earth observation a new perspective forearth observation 22 esa bulletin 116 - november 2003...

Earth Observation

22 esa bulletin 116 - november 2003 www.esa.int

Introduction

Europe has achieved worldwide leadership in manyscientific areas of Earth Observation with SyntheticAperture Radar (SAR) imagery, interferometry, oceanicaltimetry, atmospheric chemistry, to name just a few. Onthe other hand, Earth Observation has so far failed toevolve into a mature and self-sustainable operational orcommercial activity. Hence, it has not allowed thedevelopment of a service industry of any economicsignificance. We believe that the causes for thesedrawbacks are rooted in a number of characteristicfeatures of the current approach to operational EarthObservation.

Drawing lessons from the failure at the MinisterialConference in Edinburgh to coordinate national initiatives,we are proposing a new implementation strategy for theEarth Watch missions, which shifts from the currenttechnology-pushed to a market-pulled, user-orientedapproach. In the mid-term, this strategy should provide fullinteroperability of all European Earth-observing space systems.In the longer term, it aims at building up the necessary rationale,momentum and resources for the definition, deployment andoperation of the next generation of European operationalsatellites.

This strategy calls, in the short term, for the complete overhaulof current policies and the introduction of advanced technologiesfor distributing Earth Observation data from the existing spaceinfrastructure. We believe that the fostering of operationalservices requires the development of an integrated, transparentand user-friendly infrastructure to access information from EarthObservation missions in Europe. In this new paradigm, easy andinexpensive access to Earth Observation data is seen as the criticalelement and should be granted to any partner willing and capable ofdeveloping new applications and services. This strategy is perceivedas an enabling mechanism to allow the development of a powerful

A New Perspective for - The Oxygen (02) Project

José AchacheDirector of Earth Observation, ESA, Paris

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service industry in Europe, which would facilitate andencourage future investments in Earth Observationsatellites. It is also considered critical for theimplementation of the Global Monitoring forEnvironment and Security (GMES) programme. Lastbut not least, the proposed approach is also intended to provide opportunities for turning one-off EarthExplorer missions into operational systems, and itresponds to requirements expressed in the Living PlanetProgramme for long-term scientificobservations.

A New Perspective

Earth ObservationA mosaic of satellite images from Envisat (MERIS) showing a cloud-free Europe© ESA 2003

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Earth Observation

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Earth Observation Today

Europe’s successesEurope has gained clear leadership inseveral critical technologies and in thescientific use of Earth Observation. Thelast 25 years have seen substantial, oftenunique, European contributions to suchdifferent sectors as operational meteorology,radar imaging, radar altimetry, oceano-graphy, glaciology, radar interferometry,climatology, atmospheric chemistry, geodesyand others.

From the very beginning, the Meteosatseries of satellites has put Europe at theforefront of operational meteorology. Therecent launch of MSG provides the mostadvanced capability from geostationaryorbit. The forthcoming EPS/MetOp willoffer unique capabilities in advancedatmospheric sounding. Europe has gainedundisputed worldwide leadership both inthe technologies and applications of SAR(C-band in ESA and Canada, X-band inGermany and Italy). The best-known SARapplications include ocean and icemonitoring, and the most sensationalresults are associated with the use ofinterferometry. Displacements associatedwith earthquakes, inflation of volcanoesbefore eruption, subsiding areas in urbanenvironments as a consequence of majorworks or water/oil/gas extractions - theseare just a few examples of the extra-ordinary detection potential of SARinterferometry.

Europe is also at the forefront of EarthObservation from space in the optical/multispectral imaging domain, thanks tothe Spot family of satellites. The MERISinstrument on Envisat is internationallyrecognized as providing unprecedentedspectral resolution in support of land andocean science and applications.

Ocean altimetry is another majorEuropean achievement thanks to RadarAltimeter instruments on ERS-1/2, Topex-Poseidon, Envisat, and Jason.

The extraordinary accuracy achieved withthis technique has been inherited from theexpertise developed in geodesy/orbitography,which has also led to a number ofadvanced geodetic missions (Grace,Champ, GOCE).

Envisat is carrying the three mostadvanced instruments to date to studyatmospheric chemistry (MIPAS/GOMOS/Sciamachy). The international Earth-science community will access the datafrom these instruments to betterunderstand and model the complexprocesses taking place in the Earth’satmosphere, which are believed to becritical in understanding increases in thegreenhouse effect.

