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7 October 2015 – The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) is seeking comments on the OGC OpenSearch Extension for Earth Observation, a candidate OGC standard. This OpenSearch extension provides a simple way to make queries to a repository that contains Earth Observation information and enables syndication of repositories for this purpose. Once approved as a standard and implemented in software products and services, this Standard will make it much easier for users to navigate diverse and expanding collections of Earth observation data.

OpenSearch (www.opensearch.org) provides a set of easily and widely implemented technologies that developers can use to enhance search engines, web servers, and browsers to give users access to more types of content. OpenSearch clients also enable users to customize search requests and aggregate and syndicate search results.

Earth Observation (EO) products have specific characteristics such as: the platform or satellite from which the data originates (e.g. SPOT, ENVISAT), the sensor used to acquire the data (e.g. type, spectral range, wavelengths), the processing centre (including processing date, software used), and specific satellite orbit information (e.g. number, track, frame and direction). The OpenSearch Description document format allows the use of extensions that allow search engines to inform clients about specific and contextual query parameters. This OGC candidate standard specifies an Earth Observation extension to OpenSearch that defines query parameters that allow the filtering of search results with those fields.

This candidate standard is complementary to the OGC OpenSearch Geo and Time Extensions Standard (OGC 10-032).

Download the candidate OGC OpenSearch Extension for Earth Observation Standard here. Comments are due by 2015-11-06.

The OGC® is an international geospatial standards consortium of more than 515 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available standards. OGC standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services and mainstream IT. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org/.

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Geospatial technology is essential to the operation of Portuguese Hydrographic Institute. Its Director General shares his views on marine technology evolution, current trends and how the Institute is keeping up. – See more at: http://geospatialworld.net/Interview/ViewInterview.aspx?id=31527#sthash.Bs6e86BQ.dpuf

What is the mission and mandate of Hydrographic Institute? How has it evolved over the years with the continuous evolution of marine technology?

The Hydrographic Institute (IPTH) is an organ of the Portuguese Navy and a National State Laboratory with assignments in the study and research in the field of Marine Sciences, particularly with regard to Hydrography, Oceanography, Chemical Oceanography, Marine Geology and Safety of Maritime Navigation.

The Hydrographic Institute fundamental mission is to ensure most activities related to marine science and technology, offering support to the Portuguese Navy and to pursue the public strategic orientations for the sea, and contribute to the country’s development in the fields of science and protection of the marine environment.

The evolution of marine technology has always been a challenge to the Hydrographic Institute. A major effort is being done on following up with the new techniques and methods and on qualifying personnel with technical courses, master’s and PhD degrees. Technology is the major drive for enhancing the quality and the reliability of our products and services.

Geospatial data is becoming a commodity in our everyday lives. As one of the important geospatial data providers in Portugal, how do you ensure Hydrographic Institute continues to be on top of its game?

The current trend of conducting multidisciplinary research, multi-organisational and multi-national, where the access to technical and scientific data is crucial to the success of many projects stresses the importance and value of data availability. In the particular case of Hydrographic Institute, the availability of data aims to contribute to the mission of the organisations and to the scientific community within the area of Marine Sciences.

IHPT portal is the main tool for data access and data request. This web page provides a metadata catalogue, created under the institutional responsibility of the INSPIRE directive. In addition to free data download, there is also a form for requesting non-standard data. The data transfer policy is also published on the Internet.

How does geospatial technology contribute to the everyday operation of Hydrographic Institute?

Geospatial technology is essential to the operation of the Portuguese Hydrographic Institute. Most of the data acquired in the main activities of this institute needs to have a geographic, temporal and spatial context provided by the geospatial technology. Also, all phases of that data preparation are performed with the support of geospatial technology, such as the planning, acquisition, processing, quality control and data transfer. Moreover, the majority of our most relevant products are based in geo-referenced information such as the nautical charts.

The more relevant geospatial technologies to our mission are: GIS – in supporting projects development (planning hydrographic surveys and production of nautical charts) and GNSS – in all the surveys we use GNSS technology for hydrographic surveys and topography.

Is there any new area within marine science where you think geospatial technology could be of more use?

Besides the traditional technology used in marine sciences, there are emerging technologies, such as the HF radars for measuring surface currents, topo-bathymetric LiDAR and the exploitation of satellite images for deriving shallow water bathymetry. These three examples are part of our research interests at the Hydrographic Institute.

With the advancement of technology, the amount of data being generated has also multiplied. Does Hydrographic Institute face any challenge in managing the overflow of data?

