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DMCii Pioneers New Framework for Satellite Imaging Quality Control |
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Written by Vector1Media
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Wednesday, 17 September 2008 |
PR -- Remote sensing solution provider DMCii’s
Chief Scientist, Dr Steve Mackin, has pioneered a new approach for
deriving quality control indicators from Disaster Monitoring
Constellation data. The new framework, which is being implemented by
DMCii, holds great potential for quality control and consistency in
multi-source imaging projects such as the European Global Monitoring
for Environment and Security (GMES).
Dr Mackin commented: “This has never been
done before and its application holds great potential for projects
where imaging is sourced from multiple providers and satellites. As a
GMES contributor, DMCii has begun implementing this new quality control
framework within the Disaster Monitoring Constellation to validate it
for wider use.”
The European Space Agency (ESA) has expressed
interest in the techniques that Dr Mackin presented in his role as one
of the UK’s representatives in the Working Group for Constellation
Calibration on the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS).
The first dedicated GMES satellites, Sentinel 2 and Sentinel 3, will
demonstrate (at least in part) the new framework as a quality control
measure for GMES.
From research conducted with the National
Physics Laboratory it was clear that making extra quality information
available to describe imaging products would be of significant benefit
to imaging experts. The new framework provides a clearer quality
statement with defined error budgets at each stage and hence identifies
low quality data before it can be issued. The traceability of data is
also improved, enabling the rapid identification of the processing area
at fault.
Dr Mackin states that the proposed methodology holds
many benefits for imaging users: “It makes sense for any customer to
request standardized quality control information from imaging
suppliers. Only then can you be sure of the quality of your end product
and its fitness for purpose. It also allows users to compare data
across image providers in a fast and simple manner and determine who
meets the user’s requirements at the lowest cost – hence saving time
and money for the end-user”.
The Disaster Monitoring
Constellation (DMC) is a unique cooperation between partners that own
satellites and share their data. DMCii coordinates the constellation to
provide high quality commercial imaging services and rapid disaster
monitoring programmes. The DMC’s imaging capacity is set to grow to
more than 10 million sq km per day by the end of 2008 with the addition
of new satellites, UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, which share a 20metre 600km
swath imaging capability. The UK-DMC2 satellite will also offer a
direct downlink service to X-band groundstations.
Last year,
DMCii imaged 38 European countries for GMES in the 6 months between
April and October 2007 as a GMES contributing mission. DMCii delivered
precisely positioned data in each national map projection. This was the
first time that the whole of Europe had been successfully imaged at
high resolution in a single year.
The Global Monitoring for
Environment and Security (GMES) programme is led by the European
Commission with the aim of delivering environment and security
services. It is the European response to the ever-increasing demands of
effective environmental policies. GMES is the European contribution to
the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
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Vector1Media |
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