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Raytheon Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Common Ground System (CGS) recently added the Japanese Space Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Global Change Observation Mission 1 satellite to its growing list of global environmental missions.

JPSS CGS now supports five domestic and international missions. With minimal enhancements and investments, JPSS CGS validates the efficiency of a common ground system.

“Since being deployed for NOAA’s Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership in 2011, JPSS CGS, one of the few multi-mission ground solutions, is now providing unprecedented global observation capability,” said Bill Sullivan, JPSS CGS program director for Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems business.

“In today’s budget environment, leveraging a common ground system across national and international agencies is the most efficient and cost effective way to improve global environmental observational capabilities.”

In less than six months from contract award, JPSS CGS was ready to fully support the scheduled JAXA launch.

By leveraging a flexible architecture and integrating new and legacy technologies, the JPSS CGS reduces development and sustainment costs and has proven it can be quickly adapted to a variety of mission needs spanning civil, military and scientific communities.

In addition to supporting NOAA’s Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and the Japanese Space Exploration Agency’s Global Change Observation Mission 1, other JPSS CGS support includes the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites’ Meteorological Operational Satellite and DoD’s Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

In the future, the Raytheon JPSS CGS will support NOAA’s JPSS-1 and JPSS-2 missions, as well as the JPSS Free-Flyer mission, which will fly instruments that cannot be accommodated on JPSS satellites.

Source

(9-13 September 2013, Edinburgh)

The 2013 European Space Agency Living Planet Symposium follows the previous successful symposia held in Bergen (2010), Montreux (2007) and Salzburg (2004).

The event will be held in Edinburgh, United Kingdom from 9 to 13 September 2013 and is organised with the support of the UK Space Agency

A first call for abstracts has been released, with a deadline for abstract submission on 15 February 2013. All received abstracts will be reviewed by a Scientific Committee, notification of acceptance will be provided in May 2013. Full papers for accepted contributions shall be provided at the event and will be published as ESA Special Publication.

The objective of the Living Planet Symposium is to present the results of ESA EO missions in exploitation by:

  • providing a forum for investigators to report and discuss results of on-going science activities using ERS, ENVISAT, GOCE, SMOS, CRYOSAT, Swarm and ESA Third Party missions data;
  • gathering the Sentinels R&D community;
  • reviewing the development of applications;
  • introducing operational services including GMES;
  • reporting on ESA Exploitation Programmes (DUE, VAE, STSE);
  • reporting on ESA Climate Change Initiative and international cooperation;
  • providing dedicated thematic tutorials and short training courses (ESA toolboxes).

In addition, the Symposium will provide an opportunity to introduce ESA missions in development (Sentinels, Earth Explorers and meteorological missions) and national EO missions

More details on abstract submission are posted on the Symposium website at: www.livingplanet2013.org/

Notice that Symposium website will be updated shortly with a dedicated page for the Exhibition.

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Toulouse, France – Astrium Services and the Istanbul Technical (December 2012) University (ITU) signed two agreements in Istanbul on 19 October 2012 to develop high-resolution and large-area coverage services in Turkey, notably for agriculture. The agreements cover a SPOT New Generation receiving station and reception of data from SPOT 6 and SPOT 7, as well as an extension for SPOT 5 data.

With more than 50 direct receiving stations operating on all five continents, Astrium has the most extensive station network in the world today. Imagery is downlinked instantly from the optical and radar satellites operated by Astrium Services each time they pass over these stations, making it possible to deliver fresh information from any area of interest very quickly. New SPOT 6, SPOT 7 and Pléiades receiving stations are set to further shorten image data delivery times, getting data into the hands of users faster than ever before.

ITU is playing an active role in agricultural and environmental development programmes working towards 2023, the centenary year of the Turkish Republic. The agreements with Astrium Services will help to fulfil this objective. In 2009, ITU established the TARIT agricultural statistics pilot project that will be operational all over Turkey next year, relying on data from SPOT 5, SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 (TARBIL programme).

