DMC Missions and Ground SegmentGSCB Workshop 2012

Gary CrowleyDMCii

7th June 2012

Mission StatusMission StatusMission StatusMission Status

7 Years

5 Years

5 Years

5 Years

5 Years

5 Years

5 Years

5 Years

5 Years

Design

Lifetime

Pre-operational

Phase

Pre-operational

Phase

Operational

Operational

Operational

Operational

Mission

Complete

Mission

Complete

Mission

Complete

Mission

Status

2011

2011

2009

2009

2005

2003

2003

2003

2002

Launch

8 Years32m MSUK-DMC

+ 2 Years22m MSUK-DMC2

+ 2 Years22m MSDeimos-1

3 Years28m MSBILSAT-1

7 Years32m MSAlSat-1

Operational

Lifetime

Imager

Type

Mission

+ 0 Years32m MS

5m MS

2.5 PAN

NigeriaSat-2

22m MS

32m MS

4m PAN

32m MS

+ 0 YearsNigeriaSat-X

+ 6 YearsBeijing-1

+ 8 YearsNigeriaSat-1

AlSat-1

NigeriaSat-1

BILSAT-1

Beijing-1

UK-DMC

Deimos-1

NigeriaSat-X

UK-DMC2

NigeriaSat-2

Mission StatusMission StatusMission StatusMission Status• UK-DMC2

– Now provides an improved service

• Increased downlink rate of 80Mbps

• Acquire and process a single 8Gb image file

• “Direct Downlink” service for UK-DMC2

– Near real time imaging over groundstation region

– Store & Forward image downlink

– Customers across Europe, Asia and The Americas

– Calibration coefficients updated

– New processing algorithms under development

• NigeriaSat-2 & NigeriaSat-X

– Handed over to NASRDA

– Pre-operational phase

• Focus on national priorities

UKUKUKUK----DMC2 Data Flow On The GroundDMC2 Data Flow On The GroundDMC2 Data Flow On The GroundDMC2 Data Flow On The Ground

• Data Flow Concept– UK-DMC2 downlinks data to a designated groundstation

– Raw data is sent back to the DMCii central archive

– Data is processed and catalogued

– Products are generated and delivered to customers from DMCii• Data downlinked at a designated groundstation can also be processed and the products delivered to their customers using their own systems

• Global EO Network– The use of additional groundstations has improved the throughput of UK-DMC2

– The limitation of satellite access and data downlink has been removed

– The bottle neck is now on UK-DMC2 which shows the true capability of the mission

Evolution of EO GS Infrastructure and Evolution of EO GS Infrastructure and Evolution of EO GS Infrastructure and Evolution of EO GS Infrastructure and Services for DMCiiServices for DMCiiServices for DMCiiServices for DMCii

• Servicing commercial direct downlinks

• Remote processing and delivery of products from other ground segments

• DMC3– Constellation of 3 optical satellites– 1m Panchromatic– 4m Multispectral (Blue, Green, Red, NIR)– Owned and operated by DMCii– Currently in production by SSTL-UK– Launch ETA 2014

• NovaSAR– S-Band– 6m, 20m, and 30m imaging modes– HH, HV, VH, VV polarisations– First SAR satellite built by SSTL-UK– First SAR dataset distributed by DMCii– Launch ETA 2014

HMAHMAHMAHMA• Implementation Status

– DMCii implementation of the HMA interface (HMA-I-DMC) has been operating since December 2010

– HMA-I-DMC interface is also operational as part of the V2 solution for DWH orders

– HMA-I-DMC supports a globally distributed ground segment network through the use of data harvesting technologies

– The new DMCii on-line catalogue uses the same system to provide users with the ability to search and order images across a distributed DMC archive

– CSW interface is open for users to access

HMAHMAHMAHMA• Experience

– Complex implementation – incorporating multiple standards, protocols and technologies

– A lot of system requirements to be fulfilled

– A lot of development time was needed – as most components had to be designed and developed from scratch

– Project timescales were short

– ESA project funding was below expectations

– ESA project team were great to work with

– Overall, the project ran smoothly

• Recommendations– The HMA will benefit from further refinement and standardisation in places, especially with regards to the SPS (Sensor Planning Service)