Most of our Hydrographic Offices faced this issue since several years ago. We have started working on the solution and put more investment in spatial databases to manage data. We also try to keep track of the latest technological developments, not only on their application to our activities, but also in terms of their requirements on data processing and management. As a result, recently we purchased both a new scientific cluster, to speed up the several ocean forecast models we run every day; and a new spatial hydrographic database, more appropriate to manage big volume of data acquired in the hydrographic surveys. The challenges now are more related to data migration from the old database to the new one, especially due to the different sources, geodetic reference systems, age and data formats. Additionally, the storage and management of geo-referenced data require careful planning in hardware and software upgrades.

Many geospatial technologies available in the market today are focusing on terrestrial application, compared to the ocean. Do you find this a challenge?

Of course. The marine geospatial technologies have had an evolution such in a way that it is much easier to execute and develop the activities related with our responsibilities. Now that most coastal states are concerned with the blue economy, in my opinion it will be necessary to put ourselves on the users’ shoes in order to identify their needs. For example there are more geospatial technologies to support agriculture than fishery, in terrestrial fleet management than in maritime, etc. So there is a challenge to the industry to respond to the needs of maritime users.

Is Hydrographic Institute involved in skill development or training manpower resources?

Hydrographic Institute assumes its responsibility in contributing to national geo-maritime skills. The Institute has its own training infrastructure, the School of Hydrography and Oceanography, a body dedicated to the training of officers and petty-officers of the Navy and civilian technicians, necessary for the operations of Hydrography and Oceanography, or in connection with these, of interest to the Navy and to the country. Besides the specialised courses, there is modular training to refresh knowledge and to operate new technologies.

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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As a critical input to the decision-making process that will lead to the selection of ESA’s eighth Earth Explorer mission, the Reports for Mission Selection of the two candidate opportunity missions – CarbonSat and FLEX – are now available.

The selection will take place following a User Consultation Meeting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Poland on 15–16 September 2015, where the Earth observation scientific community is invited to participate.

In preparation for the selection, reports presenting the scientific and technical ambition of each mission were prepared. Following the consultation with the scientific community in September, the Earth Science Advisory Committee will provide their recommendations to ESA. The final decision on selection will be taken by ESA’s Programme Board for Earth Observation.

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30 June 2015, Bonn, Germany – UNESCO and UNITAR (the UN Institute for Training and Research) have signed an agreement to protect cultural and natural heritage sites with the latest geo-spatial technologies.

It was signed at the annual meeting of the World Heritage Committee in Bonn, Germany, and will be delivered through UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT).

The strategic partnership will enable the Organizations to work together during conflict situations and following natural disasters, sharing their respective expertise, and collaborating on prevention and capacity development. Satellite imagery is often the only source of objective information for areas affected by conflict or by natural disasters. It helps the international community to understand the situation on the ground and plan emergency measures. For example, a recently-published report on cultural heritage sites in Syria, by UNITAR-UNOSAT revealed the extent of damage to cultural heritage, confirming information obtained through unofficial sources.

Other geo-spatial technologies that may be harnessed include the use of crowd-sourcing app UN-ASIGN, successfully applied following the recent Nepal earthquake, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) both for general recording purposes and for detailed damage assessments of buildings and other infrastructure. The entire range of geo-spatial information gathering tools is combined using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and advanced web-mapping solutions. UNESCO and UNITAR-UNOSAT will jointly explore new and innovative solutions that can further contribute to improved management and protection of cultural heritage sites.

UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Mr. Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán, and Mrs Sally Fegan-Wyles, UNITAR’s Executive Director, signed the agreement. Mr Peréz de Armiñán underlined the “strategic importance of this new partnership as an example of the type of cooperation UNESCO should establish with sister UN Agencies” in the framework of the Global Coalition “Unite for Heritage”. He further noted that “UNOSAT and UNESCO have complementary capacities that can considerably enhance UNESCO’s ability to protect heritage in emergency situations” and referred in particular to ongoing cooperation to document the state of heritage sites in Iraq and other conflict-affected countries.

UNOSAT’s Manager, Dr Einar Bjorgo, stated: “At UNOSAT we are most pleased to team up with the UN entity mandated to protect cultural heritage and safeguard cultural diversity. Our partnership with UNESCO is a good example of how innovative applications of satellite imagery and other geo-spatial technologies make a difference to the way the United Nations supports its member states. UNOSAT’s track record of innovative solutions now has a significant impact on the way the UN operates. While it is fascinating to note how new technologies are applied to protect ancient cultural heritage, our partnership with UNESCO helps us take specific action on the ground. Satellite imagery can document what is going on, but protection needs to take place at local, national and international level. That is why the roles of UNESCO and UNITAR-UNOSAT are so complementary in this partnership.”

Related Links:
UNESCO
UNITAR-UNOSAT
Satellite-based Damage Assessment to Cultural Heritage Sites in Syria
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The United Nations’ Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) signed a cooperation agreement with Israel to use the country’s satellite technology to save lives following natural disasters and in space emergencies.

