The Belgian edition of the workshop has been particularly timely, coming as Belgium will take over presidency of the Council of the European Union from January to June of 2024. Belgium itself has recently faced a series of disaster events linked to the increasing threat of climate change. In July 2021, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany were struck by flooding, with much of the Wallon region affected. The flooding led to the deaths of 43 people in Belgium and caused approximately €3 billion in damages in what Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden called “one of the greatest natural disasters our country has ever known”. In just a month before the workshop, Belgium would activate the Rapid Mapping component of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) as flooding struck the multiple locations West Flanders region. Here the CEMS supported response efforts, using space data from the European Union’s Copernicus programme to provide delineation of the flood extent over vast swathes of area quickly, and in a clear, accessible manner for responders and decision-makers.

Delineation map produced by CEMS during flooding in Liege, Belgium on 17 July 2021. Image taken from CEMS.

A high-level policy panel opened the workshop with Frank Monteny, Director General of Research and Space at BELSPO encouraging participants to engage in continuous multidisciplinary dialogue to highlight current capabilities, promote integration within services, and ensure services and capabilities meet the expectations and challenges of a diverse range of stakeholders. Christoph Kautz, Director for Satellite Navigation and Earth Observation in DGDEFIS of the European Commission, highlighted the EU Space Programme’s capabilities towards disaster risk management, including CEMS, and the upcoming Galileo Emergency Warning Satellite Service. The three pillars of the EU Space Programme were further elaborated by EUSPA Executive Director Rodrigo da Costa, as a mission to exploit, secure, and foster space use for European citizens’ well-being, emphasising user engagement as a core activity. Finally, Dominique Tilmans, Eurisy President, stressed the imperative to inform decision-makers about the potential of satellite technologies to address natural disasters, particularly in the context of Belgium’s specific vulnerabilities.

The EU Space Programme supports a range of services overseen by EUSPA utilising data from Earth Observation, Navigation, and Communications satellites. Copernicus enables the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), providing risk and recovery mapping as well as a rapid mapping service to authorised users during disaster events. The CEMS has become increasingly necessary due to increased climate-related events, and so increasingly utilised, with 2023 one of the busiest for the service in its 11 years of operations. The Galileo programme is supporting two burgeoning services saving lives, the ever-improving Search and Rescue (SAR) component as well as the upcoming Early Warning Satellite Service (EWSS). Where SAR allows localisation and increasingly sophisticated communications from emergency beacons to first responders using the Galileo satellites, the EWSS enables governments to provide early warning messages to citizens based on their devices’ precise location, even if terrestrial networks are damaged or inoperable. For the EU’s increasing involvement in satellite communications, they have built the requirements of the GOVSATCOM service for secure government satellite communications on the basis of end-user needs and use case analyses through the ENTRUSTED network project. By providing and supporting a centralised hub for governments to access a shared pool of secure communications services during crisis situations, the EU can facilitate a quicker, more efficient and cost-effective response, ultimately saving lives.

The EU Space Programme Activities. Image taken from presentation of Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA.

Within Belgium’s growing space sector is an array of downstream service providers, new and established, developing applications utilising satellite data to help monitor and tackle the set of risks Belgium faces from disasters and emergencies. During the workshop six service providers demonstrated their satellite-based solutions supporting disaster risk management.

Jose Torres of Telespazio BE presented their efforts for using space data to address disasters and decarbonization, focusing on their Space Acting for Decarbonisation (SA4D) providing real-time analysis and simulation to mitigate flood risks in urban areas. VITO presented TerraFlood, using Copernicus Sentinel-1 imagery to map floods. Sentinel-1 provides Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery, which is not affected by cloud cover and reflects water in specific, identifiable ways, enabling them to image and map flooding extent. SAR can also be used to analyse ground displacement, important for monitoring areas at risk of landslides or earthquakes. SpaceBel, represented by Romy Schlögel, showed how SAR interferometry, where two satellite images taken of the same place from different points in the sky, can enable time-series monitoring of ground movement supporting the evaluation of earthquakes and enabling continuous remote monitoring of critical infrastructure. Another innovative use of SAR satellite data was given by Serge Habraken, a professor at the University of Liege, for mapping wildfire damage, particularly useful in remote areas where satellites are the only such monitoring available. What is really being measured, Habraken explained, is the loss of information between satellite images, showing a scene change on the ground that may be due to human activities, vegetation changes, fire damages, or flooding.

Mohammed Iranmanesh of ConstellR discussed the company’s daily land surface temperature data service using high-resolution satellite imagery, using the infrared part of the spectrum rather than the optical segment which is visible to our eyes. Infrared can detect changes on plant health, in particular water stresses, up to weeks before visual images, allowing users to take corrective or remedial action earlier before potential issues from draughts or infestations cause serious impacts. One of the more visible natural disaster risks, volcanos, can create risks to aeroplanes when they erupt, generating great plumes of smoke and ash hundreds of kilometres high and wide. Nicolas Clerbaux from the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium introduced the NAMSAT project to monitor volcanoes and wildfires using satellite data, with a focus on early volcano eruption detection to protect aviation. Last but not least, Jean Emmanuel Roty from AerospaceLab, founded in Belgium in 2018, presented their four satellite services for disaster management, emphasising the need for sensor diversity for effective crisis response.

On reflecting on how to best connect with decision makers and societal end users to provide a service based on their needs, the panellists discussed how to bridge the gap between, on the one hand, the highly technical data from satellites and knowledge needed to interpret it, and on the other, decision makers and end users, who are most concerned with what benefits satellite data can bring and how they can implement the insights it  produces. Some suggestions focused on supplying decision-makers and end users’ knowledge on the range of use cases of satellite technologies in their own area of expertise, as well as how to interpret satellite data depending on their specific contexts. Others took a different approach, Jurgen Everaerts of VITO, one of the largest providers of satellite services in Belgium argued that “nobody should be looking at satellite data at all”. Rather service providers should focus on providing user-based advice using satellite imagery, turning data into actionable insights andguidance.

Annalisa Donati, Eurisy Secretary General, showcasing Eurisy’s success stories database.

It was then the turn of a selection of Belgian end-users themselves, to discuss how they have implemented satellite data in their work and lessons they have gained from this. With over 30 years of experience connecting service providers with end-user communities, Eurisy’s Secretary General Annalisa Donati provided a segue on the association’s work on this. One of the ways Eurisy accomplishes this is through building and maintaining the largest database in Europe of success stories where satellite technology has been implemented to solve a particular challenge. One example provided was using land cover mapping to monitor and prevent flooding in Wallonia, where the local public authority had gained a better understanding through satellite data which areas were more at risk of flooding.

Belgium’s disaster management system, BE-Alert, currently utilises various alert channels, including SMS and an internet presence. One of the challenges they highlighted was Belgians multilingualism, especially in Brussels which hosts a large international community, as well as the administrative complexity of Belgians high number of municipalities. Because of these, and other possible benefits, they are exploring possibilities of the Galileo Early Warning Satellite System, which provides alerts based on the devices location in 25 languages depending on the devices’ preference.

The Institute of Social, Economic and Political Sciences (ISSEP) provides an important link between authorities and space applications. Benjamin Palmaerts from the ISSEP discussed the institute’s integration of EO data in environmental monitoring services, collaborating with public institutions and industry in Wallonia. One such project FLOWS aims to incorporate EO, AI, and user-generated data for flood prevention and crisis management, integrating these into a single product highlighting particularly vulnerable populations and facilities alongside damage assessments.

Whereas the evidence Earth’s tumultuous past on display at the Institute of Natural Sciences provides a reminder on the fragile nature of life on our planet, so too should the increasing frequency and severity of climate-related disaster events serve as a clear warning on the future of humankind, and our impact on our environment. The consequences of climate change will continue to reveal themselves at growing human and economic costs to society. Satellite-based services, like those demonstrated at the event, can provide crucial support in preventing, preparing, responding to, and recovering from disaster events. Increasing understanding and dialogue between service providers, end users, and decision-makers on the needs, benefits, and experiences to overcome the challenges of implementing satellite applications is a continuous but necessary process to protecting and saving lives in Belgium and beyond.