It is also worth recalling that the ATSRinstrument on ERS-1 and 2 and Envisat isthe most accurate source of sea-surfacetemperature measurements from space,and the only one available that has thepotential required to study long-termclimate change by virtue of its accuracyand continuity over up to 18 years in orbit.

A new strategy should capitalize onavailable assets and maintain Europe’sworld-leading role in the development ofoperational environmental and securityservices based on Earth Observation.

The MSG-1 spacecraft shortly before launch

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Earth Observation business: a disappoint-ment?An Earth Observation service industrycame into existence (thanks in particular tothe efforts of the French company SpotImage) in the late 1980s and grew steadilyin the 1990s, riding a wave of optimismresulting from the initial availability ofdata from the first commercial high-resolution satellites. The total annualrevenue of the European Earth Observa-tion industry at the end of 1997 was 207MEuro, representing an annual growth of6% over 1995-96. While the private markethas been continuously strengthening, itremains much smaller than the public-sector market, mostly defence, which stillrepresents 64% of the total market. Theprivate-sector growth came mainly fromthe telecommunications sector (infra-structure deployment for cellular phones),followed by oil and gas exploration.

In 1998, the industry itself forecast thatits revenues would rise to between 245 and340 MEuro by 2000. In the event, the totalEuropean revenues had by then reachedonly 216 MEuro. This is equivalent to anannual growth of only 1.4% over 1998-2000, which represents a decline if annualinflation is taken into account. Revenuesare coming from the sale of data and datarights (20%), sales of ground-segmentequipment and software (26%) and sales ofservices and value-added products. It isestimated that over the period 1998-2000,public monies of the order of 25MEuro/year was injected into the sectorfor the development of services and value-added products. All together, the value-adding industry has remained small,dispersed and fragile and heavily dependenton income from government programmes.

There may be several reasons for thisdisappointing performance. One is, possibly,

the fact that space agencies worldwidehave put their focus on the development of space hardware rather than thedevelopment of services. This lack ofsubstantial public investment in thedownstream sector was matched byindustry, given the bleak perspective andthe disappointing market pull by the usercommunity. Indeed, users, customers andmarket owners have been reluctant toexpress requirements and to integrateEarth Observation information sourcesinto their business practices. Thevalidation of new information sources andof new services is not a one-off operationand needs to be supported over a sufficientterm to encourage users to adopt newbusiness practices. Finally, many potentialusers and customers of space informationare simply not aware of the benefits they could accrue from using EarthObservation.

A New Perspective

Facets of planet Earth to be addressed by the GOCE mission

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Earth Observation


In this context, the two major causes thatcan be identified are the barrier of datacost and the hurdle of data access. We havedaily reports of academic groups and smallprivate service companies developingprototype applications using SAR andMERIS data. The validation at full scale ofthese services would require amounts ofdata that they just cannot afford under thecurrent ESA data-policy conditions. Theseactors are left with the alternatives ofeither giving up their spin-off projects, orusing US scientific data that are availablefree of charge. It should be recalled thatGPS and Internet applications could bedeveloped by millions from academic spin-offs and private initiatives because thesystem was freely and easily accessible.Inexpensive, or even free access to data iscertainly a necessary, if not sufficient,condition for the development of a matureservice industry.

A need for information and services, notfor dataServices, whether commercial or public,are about the provision of the rightinformation at the right moment to theproper person. High-level operationalinformation services are needed, and notsimply space data or satellite images.Scenarios, estimates of socio-economicimpacts, quantitative statistics, trends andforecasts are demanded at variousgeographical and temporal scales insupport of European policies, and this willbe the purpose of GMES. Quantitativeassessment and control are required insupport of industrial and commercialactivities (agriculture, insurance, con-struction, tourism).

Future information services will becharacterised by a stronger integration ofspace data with all kinds of other data and

information, and they require a knowledge-based approach making full use ofEuropean expertise in Earth sciences,information technologies, economics andsocial sciences. The complexity of thisnext generation of integrated services mayalso require a network of partners who willcontribute to the production of informationservices. This will also require that EarthObservation data reach out as far aspossible away from the space community.

It is currently very difficult andexpensive to access and integrate EarthObservation data from several differentsources. It is therefore necessary todevelop tools to allow operational dataacquisition and handling in coherentformats and through a coordinated accesschain.

