new constellations planned by Capella Space and Iceye among others. Bulk-order contracts between SI Imaging and Ursa Space are just one example of SAR data becoming more commoditized.

Currently, there are over 30 commercial satellite imagery constellations planned for the next decade, and while it is unlikely that all will launch, the increasing competition will continue to drive both optical and SAR imagery prices down.

Data platforms are not just the domain of emerging Earth Observation companies. DigitalGlobe’s GBDx and Airbus D&S’ OneAtlas services allow developers to create tools to extract insights from growing imagery libraries.

As more platforms come online, added functionality and customer-focused design will be important for securing additional business and broadening the market. Key factors for high-volume imagery services are quality, cadence, pricing, and the data platform itself. Quality of imagery differs from one vertical to another, with most service-based verticals demanding higher resolution, and many wide-area monitoring applications able to make do with medium or lower resolution. Cadence, more often referred to as refresh, refers to the frequency of data collection and delivery, better for applications looking to assess the current and future states of markets. High-volume services bring a significant price reduction for imagery, more-so in medium resolution (MR) markets where prices have already depreciated quite rapidly in recent years. Finally, as more data platforms are developed, extra features such as automation and value-added information will be leveraged to garner more customers.

While even the most traditionally-minded verticals are also making the transition to volume-based platforms, such as through Planet’s $14M contract with NGA, and BlackSky Global’s $16M contract with the USAF, this transition is slow, and more predominant in North America. Established relationships, a strong tendency to internalize imagery analysis, and different sales cycles than seen in more service-based verticals are expected to limit volume-based platform adoption in most regions. As a result, NSR expects Defense & Intelligence and Public Authorities to more strongly favor traditionally-purchased, by-the-scene VHR imagery, forecasting these verticals to represent 75% of the entire data market by 2026.

Bottom Line

There is significant pressure for the commoditization of commercial satellite Earth Observation data today. Downstream service providers want more data, more often, to extract insightful value from imagery coupled with ancillary data sources. There is a long-established history of declining imagery prices, which is accelerated due to increasing competition and supply both up- and down-stream.

Volume-based platforms are expanding the opportunity for Earth Observation data, attracting customers and users typically outside the industry, through Big Data analytics. As such, volume purchases are better for business, tapping into a segment growing 5 times faster than traditional scene-buying has traditionally experienced.

New data providers, focused on high imagery cadence, will require volume-based platforms to leverage their imagery, and established providers have already begun benefitting from the way platforms can make archived imagery relevant again. The more traditionally-minded verticals will continue to hesitate to adopt these platforms, but cost-saving automation and more frequent and reliable data are enticing opportunities.

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A new map was released detailing croplands worldwide in the highest resolution yet, helping to ensure global food and water security in a sustainable way.

The map establishes that there are 1.87 billion hectares of croplands in the world, which is 15 to 20 percent—or 250 to 350 million hectares (Mha)—higher than former assessments. The change is due to more detailed understanding of large areas that were never mapped before or were inaccurately mapped as non-croplands.

Earlier studies showed either China or the United States as having the highest net cropland area, but this study shows that India ranks first, with 179.8 Mha (9.6 percent of the global net cropland area). Second is the United States with 167.8 Mha (8.9 percent), China with 165.2 Mha (8.8 percent) and Russia with 155.8 Mha (8.3 percent). Statistics of every country in the world can be viewed in an interactive map.

The study was led by USGS and is part of the Global Food Security-Support Analysis Data @ 30-m Project. The map is built primarily from Landsat satellite imagery with 30-meter resolution, which is the highest spatial resolution of any global agricultural dataset.

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