The agenda covered various topics – from the overview of major strategic prerogatives in the space domain of the upcoming Belgian presidency of the Council of the EU to the insights into the ESA space accelerators and ESA Scale up Programme. The participants also discussed the critical shortage of skilled workforce in Europe, that eurisy will actively address in 2024 thanks to the Erasmus+ project SpaceSUITE, the role  and activities of the newly established EU Space Support Office (former Copernicus Support Office), the current activities of standartisation related to space downstream segment and how this could support the procurement of spaceborne services. Members were also challenged to brainstorm how to better connect emerging and established space nations revamping the concept of Members’ Corner.  The meeting was an occasion for the Eurisy secretariat to present the yearly results of its activities and projects and give a flavour of new initiatives. The Agenda of the day with the link to download all the presentation is available at the end of the article!

The meeting kicked off with the opening address of Mr. Julien Beclard, BELSPO representative, who introduced the audience with the most recent developments in the European space sector and the priorities set by the future presidency of Belgium in the EU. Acknowledging the importance of space activities as a strategic asset, particularly in domains such as security, defense, climate change mitigation, and the empowerment of New Space actors, the Belgium presidency will aim to advance cybersecurity and secure connectivity and to promote the safe, sustainable, and secure use of space. In dealing with these challenges, including also responsible international cooperation, the commitment to nurturing the EU’s open strategic autonomy will run as a common thread. Mr. Beclard outlined that an increasingly congested orbital space raised the necessity of regulation and development of the EU space traffic management approach to contribute to security, sustainability and protection of space. As a result, the EU Council adopted on 8 December conclusions on space traffic management urging on the Commission, the European External Action Service and the European Defence Agency to work with member states to ensure that defence and security aspects are given due consideration, while stressing the civil nature of the EU space programmes.

Ms. Isabelle Duvaux-Béchon, ESA Senior Advisor from the Accelerator Core Team, presented the ESA Accelerators which is a new concept developed by the Agency to boost the use of space based solutions. With the focus on a user-driven approach, there is a need to build a virtuous circle starting from the needs of the users defining the offer and back. To bring this idea to a new level, this concept of accelerating the use of space has been introduced. Resolution adopted by the Ministers at the Space Summit on 6 November 2023 encourages the Space for Green Future Accelerator and supports Rapid and Resilient Crisis Response Accelerator, as well as Protect Accelerator shielding space assets from debris and space weather events. ESA is currently partnering up with relevant stakeholders to each of the three accelerators. Ms. Duvaux-Béchon mentioned the accelerators’ generic development plan for 2023-2026, with the beginning of full operations going beyond 2026.  She also touched upon the Civil Security from Space Programme adopted in November 2023 and being the first multidomain programme at ESA.

ESA at the last CM22 presented an overarching strategy to support space companies in their commercialisation endeavours in all the possible aspects. The ESA Scale up Programme was illustrated by Dr. Gianluigi Baldesi, Head of Ventures and Financing Office. He gave an overview of European public investments into space estimated at 14 billion euros (3% growth) in 2022 and 1 billion euros (66% growth) of private investments in European space ventures the same year. With the ScaleUp Innovate ESA is supporting the pre-commercialisation and R&D programmes for aerospace companies, while ScaleUp Invest is supporting the development of ventures in new space markets, enabling aerospace companies with a vision to scale up their operations to become the next big European player on the global space market.

Evolution of the Copernicus Support office into the EU Space Support Office was addressed by Mr. Stéphan Ourevitch who before delving into the novelties highlighted the numbers of users of Copernicus Data Store mounting to 200 000 persons in June 2023, passing beyond the 250 000 marker in September and in November. Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem was reported to be a new data access platform launched in January 2023, easy in use and navigation to retrieve data from Sentinel without any particular expert knowledge. Talking about the Copernicus Expansion mission, Mr. Ourevitch outlined that the re-entry of the United Kingdome in Copernicus has played a role in reinforcing the funding of the Programme and its prospects.  He also highlighted that a political agreement on UK participation in Horizon Europe was reached in September 2023 which was an important milestone of the year.  Another achievement was the launch of the first four Copernicus thematic Hubs during the EU Space Week in Sevilla with the aim to improve the user experience and streamline access to key information for different stakeholders, policymakers and users by leveraging the open data and information available from different Copernicus core services and providing thematic one-stop-shops. The areas of interest of the HUBs lanched are health, coastal zones, the Arctic, and energy. In addition to this, Copernicus is expanding geographically, with its Data Centers being launched in Panama, the Philippines and Chilly, thus broadening the range of users across the globe. Explaining the transition from Copernicus Support Office to the EU Space Programme Support Office, Mr. Ourevitch emphasized that the change came from the fact that, following EU regulations, all the components of the EU Space Programme are now under one roof with the Commission trying to promote synergies and mutualise some resources. Since 1 September 2023 the new EU Space Programme Office has been addressing the questions coming from users, citizens and media regarding the IRIS 2, GOVSATCOM, Cassini, Space TManagement, etc.

Mr. Miguel Oriz, Deputy Head of GEOLOC Lab, ISO-TC20-SC14-WG8 convenor at Gustave Eiffel University elaborated on the downstream standartisation services. He enumerated several reasons  why the downstream standartisation is needed as follows:  federation of experts, operators and industries in one domain; development of common international downstream standards to promote the downstream market, enhancement of interoperability and promotion of fair comparison of performances. Ms. Stefka Domuzova, EO Consultant from Climate-KIC elaborated on the PROTECT project – a Horizon Europe project operational for 1,5 year now with the goal to raise awareness and build capacity for the use of pre-commercial procurement in the field of climate services and Earth observation. Pre-commercial procurement is being regarded as one of the many tools that have been emerging over the past years that support the co-creation and co-development of solutions.

Being procurement of EO enabled services one of the biggest challenges currently experienced by public administration the capacity these kinds of projects are building is essential to support a wider uptake of the solutions and services for a multifaced objectives.

Ms. Anna Purkhauser, Senior Consultant at Space.tec partners and project manager at Stars*EU project tackled the issue of the shortage of skills in downstream space value chain in Europe. It was concluded that the space industry does not receive enough qualified applications from graduates, and those applicants who are selected still need training on site. Among the key gaps identified by the research conducted by Stars*EU were fragmentation of skills and education ecosystem, absence of an established accreditation framework, difficulty to attract new talent and limited focus on space for kids, limited activities aimed at fresh graduates and young professionals.

The meeting was concluded by Eurisy President Dominique Tilmans who called upon the participants to discover more about Switch to Space initiative which came about in 2018 as an answer to the lack of young graduates in the space sector. The Switch to Space is seen as a national event that will collect young graduates and students, research centers and space experts under one roof in Brussels. Ms. Tilmans with the support of eurisy has the ambition to internationalise this unique event and to hold similar events in other countries across Europe.

The Members’ Day has also been the stage to present major results from the projects currently populating eurisy’s initiatives. Ms Annalisa Donati emphasised a preliminary overview of the aggregated results of the needs analysis performed in conjunction of the national workshops co-organised with EUSPA on the topic od Disaster Risk Management. To support a deeper awareness of the benefits of satellite solutipons for climate resilience and adaptation a roadmap related to the activities of the project Copernicus Connection was illustrated, the project aims at sharing knowledge and experience among European regions and at promoting the operational uses of Copernicus data and services by local and regional authorities, with a geographic focus on France, Germany, and Switzerland.

2023 marked the end of two major eurisy project e-shape (the flagship EC project Moving away from a data-centric approach to a user-driven era) and GIS4Schools, two others have been kicked off. To delve into the possibilities offered by EO for the monitoring and protection of cultural heritage eurisy joined the consortium led by ICCS for THETIDA.

To address the need to train the trainers, equipping teachers with a set of GEO related skills eurisy also joined the GEO-Academy.

Much more is part of the activities of the association including the members’ corner, the online platform to discuss national activities of our members, our use cases developed to ensure an easy understanding of the benefits of satellite solutions for sector of our society not related to space, we invite all of you to follow our social media to discover what space can offer to all of you!