The successful, mature uptake of EarthObservation will require the integration ofEuropean capabilities in modelling, datamanagement and service delivery todescribe the state of our environment andto predict responses to actual and potentialchange.

The potential for synergy of EarthObservation missionsAmong the inadequacies of existing EarthObservation systems that are often cited,one of the most important is the lack oftimeliness and the insufficient frequencyof observations. For example, in order toprovide useful information to supportprevention, assessment and remedialactions in cases of natural disasters,frequent coverage and near-real-time

Image of the Iberian Peninsula acquired with Envisat’s MERISinstrument. The instrument’s 300 m imaging resolution and

outstanding radiometric accuracy allow continuous monitoring ofcontinental areas. Envisat can therefore help scientists and

environmental agencies greatly in understanding the causes andconsequences of soil erosion, river pollution, deforestation and

other environmental threats

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access to information, not data, are crucialrequirements, indeed a must. Today, afterthirty years, Earth Observation stillremains largely an R&D tool. Despite themany Earth Observation satellites in orbit,it is not yet possible to get ‘the rightinformation at the right time’. When usedseparately, few if any of the current in-orbit systems can provide operationalinformation to a wide community of users,whereas used in a cooperative way, as asingle interoperable system, they could.

Therefore, without waiting for largededicated satellite constellations, thesituation can be improved significantly bybetter integrating existing satellite sourceseven of different resolutions, qualities, etc.Currently, more than 50 Earth Observationsatellites are in orbit worldwide, carrying

more than 150 instruments, of whichapproximately 20% are operated byEuropean space agencies (ESA, Eumetsat,CNES, DLR, SNSB). Among those, thereare about 15 civilian Earth Observationsatellites available, which provide imagingdata in the 3-30 metre resolution rangeusing optical, infrared or radar sensors.Each of these instruments has its ownspecific purpose, but there is a clear lackof an integrated and synergistic approachto fully exploiting the very large volume ofavailable measurements. The ESA Executivebelieves that there is a major opportunitywithin reach at this moment in time toovercome the individual shortcomings ofeach mission by jointly operating andexploiting this multitude and variety ofinstruments and thus easing the task ofbuilding and providing operational services.

This potential benefit has also beenrecognized by the World MeteorologicalOrganization (WMO) community, whichstates that “space agencies will continue tobe encouraged to make their observationsavailable to the Global Observing System(GOS) without restriction. This willinclude data from R&D

satellites which are deemed to be relevantto the GOS”, but should also include“high-resolution optical and radar spaceimagery [for which] access to dataremains an issue.”

“The aim is to bring about a verysignificant increase in the availability andutilisation of data, products and services,not only in terms of volume and variety, butalso in the geographical spread of theusers. The increases already promised bythe upcoming satellite systems in terms, forexample, of higher spatial resolution, morefrequent observations and the availabilityof more spectral bands, are not simplyminor improvements, but represent inmany cases step changes. Making thesesignificantly improved data, products andservices available and at the same timeaiming to increase the number andgeographical spread of the users, willrepresent the major challenge for theWMO Space Programme in the nextdecade.” The proposed new approach toESA’s Earth Watch programme shouldbring the necessary coordination of

existing and future capacity.

A New Perspective

The first image taken, on 28 November 2002, by the MSG-1 spacecraft (Courtesy of Eumetsat)

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Earth Observation


Duality is everywhere in Earth Observ-ationUse of civil space data and services bysecurity/defence customers is commonpractice in Earth Observation. As anexample, meteorology, which reliesextensively on space assets and has a widerange of well-known civil applications, hasbeen supported and used by the militarysector in Europe from the very beginningin a wide range of applications, from air-traffic management to maritime navigationsupport, and even to forecast battlefieldweather conditions. The United States isphasing out the dedicated civilian-only(POES) and military-only (DMSP) meteor-ological satellite systems, convergingtowards an integrated civil/dual-use system(NPOESS).

The same scheme existed for altimetricapplications (Geosat), which is now beingsupported by civil sensors (Topex/Poseidon, Jason, ERS-1/2 RA and EnvisatRA-2). Cartographic applications coverboth civil and part of the military needs:the extensive use of Spot data during the

1991 Gulf crisis as well as the Afghanistancampaign are other well-documentedexamples.

The use of space-borne SAR to supportnavigation in ice-infested waters or tocontrol maritime traffic in specific areasare additional examples of dual use. On theone hand, civil authorities want to controlfishing activities in the EuropeanEconomic Coastal Zone or illegal oildischarges at sea, while security authoritieswould use the same technique to monitormaritime traffic in strategic areas.

