Skip to content

Relying on interoperability standards, Earth Observation Systems use meteorological data to predict outbreak of diseases, and have potential to prevent countless illnesses and deaths.


Interoperability Standards enhance public health research.
June 25, 2008 – Relying on interoperability standards, Earth Observation Systems use meteorological data to predict outbreak of diseases, and have potential to prevent countless illnesses and deaths. Global Earth Observation System of Systems links planned and existing earth observations with one another, ensuring interoperability by promoting technical standards. These standards make certain that data collected from instruments worldwide can be combined into cohesive, comprehensive information set.

The weather forecast may affect more than just your decision to take an umbrella with you in the morning. Scientists are developing a new system of using meteorological data to predict the outbreak of diseases. This innovative system, which has the potential to prevent countless illnesses and deaths worldwide, relies on interoperability standards to have its biggest impact.

Researchers posture that by combining different earth observation systems, such as those that focus on weather, climate, disasters, agriculture, and others, trends will emerge that can provide critical information on public health.

For example, studies have shown a relationship between the temperature of the Bay of Bengal and the outbreak of cholera in India. By monitoring and predicting the bay’s temperature for the coming months and years, public health officials can work to educate and protect the population threatened by the outbreak before it begins.

Bringing together these diverse observation systems requires certain measures to ensure that they operate together successfully. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is dedicated to facilitating this interoperability through its Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). GEOSS addresses nine areas of focus that are significant for the world’s population: disasters, health, energy, climate, agriculture, ecosystems, biodiversity, water, and weather.

This “system of systems” works to link planned and existing earth observations with one another, ensuring interoperability by promoting technical standards. These standards will make certain that the data collected from thousands of different instruments around the world can be combined into a cohesive, comprehensive information set. Through this resource, researchers will be better prepared to do everything from forecasting meningitis outbreaks to supporting disaster management.

GEOSS provides information about relevant standards in its Standards and Interoperability Registry, hosted by the IEEE Standards Association. With 102 standards from IEEE, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), NASA, and others, the registry is a growing resource that helps identify the existing and needed standards that contribute to the interoperability of all types of earth observation systems.

One standard listed in the registry is IEEE Std 1451.4-2004, IEEE Standard for a Smart Transducer Interface for Sensors and Actuators-Mixed-Mode Communication Protocols and Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS). Developed by IEEE, a member and accredited standards developer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), this document facilitates the transfer of information received by analog transducers into digital information. This allows measurements such as voltage, water pressure, and air pressure collected as analog information to be entered into the GEOSS system for use with digital information in cross-sector research and analyses.

Another standard found in the GEOSS registry is ISO 19110:2005, Geographic information — Methodology for feature cataloguing. This standard was developed by ISO Technical Committee (TC) 211, Geographic information/Geomatics. The InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) serves as administrator for the ANSI-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to TC 211.

This standard defines the methodology for cataloguing feature types in geographic information, and specifies how the classification of features is organized into a catalogue and presented in a data set. With a uniform method for cataloging geographic features, the data can be integrated into the GEOSS system for comparison to other earth data.

Voluntary consensus standards are playing an important role in the use of earth data for public health and safety. By ensuring interoperability and usability, standards bring scientists the information they need to protect the planet and the people who inhabit it.

Company Information:
Name: American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Address: 11 West 42nd St., 13th Flr.
City: New York
State: NY
ZIP: 10036
Country: USA
Phone: 212-642-4900
http://www.ansi.org/

Source News.ThomasNet

This prototype editor allows users to create metadata that are compliant with the INSPIRE Implementing Rules as approved by the INSPIRE Regulatory Committee and the European Parliament.

These Implementing Rules are now in the process of formal adoption (expected during the summer). The metadata created with this editor are also compliant with EN ISO 19115 and 19119, and have been successfully validated against the INSPIRE Geoportal Catalogue and other catalogue applications (for example Geonetwork).

The editor allows users to validate the metadata created and save the metadata record as an xml file on a local machine. This prototype is a proof of concept and is not expected to be used in an operational environment. Following the publication of the Implementing Rules in the 23 languages of the EU, other tools should be developed by industry and academia that will address different communities in their natural language, with a close integration with geographic information software to capture as much metadata as possible automatically.

The INSPIRE Metadata editor is now available through the INSPIREgeoportal

Any suggestions for improvements, and feedback on this editor should be sent to JRC

Source GMES.info

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) announced that a Call for Participation (CFP) in Phase 2 of the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP) has been issued by the GEO (Group on Earth Observations).