AGENDA

10:00 – 10:15 Welcome and introduction, Ms Dominique Tilmans, Eurisy President
10:15 – 10:30 BELSPO representative opening address. Overview of major strategic priorities of
the Belgian presidency in the space domain
10:30 – 11:00 Overview of the Eurisy activities during the past year, Ms Annalisa Donati, Eurisy
Secretary General, introduction of new team members
11:00 – 11:30 Isabelle Duvaux-Béchon, ESA Senior Advisor – Accelerator Core Team, Interactive discussion: Outcomes of the European Space Summit. Insights into the ESA Accelerators.
11:45 – 12:15 Dr. Gianluigi Baldesi, ESA Head of Ventures and Financing Office, ESA Scale up Programme: how to boost commercialisation of European space solutions.
12:15 – 12:45 Stéphane Ourevitch, the newly established EU Support Office role and activities to boost users uptake

14:30 – 15:15 Interactive discussion on standardization and PROTECT, the case for pre-commercial procurement
Miguel Oriz, Deputy head of GEOLOC Lab, ISO-TC20-SC14-WG8 convenor, Gustave Eiffel University and Stefka Domuzova, EO Consultant, Climate-KICSkills

15:15 – 16: 00 Ms Anna Purkhauser, Senior Consultant at Space.tec partners, STARS*EU shortage of GEO skills in Europe 
Switch to Space Dominique Tilmans, Eurisy president

The workshop, Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management”, was the Slovakian national edition of a series of workshops aimed at highlighting the potential of satellite applications during different phases of disaster risk management. Stakeholders dealing with the management of natural hazards shared their needs and experiences with the space community to streamline the process of integrating satellite-based services in disaster risk management. The workshop was organised by EUSPA, in collaboration with Eurisy and the Slovak Space Office, of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic and Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO).

Slovakia, like all countries, faces growing risks of disasters from extreme weather events linked to climate change. In particular, Slovakia is naturally vulnerable to flooding from heavy rainfall events impacting the network of rivers running through the country. Extreme heat can amplify these events, and also create severe impacts in themselves. Flooding, combined with extreme heat, and the possibility of seismic activity in the region creates land displacement risks, such as landslides.

Map showing flooded areas (in light blue) in Bratislava during a flood event in 2020. Image taken from CEMS

Disaster response is made particularly difficult by Slovakia’s, hilly terrain, which is often densely forested. This makes access by first responders more difficult, and if terrestrial infrastructure is impacted by a disaster event, can make monitoring events, assessing damages, communicating with residents, and coordinating between emergency responders far more challenging, if not impossible. It is here where satellites can play an important role, as demonstrated by a range of service providers during the workshop.

“Space based data and services are providing solutions to the challenges we face nowadays. Satellite data enables efficient mapping and monitoring of the Earth’s resources, ecosystems, and events. These data ensure safety and security of our citizens, economies and society as well.” – Head of the Slovak Space Office Ms. Jana Rovňanová

Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA, presents the range of components and capabilities of the EU Space Programme.

Thanks to the EU Space Programme, Europeans now have access to satellite data from Earth Observation through the Copernicus programme and its space component of Sentinel missions, navigation through the Galileo, including its Search and Rescue component, as well as satellite communications, of which GOVSATCOM provides authorised public entities with secure satellite communications capabilities. These individual programmes provide the greatest impact in disaster risk management when used in combination with each other. According to Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA, “Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus, and GOVSATCOM are powerful tools individually, but an exponential achievement is reached when used in synergy. The Emergency Management and Disaster Response sector is one of the key sectors where this synergy is saving lives”.

EUSPA also offers a range of opportunities for entrepreneurs, including various funding initiatives, in order to foster innovation in using satellite data. A key cornerstone of EUSPA’s activities also includes the co-creation of solutions by establishing links with end-users, such as through ENTRUSTED network for GOVSATCOM presented by Flavio Sbardellati, Space Downstream Market Officer at EUSPA. By integrating end-users in the design process allows for a more efficient and effective definition of requirement and prioritisation of needs.

Applications of the EU Space Programme for Disaster Risk Management, taken from the presentation by Flavio Sbardellati

In transforming raw data from satellites into actionable insights and valuable advice for policy and decision makers, Slovakia hosts a healthy and growing ecosystem of companies developing solutions related to disaster risk management. Representatives from InSar.sk, YMS Slovakia, Kajo Services, Abmerit, the International Security and Emergency Management Institute (ISEMI), and MicroStep demonstrated their cutting-edge company’s services, offering a variety of perspectives on the capabilities of space data to support across all phases of the disaster risk management cycle.

Among the topics explored by services providers included using satellite-data for forest monitoring and management, which when done effectively can also support as a flood mitigation measure, radiological monitoring of agricultural areas around nuclear sites, improving public procurement for climate change adaptation and mitigation, and using satellites to enable sandstorm forecasting and thunderstorm “nowcasting”.

One of the key issues raised by many presenters was the need to integrate satellite data both with other forms of measurement, specifically in-situ data, but also with innovative processing and analysis methods, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Others meanwhile, highlighted the benefits of increased harmonisation and standardisation of risk assessment practices and processes.

yDecision, as presented by Radovan Hilbert of YMS Slovakia, enables decision-support by combining and analysing multiple types of data, providing clear risk profiles and insights.

In response to the workshop, Michal Brichta, Director of Slovak Space Office – Industry Branch, stated “The dynamically growing Slovak space ecosystem already includes a broad variety of companies using satellite data to build innovative solutions for the disaster risk management domain. We are glad that this event provided them with a unique opportunity to present their solutions to potential buyers and engage in productive expert discussion.”

In parallel to the event, a survey has been distributed to Slovakian end-users to better understand their experiences, challenges, and needs in using satellite services for disaster risk management. The survey in particular seeks to understand what the main benefits are as well as challenges for different kinds of end-users in implementing satellite-based solutions. If you are a Slovakian end-user interested in the potential of satellite-based services, you can fill in the survey here.

The results of this survey as well as the detailed findings from the workshop will be presented in an upcoming report by Eurisy.

All the presentations of the speakers are currently available at the event page on the Agenda. 

What is GEO?

The Group on Earth observations (GEO) is a global partnership of organisations from the public and private sectors, academia, civil society, citizens, and the UN system, who work together to realise a single vision, a vision where information about the Earth powers decisions for the benefit of humankind and the Planet.

What does GEO do for Civil society?

Civil society is a key link in the value chain that brings information about the Earth to decision makers, especially local communities. 

Earth intelligence integrates information about the Earth with information on the human, social and cultural contexts of places to deliver actionable information to decision makers. Today, we have an abundance of data and new technologies to quickly generate analytics. Civil society is one of the key stakeholders that need that intelligence to improve their programmes inside local communities.

What is the Global Atlas?

The new GEO strategy that is under development and will be presented in November 2023, aims to deliver Earth intelligence to local communities.

New programmes are also under development to enable GEO’s future strategy. The Global Ecosystems Atlas is a new collaborative initiative of GEO to create a living map of the Planet’s ecosystems that can be consulted by everyone to support all kind of activities and decisions to enhance the sustainability of our nature and livelihoods.

GEO and the Space Agencies

Space agencies are an integral part of the work and success of GEO since its creation, providing critical data to enable the solutions GEO work on.

Over the years, the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites has worked with GEO to look at how space technologies can power more timely and detailed applications to ensure the sustainability of our Planet.

Today, the partnership between GEO and space agencies is particularly relevant, as new data, sensors and capabilities are enabling unprecedented opportunities to offer insights about the complex systems of the Earth.

Yana’s story

To conclude the interview, we asked Yana to tell us more about herself. Born and raised in Armenia, in the early years of her career Yana worked in humanitarian aid in her own country.

To be part of the effort to give a new beginning to those who had gone through suffering and despair, made her realise she wanted to work with people, especially people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Yana engaged in GEO motivated by the strong belief that we shall use  information about the Earth to power decisions.

“Our survival depends on our ability to make decisions about how we go with our days, with an understanding and appreciation of the environment in which we live”.

To know more about GEO, visit: https://earthobservations.org/index.php

Dominique Tilmans, President of Eurisy, kicked off the meeting welcoming the participants and expressing sincere regret for those who could not make their way to Paris. Ms Tilmans also thanked Mr Eric Morel de Westgaver, ESA Director of European, Legal and International Matters, for hosting the General Assembly in the newly refurbished ESA building. 

Ms Annalisa Donati, Secretary General, emphasized that this year Eurisy took a different approach to the meeting and gave the floor first to the members to let them tell in their own words what the association has been doing, what kind of collaborations have been established, which lessons have been learned for future improvements and benefits.

Mr Josep Colomé Ferrer, Director of the Area for the Promotion of the Catalan Space Sector from IEEC, was the first to take the floor. He presented a new Space Strategy of Catalonia, the Digital Catalonian Alliance and other initiatives recently launched in the region and supported by Eurisy to raise their visibility and ensure the European outreach.  With his overview of the past events like a New Space Economy Congress held in 2022, he also introduced the initiative on promoting women in the space sector. Apart from it, the training course for public administration officers was presented.  