Through this agreement, ITU is seeking to step up its high-resolution activities while leveraging the increased acquisition capacity, daily revisits and quick-response tasking capability of SPOT 6 and SPOT 7.

The agreement signed with Dr. Mehmet Karaca, the Rector of ITU, is the result of a long collaboration begun in 2002 when the university first started receiving SPOT 4 data. Astrium Services is thus consolidating its ties with a prestigious institution founded in 1773, the world’s third oldest university dedicated to science and engineering.

Through its GEO-Information business, Astrium Services is recognized as one of the leaders in the geo-spatial information market, not least thanks to the now fully integrated skills and resources of the former Spot Image and Infoterra. The company provides decision-makers with complete solutions enabling them to increase security, boost agricultural performance, maximize oil & gas or mining operations, improve their management of natural resources, and protect the environment. It has exclusive access to data from the SPOT, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and Pléiades satellites, coupled with a complete range of space-based data sources and airborne acquisition capability allowing it to offer an unrivalled scope of Earth observation products and services. This extensive portfolio covers the entire geo-information supply chain, from the generation of images to the provision of high added-value information to end-users.

By leveraging the synergies and expertise available across the whole of Astrium Services, its GEO-Information teams develop innovative, yet competitive, custom-made solutions based on the combination and integration of Earth observation, navigation and high-end telecommunications.

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Much time is spent this time of year looking forward. Sensors & Systems spent some time reflecting on emerging stories and growing trends to come up with the following predictions for 2013. © Sensors & Systems

On the list are technology advancements, policy initiatives and the continued evolution of model-based design. Read the full list and please add your own observations in the comments.

1. Privacy – Growing scrutiny on location privacy will be underway in the new year with Senator Al Franken’s Location Privacy Protection Act mandating that companies obtain consent from users prior to collecting or sharing location data. This added scrutiny has been coming for some time, and this requirement of transparency doesn’t seem onerous for businesses offering such services. The hope is that such regulations don’t hamper business interests, but it will take broad location privacy vigilance among service providers for further and harsher measures not to be applied.

2. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Systems (UAV and UASs) Everywhere – The growth of different unmanned platforms has been exponential, despite restrictions on airspace in most of the world. We’re starting to see specialized platforms and services evolve to aid specific applications, such as mining, construction site monitoring, and even to inform precision farming implements. We can expect an explosion of platforms and applications when the restriction is lifted in 2015.

3. Data and Navigation – Many are speculating on whether Apple will snatch up TomTom or even Nokia. The heated competition in the consumer mapping market may witness greater consolidation in the coming months. With hardware providers spicing their utility by also offering free services, the market for paid navigation is rapidly deteriorating. With perhaps further consolidation of the commercial map data providers, OpenStreetMap may see an insurgence of interest.

4. Climate Change – The world will finally realize how urgent climate change is, connecting the issue with the economic pain as felt by escalating coastal damage, food insecurity, and extreme weather impacts. A serious discussion may take place around measures that factor in a true-cost-accounting for carbon emissions and impacts on ecosystem services.

5. Google Backlash – Earlier this year, a group of European mapmaking companies filed a complaint against Google that asserted it was creating a monopoly on mapping, Google has a growing percentage of mobile devices coupled with free navigation services, and other location-based offerings such as Field Trip. This dominance puts them in the crosshairs of geospatial providers, but our little niche is likely the least of the company’s worries in terms of a backlash. Just witness the public ridicule Apple went through when they got mapping really wrong.

6. Government Cuts – As of this writing, deep U.S. federal government cuts were still being debated. Suffice to say, if dramatic cuts happen the geospatial industry will be hurting across the board. My sense is that the economic risk is too great to allow the precipitous drop to happen.

7. Cloud Just Is – The hype around the cloud is fading fast as it just becomes the way we run most of our software. The extension of infinite computing has a ways to expand into truly fulfilling the ‘infinite’ definition, yet so many applications are seamlessly using an extension to the cloud that it has become the norm. No longer it seems is there much of a need to make a distinction, if there’s an online component, it’s likely a cloud extension these days.

