170
March 2016
PHOTOGRAMMETRIC ENGINEERING & REMOTE SENSING
INDUSTRY
NEWS
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ANNOUNCEMENT
Teledyne Optech
is pleased to announce that its Optech
Titan multispectral airborne lidar has won both the Grand
Award and the Award for Technology Innovation at the 9th
Annual MAPPS Geospatial Products and Services Excellence
Awards. The judges presented the awards to Teledyne Optech
in a ceremony at the MAPPS 2016 Winter Conference in Hen-
derson, NV on February 3rd.
As the world’s first commercial multispectral lidar, the Titan
impressed judges by using three channels at different wave-
lengths to open up brand-new applications for lidar survey-
ing, including automated target classification. By merging the
point clouds from all three lidar channels (532, 1064, and 1550
nm), surveyors can now determine the relative reflectance of
targets along each wavelength. Teledyne Optech’s partners
have already developed algorithms for differentiating soil, as-
phalt, grass, trees, and buildings using Titan’s multispectral
data, and have even identified trees by their genus.
The judges also noted that the Titan gives surveyors the flex-
ibility to handle topographic and bathymetric surveying with
the same sensor, unlike single-channel lidar systems, which
force operators to choose either land or water surveying. In a
single flight, operators can efficiently survey topography from
high altitude using the Titan’s infrared (1064 and 1550 nm)
channels, then use its green (532 nm) channel to survey shal-
low coastal and inland waters at depths down to 22 meters.
Finally, the judges were impressed by the Titan sensor
head’s compact design, which contains an embedded medi-
um-format digital camera for collecting co-aligned imagery,
and fits in a standard 16” gyro-stabilized mount to improve
efficiency and data quality.
“We are very proud to have the Titan acknowledged for its
innovative design and revolutionary new applications,” said
Michel Stanier, Chief Operating Officer at Teledyne Optech.
Find out more at
EDRS-A, the first relay satellite of the
SpaceDataHighway
,
was successfully launched into geostationary orbit on 30 Jan-
uary 2016. The SpaceDataHighway system will provide high-
speed laser communication in space at up to 1.8 gigabits per
second. This major program is the result of a public-private
partnership (PPP) between the European Space Agency (ESA)
and Airbus Defence and Space.
Using communication relay satellites such as EDRS-A, the
SpaceDataHighway will be able to transfer high-volume infor-
mation from Earth observation satellites, UAVs and surveil-
lance aircraft, or even from a space station such as the ISS.
Thanks to the very high communication rates possible with
lasers of up to 1.8 Gbit/s and the geostationary orbit position-
ing of the relay satellites, up to 50 terabytes per day can be
transmitted securely in near-real-time to Earth, as opposed to
the delay of several hours currently experienced.
“SpaceDataHighway is no longer science fiction. It will rev-
olutionize satellite and drone communications,” said Evert
Dudok, Head of the Communications, Intelligence & Security
(CIS) business line at Airbus Defence and Space. For more in-
formation, visit
Airbus Defence and Space
has signed a contract with the
European Space Agency (ESA) to deliver two further optical
satellites for the European Copernicus programme.
As part of the Sentinel-2 Earth observation satellite system,
these two new models, called “Sentinel-2C” and “Sentinel-2D”,
will observe the environment and land surfaces and continue
to 2021 with the measurements carried out by the first two
flight units as part of the European Copernicus program. As
prime contractor, Airbus Defence and Space will lead an in-
dustrial consortium of more than 50 companies from 17 Euro-
pean countries and the USA.
“ESA’s new order for the Copernicus satellites with by far
the widest range of applications demonstrates the great confi-
dence the agency has in our know-how,” said François Auque,
Head of Space Systems. “Continuous high-quality data span-
ning several decades is essential for the large community of
users. The delivery of the Sentinel-2C and -2D satellites will
ensure this continuity, allowing the advanced monitoring of
our environment and land usage to continue.”
The Sentinel-2 satellites deliver optical images from a height
of 786 km with a resolution of 10, 20 and 60 metres at an im-
age width of 290 km. These images are produced in 13 spectral
bands, from the visible to the short-wave infrared range of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
As part of Copernicus, the Sentinel-2 satellites make a sig-
nificant contribution to meeting Earth observation data re-
quirements in the areas of land use, water quality, agricul-
ture and forestry, land management, natural disasters (floods,
forest fires, landslides, erosion) and humanitarian aid. Envi-
ronmental observation in coastal areas likewise forms part of
these activities, as does glacier, ice and snow monitoring.
Sentinel-2 is also capable of using another ESA program, the
European Data Relay System (EDRS). EDRS-SpaceDataHigh-
way will be a network of laser communication payloads on geo-
stationary satellites and low Earth orbit satellites. The system
will provide secure and fast communication services for the
Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites. It will ensure the timely
availability of data particularly for time-critical applications
such as environmental monitoring, emergency response and
security missions.
The first satellite of this family, Sentinel-2A, lifted off on 23
June 2015 on a Vega launcher from the European spaceport
in Kourou, French Guiana and is now in service. To date, over
7.000 products are available for download, cumulating a total
volume of 35 TB, while over 57.000 products equivalent to 276
TB have been downloaded by the user communities. The devel-
opment of Sentinel-2B is progressing in full swing for a launch
late this year.
TV material can be found at
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com/bcr/.