Dr Daniel Šagath opened his statement on behalf of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency by expressing his appreciation especially for the Eurisy Members’ Corner, “it represented an excellent showcase for our companies, to present their products to European users as well as to exchange with international experts their business cases and how to thrive in the sector”. He expressed his gratitude to Eurisy for having endorsed the discussions on emerging space economies and ecosystems.  In the same spirit, Mr. Kamen Iliev, Director of Bulgarian Center for national security and defence research, shared his appreciation for having brought to Bulgaria on the occasion of the Cassini Hackathon in Sofia, international speakers from major European space institutions and for having supported the high-level conference which took place right before the beginning of the competition, the use cases presented sparkled numerous ideas in the participants, counting about 150 people.  

Watch the video highlighting the Cassini Hackathon held in Sophia on 24-26 March 2023:

Michael Quinton, Executive at the Malta Council for Science and Technology congratulated Eurisy with the success of the e-shape workshop on Biodiversity and Water management which met an unprecedented attendance and interest from the side of public entities, currently engaged in discussion with some pilots to further co-design dedicated solutions. Mr. Quinton, building on the experiences of other countries, is currently partnering up with local scientific institutions to prepare for the next Hackathon to be held in the country to inspire new generations. 

A joint effort of Eurisy and EUSPA in the field of raising awareness about the benefits of satellite data applications and favouring their uptake in the domain of disaster risk management was presented by Ms. Christina Giannopapa, Head of the Office of the Executive Director at the EU Agency for the Space Programme. Teaming up between the two institutions gave birth to several workshops coupled with search and rescue exercises to quickly locate and help people in distress. Through those exercise using a Galileo enabled radio beacon system, SAR/Galileo Return Link Service (RLS), demonstrated the potential to have a return link in less than 3 minutes, a capability unique in the world.  EUSPA together with Eurisy continue to organise such workshops across Europe, currently discussions are ongoing with Portugal and Hungary. Catalysing on the activities that were done in the past, Ms. Heather Britton from the UK Space Agency outlined the interest of the agency in raising awareness specifically about the space applications and data and the commitment of the agency to do so in the future according to the strategic priorities of the country in selected domains.  

Mr. Eric Morel welcomed the participants of the General Assembly in the new ESA premises and reminded of the upcoming association of Malta to ESA through PECS mechanism. Mr. Morel gave an overview of ESA perspective of the European Space Summit to be held in Seville, Spain, on 6 – 7 November 2023. The milestone steps of the preparation process are presented below. 

Ms. Sanneta Athanasopoulou, Electronic Communications Technician from the Department of Electronic Communications of Cyprus, reiterated Cypriot government’s commitment to the development of the space technologies sector in the country, which placed a great emphasis on EO data. Enhancement of cooperation with the EU Agency for the Space Programme was underlined together with the intention to make Cyprus a regional communication hub of the Mediterranean.  

The activities of the International Astronautical Federation were presented by Ms. Martina Fabiani, Project Manager at IAF. She provided the audience with past and future events of the Federation, notably, the 74th International Astronautical Congress to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 2 – 6 October 2023. 

The session then continued with the presentation by Ms. Annalisa Donati who gave several insights into the ongoing and upcoming initiatives of the association, including a future partnership with EOTEC DevNet, EuroGEO, Space4GEO just to name a few and established once with associations like Nereus, EARSC, among others.  

Introducing Space4Geo Alliance, Ms Milva Carbonaro, Managing Director of the association GISIG, underscored the evolution from EO4GEO Alliance to a new Large-Scale Partnership on Space Data, Services and Applications, which placed focus on the development of skills and the up and re-skilling of professional to grow in the downstream segment of the space value chain. The new LSP is complementary and aims to collaborate with the existing LSP on Aerospace and Defence and with those LSPs representing the other vertical sectors, which could benefit from the provision of space-related data and services. These could be agriculture, natural disaster management, infrastructure planning and monitoring, tourism, health, forestry, insurance and finance, urban development, cultural heritage, road and automotive, maritime and inland waterways, energy, security and defence. For more information, please see the full version of the presentation here: Space4GEO. The kick-off event of the Space4Geo Alliance took place on the 22nd of July 2023 during the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. The first part of the recording of the panel discussion, organised by the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space, may be consulted under this link. The second part of the recording is availabel here.

The last presentation was provided by Mr Lionel Menard, Research Scientist at MIINES Paris PSL University – ARMINES​, showcasing major products and results stemming from the e–shape project. “e-shape has been an incredible, unique journey for all the partners” is how Lionel begun his speech. E–shape was indeed developed as one building block on the wider roadmap to establish the EuroGEO initiative. The project brought together 64 European and international organisations to pull European capabilities in 7 key domains of applications of EO data, namely disasters, ecosystems, health, water, agriculture, climate and energy. But the project went far beyond the identification and development of pilots it created teams of experts supporting the specific co–design of each solution, helping with the uptake, advising on business models and market sustainability. Now a lot of what has been developed within this framework will be accessible and utilised by the interested parties. Have a look at the resources developed through the project: Open Data and Open Knowledge workshop.

Finally, Annalisa Donati also described all the activities performed in one year time from last GA. Today all those information are available also for the public in our new Annual report.

Useful Links:  

Eurisy Annual Activity Report 2022-2023

Could you please give us some background about EUSPA? What is your mission and why was the Agency created?

EUSPA is the European Union agency implementing the EU Space Programme. Our mission is to link EU space technology and user needs, translating the European Union’s investment in space into valuable, reliable services for European citizens. 

Our mission is based on three pillars: Service Provision, Security and Market uptake.

Operations/Service provision: We operate, maintain and ensure the evolution of the European Union satellite navigation systems Galileo and EGNOS. We make sure that users can benefit from the signals and services.

For instance, thanks to us, EGNOS is permitting pilots to land planes across Europe under bad visibility.

Likewise, our agency ensures that the performance of Galileo is the best worldwide in accuracy and robustness.

Security: We tackle several aspects of security: the security of space assets and space services and data for security applications.

We ensure that the systems in space (satellites) and on the ground (antennas, sensors) are secured. Our Galileo Security Monitoring Centre monitors 24/7 the security of the Galileo system.

Then, the Security Accreditation Board of the EU Space Programme (SAB), composed of the EU Member States representatives, ensures that the security rules are followed. This independent body is providing independent assessment to authorise the launch of satellites or the operation of the satellites in space, as an example. The SAB is really providing security insurance for users.

Another rather important element is security in space. Currently, there are more than 1 million pieces of space debris orbiting the Earth. With 20,000 new satellites to be launched over the next decade, the risk of collision in space will continue to increase. EUSPA will be operating the Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) Front Desk as of July 2023. The EU SST is the European operational capability that safeguards the space assets of the EU, its Member States and other space operators.

We also deliver space services and data for security applications for users that require protected services for the management of security-critical, surveillance,  safety, and emergency missions, as well as for defence and operations of critical infrastructure.

Market uptake: The other essential task of EUSPA,  relevant to the economic recovery and resilience of the EU economy, is the market adoption of the EU space technologies across the widest range of industries. Still, the wealth of information offered by Copernicus, Galileo, EGNOS and soon by GOVSATCOM or IRIS² is not grasped enough by our industries.

Your motto is “Linking Space to User Needs”. How is this objective achieved? Who are the “users” that you are addressing and how can they collaborate with you?

As mentioned, one of our main goals at EUSPA is to ensure that the EU Space programme components are used, both in the public and private sectors.

How do we do that?

By promoting market intelligence and insights: EUSPA produces and makes available free studies highlighting the added value of space data and services in the various sectors of the economy. The EUSPA EO and GNSS Market report has been downloaded more than 100,000 times and has become a go-to source for entrepreneurs and innovators.

Channelling funds to start-ups and SMEs to stimulate the uptake of the EU Space Programme. As an example, in 2022, we created a network of 1000 start-ups and 28 investors.

Capacity building/mentoring: For example, we developed the Space Academy, a new initiative to create ground-breaking new apps and disruptive business solutions using the power of the EU Space Programme.

What are your motivations to join the Eurisy network and what do you expect from this collaboration in the future years?

The main reason EUSPA decided to join forces with Eurisy is your excellent record in building solid relations with communities new to space and encouraging innovative uses of satellite applications to respond to today’s challenges. We have a common goal in working to accelerate the uptake of the EU Space programme.