8. Sensors to Pick From – There are already a great number of satellite and aerial earth observation sensors that capture data on the earth on regular intervals. Satellites and constellations, including government-owned imagery and weather satellites as well as commercial satellite imagery, are only increasing. The days of multiple tailored earth observation constellations has come, witness the success of ExactEarth and its focus on shipping traffic. The commercialization of space is getting more than a toehold in the earth observation space, and we can expect that to accelerate.

9. Further Calls for Intelligent Infrastructure – Given the escalating impact of aging infrastructure, and particularly fragile coast, we will see an increased emphasis on replacement. The new infrastructure will factor in projected impacts, and will incorporate sensors for real-time understanding of critical infrastructure such as bridges. This new era of the Infrastructure Internet will greatly improve quality while reducing costs.

10. Governmental Data Decrees – Increasingly, government policy is dictating detailed digital reporting, rather than traditional paperwork. Whether models (with the dictates of a BIM process by the Government Services Association) or data logs (as in agricultural policy driven by precision farming outputs) the government is getting much more sophisticated in terms of the data and models it can handle. This extension into workflow makes the paperwork process easier, while also spurring technology adoption. Expect GIS and mapping to play a critical role in such place-based reporting in the future.

© Source

(21 December 2012) ESA’s ice mission is now giving scientists a closer look at oceans, coastal areas, inland water bodies and even land, reaching above and beyond its original objectives.

Launched in 2010, the polar-orbiting CryoSat was developed to measure the changes in the thickness of polar sea ice, the elevation of the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica, and mountain glaciers.

The satellite’s radar altimeter not only detects tiny variations in the height of the ice, it also measures sea level and the sea ice’s height above water to derive sea-ice thickness with an unprecedented accuracy.

At a higher precision than previous altimeters, CryoSat’s measurements of sea level are improving the quality of the model forecasts. Small, local phenomena in the ocean surface like eddies can be detected and analysed.

Taking CryoSat a step further, scientists have now discovered that the altimetry readings have the potential to map sea level closer to the coast, and even greater capabilities to profile land surfaces and inland water targets such as small lakes, rivers and their intricate tributaries.

Radar altimeters have more difficulty doing this because, compared to open ocean measurements, the landscape surrounding inland water bodies is a lot more complex.

These had not been previously monitored with satisfying accuracy by conventional altimeters because the sensor footprints – about 5×5 km – were too large to detect subtle differences in the topography around small landforms.

CryoSat, however, has a resolution along its ground track of about 300 m.

In order to thoroughly investigate the possibilities offered by CryoSat over water, ESA recently began scientific exploitation projects coined ‘CryoSat+’.

Scientists are reprocessing large, raw and uncompressed sets of data coming directly from CryoSat to obtain new information on oceans, inland water bodies and land.

In the example pictured above, CryoSat’s altimeter made readings over central Cuba, extending north and south into the surrounding water.

The image clearly shows the difference between the bright radar reflections from the steady water and the elevated land.

For instance, near the edges of the island, points of high radar reflection are pictured in red. This is due to the more placid waters of the bay and over coral reefs.

Examples are also pictured over the Danube delta in eastern Romania, and the land-locked Issyk Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan.

“Thanks to CryoSat being operated over some inland water targets in high resolution mode, we were able to distinctly chart the contours of a flood that occurred last March at Rio Negro in the Amazon,” said Salvatore Dinardo, working for ESA on CryoSat+.

Jérôme Benveniste, the ESA scientist who initiated the project, continued, “We were able to emphasise the unique capability to see the floodwater extent under the forest canopy, where optical sensors or even imaging radars are blocked by the trees.”

Results from the project will be unveiled to the scientific community at the Third CryoSat User Workshop to be held in Germany at the Technical University of Dresden on 12–14 March.

