British Association of Remote Sensing Companies

Remote sensing solutions provider DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) has signed a contract with Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) to deliver near real-time satellite imagery to monitor forest clearing in the Amazon rainforest and target illegal logging as it happens.

INPE is leading the world in the use of satellite imagery to monitor deforestation, providing information central to Brazil’s war on deforestation that has cut deforestation rates by 78% since 2004. The space agency’s groundbreaking DETER service uses regular satellite images to detect forest clearance as it happens – rather than surveying the damage afterwards – guiding Brazil’s enforcement officers to provide effective forest clearing control. However in recent years, the authorities have discovered that illegal loggers are clearing smaller areas to evade detection by the 250metre-pixel MODIS data that is currently in use.

The new £2.1m contract signed with DMCii will enable INPE to downlink higher resolution 22metre resolution data directly from the UK-DMC2 satellite to its groundstation at Cuiaba, Brazil. With approximately 130 times as many pixels per hectare as the MODIS images currently in use, the data will detect these smaller clearings and provide more detailed maps. The UK-DMC2 satellite will image the entire Amazon basin every two weeks, so that the authorities are alerted as soon as possible after logging is detected. In a unique agreement, the data covering Brazil will be made freely available on open licence through the INPE website so the general public can follow progress against deforestation.

Dr. Gilberto Camara, Director General of INPE said: “With the recent failure of Landsat 5 it became urgent to increase the supply of satellite imagery to operate our forest monitoring system, and DMC data provides a very cost effective tool. The 650km wide swath DMC imagery provides a frequency of coverage and level of detail which enhances the ability of our DETER system to identify deforestation at an early stage. I am particularly pleased that DMCii has agreed to an open licence so that INPE can make the data freely available through its website – an innovation which has enhanced public monitoring of forest management in Brazil.”

The contract builds on seven years of cooperation with INPE. Paul Stephens, Director of Sales & Marketing at DMCii commented: “DMCii has a commitment to improved forest governance and management through the provision of timely and reliable information. This is especially important for development of effective REDD+ programmes in tropical forested countries. I am delighted to extend our long standing work with INPE, which is the world leader in the fight against deforestation.”

Remote sensing solutions provider DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) has agreed a 3-year agreement with Russia’s ScanEx Research and Development Center to provide rapid 22m data reception from the UK-DMC2 satellite to ScanEx ground stations in Russia and CIS countries.

ScanEx will employ a network of four ground stations strategically placed throughout the vast Russia and CIS territory to downlink data directly. This new rapid delivery system is particularly suited to agricultural planning and monitoring forest fires – an area of great concern to Russia following the devastating fires experienced around Moscow in July 2010.

The enormous 650km swath width and enhanced imaging capacity of UK-DMC2 will enable ScanEx to image vast areas rapidly with 22m resolution. Its multi-spectral data includes a near infra-red band that is particularly effective for detecting growing vegetation or heat.

Olga Gershenzon, co-founder and vice president of ScanEx, said, “I am delighted to have reached this agreement with DMCii. Combining UK-DMC2’s unique wide area mapping capability with our comprehensive groundstation network we can now deliver timely geospatial products of anywhere in the vast Russian and CIS landscape to our customers. In addition, UniScan™ stations, functioning at public departments, educational institutions, commercial companies, etc. can be upgraded to receive data from the UK-DMC2 satellite”

Paul Stephens, Sales and Marketing Director of DMCii, said, “We see direct downlink as an important new development in remote sensing and it gives me great pleasure to enter this agreement with our colleagues at ScanEx. Our satellite will provide vast imaging capacity to ScanEx in near real time and with rapid revisit, enabling them to deliver time-critical geospatial services.”

Under the agreement, all imagery acquired by ScanEx will be made available through the DMCii catalogue, building significant Russia and CIS coverage for less time-sensitive applications.

For more information, please see www.dmcii.com

Remote sensing solutions provider DMCii has appointed Professor Jim Lynch OBE Director of Forestry to oversee the development of effective tools and partnerships for the implementation of sustainable forestry programmes.

Lynch was previously Chief Executive of the UK Forestry Commission Research Agency, and remains both a Distinguished Professor of Life Sciences at the University of Surrey and Board Member of the European Forestry Institute, taking the lead on Climate Change and Policy. He was awarded an OBE for his coordination of the OECD Sustainability Research Programme over 17 years and has written many books on forestry and climate change, the applications of remote sensing and scientific policy.

Upon his appointment Lynch commented, “There are often big gaps between policy making and remote sensing. I look forward to using my knowledge and experience of both disciplines to help all parties understand the vital role of satellite-derived information in helping the world manage its forest resources.”