Derivation of Digital Elevation Models(DEM) from civil optical or SAR sensorsis exploited for civil, but also securityapplications. The idea that defencecustomers should make use of civilianspace Earth Observation data wheneveravailable, while developing dedicatedsystems only where the requirementcannot be met by civilian systems, isbecoming common practice and ispresently being formalised as US policy.

The United States has developed thisapproach to the extent that it has charged a

military agency, the National ImageryMapping Agency (NIMA), with providinganchor tenancy for a number of initiatives(Space Imaging, Digitalglobe, Orbview).This policy has not been sufficient to bring these initiatives to a sustainablelevel, and the recent Clearview contractdemonstrates that, in the absence of asignificant civilian service industry, theinstitutional role is essential for guaran-teeing the availability of the infrastructure.A single, integrated, dual approach ispractical and the only affordable solutionto meet European needs.

Sustainability

A need for long-term continuity The UNFCCC (United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change) Report onthe Adequacy of Global ClimateObservations, the GMES Forum and theWCRP (World Climate ResearchProgramme) are all advocating the needfor continuity of Earth Observationsensors for climate observations. Evenshort-term applications, such as disastermonitoring, require a long-termperspective of data provision to justify theadaptation of the institutional andtechnical infrastructure in favour of usingspace technology. For Earth Observation tobe a viable information source for policyimplementation, continuity should beguaranteed. But continuity cannot beguaranteed until a community of users hasexpressed a sustainable demand and amechanism to support the provision ofinformation. This chicken and eggsituation has been solved in the cases ofmeteorology and defence. With a fewexceptions, Earth Observation missionsare one-time R&D missions with lifetimesof around 5 years.

For WCRP, the value of space missionscomes mostly from their ability to produceglobally integrated, high-quality andreliable climate data products, requiringthe merged analysis of measurements from

Map of subsidence (annual rate) in Central London derived fromERS satellite altimeter data(Copyright NPA 2002)

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the whole constellation of operational andresearch/demonstration satellites.

The WRCP ‘space strategy’ relies uponthe availability of long-term, stable andhigh-quality observations as currentlyprovided by operational satellites (such asthe meteorological series), complementedwith innovative, process-oriented observ-ations as provided by research satellitesusing new technologies.

Long-term continuity is linked withsustainability and requires the setting-upof institutional and/or commercial fundingframeworks, transferring the maintenanceof operational systems outside the R&Dinstitutions and budget lines. This requiresthe extension of existing mandates oforganisations, or the establishment of new ones. It also requires the introductionof new schemes for the relationships between institutions and industry (bothmanufacturing and service industry).Sustainability is a key issue in establishingoperational services. It is recognized assuch by the current Earth Watch Strategyand Earth Watch Declaration.

The following paragraphs provide ashort analysis of the most popular modelsand schemes considered in the attempt to

achieve sustainability. None of thesemodels is the universal solution, and asuitable mix will have to be developed.

The ‘Eumetsat’ schemeAn Intergovernmental Conference in theearly 1980s agreed to establish a newmeteorological organisation. The EumetsatConvention entered into force in 1986,with Eumetsat inheriting the Meteosatprogramme from ESA. In 1991, it initiateda new programme, the Meteosat SecondGeneration Programme, in order to ensurecontinuity of observations from geo-stationary orbit into the second decade ofthe 21st century. Within a decade, Eumetsathad become a mature organisation withdirect responsibility for the operation of itssatellites in orbit and with new programmesto ensure the continuity of observations.

In such a scheme, public funding comesfrom sources not necessarily of an R&Dnature. The institutional users are thenational meteorological offices, whichfund the procurement of new fleets ofsatellites, tuned to respond to their specificneeds, through an operating agency,Eumetsat. ESA, in agreement withEumetsat, takes care of research and

technology activities and is charged withthe development of the spacecraft.

It should be investigated whether such ascheme can be extended to other majorinstitutional users of space data, such asenvironmental or civil security agencies.

The ‘Utilities’ schemeEarth Observation data are a necessarycondition to the provision of a largenumber of information services thatprovide economic benefit.

