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

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

Space applications can transform the maritime domains, by providing data and information that will foster a sustainable blue economy, and help protecting the ocean and preserving its resources. CNES wants to be at the forefront of the creation of a global “Sea & Space” strategy that federates public and private stakeholders to put science at the service of society.

The 4^th episode of the Eurisy Members’ Corner series was animated by Ariel Fucks, heading the maritime strategy of the Connect by CNES programme.

Mr Fucks virtually participated from Lisbon, on the last day of the UN Ocean Conference, this year dedicated to the theme “Scaling up ocean action based on science and innovation for the implementation of Goal 14: stocktaking, partnerships and solutions.”

Following the directions of the French government, CNES works with public and private actors to implement innovation strategies in some key sectors of the national economy. These include the monitoring and protection of the environment, the promotion of smart mobility and of a sustainable agriculture, and the strengthening of maritime activities that preserve the natural environment, among others.

To reach out to organisations outside the space sector, CNES has launched the Connect-by-CNES programme, which aims to open up the potential of space technologies and solutions to the entire national economy.

Targeted stakeholders represent a varied ecosystem, including ministries, public administrations at the national, regional and local levels, start-ups and SMEs, large industrial groups, research centres, innovation hubs, and civil society organisations.

At the international level, CNES collaborates on programmes aimed at enhancing the use of space applications with a number of organisations, including European institutions, other national governments (such as the USA, Singapore, India, and Australia), and international organisations.

The Space Climate Observatory is an international initiative proposed by France in 2019 to support the emergence of operational tools for climate monitoring, mitigation and adaptation, addressed to decision-makers and the wide public. CNES is the entity in charge of implementing the SCO in France and of inspiring the implementation of similar models in other countries.

The SCO France is managed by a committee made up of 22 French public entities operating in the field of climate action, including the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity.

To use scientific advancements to monitor and protect the seas and the ocean, CNES has a strategy based on four pillars: smart routing, maritime surveillance, port management, and ecosystem surveillance.

Smart routing is today flourishing, with a lot of efforts being put into the development of next generation automated navigation systems. These not only rely on satellite navigation for positioning, but also on satellite remote sensing for data on sea currents, weather, and winds, to allow sailors to choose the routes that will require the least amount of energy.

Watch the video by Eurisy and CNES on the use of Copernicus data made by a French SME to reduce the carbon footprint of ships:

Maritime surveillance is profiting from scientific advancements to better monitor protected areas and fight illegal fishing, which represents a major threat to biodiversity and to the economic sustainability of fishery. Images from satellites and data collected through in-situ observations (geolocated thanks to satellite navigation) provide a big amount of reliable information on the status of our seas and environments. Coastal authorities rely on satellite navigation to monitor illegal fishery, while new apps are being created that use data from satellite imagery to know where to fish and satellite navigation signals to track the position of fishermen at sea.

Port management concerns the monitoring of vessels’ movements, for which satellite navigation systems are already widely used, and the monitoring of pollution.

Interactions between the environment and human activities can also be assessed and monitored by using satellite data. As an example, satellites provide data useful to capture and monitor environmental parameters within and around ports, which can be particularly useful during port infrastructure works.

Watch the video realised by Eurisy and CNES on the use of Copernicus data during the enlargement works in the harbour of Port-la-Nouvelle, in southern France:

CNES has a continuous dialogue with public and private organisations in the maritime domains on ways to foster the development and use of services based on satellite data and signals.

Collaboration with external entities is key for CNES to decide on its strategic orientations, to understand the needs of public and private organisations operating in the maritime sector that could benefit from satellite-based data and signals, and to create common endeavours for the development of services more and more adapted to the operational needs of those working in sectors linked to the seas and the oceans.

The Copernicus Earth observation programme plays a major role in enabling such collaborations, providing a huge amount of free and open data that we can use to monitor the oceans.

Mercator Ocean, the entity currently in charge of implementing the Copernicus Marine Monitoring Service has recently become international, to better serve the needs of the EC for data providing and data processing, also in view of the implementation of the digital twin of the ocean, a scientific tool that is really meant to meet concrete needs of actors operating in the maritime domains.

In this context, Eurisy participates to the consortium implementing the Iliad project (Integrated digital framework for comprehensive maritime data and information services), that aims to establish an interoperable, data-intensive, and cost-effective Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO).