In May 2022, Eurisy and EUSPA organised a workshop to create a common understanding among national and regional stakeholders of what satellite-based services can bring during the different phases of disaster risk management, and to facilitate the use of these services from a national to a European level.

Eurisy and EUSPA already started working together to foster the use of satellite-based applications to improve disaster risk management and preparedness. Can you tell us more about this topic and what you would  like to achieve through the workshops we will organise together in 2023?

In 2021, fires burned an area nearly two times the size of New York City in Greece, while last summer, 25% of the forests in Portugal’s famous Serra da Estrela range were lost due to fire.

Whether it’s wildfires in Portugal or Greece or a deadly earthquake in Turkey, natural disasters highlight the importance of having innovative tools and solutions for resilient risk management and response.

From GNSS (Galileo, EGNOS) to Earth Observation (Copernicus) and satellite communication (GOVSATCOM and IRIS²), each component of the EU Space Programme brings added value to different phases of the disaster risk management and mitigation chain. For example, while firefighters and emergency first responders rely on the precise positioning provided by EGNOS and Galileo to safely guide themselves through smoke, fog and flames, Copernicus provides decision makers with critical geospatial information, including continuous observations and forecasting for flood, drought and fire risks. This is just one example. We can apply the same technologies to various disaster management scenarios.

So, through these workshops what we want to achieve is better awareness about the already available EU Space products and more users engaged. Building resilience by relying on space data is also in line with the EU Green Deal Agenda, an EU priority which our agency greatly supports.

Which are today the main priorities of EUSPA in relation to the uptake of satellite-based data by civil society?

EUSPA is working on 17 market areas, including sustainable mobility, climate, and environmental services, energy, fishery, agriculture, and many others.

In all these markets the use of EU space data and services can make a real change for people and businesses. We work very closely with the users, so to be able to understand and include space data in their operational and daily operations.

We recently published the EU Space for Green Transformation: a new tool for companies to monitor their sustainability targets. The use of Space data for a carbon-neutral Europe is one of our main priorities at this moment, including the sustainability and traceability of the value chain in different sectors. Our focus is also on emergency prevention and management, a very actual topic these days, for which we are starting a new portfolio of projects following our Horizon Europe first call. Sustainable and smart mobility remains a priority, together with the use of Space data for health. In addition, to increase the use of Space for civil society, we also work on a more competitive Europe, creating a new generation of space entrepreneurs via the Cassini initiative, as well as supporting our excellent space downstream industry and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

Are there any specific initiatives or support programmes that you would like to pinpoint to our audience?

Absolutely, these would be the #myEUSpace competition and the Horizon Europe calls.

Staying true to its mission of “linking space to user needs”, EUSPA published its second Horizon Europe Call with a total value of €48,1 million to stimulate the development of innovative space downstream applications. It will focus on key areas including the use of Galileo and EGNOS in smart mobility applications, as well as the fusion of Copernicus data with Artificial Intelligence to boost the European Data Economy and help modernise the EU public sector. For the first time, the call will look to deliver Satcom use cases based on the forthcoming GOVSATCOM system.

The #myEUSpace competition is a yearly EUSPA initiative targeting start-ups and SMEs. We are challenging innovators from across the EU to develop disruptive solutions that make the best use of EU space data. This competition is kind of a tradition for EUSPA, and it attracts many applications. We see solutions in almost all the 17 market segments we have identified. This also supports the creation of a strong business ecosystem for entrepreneurs.

To know more, visit the EUSPA website at: www.euspa.europa.eu

As a member of the IAF Bureau, the Eurisy President, Ms Dominique Tilmans, contributed to the 5th IAF International Space Forum at Ministerial Level, this year focusing on the Central America and Caribbean region, on the issue of “Space Science and Technology for improving regional opportunities and better facing local challenges”.

The Forum was addressed to Ministers and Authorities in charge of space activities, research, science, technology, and education. Discussions focused on the topics of emergency management, water monitoring, blue economy, and food safety.

Eurisy wished to highlight the crucial role that satellite applications can have in case of emergencies. Indeed, last month the Eurisy team performed some street interviews, asking people which applications of satellite data and signals they could think of. The management of emergencies was the least mentioned application.

Nevertheless, satellites can be precious allies in case of emergency or natural disasters.

First, Ms Tilmans mentioned the opportunities offered by the Advanced Mobile Location – a tool that Eurisy has been promoting in past years together with EENA (the European Emergency Number Association) and that relies on satellite signals to help saving lives in case of emergencies, especially in remote locations.

Then, Ms Tilmans referred to the usefulness of Earth observation data to map land uses and land cover to be better prepared and better respond to natural disasters, as in the case of the Wallonia region that we showcased in one of our Copernicus&Me videos.

And finally, she talked about how satellite data can help public bodies to monitor emissions at sea, giving the example of the Netherlands Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, which exploits satellite data to monitor vessels’ emissions along the coast.

The International Astronautical Congress (IAC) is the largest global space forum where, once a year, space stakeholders come together to discuss the latest trends and developments and to shape the future of the sector. Every year, the Congress switches location and theme.

IAC2022 has been inaugurated as “Space for @ll”, to highlight the tremendous change experienced by the sector in the lasts decades transforming it from a closed sector accessible only to a handful of engineers into a transversal, multidisciplinary industry enabling highly innovative services that nowadays are a crucial part of our daily lives, hence capable of setting in motion virtuous processes of sustainable socio-economic development.

From the 18^th to the 22^nd of September, Paris welcomed about 9300 delegates from 110 countries including seasoned experts as well as students and young professionals representing this year 45% of the overall participants demonstrating the increasing interest of young generations for this domain. The 73^rd edition of the IAC has been a record edition not just for the unprecedented number of delegates attending the event, but especially owing to the 3000 papers presented, among which 800 interactive presentations, 25 Global Networking Forum (GNF) sessions and 19 Special Sessions.

Such extraordinary success became tangible during the public day, when the IAC opens its doors to the general public. This edition welcomed around 2,200 people including space enthusiasts, universities, high school students, and families. A day entirely dedicated to space’s discovery and the future of the space exploration illustrated through the inspiring tales of Europe’s astronauts: Alexander Gerst, Matthias Maurer, Luca Parmitano and Thomas Pesquet.

This year, Eurisy team has been hosted at the European Space Agency (ESA) booth. This was the occasion to showcase the latest Eurisy publication “Satellites Going Local- Maritime Edition”. A booklet collecting case studies of satellite applications in the maritime domain. Eurisy was engaged in multiple initiatives on different areas related to the work carried out throughout the year. On September 19th Eurisy participated in a Special Session focused on “Building bridges between established and emerging space industry” organised by the Slovak Space Office. Member of Eurisy since June 2021, the Slovak Space Office the space industry branch of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) in charge of developing the Slovak space ecosystem and establishing international professional cooperation of domestic companies  with relevant actors.

The session organised during this past IAC is part of a broader set of initiatives to support emerging space nations to share best practices and boost their entrepreneurial ecosystem fulfilling the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals. The panel counted on the expert views of Allison Areias-Vogel from United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Jonathan Hung from Singapore Space and Technology Ltd, Raycho Raychev of Endurosat, Temidayo Oniosun from Space in Africa, Matias Campos from Sideralis Foundation, Veronica La Regina from Nanoracks Europe, and Annalisa Donati from Eurisy. During the session, Annalisa illustrated how Eurisy creates and manages platforms to share experiences and best practices among its members, to forge partnerships thus favoring cooperation to develop national space programmes tailored on the strengths of the individual countries. Through its activities, Eurisy enhances the reach of national space initiatives providing international recognition and smoothing the path for stories of success like the signature of the Associated Membership Agreement between Slovakia and the European Space Agency. For those interested in the content of the discussion additional information are available here.

Eurisy also presented two technical papers as outcome of selected activities performed throughout the year. Since early 2022, Eurisy has been actively investigating into challenges and opportunities to use satellite based solution for Disaster Risk Management through a series of activities, culminating in the conference “Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management”, held in Athens on May 25th and co-organised with the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and the Greek Ministry Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.

The paper “Integrating Satellite Applications in Disaster Risk Management”. builds on this work shedding light on the potential for space-based solutions to contribute into the different phases of the disaster management cycle. The paper describes European and international mechanisms to access and share  these information as well as the obstacles in their integration experienced from actual users in Greece, used as case study. The research also pursued to deepen the disaster risk management community among European states with regard to the integration of satellite applications, also through several recent case studies on the use of satellite-based services during disasters and extreme weather events.