The European Union and its memberstates have signed a large number ofagreements, both at European andinternational level. Many of them addressenvironmental topics, an area whichEurope has identified as a policy priorityamong its global partners. Examples wheremonitoring of EC legislation is requiredare the Common Agricultural Policy, theenvironment and development policies, orspecific legislation within these such as theWater Directive, the European SpatialDevelopment Perspective, or the 6thEnvironmental Action Plan.

The space contribution varies fromminor to essential, but there is no questionabout its added value, particularly in

A New Perspective

An Envisat ASAR image,taken on 20 November2002, clearly delineatesthe spread of the oil spillfrom the stricken tanker‘Prestige’

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Earth Observation


support of institutional and public-benefituses. The information derived is addressingseveral areas of institutional responsibility,from weather forecasting to disastermonitoring and prevention, to aid todeveloping countries, to monitoring theimplementation of treaties.

The satellites and the ground segmentsproviding these data can be considered asessential infrastructures, like roads,motorways, electrical distribution networks,etc. Procurement and operation of theseinfrastructures is a public responsibility,better coordinated at European level,leaving to industry the role of developingand providing services and derivingcommercial benefits.

Still a chance for PPP?In Public-Private Partnership schemes, thebusiness case becomes a critical element ofthe entire programme, including spacesegment, ground segment and servicesector. Industry is committing itself toinvest up-front in the programme, inanticipation of future revenues.

This was made possible in the UnitedStates because major institutionalcustomers have been open to underwriting‘anchor tenancy’ agreements with private-sector providers. This approach has notbeen very successful, as these entities(IKONOS, QuickBird, etc.) have failed toreach other customers. The recentClearview contract, and the refusal ofsome of the private investors to supportfurther development, is evidence of theinherent weakness of this scheme.

The lack of commitment of publicauthorities to rely upon informationservices that include Earth Observationdata sources has not encouraged industryto engage in this process up to now.Industry will continue to be reluctant in theabsence of reasonably guaranteed revenuesin the short- to mid-term, and the role ofthe institutional sponsor/customer iscentral to this scheme, as in the previousones.

It is worth noting that the successfuldevelopment of new services would bringbenefits to the service industry and tomarket owners. It is therefore this industrythat should be targeted in the future for a

PPP scheme, and not only the spacemanufacturing industry.

An end-to-end long-term strategy

The strategy presented here is intended toprovide an alternative approach todeveloping the future Earth Observationoperational infrastructure. While capitalizingon previous investments and successes, itshould respond to the questions raised in the previous paragraphs regarding the sustainability of Earth Observationinitiatives and overcome the currentfragmented approach. The present lack ofoffers of operational services justifies theabsence of long-term commitments fromgovernments and private investors.

Over the long term, this strategy aims atthe creation of a sustainable space infra-structure providing information in supportof institutional and commercial services inEurope. This infrastructure should betailored to the exploitation requirementsexpressed primarily by value-addingcompanies and service providers. Therefore,the preparation of a future operationalinfrastructure relies initially upon thesuccessful exploitation of current missions.

The present strategy proposes toimplement changes in the currentmanagement and exploitation of EarthObservation programmes in order tomaximize the use of current and plannedsatellite capacity in orbit in the short- tomedium-term, and to establish satisfactoryoperational services in a number ofstrategic sectors. It rests on three pillars,which should be built in parallel over thenext three years.

Pillar ‘S’: Developing servicesThis phase was initiated after the Councilat Ministerial Level in Edinburgh andcovers the development of services andmaking them operational. It will beaccelerated. A number of instruments havealready been implemented following thedecisions taken in Edinburgh, both withinESA and the European Commission: theGMES Service Element (GSE), EarthObservation Market Development(EOMD), Data User Element (DUE) andthe EC 6th Framework Programme. The

activities initiated through theseinstruments will receive increased supportin order to generate rapidly representativeforerunners of operational services. Accessto new data sources will allow animprovement in the services providedand/or enable new services.

Pillar ‘C’: Providing access to currentdata sourcesInformation about Earth Observationservices, data availability, project resultsand applications is currently accessibleonly in a very scattered way throughdifferent mission operators, scientificinstitutes, service companies, datacatalogues, etc. Accordingly, only a limitedcommunity, knowing what to search for, istoday in a position to collect and compilethe necessary Earth Observationinformation. Easier and timely access tolarge quantities of primary data is acondition for delivering effective services.