Phase 1 of the AIP demonstrated GEO Portal and Clearinghouse solutions. Phase 2 will establish “operational, research and technical exemplars,” services that support the GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas (application domains).

The CFP invites GEO Members and Participating Organizations to:

• Provide components and services relevant to GEOSS “Societal Benefit Areas” (application domains).

• Participate in interoperability testing of the services including use of the GEOSS Common Infrastructure Components in order to validate the architecture.

• Participate in the collaborative refinement of societal benefit scenarios to guide testing, demonstrations and operations of interoperable services.

The CFP document is available at http://www.earthobservations.org/geoss_imp.shtml. Responses to the CFP are requested by 1 September 2008 to support a planning workshop scheduled for 25-26 September 2008 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. To register for the teleconference or ask questions about the CFP, please contact George Percivall, percivall@opengeospatial.org. The OGC efforts in AIP are supported by the European Commission, Northrop Grumman, and ERDAS. Additional information is available at http://www.ogcnetwork.net/AIpilot.

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 365 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. The OGC’s OpenGIS® standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. These standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.

GEO (Group on Earth Observations) is a voluntary partnership of 124 governments and international organizations, launched in response to calls for action by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and by the G8 (Group of Eight) leading industrialized countries. GEO is coordinating efforts to build GEOSS. See http://earthobservations.org/about_geo.shtml.

Source Businesswire

During its 64th Council meeting on 1-2 July, EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, agreed to provide its data and products for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative.

(3 July 2008) The agreement covers GMES pre-operational services from 2008-2010, during which all EUMETSAT data and products, including real-time data, will be made available free of charge to the five GMES Core Services (three fast-track and two pilot services). The three fast track services are the Land Core Service, Marine Core Service, Emergency Response Support Service, and the two pilot services are Security and Atmosphere monitoring.

Stressing the importance of the decision, the Director-General of EUMETSAT, Dr. Lars Prahm, told Council: “This agreement probably covers more marine and atmosphere space data than the total until now available to GMES from any single source”, adding that it covers a “significant” 30-50 per cent of the space data presently needed by GMES Core Services on Marine and Atmosphere monitoring. With this decision, EUMETSAT Member States gave a clear signal that they will support GMES’ move into its operational phase and that EUMETSAT should play a key role in that phase. The data and products that the Council has agreed to put at the disposal of GMES emanate from the operational infrastructure developed by EUMETSAT over 20 years, soon to be complemented by Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and the next generation EUMETSAT Polar System (Post-EPS).

Availability free of charge is under the condition that every GMES service user requiring the EUMETSAT data/products contacts EUMETSAT directly to receive the data and signs a simple web-based licence. Physical access to the data/products themselves and related user helpdesk functions will be through the existing EUMETSAT operational mechanisms: EUMETCast for real-time data and the EUMETSAT Internet portal for the off-line data and products.

The Head of EUMETSAT’s Legal Affairs Division, Silvia Castañer, said: “The decison is in line with EUMETSAT’s Data Policy and requires no change to the principles underlying it.” One of the aims of the EUMETSAT Data Policy is to promote official duty use and research/educational use of EUMETSAT data and products.

For more information click here

Source: EUMETSAT and EOportal

Better disaster response – at home and abroad

From the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean to the forest fires that ravaged southern Europe in the summer of 2007 – recent natural and man-made disasters have highlighted the need for a more effective EU response. Better cooperation between EU countries is crucial.

“When responding to disasters, Europe is strongest when it combines its capacities and benefits from its diversity and different expertise,” said Commission president José Manuel Barroso.

The Commission’s latest policy paper on disaster response outlines some practical ways of beefing up capacity over the year ahead. These include:

* turning the monitoring and information centre (MIC) into a fully fledged operations centre with access to standby resources
* better coordination with the UN and the Red Cross to tackle problems with humanitarian aid delivery
* a new Europe-wide disaster response training network to build on the experience gained in the civil protection training programmes
* early warning systems in the EU and further afield, making use of the single European emergency number 112

Mr Barroso described the new policy paper as “a concrete step that illustrates how Europe can rise to the expectations of its citizens.” The EU can’t yet build on the opportunities the Lisbon Treaty will provide, but it can strengthen existing response measures through new partnerships and better coordination of resources.

(April 14). Notes from Ambassador, President d’Escatha, Director Andersen at the French Norwegian Space Forum, Oslo.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for me to address you on the occasion of the opening of the French Norwegian Space Forum here in Oslo.