Freshly returned from the Euromaritime congress held in Marseille on 28-30 June, where Eurisy and CNES coorganised a roundtable on space solutions for a sustainable Blue Economy, Alessandra Vernile, from the Eurisy secretariat, confirmed the clear interest of the French space community to activate scientific discoveries to the profit of the maritime sector, and of the great interest of the maritime community towards satellite applications tracking ships and containers.

Several examples of how satellite data can sustain the blue economy while contributing to safeguarding the oceans can be found in the new edition of the Eurisy periodical publication Satellites Going Local dedicated to the maritime domains.

If you are in Paris, you might be interested in attending the 1ʳᵉ edition of the “Assises du NewSpace”, taking place on July 7 and 8 at Station F. The event has the dual objective of establishing a state of the art of the NewSpace market in France, and of drawing together growth prospects to structure and consolidate a French NewSpace, in view of promoting it internationally within five years.

To know more about the activities of CNES visit: https://cnes.fr/en

The presentation of the webinar is available here: Presentation-ConnectbyCNES eurisy

Stay tuned for the next webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner that will be hosted by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) on the 16th of September 2022 between 11:00 AM and 12:00 AM CET.

“Satellite technologies have proven invaluable in addressing emergencies, with an enormous potential to further contribute to effective response and adequate recovery” said Minister for Climate Crisis  and Protection in his opening remarks  at the Satellite-based Services for Disaster Risk Management Workshop organised in Athens, Greece. ‘’ EU programmes like Copernicus and Galileo help us build an efficient disaster risk management cycle – prevent and prepare, respond, and recover” he concluded.

“Last summer was a case study in the importance of having innovative tools and solutions for effective disaster risk management and response,” said Rodrigo da Costa, Executive Director of the EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). “The key to building these potentially life-saving tools and solutions is the EU Space Programme.”

According to da Costa, each component of the EU Space Programme brings added value to different phases of the disaster risk management and mitigation chain. For example, the Copernicus EMS service provides on-demand, detailed information for selected emergency situations, including fires and flooding.

The service also offers continuous observations and forecasting for flood, drought and fire risks, providing decision makers with the critical geospatial information they need to, for example, issue an evacuation order or early warning alert.

The power of synergy

Although Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus each offer emergency responders with a unique tool set, EU Space offers even more benefits when used in synergy.

“When the Greek central region of Thessaly has been affected by floods in 2020 trapping hundreds of people and rendered transportation and communication infrastructure useless, satellite communication, working in synergy with Copernicus (CEMS activation) and European GNSS (EGNSS), provided rescue teams with the spatial awareness, connectivity and highly accurate positioning and navigation they needed to save lives,” da Costa told the Hellenic Parliament in Greece.

As part of his visit to Athens, da Costa addressed the Parliament’s Special Permanent Committee on Environmental Protection during a dedicated discussion on using the EU Space Programme to prevent and respond to natural disasters.

This synergy between GNSS and Earth Observation is particularly beneficial to drone operations, which emergency response teams use for everything from inspecting flooded areas to post-earthquake search and rescue operations and monitoring remote wildfires.

As to the later, firefighting teams are replacing traditional ground-based systems supported by manned aircraft with more cost-effective drones. Equipped with a wide-range of sensors for capturing Earth Observation data and navigated using GNSS positioning, advanced drones can now provide firefighters with another layer of information – and protection.

Secure satellite communications for security and safety-critical missions 

But what happens when a disaster occurs where there are no ground stations, either because they were destroyed, such as during an earthquake, or because they never existed in the first place? Or what if the end users require secure communication?

For emergency situations like these, there’s GOVSATCOM.

As the fourth pillar of the EU Space Programme, GOVSATCOM will provide secure, cost-efficient communication capabilities to security and safety-critical missions, operations and infrastructure. Its users will include border and maritime authorities, law enforcement agencies, civil protection forces, search and rescue services, disaster relief and humanitarian missions, authorised infrastructure operators and military forces.

By working in synergy with Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, GOVSATCOM will further enhance the EU Space Programme’s ability to keep European citizens safe and secure.  While Copernicus and EGNSS provide the necessary data and positioning, some security incidents also require a means of communication that is robustly protected against interference, interception, intrusion and other risks. GOVSATCOM bridges this gap between the need for assured and secure communication and the capabilities already offered by Copernicus, Galileo and EGNOS.

For 17 years, the Galileo Masters has been fostering the development of new technology and business cases, service delivery and applications based on Galileo. This year’s edition offers topic challenges includes the opportunity to also integrate the use of Earth observation data.