The objective of this phase is thereforeto offer European value-adding serviceindustry straightforward, fast andeconomic access to data from the largestpossible range of satellites. It is intended toprimarily provide this service from ESAsatellites and to progressively enlarge it toinclude other European satellites and, lateron, non-European partners.

The current ground segment created forERS, Envisat and the Multi-mission UserServices will require upgrading andstreamlining in order to offer users a singleinterface and a coherent environment forprogramming observations from severalsatellites and delivering combinedproducts and organized data sets.

Access to non-ESA satellites willrequire the establishment of agreementswith the respective satellite operators.They should be negotiated andimplemented in order to preserve existingnational and European capabilities andassets. In addition to ERS and Envisat,such a system could provide access toSpot, DMC and Radarsat imagery, to otherEuropean scientific missions, and possiblyalso to non-European scientific andoperational satellites.

These activities are a natural extensionof the mandate ESA has received through

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the Earthnet programme, the Envelope andthe Earth Watch programmes. They will beimplemented within already allocatedfunding, in the period 2003-2004. Thedeliverables from this activity will consistof an integrated interface to serviceproviders and value adders for accessingsatellite data and programming functions.

Pillar ‘N’: Integrating upcoming EarthObservation national projects in EuropeA set of Earth Observation missions areplanned at European and national level inthe next 2 to 8 years. Most of thesemissions provide high-resolution imagingdata from radar and optical instruments,for civilian and defence applications:TerraSar X, Cosmo-Skymed and Pleiades.In addition, TerraSar L and, possibly, RapidEye will be considered.

The ground infrastructure introduced inpillar ‘C’ should be naturally extended tosupport these missions. Again, specificagreements will need to be set up with therelevant non-ESA programmes. Themission control and planning functionwill, for several reasons, remain specificto each mission or family of missions.

The resulting landscape, in thetimeframe 2007-2008, should presentthe following picture:• A set of institutional and commercial

services including, but not limited to, aresponse to GMES requirements.

• A data-distributio mechanism commonto all these missions, including processing,archiving and distribution and allowingeasy and coherent access to a wealth ofinter-calibrated data sets.

• A complex constellation of satellites inorbit, resulting from a set of more-or-lessindependent initiatives.

The ‘02’ generationIn parallel with the previous three phases,we will pursue the preliminary design ofan Open and Operational system (the ‘02’generation), to be deployed as from 2010,comprising a space and ground infra-structure ensuring continuity with thecapabilities of current systems, whereappropriate and justified by the set ofservices made operational within pillar ‘S’.

A Precedent: The International Charter onSpace and Major Disasters

The International Charter on Space andMajor Disasters is a first answer from thespace community to facing some of thesechallenges. The Charter is workingsuccessfully and provides civil-protectionagencies with access to data from a rangeof satellites. During 2002, for example,seven major disasters were covered by theCharter. This number was supplementedby another eight activations for minordisasters, out of the about 100 whichoccurred worldwide. In the case of thePrestige oil spill, where all countriesconcerned made extensive use of ERS,Envisat and Radarsat data, the first imagewas acquired after three days. Today ERSand Envisat follow the event at the rate of

two images every three days. Themechanism of the Charter, althoughsuccessful in giving access to data, suffersevident shortcomings owing to the lack ofdata integration and of association with anoperational service provider.

Benefits and Challenges

The proposed initiative addresses directlythe way in which information is elaboratedand distributed in Europe. It needs to relyupon an efficient network for the circulationof data and information. It requires thedevelopment and improvement of

information-processing technologies. Itrequires the education and training ofadequate personnel for analysing data andinterpreting results. It requires a drasticexpansion in the use of models forinterpretation and forecasting in severaldomains. The links between the operationalusers, the aerospace industry and the SME(Small and Medium-sized Enterprise)service-provider industry at large, and thescience community will need to bereinforced. In short, when pursued in itsentirety, the proposed initiative will have asubstantial impact on the evolution ofEurope as an information society.

The present strategy raises a number ofsignificant challenges. The main ones arethe design and implementation of theexploitation segment, the definition andthe role of distributing entities, the creationof operational entities for the provision ofinstitutional services, and the coordinationof civilian and defence requirements.