Another great opportunity for Eurisy was the presentation of the paper “GIS4SCHOOLS – Paving the Way For The School Of Tomorrow: Leveraging On Space Technology To Stimulate Steam Learning And Teaching”. Shortlisted as the best interactive presentation of IAC2022 for the Space and Society section out of more than 800 presentations, the aim of the paper was to present the latest development of the Erasmus+ GIS4Schools project. Underpinning the in-depth interviews with the schools’ representatives involved in the project and the data collected through the Digital Diaries, an open source mobile application to collect students’ feedback, the presentation provided an overview of the skills acquired by the teachers and pupils through the project. The paper also showcases the suit of freely accessible products developed by experts including the Training Handbook, available in 5 different languages, the e-leaning platform and the use cases.

And that’s not all: Eurisy’s week was packed with additional important engagements such as the session dedicated to the Copernicus and Me project. With the support of the European Space Agency – which hosted us thoughout the week – Eurisy organised a session dedicated to the project, whose objective is to bring to non-space communities hands-on examples of what can be achieved by using data and services from the Copernicus satellite constellations. The session was the opportunity to showcase three video key case studies: VIDA: Supporting access to electricity in Sierra Leone, Mitigating the effects of climate change at public transport stops in Prague, and Safeguarding cultural heritage in Rhodes. The videos put the users on the spotlight to explain to their peers the befits they enjoyed by integrating those applications as well as the process for the development of tailor-made solutions addressing their specific needs.

IAC was also the moment to celebrate the 10th edition of its very own Hubert Curien Award. The Hubert Curien Award is a historic biennial Eurisy award to the legacy of its founding father, Hubert Curien. It recognises the efforts to help society benefit from space. Every two years, a high-level international jury selects a winner among a list of nominated candidates among any person or organisation that demonstrated dedication in the field of international cooperation in space science and technology, or in the promotion of space applications and their benefits to society. This last edition was special not just because was the 10th anniversary of such a prestigious award, but also because it awarded Amalia Ercoli Finzi’s lifelong commitment and work in space exploration.

Visit our dedicated webpage to visit our dedicated webpage to learn more about the highlights of the 10th HCA and the acceptance video of this year’s winner.

IAC 2022 brings with it a great deal of satisfaction for the achievements recognised by other colleagues and space actors and allow us to look to the future with confidence and with new relationships to cultivate. Until the next IAC!

While advancements in disaster management have been made, the number of weather-related disasters is poised to increase in the future driven by climate change and other factors like industrialisation and increased urbanisation. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes (1970–2019), more than 11 000 disasters were reported between 1970 and 2019 attributed to weather, climate and water-related hazards, with over 2 million deaths and more than 3 trillion euro in economic losses. The number of disasters has increased by a factor of 5 over this 50-year period. A recent study performed by Christian Aid showed that in 2021 alone, 10 extreme events influenced by climate change caused each 1.3 billion Euro damage or more.

Europe is not exempt. According to the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) in the EU, from 1980 to 2020, natural hazards affected nearly 50 million people and cost Member States an average of 12 billion euros per year.

The rapid growth in the use of satellite applications over recent decades, has the potential to help mitigate the impact of climate change and related hazards. Earth observations, Global Navigation Satellite Systems, and satellite communications all support crucial phases of Disaster Risk Management, from prevention and preparation to response and recovery.

The workshop “Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management” held on May 25th in Athens, aimed at creating a common understanding among Greek and European stakeholders of what satellite-based services can bring during the disaster management cycle and of how to facilitate the access and use of such solutions at national and regional levels.

The workshop was organised by the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and Eurisy, in cooperation with the Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and the Ministry of Digital Governance.

The workshop gathered national stakeholders to present national capabilities, share experiences, exchange best practices and discuss the benefits of satellite-based services for disaster management and the challenges related to their operational use. The workshop’s objectives were manifold:

1. Raise awareness about existing operational services based on Copernicus and Galileo, and about mechanisms to integrate them into the workflows of relevant stakeholders;

2. Collect feedback from stakeholders on user needs and experiences in the integration of satellite-based services for disaster management;

1. Discuss methods to improve accessibility to satellite-based services for disaster management
2. Identify the challenges hindering the uptake of satellite-based services
3. Define policy recommendations, both at national and international levels and provide the basis for a roadmap to smoothen the integration path of satellite-based services.

The workshop was hosted at the premises of the Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection and took place in a hybrid format. All the speakers joined the event in presence, while part of the audience attended remotely.

The event aimed at introducing the audience to some of the challenges and risks related to natural hazards at the local level, highlighting the potential uses of satellite applications during the different phases of the disaster risk management cycle. After the keynote speeches from EUSPA Executive Director and the Greek Ministerial representatives, the workshop was structured into two panels focused on a double perspective- service providers and users- with national case studies:

• The first panel “Space assets supporting the Disaster Risk Management Cycle. What can space data contribute to the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery?” intended to raise awareness on satellite-based services for disaster risk management, focusing mostly on national operational services, their use and integration of derived information into daily workflows.
• The second panel “Current challenges and opportunities related to the uptake of satellite data. Users’ best practices and lessons learned stemming from the use of satellite applications in their daily operations”, focused on the user perspective, collecting feedback from the experiences of user communities (farmers, civil protection corps, academia, forest managers).

Greece is very prone to extreme weather phenomena due to its geographic position. During the summer of 2021, intense droughts and wildfires affected the country with severe consequences on the land and life of citizens. As stated during the opening remarks of the workshop by Christos Stylianides, Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, “satellite technologies have proven to be invaluable in addressing emergencies with an enormous potential to further contribute to effective response and adequate recovery” in case of natural disasters. Information retrieved from satellites are poised to become an integrated element of the modern disaster management cycle especially when it comes to climate change related events.

According to Christos Stylianides, Minister for the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, climate change should be considered as a natural disaster itself. Such an approach is meant to provide a holistic framework methodology incorporating cutting-edge innovation and technology, to better and more effectively tackle its hazardous effects. Remote sensing imagery has been successfully used in both disaster management prevention and preparedness phases. Satellite data has been exploited to generate systematic information to support long-term temporal series of climate phenomena, whilst improving early warning of extreme events and the accuracy of disaster’s consequences forecasts. Mr Stylianides reaffirms the country’s need to bridge existing technology gaps between traditional emergency management approaches and what technology can offer to public authorities to protect their citizens.

Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas, Secretary General of Telecommunications and Post within the Ministry of Digital Governance, highlighted the key role satellite communication plays in case a disaster occurs. Greece is currently at the forefront of the satellite communication innovation, especially in the field of secured governmental communication. The launch of Hellas Sat-3 and -4 in 2019, allowed Greece to implement its national GOVSATCOM system connecting parliament, ministries, and civil protection authorities enabling secured communication especially in critical conditions. The digitalisation of the emergency response to guarantee the safety of Greek citizens is a priority of the government’s action.

Nevertheless, disasters are not affected by borders: multi-stakeholder cooperation at any level, from international to local, is crucial to ensure the resilience of any country. At a national level, the Greek Ministry of Digital Transformation and the National Civil Protection are jointly developing an early warning system providing life-saving information to the public through multiple communication pathways relying on several integrated technologies, as described by George M. Karagiannis, Deputy Secretary General for Civil Protection. 

At the European level, the interoperability of the satellite navigation system Galileo and the Earth Observation programme Copernicus increase the safety of citizens around the globe. The EU Space Programme, composed of its flagship Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and now GOVSATCOM, is strengthening the capacity of the European Union to act in all phases of disaster risk management, as recalled by Timo Pesonen, Director General for Defence, Industry and Space at the European Commission. 

Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of EUSPA, described how Galileo data is already widely used for search and rescue (SAR) operations increasing the accuracy of the signalled location while reducing operators’ time to respond in a situation of distress. Galileo/SAR is the only system delivering the Return Link Service (RLS). Galileo is designing new features to answer the operational needs of SAR units as closely as possible, to save even more lives. The Remote Beacon Activation Service (e.g. in the case of the disappearance of a plane or a vessel) and the Two-Way communication functionality (that allows rescue coordinators to send pre-programmed questions and instructions to the person in distress) is due to enter into preliminary testing shortly.

As of the 17th of March 2022, all the new generation smartphones are integrated with Galileo receivers to increase the location accuracy of the 112 calls in case of distress.