The agreement was signed during the 58th session of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna, Austria. According to the agreement, Israel will apply its satellite technology, namely the Earth observation satellite ‘OPTSAT 2000’, to gather information on issues of environmental protection, water management, urban planning, humanitarian assistance following natural disasters and more.

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Collaborative research deal emerges during wider EU-China summit held in Brussels.

Officials representing the European Union and China have signed a new “collaborative research arrangement” in the area of remote sensing.

The deal, which emerged during the Europe-China summit that is taking place this week in Brussels, involves Europe’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Remote Sensing.

It is intended to build upon a co-operation that began shortly after the devastating Sichuan earthquake in 2008, and which has generated ideas such as “Digital Earth” – a concept combining global communications networks with Earth observation technologies and described as “a global initiative to construct a comprehensive virtual representation of the planet”.

The two parties already organize the International Symposium of Digital Earth, for example, with the next edition in the series scheduled to take place in Halifax, Canada, in October 2015.

JRC announced: “Under this new agreement, the co-operation will be reinforced and extended to promising areas, such as air quality, human settlement detection and characterisation, land and soil mapping, land cover mapping, digital earth sciences and agricultural monitoring.”

Collaborative activities under the new arrangement are set to include the exchange of scientific and technological information, and joint training programs, with optics and photonics technologies on board satellites and other sensor systems likely to play a key role.

Optical satellite imagery

One example of the collaboration is what is known as “Global Human Settlement Layer” (GHSL) technology, used to analyze human settlements through remote sensing imagery captured by Chinese satellites.

China’s CBERS-2B satellite, developed in collaboration with Brazil and launched in 2007, carries a range of optical instruments including a wide-field imager with a ground swath of 890 kilometers, providing a synoptic view with a spatial resolution of 260 meters.

It also carries high-resolution CCD sensors operating in five spectral bands extending from 450 nm in the blue through to 890 nm in the near-infrared, with a swath width of 113 kiometers and a spatial resolution of just 20 meters.

Also on board CBERS-2B is an infrared multispectral scanner working across three short-wave infrared (SWIR) bands and a thermal region from 10.4-12.5 µm.

According to JRC, the satellite’s sensors have been used to map the whole of China, supporting the Digital Earth vision.

IP rights; scientific exchanges

The remote sensing collaborative agreement was just one element of the 17th bilateral summit between the European Union and China, which has been taking place in Brussels this week amid the backdrop of the ongoing financial crisis in Greece.

Also marking the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the EU and China, the summit saw a new memorandum of understanding signed on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

In addition Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, launched a new initiative with his counterpart Wan Gang, the Chinese Minister for Science and Technology, which will see young scientists from China join projects funded by the European Research Council. The first exchanges under that agreement are anticipated later this year.

Moedas said: “China has become a major science and technology power. Europe needs to engage with China in the context of our open science, open innovation and open to the world policy. Today’s agreements mark a step towards addressing global societal challenges and developing joint innovative solutions together.”

On top of the remote sensing agreement those measures include setting up a new co-funding mechanism, using cash earmarked for the Horizon2020 program, to support joint research and innovation projects involving China.

According to figures released by the European Commission, China’s spending on research and development activity has now reached 2 per cent of GDP, with the country setting a target of 2.5 per cent by 2020.

The country is already ranked first in terms of the number of people working in research, with some 2.5 million, while the number of graduates in science and technology subjects has grown to more than 1.4 million per year.

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ESA and Australia’s CSIRO national research organisation have signed an agreement that’ll help Australia get better access to information from Europe’s Earth observation satellites.

ESA will use this agreement to get Australia’s scientific expertise. The agreement focuses on the collaboration between Australian and European researchers in the evaluation of satellite data for use in Australia, while jointly developing new applications and space technologies for future satellites. The cooperation is expected to improve the calibration and validation of Earth observation data over Australia and improve the data quality of ESA’s missions.

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The country is in the final stages of establishing a space centre, the equivalent of National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA) agency, a project that will propel Kenya to the elite club of a few countries in the world that own earth observation satellites.

The space centre that is projected to cost to the tune of Sh10 billion for a constellation of earth observation satellites is expected to boost the country’s security as well as provide solutions in the agriculture, education and medical sectors.

Experts, military and government officials who are spearheading the National Space Policy, Strategy and Space Agency Order have told the Standard that proposals on establishment of a Space centre will be included in the cabinet docket before the end of June.

The project is being spearheaded by the Office of the Deputy President and Ministry of Defence with Dr John Kimani (the lead Scientist at the Ministry of Defence), Prof Paul Baki and Prof Hunja Waithaka as the lead scientists.

“This is a major breakthrough for the country in our efforts to ensure that we become a country with a space centre,” Dr John Kimani, the lead Scientist at the Ministry of Defence said.