Commercial and policy issues Each operator and/or distributor willretain their own rights for exploitationbut, by licensing to ESA the access toits services and data, will have accessto a larger and integrated market. Thedevelopment risk for new missions’ground segments will be reduced, and

the synergy between the various missionswill be enhanced. The definition and

implementation of integrated multi-missionproducts will be encouraged and supported,financially and technically, reducing thefinal operations cost for all partners.

Clear rules for accessing data andservices are a key issue for this approach tosucceed. In pillar ‘C’ the individualpolicies of the various mission operatorswill obviously apply. They may bemodified, at the user end, by financial ortechnical compensations negotiated byESA with the operators. The forthcomingimaging missions, integrated in aEuropean exploitation approach in thecourse of pillar ‘N’, should offer acoherent access policy, to be negotiated.

Technical challengesThe implementation of this programmewill pose a number of technical challenges

A New Perspective

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in terms of information access andpresentation tools, archiving and distribution,information extraction, and mission planning.

An Earth Observation access portallinking information, service providers,data and results both on a global andregional scale will be set up. Previousexperience (e.g. Infeo, CEOnet and EOSDIS)will be reviewed and developments will beenhanced.

Traditional inventories and usercatalogues, even multi-mission ones,provide information on availability andquality of data. Earth Observation data andother geographic information need to bepresented to potential users in a complete,coherent and consistent form. Current andfuture GIS and web-mapping technologyand interfaces can ensure immediatecomposition of different informationlayers (Earth Observation data sources, in-situ data, maps, results, meteorologicaldata, etc.)

Maintenance of the rapidly increasingEarth Observation data archives is atechnical challenge in itself. An evenbigger challenge is the cost-efficientmaintenance of a processing capability(hardware, operating system and adaptationof software to the modern languages) forthese historical data. Data will have to bere-processed at regular intervals. GRID-based distributed processing technologycan be applied for such individual, butresource-intensive, requirements.

An increasing amount of data is storedon-line and can be distributed via groundor satellite links. Network capacities areincreasing and rapidly allowing theimprovement of data-access methodologies.

Similar geophysical or environmentalparameters are extracted from manydifferent Earth Observation data sources.Initially comparable, later standardisedmethods, algorithms and even tools willimprove and facilitate cross-calibrationand long-term environmental trendmonitoring. The development of multi-mission products as a basis for morereliable information will be supported andaccelerated.

GMES, but also disaster management,requires immediate action from manydifferent satellite and ground-segment

operators. An initial coordination of thistype has been established through theCharter activities. Such a process can beenhanced by the operational availability ofcoherent mission-planning tools, displayingfor each mission operator the foreseen andlater the actual acquisition plan of othermissions.

Finally, service developers in manycases do not have the technical andfinancial resources to maintain theirservices operationally. A frameworkinfrastructure for the support ofdevelopments and operations to serviceproviders will facilitate the utilization ofEarth Observation data and the acceptanceby users of improved services.

The challenges and benefits for industryThis strategy and the resultingimplementation approach should bebeneficial to European industry in at leastthree domains: satellite manufacturing,ground-segment and data-processingsoftware developments, and serviceprovision.

This initiative will have a long-termimpact on the satellite industry. Thebuilding and maintaining of a satelliteinfrastructure, with high technologycontent, will ensure the survival first andthe technological progress later ofEuropean satellite industry. In the short

term, this initiative will offer augmentedjustifications to currently weakeningnational initiatives, ensuring theirimplementation and continuity. Thesatellite industry relies heavily on theseprojects. If successful, such a long-termplan for operational Earth Observation willcreate the need for the replacement of atleast one satellite per year. This will add tothe workload already ensured by ESA withthe Earth Explorers, and by Eumetsat withthe operational meteorological satellites.The combined support of the currentinitiatives (GSE, EOMD, DUE, 6thFramework Programme) will provideEuropean service industry with a level offunding never experienced before. Morestraightforward and cheaper access tobasic data and products will help theindustry to develop and provide moreeffective and economic services. Anorganized approach to exploitation, inparticular in the interface to institutionalusers, will offer this industry an enlargedmarket and a better, less-fragmented,vision of the user requirements.

Benefits for national programmesNational initiatives will benefit from theproposed approach in a number of ways:

First of all, by saving in the deploymentof the ground segment: the initiativeproposed here offers to the national

Application/GRID interfacingusing an EO GRID engine

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programmes the implementation of anintegrated ground segment, with directsavings on the ground segments foreseenas part of each national programme, andmore potential savings on the partscurrently not envisaged, but necessary(data distribution, user services, long-termarchiving, near-real-time services, etc.).