From 19 April to 19 July 2021, participants in the Galileo Masters 2021 can submit their innovative ideas using GNSS data to solve challenges offered by the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) together with the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Eligible to participate are enterprises, including SMEs, start-ups, scientific institutions, and individuals of legal adult age, which have the ambition to tackle challenges faced by business and society, by using space data and technologies.

In addition, the Galileo Masters is complemented by the Galileo Incubation programme, co-funded by the European Commission to empower the transformation of great business cases into commercially viable solutions through a tailored business incubation programme. The top six winners of the Galileo Masters 2021 will gain access to this incubation prize of up to EUR 62,000 each if eligible.

Eurisy as a Copernicus and Galileo Masters Regional Associate is proud to support the awarding of innovative solutions, developments and ideas that use satellite data to tackle challenges faced by business and society. By encouraging new ideas, as well as through the promotion of operational applications, Eurisy aims to raise awareness of the benefits of space data for end users.

Find out more about the special awards provided by Bulgaria as a prize partner:

• Galileo Prize Bulgaria

For registrations:

• Galileo Masters

For more information: contact office@rst-tto.com, or visit http://rst-tto.com

The Copernicus Masters is the leading innovation competition for commercial Earth observation (EO) applications. Open for submissions until 19 July 2021, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions, services, and business concepts that use Earth observation data to solve important societal and environmental challenges. With more than EUR 835,000 worth of prizes, there is an opportunity for great minds to boost their business with big data from space.
Read More!

Eurisy as a Copernicus Masters Regional Associate 2021 is proud to support the awarding of innovative solutions, developments and ideas that use EO data to tackle challenges faced by business and society. As a regional associate we are part of the constantly growing EO community as well as the EO business ecosystem.

In 2021, the Copernicus Masters offers participants a diverse range of topic-specific challenges to tackle global challenges with their competition entries. The 8 competition partners – European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission (COM), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Planet, BayWa, UP42 with Airbus, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) and Portugal Space (Portuguese Space Agency) – have each established unique challenges for the participants, with individual prize pools designed to support the winner to further develop its solution.

Again this year, besides the topic-specific challenges, participants also have the opportunity to also choose a regional or country-related Copernicus Prize Partner – powered by the European Commission – who can best support their innovations. In addition, the Copernicus Prize Partners award extra prizes to their winner. Discover more here!

Submit your innovative Satellite Navigation application to the Galileo Masters

The Galileo Masters annually awards prizes to the best services, products, and business concepts that use satellite navigation in everyday life, spurring the development of respective market-driven applications. Open for submissions until 19 July 2021, the competition awards prizes to innovative solutions at each development stage, with the objective of turning them into real businesses. With more than EUR 785,000 worth of prizes, there is an opportunity for great minds to boost their business with Galileo/EGNOS.
Read More!

Eurisy as a Galileo Masters Regional Associate 2021 is proud to support the awarding of innovative solutions, developments and ideas that use satellite navigation data to tackle challenges faced by business and society.

The 2021 Galileo Masters offers participants a diverse range of topic-specific challenges to tackle global challenges with their competition entries. The competition’s partners, the European GNSS Agency (GSA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), the European Space Agency (ESA) and AZO – the organiser of the competition – have each set participants unique challenges, with individual prize pools designed to support the winner to further develop its solution.

Again this year, besides the topic-specific challenges, participants have also the opportunity to choose a regional or country-related Galileo Prize Partner – powered by the European Commission – who can best support their innovations. In addition, the Galileo Prize Partners award extra prizes to their winner. Discover more here!

1. With a little help from our friends (the pigeons!)

French start-up PlumeLabs, Twitter and DigitasLBi have joined creative forces and launched a team of 10 pigeons carrying interconnected sensors, to monitor air pollution in London. The App is available on Android and Apple here. You can track the little Pigeon Air Police in real-time here. Moreover, if you Tweet them your area of London @PigeonAir they’ll tell you how polluted it is!

2. Satellites, monitoring your beer since 2016!

B. United International, a beer company, is using satnav and satcom to guarantee to its customers that their beverage of choice will taste exactly the the same on arrival in the U.S. as when they left the brewery in their country of origin, for a trip around the globe. Read more here.

3. Satellites help save lives on a hospital ship

Texas-based NGO, Mercy Ships, uses #SatCom to connect volunteering medical staff on its floating hospital with patients in poor, difficult to access areas. In the future it is expected that video could be used more extensively for training African healthcare workers. Read more about the NGOs life saving missions and get involved here.