If established, the centre will end over three decades wait for a national space policy and strategy since the country opened discussions of establishing a Space Centre in the year 1983.

It will also have Kenya transition from a passive user of space and space technologies to a contributor to the development of space technology.

According to scientists, the country is strategically located at a point where it will exhaust the space project for massive economic growth and creation of jobs.

“Kenya’s strategic outer space includes the geographic location along the equator and bordering the Indian Ocean to its East that facilitates ease of landing of space crafts, tracking of space crafts in space, and ease of access to equatorial orbits, and in particular the geostationary orbit,” the Policy order reads.

Lilian Abishai, a senior Counsel at the Office of the Attorney General, said that all the necessary legal instruments are being prepared so that the space centre will conform to both local laws and international conventions and treaties.

“An Order has been established through which the Space Agency will succeed the National Space Secretariat that is currently under the Ministry of Defence, “she said.

Kenya is developing a space centre in its efforts to develop viable home grown space industry and enhance coordination of space related activities by establishing linkages among government agencies and institutions, industry and researchers.

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(By Andrew Rosenblum on June 25, 2015)A swarm of small satellites could give critical infrastructure an Internet connection that never goes down.

Anthony Previte, CEO of the space company Terran Orbital, was set on the path to his company’s latest project by a nurse he encountered amid the chaos of 9/11, one block north of Ground Zero.

She was running frantically down the street because the nearby hospital had run out of fuel oil. With most cell-phone batteries depleted and landlines knocked out, the only way to call for more was on foot. Previte got to thinking that important equipment like generators should have ways to communicate anytime, even after a disaster. Today he’s working to make that possible by launching multiple constellations of “nano satellites” designed to provide small, battery-powered sensors with a cheap data connection that never goes down.

Previte says his system will have many civilian and commercial applications and save lives in the wake of natural disasters or terrorist attacks. “If every generator has a sensor on it that reports back to a satellite, then whoever is in charge—FEMA, the government, the military—can move fuel around, with intelligent decisions,” he says.

More and more commercial and industrial equipment is becoming connected to data networks so they can be managed more efficiently, forming what’s known as the Internet of things. Terran’s always-on connections might make that approach more dependable.

Satellite Internet connections available today are mostly targeted at people, not machines, and they’re expensive. They use large satellites parked in geostationary orbits roughly 36,000 kilometers over the equator, meaning that significant energy is required to reach them with a signal from the ground.

Terran is launching small satellites that orbit at only 600 kilometers. That lower altitude makes it practical for low-powered, even disposable, sensors to use a satellite data link, says Previte.

The connection is designed to be more reliable than it is fast. The U.S. army is to use Terran sensors to track vehicles and troops that transmit at tens of kilobytes per second. But Terran expects lower-powered sensors to send up data at about a tenth that speed.

In addition to aiding in disaster relief and tracking shipping containers, planes, and boats, Previte envisions the sensors being used for environmental monitoring. For example, they could be dropped out of a helicopter or drone into a growing oil spill, or onto an active volcano to track lava flows. Terran anticipates significant interest from farmers, who could place sensors in fields or even around the necks of cows.

Previte estimates that Terran can build the disposable, low-powered sensors in bulk for roughly $80 each. Customers will pay a subscription on top of that for their connections. Terran will also sell complete satellites to customers who want the exclusive use of one. “It used to be $400 million for a satellite,” says Previte. Terran will be able to offer them for figures in the low millions of dollars, he says.

In addition to its deal with the U.S. Army, the company says it already has commercial clients, but none that are prepared to disclose their relationship publicly. Deploying a constellation of nano satellites requires 18 to 36 months of lead time, and these companies want to surprise the competition, says Previte.

Terran, which serves as a consultant to integrate satellite payloads and helps with mission control operations, will say that it supported the launch of nine satellites in 2014 and 10 so far this year. The company has also built six small satellites from scratch in 2015.

Jordi Puig-Suari, Terran’s chief science officer, is one of two inventors of the CubeSat, a generic blueprint for miniaturized satellites that are typically a cubic liter in size. Different payloads can be installed in a CubeSat using off-the-shelf electronic components (satellites traditionally have custom-built electronics). Further cost savings come from the way the small satellites can be fitted into unused space inside rockets launching larger satellites or space vehicles.

Kerri Cahoy, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, said Terran’s model makes it distinct from most satellite companies.

The development of smaller, cheaper satellite technologies in recent years has led many companies to explore new ways of using low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Many focus on remote imaging—for example, to gather regular photos or infrared imagery. But Cahoy says LEO satellites should make a good low-cost communications network. “It sure beats trying to figure out how to connect a large number of distributed ground sensors to a cable or wire-based ground network,” she says. And satellites can more easily cover large swaths of territory than cellular or Wi-Fi networks, which need many base stations.

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