Source

(October, 2012) This publication presents an overview of and the lessons learnt from Eurisy’s three case-studies with regional authorities, involved in three interregional projects: MORE4NRG, ARCH and Coast Alive.

Case-studies are a form of collaboration with potential end-users of satellite applications, initiated by Eurisy, aiming to accompany and observe them through the different take-up stages: awareness (knowing about satellite applications), conviction (forming an opinion about their usefulness), decision (deciding to implement them or not).

The publication was presented in Naples on 4 October 2012, during the International Astronautical Congress.

Eurisy Position Paper

Source Eurisy

(9 October 2012) Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) is undertaking a project to assist geospatial information provider RapidEye AG in upgrading and consolidating its ground station facilities.

Engineers from SSTL’s Ground Systems Group are providing a new and upgraded Spacecraft Control Centre for RapidEye’s headquarters in Brandenburg, Germany and relocating its Tracking, Telemetry and Command (TT&C) ground station equipment to the Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) facility in Svalbard, Norway, which receives Earth Observation data from its constellation of five satellites.

As part of the project, SSTL’s Ground Systems Group will also provide new ground station equipment, to incorporate tracking, telemetry and command and S-band data recovery to the existing X-Band SG-9 antenna system currently used at the KSAT facilities in Svalbard.

The current Spacecraft Control Centre in Brandenburg, Germany, was built by SSTL in 2006 as part of the 5-spacecraft RapidEye constellation mission. The improved Centre will allow RapidEye to continue command and control of their constellation remotely from Germany, while retaining back-up TT&C services through the ground station facilities at SSTL in Guildford, UK.

About SSTL

Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) is the world’s leading small satellite company, delivering operational space missions for a range of applications including Earth observation, science and communications. The Company designs, manufactures and operates high performance satellites and ground systems for a fraction of the price normally associated with space missions, with 500 staff working on turnkey satellite platforms, space-proven satellite subsystems and optical instruments.

Since 1981 SSTL has built and launched 39 satellites – as well as providing training and development programmes, consultancy services, and mission studies for ESA, NASA , international governments and commercial customers, with its innovative approach that is changing the economics of space.

In 2008 the Company set up a US subsidiary, Surrey Satellite Technology US LLC (SST-US) with facilities in Denver, Colorado to address the United States market and its customers for the provision of small satellite solutions, applications and services.
Headquartered in Guildford, UK, SSTL is owned by Astrium BV.

(source: SSTL) and spacenewsfeed

Tuesday 20th November 2012, Watson-Watt Conference Centre, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories

The Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) will be holding its next Challenge Workshop – Current and Future Challenges for EO Instrumentation Calibration on Tuesday 20th November 2012 at Rutherford Appleton Laboratories, Oxfordshire.

Accurate calibration both pre- and post-launch and on board the spacecraft is fundamental to physical measurement from EO sensors.  Inadequacies and variability in end-to-end calibration quality and traceability can compromise the utility of long-term measurement series for climate research. Both climate research and science missions require stable, consistent, repeatable, accurate calibration of sensors, preferably referenced to SI standards.

This CEOI Challenge Workshop will explore ways of addressing these problems by identifying calibration issues of sensors currently in development or scheduled for imminent launch, as well as issues which we anticipate will be important for future missions and instruments. Areas such as laboratory, in-orbit, and field cal/val will be covered. We expect a good mix of attendees from the science, government, industry and other stakeholder communities.

Further information on this Workshop and a draft agenda are available on the CEOI website via the following link

To register contact Niki Legge at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory: email niki.legge@stfc.ac.uk or telephone 01235-445621. If you require overnight accommodation please inform Niki, who should be able to arrange rooms at the nearby Cosener’s House (in Abingdon ~8 miles) on a first-come, first-served basis. Details of Cosener’s House can be found at http://www.scitech.ac.uk/About/Find/Coseners/Introduction.aspx

New NSR Report Projects Satellite-Based EO Market to Triple and Reach Over $6.2 Billion by 2021

CAMBRIDGE, MA—(Marketwire – Oct 9, 2012) – NSR’s Global Satellite-Based Earth Observation (EO), 4th Edition report points to an industry in transition that is considerably improving its value-proposition. As a direct consequence, the satellite EO industry is progressively moving from growth fed by orders from governmental & military organizations to one based on a more balanced mix of end-users, laying the groundwork for a decade of growth in both data and value-added-services (VAS) segments.