4. In Space we trust !

Russian Advertising Company AILove teamed up with Roscosmos in celebrating humankind’s achievements in space, from from Sputnik 1 through to Yuri Gagarin’s historical orbital flight to Philae’s comet landing. Powered by imagination and our natural curiosity the journey takes us further and deeper into our solar system. New Horizon flew by Pluto in July 2015 after a journey that took the spacecraft 9 years and 6 months .The probe is set to venture even deeper into the distant, mysterious Kuiper Belt – a relic of solar system formation. Your space suits await here!

5. Access Earth’s wild scenery through Virtual Reality

Catalog.Earth, a project aiming to document the world’s landscapes most endangered by climate change in 360° video and audio, takes off thanks to a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. It started as an immersive data experiment relying on NASA’s satellite images. It’s now a race against time to document the fastest changing landscapes around the world.
The project founders, two interaction design grad students, aim to make the footage public domain for everyone to access. First stop: the quickly-shrinking Columbia Glacier in Alaska! Simulations look promising@ ixdavid.github.io

6. Sentinel 1B launch — another milestone for Copernicus

Sentinel 1B lifted off on 25 April to join its twin Sentinel 1A in orbit. On this occasion, four CubeSats (as small as 10 cm) also hitched a ride to space. Equipped with advanced radar technology, the satellites will add valuable data to Europe’s Copernicus environment programme. The two satellites will provide 360 degree radar coverage to support numerous ground operations such as: monitoring ice in polar seas to tracking land subsidence. How will this influence our daily lives? A short story below:

7. Ever gazed up at the night sky and wondered: Where is everyone? Welcome to the Fermi Paradox!

According to scientists for every grain of sand on every beach on Earth, there are 10,000 stars out there. Out of which, a new PNAS study assumes that our vast universe contains a total of 100 billion billion Earth-like planets. How many of these would be able to develop life conditions similar to Earth? If are to follow statistics…many. So where are the others? To put things into perspective click here.

Although variability mitigation is indeed a very beneficial part of precision farming, that part is still under development as the report also points out. The part of precision farming that is already operational and successfully implemented on many farms is the use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Farmers benefit substantially from machine guidance and optimising field traffic – either in logistics or dealing with field geometry.

GNSS adoption rates in agriculture are growing. In the Netherlands a recent survey showed that 65% of the arable farms use GNSS in their operations. Similar figures have been published in Germany. UK and Denmark have a penetration of approximately 20%. In UK the bias towards larger farms means that already 60% of UK farmland is managed with GNSS. Farmers report that the reduction in overlaps and gaps is their main benefit, followed by the ability to work more accurately and pay attention to the fieldwork, as auto-guidance helps them to steer the tractor. More efficient field traffic accounts for a reduction of 10-15% in fuel consumption and inputs used – which both saves farmers money and helps the environment.

But if the use of GNSS has proved so beneficial where adopted, what is keeping other farmers from using it in precision farming? For many farmers, the business case is still unclear, both in terms of investments in technology and knowledge as well as the economic returns that can be expected. Larger farms are better positioned to make the technology cost-effective. Also, a certain level of local support services is required for farmers to start relying on it. The lack of standardisation is another issue still hampering deep penetration, as technology suppliers and application developers compete on technology rather than on usability.

The next question is, should we bother? And the answer is Yes. Precision farming is not just another technology. It is a game changer helping farmers to reduce costs, improve efficiency and help to fit agricultural practices in rural landscapes. Doing more with less. Precision farming helps agriculture to become lean (efficient), clean (less waste and use of chemicals) and green (sustainable and lower environmental footprints). The use of GNSS is already making this possible and the use of Remote Sensing for variable rate technology is expected to double those savings and benefits. Precision farming also brings climate-smart cultivation practices within reach. It thus contributes to a more vital, anticipatory agricultural economy that is more green and climate resilient at the same time.

The use of GNSS as major enabler of precision farming is well established. It will be even more relevant in near future as we are looking for integration on the farm, thanks to location as a key identifier connecting and relating information from different sources.
Another untapped potential of precision farming is the bonus of automatic documentation of fieldwork. Using the tracks of fieldwork can almost automatically create a quality passport to all agricultural produces, whether it is for food safety or for environmental responsibility. This also helps farmers to prove their compliance to regulations and quality schemes.

Europe’s flagship Galileo is therefore an important resource in reaching policy goals in climate, sustainability, food security and rural development.

This blog post reports on discussions during the agricultural GNSS User Forum meeting organised by the FP7 project UNIFARM during the European Space Solutions conference in Prague 11-13 June 2014. More information can be found on www.project-unifarm.eu.