Some of us just arrived back from Svalbard, a strategic centre for Norwegian space related activities. Svalbard is increasingly also an international arena for exploration and innovation. I am convinced that this interest from the international space community will continue.

France and Norway have good and long traditions for cooperation on space related activities. Not least within the framework of the European Space Agency, but certainly also on a bilateral basis. This meeting and the framework agreement should provide an excellent base towards an even closer cooperation.

Looking at the national priorities in France and Norway, it is evident that the complementarity of our space ambitions creates room for further cooperation.

France has a wide range of different satellites, several of which are used by Norway when conducting studies of the weather and marine sciences. On the other hand Norway offers high-quality ground-based services for the global space community at Svalbard, Antarctica and Andoya. Currently France and Norway participate successfully together in EASP on using scientific rockets and balloons. Norway wishes to renew this agreement beyond the current duration, and we hope to involve France even more in the satellite operations and downlink services on Svalbard. We are also very satisfied with the collaboration on satellite navigation and see the importance in expanding this work. Furthermore I am pleased to note the good bilateral cooperation between CNES and NSC, as well as between companies, institutes and individual scientists in both countries.

The Norwegian company Telenor has several commercial broadcasting satellites. On a national level the work is now underway to develop a first satellite that will provide a complete picture of the Norwegian territorial waters when it comes to ship recognition. I believe that this is a technology that could also be of interest to the international community.

There are many more opportunities for cooperation on the industrial side, both within the ESA programmes and commercially. We believe it is important to improve the link between the collaborations in these different fields.

It is often said that Norway is the country in Europe with the largest potential benefit from the use of space for the good of its society and citizens.

I believe this to be a fact. This is also reflected in our strategy for the High North, which is one of the central political priorities for this Government. The Norwegian Government places such high importance on the developments in the High North for a large number of reasons. It stems, of course, partly from our nature-given geographical position.

Space activities are also increasingly playing an important role within this framework.

But issues relating to the High North are also receiving increased international attention. One of the reasons for this is the realisation that climate change in the High North may have large consequences also on the global environmental balance and resource management.

I would therefore especially like to emphasise the very important role that space related infrastructure plays for a sustainable environmental policy. Earth observation satellites provide us with data to help us understand how ecological processes and man-made influences affect the environment.

Satellite photos showing the large changes in the ice over Greenland and the Arctic Ocean is an important and convincing tool in the fight against climate change.

So space activities are not “all about business”. An important aspect, shared by France and Norway, is the focus on developing space applications to the benefit of society. When we make our priorities, we therefore have to keep in mind that space activities are more than business policy. Space activities are increasingly relevant. Both with regard to the environment as I’ve already mentioned. But also with regard to research and technology development. Furthermore it also contributes to improved resource management. This is a development that is strongly appreciated by my Government.

Norway’s national needs and our strengths and advantages have dominated our priorities in space. Our main priorities in space have been telecommunications, earth observation and navigation. Within all these areas Norway has developed leading industrial, application and scientific capabilities.

We can only reach these national needs and fulfil our political priorities through well functioning international collaboration. For Norway ESA is the main tool for our space endeavour. Norwegian membership in ESA has great benefits for our industry, and the Norwegian industry has done a very good job within the ESA context.

Today Norway is an active player in European space activities, and we welcome the increased alignment of the European strategies.

The fact that Norway is not a member of the EU means that further developments of the European Space Policy are of the utmost importance to us. We will work on securing a future role for Norway within this changing framework and we have declared our intention to participate in the EU part of the Galileo project.

As a non-member of the EU, strong support from our European friends is sometimes necessary in order to secure the Norwegian positions. I would like to use this opportunity to convey our strong appreciation for the support France has provided on issues concerning Norway and the EU.

France and Norway have many common goals and interests in space matters. I believe that the framework agreement is a step towards a further strengthening of the already very good cooperation between France and Norway in space related activities. I look forward to following this development.

With this I wish you good luck with what I know will be a very interesting meeting.

Thank you for your attention! Ministry of Trade and Industry

Ministry of Trade and Industry
P.O.Box 8014 Dep 0030 Oslo – Norway
CONTACT: Ministry of Trade and Industry Tel: +47 22 24 90 90

Source Tradingmarkets

(Apr 14) ESA PR 22-2008. The European Space Agency and Thales Alenia Space today signed a €305 million contract to provide the first Sentinel-3 earth observation satellite, devoted to oceanography and land-vegetation monitoring, as part of the European GMES programme. As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space is responsible for the satellite’s design, development and integration.

