A homogeneous map of high resolution core land cover data for built-up areas, including degree of soil sealing, for 38 countries in Europe has now been completed and delivered to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
In line with the project schedule, a European service provider network led by Infoterra GmbH, Germany, submitted the last of the datasets in late 2008. The products have passed the intensive checks by EEA and the respective user organisations with very good results:
“We are extremely satisfied with the results of this project”, states Chris Steenmans, Head of Programme Shared Environmental Information System Support at the EEA. “The quality and accuracy of the final mapping product as well as its timely delivery, along with a reliable compliance with our specifications and deadlines, fully meet our expectations. We are convinced that a great number of public authorities across Europe – on both national and European level – will significantly benefit from these data in their daily work.”
The product comprises raster datasets of built-up and non built-up areas including degree of soil sealing in full spatial resolution (20m x 20m) for 5.8 mio square kilometres across Europe, the reference year being 2006. The datasets will be made available to users on all administrative levels.
“Our concept of gathering essential expertise from all over Europe has proven successful and although the task was challenging, the cooperation has been extremely pleasurable”, explains Marek Tinz, responsible project manager at Infoterra. The service provider network consists of GeoVille GmbH (Austria), GISAT s.r.o. (Czech Republic), Metria (Sweden), Planetek Italia srl. (Italy), Tragsatec SA (Spain), and Infoterra GmbH (Germany).
_An element of the “fast track service precursor on land monitoring 2006-2008”, this project is among the first operational geo-information services within the GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA). _
About Infoterra
Infoterra, wholly owned by Europe’s leading space company EADS Astrium, is a leading provider of geo-information products and services for managing the development, environment and security of our changing world. With entities in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and Hungary, its customers include international corporations, governments and authorities around the globe, and organisations such as the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
Infoterra operates across a comprehensive range of markets – communications, environment, security, agriculture, defence, oil & gas exploration and many more. Furthermore, Infoterra holds the exclusive commercial exploitation rights for the high-resolution radar satellite TerraSAR-X, and plays a leading role in geo-information services within the European GMES initiative of the EC and ESA.
Infoterra, together with Spot Image, form the Earth Observation Division of EADS Astrium Services.
Images
IMG1_Europe: Visualization of sealing across Europe: Yellow coloring indicates a degree of sealing of 20% or more (representing a significant land consumption) in the 38 EEA member states.
IMG2_Subset_MetropolitanAreas: Subset of the European coverage: London and Paris metropolitan areas and the densely populated Netherlands, Belgium and Western Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr area. Yellow coloring indicates a degree of sealing of 20% or more (representing a significant land consumption).