In addition, the Advanced Mobile Location (AML) protocol is now in place. Since 1999 the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) is actively working to implement an effective 112 service to support people in an emergency. According to Alexis Gizikis, Project Manager at the European Emergency Number Association (EENA), EENA strives to drive change by bringing in technology to resolve existing problems in emergency and disaster management. The AML is a service aiming to overcome the critical issue to determine the exact location of a caller in distress. The development of the AML represents a win-win solution for both emergency services and callers. The system is automatically activated when an emergency call is placed through the GNSS system included in mobiles to quickly and precisely geolocate the caller, drastically reducing the action time. The system does not require an app or any additional steps from the caller and is completely free of charge. The only requirement is the implementation of the system. As of February 2022, 30 countries worldwide have deployed AML.

Ensure safe communication to the emergency service, especially while or after a disaster occurred, is critical to support emergency operations. As mentioned during the opening of the workshop by Athanasios Staveris-Polykalas, Greece is now one of the six countries in Europe with a national operational secure communication system. In this context, Thomas Kalamaris – Technical Director of Hellas Sat, reported that Hellas Sat 3 and 4 have been specifically designed, in cooperation with the Greek Government back in 2017, to facilitate through Greecom internal secure communications between national authorities and embassies, especially during emergencies. Mr Kalamaris mentioned that today Hellas Sat is expanding its offer to the Greek government by looking at other technologies that are usually integrated into the disaster management cycles such as UAV.

Earth Observation has become a cornerstone of disaster risk management. Satellite remote sensing provides decision-makers and civil protection authorities with objective and timely information. This is the case for early warning systems, but also for information on the extent of a disaster immediately after impact. Even through the thickest clouds, radar observations allow monitor areas impacted by a disaster. Haris Kontoes, Research Director, presented two indigenous operational services developed by Beyond-EO Centre of Excellence.  Firehub is an example of how a EO-based solution can be used to respond to wildfires. Risk analysis, AI validated predictions together with fire and smoke dispersion maps, are made publicly available for open consultation. FireHUB products can be used from the early warning phase to the post-disaster one, supporting the preparedness and mitigation capacity of relevant entities. Only in 2021, Firehub has been activated 14 times in the Attica region – one of the most affected during the last fire season. The second service, the FloodHUB system , was co-designed with local users to better respond to real needs. The platform delivers final and actionable information, allowing them to familiarise themselves with a technology-based solution improved through capacity-building mechanisms at both national and regional levels.

Both the Fire and Flood Hubs integrate Copernicus data. Copernicusoffers a set of services helping authorities to take informed decisions in different fields among which are emergency and disaster management. As presented by Laura Bettili, Senior Expert at the Copernicus Emergency Management Service, CEMS comprehend a rapid mapping service and the Risk and Recovery Mapping both accessible by authorised national authorities. The Copernicus rapid mapping service is active at all times. It can provide EO data in a time average spanning between a minimum of 24 hours to a maximum of 5 days. The service is managed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC – DG ECHO). Over the last 10 years, it has been activated mostly in conjunction with floodings, wildfires, windstorms, and humanitarian crisis. Greece counts 37 activations making it the third country in Europe in terms of activations requested, after Spain and Italy.

The Risk and Recovery Mapping supports prevention, preparedness, mitigation and recovery activities and is operational only during working hours. It provides maps built integrating several EO data with information on exposure, vulnerability, and resilience for all types of hazards, and in post-disaster phases they can add impact assessment analysis. On May 18th, 2022, this service has been activated for Multi-risk analysis of  the Delphi and Ancient Olympia archaeological sites to produce hazard, exposure, vulnerability and geo-data risk and maps to prepare evacuation plans.

Thanks to its free data and services policy, the Copernicus programme sensitively contributes to the overall economy. Stelios Bollanos, Co-founder & Director of Planetek Hellas,stressed the relevance of this policy to stimulate entrepreneurship, increase revenues and create specialised jobs. As reported in the last EARSC Industry Survey 2021 between 2006 and 2020, Greece managed to boost the local space ecosystem marking a steady increase in revenues and EO employees. In the country, the space downstream segment is rapidly flourishing as illustrated by the capacity to gain about 1% of the overall Copernicus’ service components contract. The development of this part of the space value chain, tightly linked with other digital technologies, is crucial to multiplying economic growth.

Space assets supporting the Disaster Risk Management Cycle

What can space data contribute to prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery? The answer to this question comes from the multiple national examples that have been developed by Greek SMEs, research centres and public institutions.

The National Observatory of Athens (NOA)

is developing satellite-based solutions for disaster risk management integrating other technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Ioannis Papoutsis, Researcher at the Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens, highlighted the global trend showing a correlation between the rise of temperatures and the frequency of extreme weather events. One of the most visible effects of this phenomenon is represented by wildfires. At NOA, EO and AI are combined to develop a machine learning model predicting the likelihood of actual fires to take place. Data can be made available to first responders and planners with a one-day delay. This service developed as part of the international cooperative project Deep Cube, includes historical fires time series data over the last 10-15 years covering the Mediterranean region including meteorological contexts, burnt areas, vegetation, and land use. Through machine learning, the emerging correlations are better understood, and by using AI semantics it is possible to assess which geographic areas are more at risk than others.

Synergies between AI and Earth Observation are currently studied at the European level. Bringing AI and Copernicus together represents an opportunity to develop a new generation of products. The European Commission as well as national programmes are calling on researchers and industry to investigate this topic. AI4Copernicus introduced by Vangelis Karkaletsis, Director of the Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications (IIΤ) at NCSR Demokritos, is an innovative Horizon 2020 funded project.

The main project goals are:

• Integrate existing resources and EO data to provide access to training material and expertise enriching the AI4EU resources catalogue;
• Foster the AI4EU and Copernicus communities to solve real problems of business and societal value, through Open Calls;
• Drive the evolution, uptake, and impact of the AI4EU and the DIAS platforms.

Dr. Karkaletsis emphasised the opportunities offered by the AI4Copernicus project to the external partners, namely the four open calls on AI&EO for industrial domains, societal challenges, scientific experiments, and citizen social challenges. The relevance of such calls is to support the creation of an open, inclusive, and sustainable AI-EO innovation cycle bridging the gap between AI- and data-driven innovation while providing economic, social & environmental benefits.

Effective prevention and sustainable recovery from wildfires are key for Mediterranean countries, highly exposed to wildfires. This is the case of the PREFER project- Space-based Information Support for Prevention and REcovery of Forest Fires Emergency in the MediteRranean Area. The project, presented by George Eftychidis, Head Satways RTD, was concluded in 2015. Its objectives were to design and develop a pre-operational demonstration of space-based end-to-end information service supporting the prevention, preparedness and recovery of local communities from forest fires in the Mediterranean area. The Information Service consisted of a centralised system for archiving, visualisation, and delivery to end-users of the spatial product, such as seasonal fuel maps, seasonal hazard maps, vulnerability maps, seasonal risk maps, daily hazards maps and prescribed burning maps.

Nikolaos Bartsotas, Post-Doc Researcher in Atmospheric Physics and Numerical Weather Prediction at the National Observatory of Athens, presented a different perspective on the integration of satellite data for informed decision making, especially to adopt recovery measures. Instead of implementing a top-down technology-push approach executed for research purposes, the Beyond Centre is revolving around this methodology centralizing the users and developing solutions addressing actual needs to ensure market sustainability maximising the service adoption in operational practices. The service effectively combines climatological, earth observational, in-situ and state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction data in high resolution, towards a more sophisticated monitoring of precision agricultural needs. This user-centric approach has been tested in three main sectors:

• Agro-insurance;
• Farmers’ Cooperatives;
• Industry

One example entails the need expressed by the insurance firm InterAmerican to develop diversified agricultural parcels’ primes instead of offering a flat insurance rate over a region.

Current challenges and opportunities related to the uptake of satellite data. Users’ best practices and lessons learned stemming from the use of satellite applications in their daily operations

The second panel of the workshop aimed at bringing the perspective of the users of satellite applications from different end-user communities focusing on their main challenges and benefits.