QA4EOQA4EOQA4EOQA4EO• Implementation

– Prototype algorithms have been developed, tested and validated• Dark current uncertainty• Cross-calibration uncertainty• Transfer calibration uncertainty• SNR estimation

– Drafted “DMCii Protocols Handbook”

• Experience– Prototypes conform to the key guidelines:

• Traceability• Providing quality indicators

– Introduces additional processing steps and consequently lengthens the production time

• Recommendation– No recommendations on the QA4EO guidelines– DMCii internal recommendations include:

• Integration of the prototype algorithms into the processing chain to derive the combined uncertainty of final products

• Further investigation into dynamic uncertainties

Calibration & ValidationCalibration & ValidationCalibration & ValidationCalibration & Validation• Methods for cross-calibration and validation over Dome-C and

Libya 4 are well established at DMCii

– Proprietary software developed in-house

• Developing physical model of the Libya 4 site to improve calibration accuracy (collaborating with NASA and SDSU)

• Current cross-calibration results for any spectral band suggests:

– <1% uncertainty relative to Landsat7

– <1.4% uncertainty between any DMC mission in the constellation

– <5% uncertainty absolute

• DMCii currently calibrates the following missions:

– UK-DMC2

– Deimos-1

– NigeriaSat-X

– NigeriaSat-2

• DMCii have been approached to calibrate other non-DMC missions

LTDPLTDPLTDPLTDP• Implementation Status

– DMCii have an LTDP strategy is in place:• Based on commercial data preservation strategy• Adopts accepted standards and policies, where possible

• Conforms largely to the “European LTDP Common Guidelines”, but it is tailored to suit our needs and the needs of our customers

• Experience– The guidelines cover almost every eventuality regarding the data security and preservation

– To implement a “Level A” solution across all criteria set out by the guidelines is very costly - time, labour and infrastructure

– No external funding available to support this activity

– Standards and recommendations within the industry are rapidly evolving – software, hardware, concepts or techniques

– The guidelines could be outdated just as quickly

• Recommendations– Secure funding to support “Level A” solutions

– Ensure guidelines track industry trends and technological evolution

Cloud Computing & Content Delivery Cloud Computing & Content Delivery Cloud Computing & Content Delivery Cloud Computing & Content Delivery NetworksNetworksNetworksNetworks

• Cloud Computing

– No plans for cloud computing in the strictest sense

– Remote processing and delivery of products from other ground segments

• Reduce delay between image downlink and delivery of final product

• Raw data is transferred back to DMCii for archiving

• Content Delivery– Data streaming

• Deliver “pixels” to customers instead of images

• Feed data streams directly into their processing chain

• Reduce the volume of data transmitted over the internet

• Reduce overheads on bandwidth

• Improved delivery times

• Customers get, pay and process only the data that is essential to their applications

Issues and CommentsIssues and CommentsIssues and CommentsIssues and Comments• DMCii Adoption of the Standards and Guidelines

– Have already adopted some of the standards through the HMA-I-DMC• WMS, CSW, OS

– LTDP strategy is tailored to the needs of DMCii and its customers, but largely conforms to the “European LTDP Common Guidelines”• In time our LTDP strategy will evolve, but it will not necessarily be driven by the “European LTDP Common Guidelines”

– Working to adopt some of the standards presented by QA4EO• Already have working prototype algorithms• Requires further refinement and integration with our processes

• Standardisation the GSCB Should Address– Management of large volumes of data

• Sentinel missions and re-processing of archived data due to sensor re-calibration

• Expectations of production timeliness per GB• Delivery methods and timeliness

• Use of cloud computing, parallel processing and infrastructure virtualisation

GMES Operations ConceptGMES Operations ConceptGMES Operations ConceptGMES Operations Concept

• No suggestions, only comments

– Various formats, interfaces and methods, so this concept helps to create the “universal adaptor”

– Not everything about the interfaces are convenient to the missions

– Unlikely that the interfaces will be used in their entirety beyond the GMES

– Good way to introduce standardisation across many unique missions

– Even if the interfaces and guidelines are only used in part outside of the GMES, then there would exist a partial homogeneity across the contributing missions

Thank YouThank YouThank YouThank You

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE

NigeriaSat-2