“Despite the budgetary situation of the traditional largest end-users in Europe and North America and the coming cuts to the ‘Enhanced View’ program potentially totaling $130 million, EO satellite operators are rather optimistic, with some reason,” stated Stéphane Gounari, Analyst at NSR and author of the report. “As the use of satellite EO data became more reliable and flexible, commercial organizations now rely on EO for an increasing number of applications in every vertical (Living Resources, Energy & Natural Resources, Industrial and Services). However, revenues from Defense & Intelligence and Public Authorities verticals should not be considered as a lost cause as they are based on solid needs.”

As UAV-based EO rapidly improves its value proposition alongside satellite-based EO, they will increasingly compete in each market. With a developing choice of EO data sources, end-user source-agnosticism is also getting stronger, especially as the satellite EO data value is multiplied when combined with data from other satellites, other sources of EO data and other types of data.

These trends, among others, point to a growth period associated with an intensification of the competition as the industry leaves the emerging phase of its lifecycle. This period of changes makes the identification of the appropriate Key Success Factors more important than ever.

About the Report

NSR’s Global Satellite-Based Earth Observation (EO), 4th Edition provides a meticulous and thorough analysis of the trends affecting the satellite EO data industry and a new segmentation based on end-user vertical markets. The report includes a step-by-step analysis of the industry’s macro-environment, its competitive intensity, the situation in each market (segmented by end-user verticals, regions and instrument-resolution), the major-players and their imaging capabilities currently in-orbit and planned, and a cartography of the value-chain. NSR comprehensively identifies Key Success Factors and forecasts the evolution of the Data and VAS markets over the next 10 years, and presents them segmented by end-user vertical markets (6), regional markets (5) and instrument-resolution (6); the latter is also used to present data price forecasts, one additional innovation offered by NSR’s report.

About NSR

NSR is a leading international market research and consulting firm with a core focus on the satellite sector and related industries. Founded in 2000 and with an experienced group of analysts located in all regions, NSR specializes in analysis of growth opportunities across four core sectors: Satellite Communications, Broadcasting & Digital Media, Hybrid & Emerging Applications and Commercial Space.

(Source NSR)

Marketwire

USpolitics

The second joint science conference of the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) and the Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) took place at the University of Nottingham in September, bringing together scientists and technologists over 3 days to discuss recent science findings and the future technology developments for observing the Earth’s climate and environment from space.

The first day of the conference focused on NCEO science highlights and covered a wide range of interesting and challenging areas. Research was presented in a series of talks from leading scientists covering the monitoring, diagnosis and predictions of climate and environmental change. This included presentations of the science resulting from the European Space Agency’s Earth Observation (EO) programme, from the Cryosat, GOCE and SMOS missions, which have provided data on sea-ice thickness, the Earth’s gravity field, ocean salinity and soil moisture. The Conference also looked at the potential science to come from future missions such as Swarm and EarthCARE projects, which will measure the Earth’s magnetic field and the interaction between clouds, aerosols and radiation. Other talks included studies on monitoring and modelling volcanoes from space, ocean carbon cycle models and measuring photosynthesis from space using terrestrial chlorophyll fluorescence.

On the second day, the CEOI highlighted several of the EO instruments and technologies projects currently being funded, as well as the priorities for future UK-led EO missions. Daniel Gerber from STFC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory presented the continuing work on the passive microwave project which will make measurements of trace gases in the atmosphere important to the climate and to meteorology, involving high level system integration of UK receiver technology. There were also talks on some of the technologies nearing commercialisation – a remote sensing instrument for estimating the sea-surface wave height, a fully integrated miniaturised quantum cascade Laser heterodyne radiometer to measure trace gases at high resolution, and the University of Leicester’s CompAQS/CityScan air quality spectrometer.