The contract was signed today in Paris by Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation, and Pascale Sourisse, President and CEO of Thales Alenia Space, in the presence of Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, officials from the European Commission, the French Ministry of Research and Higher Education and Dominique Bussereau, French Secretary of State for Transport at the Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development & Land Management Ministry.

Underlining the value of this mission for Europe, Volker Liebig commented: “This satellite is an important element of GMES and will enable Europe to observe important ocean parameters”.

Mr Liebig and Ms Sourisse celebrate the signing of the contract
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) aims at delivering environment and security monitoring services and is being led by the European Commission. It is Europe’s response to the ever-increasing demands of effective environmental policies and is at the same time the European contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

ESA is responsible for the implementation of the GMES Space Component, a package of earth observation missions involving ESA, EU/ESA Member States and other partners. Central elements of this Space Component are the five families of Sentinel missions.

Sentinel-3 will provide crucial data for information services to the European Union and its Member States as part of GMES. The services to be fed data cover areas such as climate change, sustainable development, environmental policies, European civil protection, development aid, humanitarian aid and the European Common Foreign & Security Policy.

The Sentinel-3 mission will produce a consistent, long-term set of remotely-sensed marine and land data for (operational) ocean state analysis, forecasting and service provision. A comprehensive measurement system facilitating global ocean and land observation is required in order to provide data for advanced numerical forecasting models.

Sentinel-3 will determine parameters such as sea surface topography, sea/land surface temperature, ocean colour and land colour with high-end accuracy and reliability. For this purpose, it carries an advanced radar altimeter and a multi-channel optical imaging instrument.

To achieve near-global coverage and meet all scientific requirements, Sentinel-3 will be placed in a high-inclination, sun-synchronous polar orbit. Near-realtime data processing and delivery will allow operational services to continuously profit from the mission.

ESA carried out the Sentinel-3 definition phase in 2005/6, drawing on an industrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space. The implementation phase started in autumn 2007 and the launch of the first Sentinel-3 satellite is planned for 2012.

(Source ESA)

For further information:
Mr Bruno Berruti
GMES Sentinel-3 Project Manager
Earth Observation Directorate
Tel: +31.71.565.4936

This website will present the latest information on European Space Policy as it develops and is implemented.


Europe needs an effective space policy that will allow the EU to take global leadership in selected strategic policy areas. Space can provide the tools to address many of the global challenges that face 21st century society: challenges that Europe must take a leading role in addressing.

The adoption of the European Space Policy communication and its endorsement by the joint European Space Council in the Spring of 2007 gives Europe its first agreed space policy.

The formulation and implementation of a comprehensive European Space Policy demonstrates the EU’s ability to lead and coordinate in areas of immense strategic importance. Space policy covers a wide variety of policy fields and involves a corresponding spread of policy actors.

Space systems and space-based technologies are a critical part of the daily life of all European citizens and businesses. From telecommunications to television, weather forecasting to global financial systems most of the key services that we all take for granted in the modern world depend on space to function correctly.

In the future space will become even more important and will offer new opportunities for business and services for citizens. Improved positioning or timing systems and global environmental monitoring will provide areas for innovative companies to flourish providing new services.

And of course, space is critical to environmental, security and climate change considerations.

Europe has been involved in developing space technology and science for over 30 years through both national programmes and the efforts of the European Space Agency (ESA). An important first step towards a European Space Policy was the adoption of the EC-ESA Framework Agreement in November 2003. This laid the foundations for many joint initiatives and created the structures that would lead to the development of a true European Space Policy.

Europe is home to a large, high technology-based aerospace industry that supplies a significant part of the world’s commercial requirements for satellite manufacture, launch and services. The European industry has been highly competitive in a difficult marketplace. A comprehensive European Space Policy will help maintain that competitiveness.

Space systems are clearly strategic assets that demonstrate independence and the ability to assume global responsibilities. To maximize the benefits and opportunities that they can provide to Europe now and in the future it is important to have an active, co-ordinated strategy and a comprehensive European Space Policy.

This website will present the latest information on European Space Policy as it develops and is implemented. It will cover news and developments from the European Space Programme and will act as a ‘portal’ to information on the wide range of European space-related resources that are available on the web and describe Europe’s identity and aspirations in space.

NEW WEBSITE EUROPEAN SPACE POLICY

This report recommends that governments create policies such as “green taxes” that encourage sound, environmentally friendly technologies and practices.

The rich world must help poor countries develop without spewing pollution by providing them with technology and expertise, it says.