Secondly, by reduction of operationcosts: it is not foreseen at this stage tointegrate the individual mission-controlfacilities, but the common approach toground-segment development andoperations will result in substantial savingsin the operating costs for the individualmissions. An improved exploitationsegment, with an augmented delivery ofservices, might, depending on theeconomic scheme selected, result in animproved economic return for satelliteoperators. This approach will also providesubstantial support to exploitation:focusing the various missions on acommon set of services will result in amore effective distribution of resources insupport of the exploitation of the missions.

Finally, the proposed strategy willprovide a major justification for themission itself and for its continuity: thecontinuity of some of the nationalinitiatives is in question, beyond the initialdeployment(s). The creation of a unifiedapproach to exploitation of these initiativesand the consequent development of long-term operational services will justify thecontinuity of the various data sources, ifnot of the individual missions.

Benefits for the scientific communitySome scientific issues require operationaldata series and are themselves ajustification for operational satellites andoperational information services. Any-thing that facilitates the generation andcirculation of information will foster thedevelopment of Earth Sciences and thebetter understanding of Earth’s phenomena.This will have an immediate impact on the development of services, since thescientific mastering of phenomena is aprerequisite to the development of reliableapplications. Data from operationalsatellites should be made available toscientists.

Benefits for GMES and the ESA/EUrelationshipEnvironmental monitoring, sustainabledevelopment and resource managementare beginning to benefit from EarthObservation as an information source. Therequirements in these domains emanatefrom a wide range of institutional entitiesat both national and European level.

With the GMES initiative, Europe issending a strong signal that it hasrecognised the need for integratedoperational information services tosupport European policies. These serviceswill certainly benefit from smoother andmore integrated access to data andprogramming functions for a wider rangeof satellite resources. The present strategicapproach is essential for the properimplementation of GMES. GMES, in turn,will be instrumental to the identification ofend-user institutional entities and to thedevelopment and the early delivery ofservices to such entities.

Consequences for defence and securityDefence authorities are intensive users ofEarth Observation data and are currentlythe largest customers for commercialcivilian imagery. Security also has anumber of implications and constraints,including shutter control rules andrestrictions on the timely diffusion of high-resolution data. Although it is not in themandate of ESA to serve the defencecommunity, we believe that the proposedapproach should be designed to remaincompatible with the requirements of thedefence community and to accommodatethe necessary constraints. The restrictionsimposed for security reasons are well-known, have found solutions in the pastwith other satellite operators, and will betaken into account in the setting up ofpillars ‘C’ and ‘N’ and in the deploymentof the ‘02 generation’.

Conclusion

The strategy presented here shouldencourage a more effective use ofinformation in many domains. It shouldfavour the improvement in Europe of all

technologies addressing the processing,management and circulation of information,regardless of origin. It should contribute tobringing together European capabilities increating measurement instruments,generating data and information anddelivering them. Synergy with Europeanscientific teams will be fostered. Theconcept of a network of competences andthe associated centres will be brought toreality. The approach set out herecomplements ongoing ESA EarthObservation programmes to ensure acomprehensive approach, including theunderstanding of Earth-system processes,relevant technology development, transitionto a sustainable service implementation andsubsequent long-term continuity of dataavailability.

The initiative proposed requires a highlevel of political support. It requires therecognition by Member States thatindependent and uncoordinated initiatives,in particular if targeting global issues andinstitutional services, lack justification andare doomed in the short- to mid-term. Itrequires the recognition that even currentprogrammes and existing infrastructuresneed to come to a higher level ofintegration in terms of offerings (data,services) in order to exploit synergies andto meet the needs for effective information.It requires the recognition that the currentbusiness model has failed to deliver adynamic industrial service sector, and thata different open-access approach providesa second chance for operational EarthObservation.

Political authorities should recognizethat only an initiative of this size and scopecan sustain European industry in both themanufacturing and service domains andtransform the information and datahandling industry in Europe.

Coherent and constant support fromboth Member States and the EuropeanCommission is required, as the initiativewill take several years and is based asmuch on an integration of the offerings ason the coordination of the demand side: therequirements for information frominstitutional users across Europe! s

A New Perspective

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