Copernicus, hence satellite based data and information has been widely used for disaster management by Greek authorities, especially the national Civil Protection.  Andreas Antonakos – Hydrogeologist MSc. Civil Protection Greece reported that the Emergency Planning, Prevention and Response Directorate of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection (GSCP) was appointed the national focal point for Greece for the Emergency Management Service (EMS). Over the past ten years the GSCP activated the rapid mapping 38 times for flooding (11 times) and forest fires (27 times) mainly concerning the Attika and Peloponnese regions. The number of activations increased over time reaching a peak in 2021. As reported by Mr Antonakos, Copernicus EMS mapping has been mainly used in the phases of response and early recovery, while rarely for prevention by local or national entities such as forestry services, fire services, the Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organisation, services of the regions and municipalities, utility network agencies, etc. The delivery of CEMS products depends on a series of factors including the time span between the disaster and the request of activation of the service, the availability of images for the affected area at the needed time, as well as more technical related aspects such as cloud or smoke coverage.

Zisoula Ntasiou, Fire Lieutenant-Colonel in the Hellenic Fire Corps, represents one of the Greek public authorities using satellite data for their daily workflow. Located in Athens, the Hellenic Fire Corps developed a real-time operational system to facilitate the collection of recordings on hazardous events. The system gathers data from citizens, fire patrols, municipalities, navy, coast guard, as well as webcams and infra-red images from 13 regional prefectures scattered over the national territory. To complement the system, the Hellenic Fire Corps developed a suite of mobile and web apps to support main actors and general public to report on incidents and emergencies. Besides infra-red, Copernicus Sentinel images are used for map production for geospatial intelligence and decision-making support. Since 2013 the Hellenic Fire Corps collaborates with the National Observatory of Athens to exchange data, know-how and services developed and provided within the responsibilities and activities of both parties.

One of the oldest applications of geospatial data is to inform Armed Forces to rapidly react in the case of disasters. Such a service is delivered since 1889 by the Hellenic Army Geographical Corps (HAGS), the oldest gre referenced service of the country. Panagiotis Fragkosis, Major of the Hellenic Army Geographical Corps illustrated the three main phases of disaster risk management cycle supported by their services:

• Risk Management Planning;
• Crisis Response;
• Post event assessment and restitution.

Maps are provided through rapid deployment of overlayed EO images before, during and after an event occurres. The challenges of the HAGS in providing up-to-date maps and information are the availability of satellite imagery both in terms of time and quality (deriving from weather uncertainty, such as clouds and storms); orbital sensors restrictions related to the observations including jurisdiction, privacy and resolution, and the need for a more processing automation that currently requires cumbersome methods and long procedures.

Floods, intense rain or unexpected cold among other extreme events damage crops and negatively affect areas dedicated to farming, decreasing soil fertility. In Greece, InterAmerican supports both farmers and agri-food companies to recover from such events through dedicated insurance schemes. Alexandra Ntinopolou, Corporate and Special Risks Solutions Manager at InterAmerican, illustrated the current use of ResAGRI to optimise the development of targeted primes. To address the need of the firm, the Beyond Centre analysed and merged 40 years of satellite data with the damage record held by Elgar, the public insurance authority that farmers are mandated to use in Greece. Through the obtained database it was possible to identify in a short amount of time areas in specific distress after an incident, avoiding time and resource-consuming evaluations by an agronomist. In addition, to a damage assessment solution, it was possible to develop a satellite-based early-warning forecast on a regional scale, and a fraud protection system where farmers can avoid deceptive client applications in the vicinity of extreme weather events.

On the other side of the spectrum, farmers also need digital solutions for more efficient and sustainable productivity driven by innovation. Georgios Zanakis, Marketing and Development Manager at Corteva, presented some of the solutions they developed to overcome farmers’ challenges as optimisation of plant timing. The Granular Hub is a farm management software helping growers professionals to build and sustain their business. Such software provides the farmers with data driven crop models and insights through satellite high-frequency data including weather forecasts, soil moisture information and literature on seed germination to boost the productivity of the yields.

Satellite-based land monitoring is an asset for many industries as demonstrated by PROION, a project presented by Christos Kontopoulos, CTO, Geosystems Hellas. PROION integrates SAR calibration measurements from Sentinel-1, Cosmo Sky-Med and TerraSAR-X to detect soil deformation in the tectonically and seismically active area of the so-called Greek “Superstite” within the Achaea region. PROION has been developed to monitor critical infrastructure in close cooperation with end users. Key takeaways from the applied process relate to the need for training and consultancy service to fully exploit the data. Mr Kontopoulos insists on the importance to disseminate the satellite-based knowledge derived from projects, promoting the development of free access to open data platforms that could help increase the use of satellite-derived products. Similarly, service providers and companies should expand on previous case studies and success stories to engage with new customers and users.

The full report can be downloaded here: Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management – Eurisy

Considering its roles as facilitator, matchmaker, and advisor, Eurisy has kept on contributing to promoting a wider use of space solutions in 2021. Through projects such as Copernicus&Me, GIS4Schools, and Space Opportunities for Climate Challenges the association fulfils its mission to bridge space and society, raising awareness on the opportunities offered by space applications to tackle global challenges. The mentioned projects gave us the possibility to highlight how space data can easily be turned into actionable information for the benefits of policy and decision-makers in key professional sectors. For example, ten confirmed Copernicus early user cases and six video testimonials on uses of Copernicus data and services were developed within the context of Copernicus&Me project. Still in a makeover phase, two of the videos have been presented and a lot is yet to come. All interested entities can still contribute!

The year 2021 also marked a milestone year for GIS4Schools Project. The website, social channels as well as the full-fledged newsletter were created and eventually brought up to speed. Furthermore, the initial output, especially the handbook designed for high school teachers, has been included in the IAC conference paper on “Improving STEAM Education in Secondary Schools”. We traced back events such as Global Vision Webinar and Teachers Training Week inviting our Members to check, rewatch and use this material for their own purposes.

Concurrently to the launch of about 1B euro investments in research and innovation projects to respond to the climate crisis and help protect Europe’s unique ecosystems and biodiversity, Eurisy launched Space Opportunities for Climate Challenges (SO4CC). This webinar series aimed at demonstrating the value of space to for a sustainable green transition become month after month a reliable platform to access to knowledge, share know-how and to find partners. To wrap up the main takeaways a publication has been recently released and it is available on our website. If you are curious to know more and you missed one of our webinars go check the SO4CC!

This year, longstanding relations with more than twenty years between the ESA and the European Union have gained another dimension as demonstrated by the establishment of a new Directorate on European, Legal and International Matters led by Eric Morel de Westgaver. As a key milestone between the two organisations, the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement signed on the 22nd of June was mentioned by covering the cooperation activities of the organisations together with the European Commission in line with the ESA 2025 Agenda. Another point was made by underpinning the significance of working hand in hand for EU and ESA in order to provide stability and predictability, not only for the European Space Industry but also the user community. In order to provide benefit to users, the strengthening of the cooperation between the EU, ESA, and the EC was highlighted by Mr Morel, emphasising the important role of Eurisy in this setting.

The new Accelerators concept defined by the high-level group of advisors to ESA DG was also presented by Mr Morel. He stressed the need to increase the use of space for the common good of all European citizens to better respond to climate change and the challenges deriving from natural or man-made disasters, and to better protect European space assets in orbit. In this wake the Space Summit has been revamped to discuss essential elements such as secure connectivity, space traffic management, and the green transition at the highest possible level in a coordinated way.

To illustrate how we have been favouring exchanges between user communities and space service providers we gladly hosted Mr Emmanuel Pajot, secretary General of the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies EARSC, Eurisy’s partner in the EC flagship e-shape project. While previous events in fields ranging from agriculture to health were mentioned, future workshops such as EUROGI, European Maritime Days, and Solar Europe were presented in the context of the User Uptake Action Plan for 2022-2023. All members and partners are invited to volunteer to jointly organise one of those hands-on workshops in your country to get your relevant communities involved!

In line with ESA ambitions and Members priorities, Eurisy overhauls the partnership with NEREUS by providing to local and regional administrations some examples of commercial solutions for the monitoring and maintenance of critical infrastructure. Following the indication of the European Commission and with the support of experts, starting from 2022 a webinar series will be organised. More info can be found here.

Eurisy was recently appointed as Participating Organisation of the GEO Programme Board, an occasion that will allow us to encourage innovative technical and policy decisions for the benefit of society. With great interest we followed the talk of Steven Ramage, GEO External Relations Manager on the GEO work programme.

Finally, the Eurisy Members’ Day is of course a great occasion to hear from our members and their achievements. During the Members Roundtable we took note of some of the ongoing activities at The Netherlands Space Office, Électricité de France, and The Slovak Space Office.

The Eurisy team looks forward to continuing our collaborations throughout 2022 and wishes you an excellent end of the year!