(Source GMES.Info)

More information at:
OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030
Stern report

The French Space agency CNES and Spot Image support several research projects in the International Polar Year, with SPOT’s High Resolution Spectroscopic (HRS) instrument.

Article at GEOCONNEXION

The French space agency CNES and Spot Image are contributing to a number of research programmes now underway for International Polar Year (IPY), for which they have built up a significant archive of imagery of the polar regions from SPOT 5’s HRS instrument (High Resolution Stereoscopic). With global warming today a chief concern, these data are giving scientists around the globe an opportunity to gain a closer insight into the world’s changing ice cover.

Satellite imagery is a vital tool for tracking temperate and polar ice cover. In this respect, SPOT 5’s HRS instrument has the key ability to acquire stereopair imagery at a spatial resolution of 5 metres, covering an area of 120 km x 600 km.

CNES and _Spot Image have launched the SPIRIT project (SPOT 5 stereoscopic survey of Polar Ice: Reference Images and Topographies) in partnership with French survey and mapping agency IGN, responsible for generating digital elevation model (DEM) products, and the LEGOS space geophysics and oceanography research laboratory, principal investigator. The chief aims of this project are to: Image 2.5 million sq.km. of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, covering glaciers, small ice caps and the coasts of Antarctica and Greenland.

Allow scientists around the world working on themes in line with IPY to access the SPOT 5 HRS archive through a dedicated Web interface.

Distribute DEM products free of charge to research laboratories approved by CNES, to give them a baseline topography that until now has been lacking for studies of polar ice, so they can map change in these regions.

An initial imaging campaign in the Northern Hemisphere has already covered 830,000 sq.km of Arctic regions. The ongoing Antarctic campaign has set out with the ambitious aim of covering 2 million sq.km of the ice sheet.

Spot Image, the commercial operator of the SPOT satellites, is headquartered in Toulouse, France, with subsidiaries and offices in Australia, Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and the United States. It leverages a global network of partners, distributors and ground receiving stations to serve public and private-sector decision-makers worldwide. Spot Image is a leading supplier of geospatial information with an extensive portfolio of multisensor, multiresolution products.

France affirmed its space ambitions from a very early stage. As a result of its efforts, it has achieved independent access to space and is a prime mover behind Europe’s space policy and international cooperation. Over the years, CNES has built up end-to-end expertise in implementing space systems, working with expert contractors and research laboratories. Through its ability to innovate and its foresight, it is helping to expand knowledge, foster the emergence of new technologies for the benefit of society and develop space applications.

Outlet glacier in Greenland The ice tongue of the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier on Greenland’s west coast has retreated significantly in the last five years. At the same time, it has thinned and started to flow faster. These changes have been confirmed in processed SPOT 5 HRS imagery.

The town of Jakobshavn (Ilulíssat in Greenlandic) lies near the mouth of the eponymous fjord from where icebergs calve off the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier into Disko Bay. A UNESCO world heritage site, this glacier is one of the largest on the Arctic ice sheet, discharging some 35 billion tonnes of ice into the sea every year, that is, 6 to 10 percent of the total mass of ice discharged into the Northern Hemisphere oceans. Jakobshavn Isbrae is now the world’s fastest-flo wing glacier and is estimated to be responsible for 4 percent (0.06 mm) of the recent rise in sea level across the globe.

Since 2004, new ASTER and Landsat satellite data have revealed a clear break in the glacier’s advance. Its northern and southern sections are exhibiting different behaviour, with the ice streams driving the flow of ice to the calving front moving at different speeds. The rate of ice flow doubled between 1985 and 2006, from 17 metres to 35 metres per day.

Details in the DEM
SPOT 5’s HRS instrument has been used to map the Jakobshavn glacier precisely in three dimensions. Comparing a digital elevation model (DEM) generated by IGN, France’s survey and mapping agency, from SPOT 5 HRS imagery acquired in 2007 with a DEM from April 2003, the LEGOS space geophysics and oceanography research laboratory found that the glacier had thinned rapidly. The glacier’s speed was also measured by comparing two HRS orthoimages acquired 10 days apart. The main ice stream peaked at 42.5 metres per day (15.5 kilometres per year), making Jakobshavn Isbrae well and truly the world’s fastest glacier.

Web sites:
www.spotimage.com/IPY
www.cnes.fr
www.legos.obs-mip.fr
www.ipy.org
Article by Jérôme Korona International Polar Year
Project Manager, Spot Image,

Source GEOCONNEXION