Lynch’s experience of working with organisations such as the Council for the Frontiers of Knowledge in Africa has highlighted the importance of local communities in sustainable forestry. He states, “There is a growing understanding that deforestation can’t be solved by governments alone but needs the support of local communities. At DMCii, I am particularly excited to have the opportunity to increase social engagement by providing forest communities with practical information. They can use this to manage their forests and tackle problems such as illegal logging whilst also gaining a financial return from the use of trees in removing greenhouse gases to mitigate global climate change.”

DMCii has employed its multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation to provide rapid wide-scale mapping of tropical forests such as the Amazon Basin and sub-Saharan Africa since 2005. The company is now exploring the use of satellite imagery for the implementation of the EU’s FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) and UN REDD+ (Reduction of Emissions due to Deforestation and forest Degradation) programmes. Under Lynch’s direction, DMCii will be working with partners to formulate effective satellite datasets and developing solutions with input from software engineers, foresters, social scientists and environmental lawyers.

About DMC International Imaging Ltd
DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) is a UK based supplier of remote sensing data products and services for international Earth Observation (EO) markets. DMCii supplies programmed and archived optical satellite imagery provided by the multi-satellite Disaster Monitoring Constellation. DMCii’s data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.

DMCii works with the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ to provide free satellite imagery for humanitarian use in the event of major international disasters such as tsunamis, hurricanes, fires and flooding.

DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the world leader in small satellite technology.

For more information, please see www.dmcii.com.

A UK-led international consortium that uses satellite imagery to provide disaster mitigation celebrates its ten year anniversary this week as its members meet in London to plan for the coming decade.

The Disaster Monitoring Constellation is a unique international partnership formed by national governments and organisations that recognised the need for coordinated satellite imaging campaigns to assess and mitigate natural disasters with more up to date and timely information a decade ago. The five consortium members each own an independent satellite, but pool their resources to gather and distribute up to date images of disaster stricken areas anywhere in the world.

By working together, the multi-satellite constellation provided the unique capability to acquire satellite images of anywhere on Earth at least once a day. This makes it possible to provide recent high quality images of the effected area within the critical days following a disaster, improving the accuracy of maps and emergency response plans that are made.

DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) was set up to coordinate disaster response and to distribute images. In partnership with the former British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the Constellation members, DMCii uses the commercial exploitation of the satellite images to fund coordination of the Constellation for humanitarian use during natural disasters.

DMCii works with the world’s space agencies and the United Nations (UN) within the International Charter : Space and Major Disasters to provide multi-spectral optical imagery during natural disasters. The constellation responds to disasters frequently and has played an important role responding to disasters such as Hurricane Katrina (2005), Asian Tsunami (2004), UK floods (2007), and the Sichuan Earthquake (2008).

All of the Constellation satellites were designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the British space company that earned support from the BNSC to developed a highly cost effective new type of satellite that was smaller and much more economical to launch than contemporary designs. Building on the success of demonstration missions such as Tsinghua-1, SSTL built satellites that provided Consortium members with cost effective sovereign remote sensing capability with shared ground segment, image processing and distribution – and an essential role in international disaster response.

The Constellation’s unique daily imaging and very large 650km wide high resolution images have also opened the door to applications that were previously thought impossible such as the regular and timely monitoring of crop growth. Since 2004, the Amazon rainforest has been imaged in high resolution twice a year to measure deforestation and pinpoint illegal logging compared to previous decadal studies.

Dr. S. O. Mohammed, Director General of the Nigerian Space agency (NASRDA) commented, “In joining the DMC we have not only developed our knowledge of Nigeria’s resources but also formed the foundations for our growing national space programme. We are proud to have made a valuable contribution to this unique international partnership.”

Dave Hodgson, Managing Director DMCii commented, “We have achieved a great deal during the past ten years, made possible only by the unique international partnership of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. By coordinating multiple satellites we have been able to respond to disasters more rapidly and detect fast changing phenomena with daily images of anywhere on Earth. As new satellites and new members join the Constellation, we have proven this model to be sustainable and look forward to expanding its capabilities to meet the needs of our members long into the future.”

The Disaster Monitoring Constellation has been very successful and the new missions UK-DMC-2 and Deimos-1 launched in 2009 provided not only continuity of data, but also huge improvements in the amount of imagery that the Constellation is able to acquire. Now in 2011, the Nigerian Space Agency (NASRDA) will launch NigeriaSat-2 which provides high resolution 2.5m panchromatic imaging and highly advanced wide-area imaging and a NigeriaSat-X to provide data continuity from NigeriaSat-1. Both these new satellites will join the Constellation, and a data deal between NASRDA and DMCii to distribute imagery from NigeriaSat-2 was announced just last week.

This week in London the Consortium members will review several new technologies for monitoring the Earth to decide what future capabilities the Constellation requires. Recent technological developments at SSTL make it possible for a single satellite to image the Earth’s landmass every day, or for a small and cost effective satellite to provide very high resolution sub-1m images of the Earth. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads that can image through clouds or smoke are also now being considered for future Constellation satellites.