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US: Trimble has launched a new version of its smart water management software — Trimble Unity 3.8. A cloud-based, GIS-centric Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution — Trimble Unity — offers a suite of applications and tools for the water, wastewater, storm water and environmental water industry.

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Trimble Unity enables customers to monitor real-time operations, deploy smart meters, assess the condition of assets, reduce leakage and non-revenue water (NRW), and locate and map critical infrastructure using Trimble high-accuracy GNSS mapping technologies.

Version 3.8 extends the platform’s capabilities to include proactive asset performance monitoring with the integration of Trimble Telog wireless Internet of Things (IoT) remote monitoring instruments and data.

A significant benefit of Trimble Unity version 3.8 is the ability to pair it with Trimble Telog wireless, battery-powered remote monitoring instruments.

Used together, Trimble Unity with Trimble Telog instruments offers a comprehensive suite of water, wastewater and storm water asset performance management solutions that include monitoring and management of water level, flow, pressure, water hammer, rainfall, water quality, pump stations and many others items and parameters on remote water and wastewater networks.

This new version provides customers with situational awareness of water and wastewater utility asset performance—offering a single view of remote monitoring data, performance measurement reports, GIS, operational data, asset conditions and events. Trimble Unity’s mobile application can be used to automate and simplify wireless monitoring instrument site deployments.

Telog wireless remote monitoring instruments may be configured to measure and report data and alarms as often as needed. The new version includes rich GIS visualization tools to view and analyze wireless remote monitoring data for a single site or aggregated data from multiple sites.

These new capabilities enable water utilities to enhance asset performance and customer response as well as collect timely data from the field to support decision making and regulatory compliance.

“Utilities are looking for ways to proactively manage their networks but are faced with challenges around the lack of data on distribution and collection network performance and asset condition,” said Rami Naber, product manager for Trimble Water.

“Trimble Telog wireless remote monitoring instruments are used by over 3,000 customers throughout North America and now Trimble Unity 3.8 can collect authoritative data from these instruments. The power of this combined solution is that it provides customers with situational awareness of network operations, empowering users with advanced workflows and tools to measure and improve network performance so they can shift to a proactive smart water management operating model.”

Trimble Unity Version 3.8 is available now through the Trimble Water Division and its authorized distribution partners. For additional information on Trimble Unity, visit.

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MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Our first market development priority this year is focused on International Financial Institutions and on April 12th, our secretary general visited the World Bank along with a delegation of 25 European service providers led by ESA. The goal was to initiate 12 projects selected under the ESA EOMD programme where service providers are engaged directly in WB projects and for EARSC to show how it could help in developing stronger links in the future. The World Bank welcomed the participation of EARSC and encouraged us with the idea that we can act as a neutral facilitator to help broker future opportunities.

Meanwhile, Eopages is nearing the point where it will go live and an early version was shown to the World Bank. This new brokerage platform will help potential customers find suppliers whilst service providers will be able to promote their products. Watch out for a mail that invites you to enter your own product promotional material. Some entries are already being made. In conjunction with the World Bank visit we gathered 12 examples of products that could be used in development projects and these are all being converted into an eopages form.

Our second priority for 2011 is the oil and gas industry and improving links with the EO service provider Community. The OGEO working group, where EARSC provides the secretariat, is guiding the initiative under the chairmanship of Richard Eyers at Shell. As well as developing stronger links between the two industry sectors (through meetings and workshops) we are putting in place a Community tool and seeking to establish a joint industry project. The OGEO web-portal will be available later this summer.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT

We published a position paper on “Exploiting GMES Operational Services”. This has been widely distributed and well received. It raises three key issues for the future for which we plan to develop more detailed proposals. The first priority is linked to the implementation of a data policy for GMES and a workshop is being planned. Those interested to join the working group on this topic should inform the secretariat and keep June 17th in mind as a possible date on which a workshop could be held in Brussels.

INTERNAL ACTIONS

Quality Scheme: Please also note that we are anticipating with ESA the possibility to hold a workshop in the previous afternoon ie 29th June starting at around 16h00 on the topic of certification and standards. ESA has been carrying out some work on this topic and it is planned to present this to the workshop before seeking reaction and views through an open interaction.

Data licensing: Would members be interested in a workshop organised to discuss aspects of EO data licensing and distribution? It could help legal advisors become familiar with EO data issues and look/share at best practice across the various service providers. This wk could also be an exchange with US companies and legal specialists.

RELATIONSHIP

In April, meetings have been held with Eurogi, Nereus, ERRIN, ESOA and Eurospace. In a wider field, we also met with the US Alliance for Earth Observation and the Centre for Spatial Law (Kevin Pomfret). We are exploring ways to work more closely with all these groups and as an example we are invited to present the Association to the ERRIN transport group when they next meet in May and we are discussing with the CSL to organise a workshop to look at the legal aspects and share best practise across the atlantic on data licensing. For information, Nereus and ERRIN both bring together representatives of European regions; Nereus focused on space users and ERRIN on research and innovation.

