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GRAS News from the website

News about detail urban mapping in Sweden, mapping environmental impacts of hydro power in Laos or mapping of available solar energy for solar power applications…

Detailed Urban Mapping in Sweden (30 mar. 2012)

GRAS is mapping impervious surface areas in several cities throughout Sweden. The mapping is based on a variety of available input data such as aerial photos, GIS data and LiDAR data. The mapping is performed with a highly automated mapping solution developed by GRAS.

The output is shape files with impervious surfaces classified into various classes specified by the client. The mapping results is used as input in a swedish based research project about estimation of surface runoff coefficients for hydrological modelling.

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Mapping environmental impacts of hydro power in Laos(15 mar. 2012)

GRAS has been selected as service provider under the procurement “Earth Observation (EO) based information services in support of the European Investment Bank” (EIB) projects. GRAS is supported by DHI and Earth Systems Lao for the project which is part of the “European Space Agency” (ESA) strategy to mainstream the use of EO-based services within the EIB financing and project operations. The aim of this service is to produce, deliver and assess the utility and benefits of EO information products and services in support of the “Nam Theun II” (NT2) Hydropower project in Lao PDR, which is being backed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and other commercial lenders and international financial institutions. The service will deliver EO based forest cover and land use information for the NT2 project area with a particular focus on documenting (illegal) activities such as logging, settlements and agriculture in designated areas for forest protection and resettlement. In addition an EO based monitoring system of reservoir dynamics will be developed based on high-frequency medium resolution optical and radar (ASAR) data , and all information will be made available for the watershed management program which is embedded in the NT2 project.

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Mapping of available solar energy for solar power applications(25 feb. 2012)

As part of the DANIDA-funded “Projet de faisabilité des ressources de l’énergie renouvelables au Mali”-project, GRAS has performed a mapping of the solar resources as a sustainable energy source for Mali, West Africa. The project demonstrates how information derived from geostationary satellite imagery can be used to assess the temporal and spatial variability of the available solar energy at the surface.

The project uses data from the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites which are operated by EUMETSAT on behalf of ESA and the national weather services of the ESA member states. The SEVIRI-instrument onboard the MSG satellites provide coverage of the entire earth disk every 15 minutes in 11 spectral bands. This allows for continuous tracking of cloud cover and atmospheric attenuation on a continental basis. The MSG based Down-welling Surface Shortwave Radiation was adjusted to local conditions using in-situ data acquired from a number of ground stations distributed throughout central Mali. A following validation exercise proved the ability of accurate mapping of the solar potential at both high temporal and spatial resolution on national scale using geostationary satellite data.

The outputs of the project are monthly and yearly assessments of the solar energy available at the surface for a given time frame in a high spatial resolution. The information was delivered in the form of maps showing the spatial distribution of the available energy as shown in the examples below for a three year period between July 2008 and June 2011.
The project has been performed in cooperation with the CNESOLER (Centre National d’Energie Solaire & des Energies Renouvelables – Malian National Centre for Solar & Renewable Energy) and UNEP Risø Centre.

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