The mixture of plenary and parallel sessions ensured a full and varied programme and included talks from NCEO young scientists. The final day included four EO applications sessions, highlighting the following areas:

Hazards and risk – the session featured presentations from a broad range of the EO fields, including representatives from data suppliers, academia, researchers, value-adders and the insurance industry ‘downstream users’. The challenges involved in supplying timely and appropriate data was discussed, particularly in relation to rapid and major disasters (such as volcanoes), compared to the issues involved in monitoring non catastrophic events such as compressible ground over large regions. There was also consideration of the analysis options available, from large infrastructures such as CEMS and OpenSource systems that are still the only affordable option in developing countries, which are sometimes hardest hit by hazards.

Climate and carbon – the session acknowledged the huge potential that exists for development of commercial applications and services. Scientific credibility of such services is likely to become a key consideration, and the UK is well placed to differentiate itself through strengths in ensuring integrity of climate data and in quantifying underlying uncertainties. Stronger partnerships between the EO community and the end-users of climate services are required to help express the benefits of EO services in the business language of the users.

Maritime and marine services – areas explored in this session included polar applications, oceanography, oil and gas and environmental protection. EO data is widely used, often fused with other data sets as part of a product. A critical issue identified, is the need to develop sustainable services with a reliable supply of robust and validated EO data from the types of sensors already flown; Thermal IR, SAR, scatterometers, radar altimeters, ocean colour sensors. It was suggested that some EO services face threats from institutional organisations offering subsidised services and that a way to work with these organisations is needed.

Future concepts of land resources – focused on three areas: mapping eco systems and habitats, agriculture and forestry. Use of remote sensing in these areas is advancing rapidly and reaching a wider sphere of users than ever before. More growth in demand is expected in light of new public (GMES) and commercial systems (such as Daily Planet). It was deemed that in order to support this, there should be greater coordination at the national level in the UK and practical steps could be taken to support novel mission proposals, demonstrate the wide availability of existing products and services and coordinate data access to stimulate further multi-source, multi-scale applications.

The annual joint conference plays a crucial role in developing the next generation of EO instrumentation by bringing together NCEO’s core activity of fundamental science with the CEOIs expertise in instrumentation. Academia and industry were able to benefit from a diverse and exciting programme and overall the conference attracted nearly 200 people over three days and presented a great opportunity to continue to forge a vision for the future success of EO in the UK.

Presentations from the CEOI sessions are now available via this link and those from the NCEO sessions will be available from the NCEO website soon http://www.nceo.ac.uk/

The National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO)

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the mission of NCEO is to unlock the full potential of Earth Observation (EO) to monitor, diagnose and predict climate and environmental change. The NCEO is a multidisciplinary partnership of more than 100 scientists from 26 institutions providing vital national capability and engaging with key stakeholders from space agencies, industry, government and academia across the globe. NCEO is also a founding partner of the International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) at Harwell, seeking to accelerate the exploitation of EO for maximum economic and societal benefit. www.nceo.ac.uk

The Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) is a catalyst for the development of technologies for environmental and security monitoring from space. The CEOI was created in 2007 by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Technology Strategy Board. It is now funded by the UK Space Agency and industry. The key aim of the Centre is to develop the next generation of Earth observation instrumentation through the teaming of scientists and industrialists and the funding of leading edge projects. These projects reflect the imperatives associated with monitoring of climate change and the environment – investing in clearly identified gaps in instrumentation requirements, thus maximizing impacts of UK developed technologies in European programmes. The CEOI is led by Astrium Ltd, in partnership with the University of Leicester, Science and Technology Facilities Council / Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and QinetiQ Ltd. www.ceoi.ac.uk