EARSC has been invited to be a member of the Joint Advisory Board for two EC sponsored GMES networking projects Graal and Doris. Our Secretary General will participate to the first meeting on June 9th.

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS

AGM: 30th June Brussels

EARSC AGM will take place on 30th June in Brussels. This year EARSC will organize after the AGM, two separate seminars, the morning seminar is dedicated to the “Current status of operational GMES” while the afternoon seminar will be focus on the “EO service markets”. Key stakeholders will be invited to give an overview of these topics. There will also be a buffet reception giving an opportunity for more informal discussions with EARSC Members including the Executive Board. If for any reason you will not be able to attend the Annual General Meeting and want to have your position represented, please do not forget to give the power of representation by the mean of a proxy. EARSC is also opening an invitation to its members to participate by nominating candidates for Directors.

EARSC will be present at the following workshops:

When Event Role By Venue
09-11 May 2011 Global Space and Satellite Forum EARSC presentation Vice-Chairman Abu Dhabi, UAE
12-13 May 2011 Let’s embrace space – FP7 space conference 2011 EARSC presentation Secretary General Budapest, Hungary
24 May 2011 ERRIN Transport Group Meeting EARSC participation Secretary General tbc
26-27 May 2011 FP7 Space and GMES Initial Operations Symposium: opportunities and networking 2011-201 EARSC presentation Secretary General Lisbon, Portugal
30 May-02 June 2011 31st EARSeL Symposium: Remote Sensing and Geoinformation not only for Scientific Cooperation Key note Secretary General Prague, Czech Republic
09 June 2011 DORISNET-GRAAL Joint Advisory Board EARSC representation Secretary General Brussels, Belgium
12-14 June 2011 International conference, space security through the transatlantic partnership EARSC participation Prague, Czech Republic
29 June 2011 Seminar EO quality scheme EARSC members Members Brussels, Belgium
30 June 2011 EARSC AGM EARSC participation Members Brussels, Belgium

INFORMATION DISTRIBUTED

Email Ref. data Issue
20 March 2011 EC consultation on the preparation of a new Communication on an Industrial Policy for the Security Industry
4 April 2011 EC Communication “Towards a space strategy for the EU that benefits its citizens”
4 April 2011 EARSC Position Paper: Exploiting GMES Operational Services
4 April 2011 Towards a space specific industrial policy / food for thought paper from the European space industry
4 April 2011 Risk Assessment for Disaster Management
7 April 2011 Space in the EU / Eurospace newlsetter 1-2011
7 April 2011 SWIFT E-News n°16
8 April 2011 EC communication on space / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
12 April 2011 EEAS on a Concept for Air Operations / Contribution of Space
12 April 2011 EU approach to the ITU WRC12 / issues relevant for space policy
14 April 2011 EOmag 25
20 April 2011 draft wp2012 FP7-Environment / Space related aspects

EDITORIAL
This note is produced by EARSC; it aims at providing its members with a synthesis of EARSC news and activities. Issues will be monthly or bi-monthly, depending on developments. More information at secretariat@earsc.org

(Nov 2010) As part of the procedure to realise ESA’s series of Earth Explorers, two new mission proposals have been selected for further development. The missions, called FLEX and CarbonSat, now vying to be the eighth Earth Explorer, both address key climate and environmental change issues.

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The selection follows ESA’s Call for Earth Explorer Proposals that was released in October last year and ended in the Agency receiving 31 high-quality mission concepts. Subsequently, the proposals were carefully evaluated by leading Earth scientists in four peer review panels.

This evaluation process, which included a comprehensive programmatic and technical assessment, resulted in ESA’s Earth Science Advisory Committee selecting the two most scientifically relevant and programmatically feasible concepts – recommending that the Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) and CarbonSat be presented to ESA’s Programme Board for Earth Observation.

At the Earth Observation Programme Board Member States meeting, held on 24 November, it was decided to go ahead with the recommendation for FLEX and CarbonSat to move forward to
‘Phase-A/B1’. This phase includes feasibility study and further consolidation of the various components that make up a satellite mission.

As with all Earth Explorer missions, FLEX and CarbonSat respond to issues raised by the scientific community to further our understanding of how Earth works as a system and how human activity is affecting natural Earth processes. In this case, both FLEX and CarbonSat aim to provide key information on different aspects of the carbon cycle.

The CarbonSat mission would quantify and monitor the distribution of two of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, also released through human activity: carbon dioxide and methane. Data from the mission would lead to a better understanding of the sources and sinks of these two gases and how they are linked to climate change.

The FLEX mission aims to provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence, which can be converted into an indicator of photosynthetic activity. These data would improve our understanding of how much carbon is stored in plants and their role in the carbon and water cycles.

The mission would work in combination with the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument and the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on Sentinel-3 to improve models of future atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.

The next step in the development of these two mission concepts is to begin the definition studies in the second quarter of 2011.

There are three Earth Explorers in orbit: GOCE, SMOS and CryoSat; a further three being constructed: Swarm, ADM-Aeolus and EarthCARE; and three undergoing feasibility studies competing for selection as Earth Explorer-7: BIOMASS, PREMIER and CoReH2O

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