British company launches free satellite imaging initiative
Satellite imaging provider DMCii has announced that it will provide free DMC constellation satellite imagery for scientists to support global environmental monitoring projects.
Scientists are invited to compete for the opportunity to use the DMC multi-spectral data in their research projects. Applications will be judged on their contribution to international environmental research by an international panel of scientists chaired by Professor Alan O’Neil from the National Centre for Earth Observation.
DMC constellation data will be awarded to 5 UK and 5 Spanish science projects. The provision of data will be coordinated by DMCii in the UK and Spanish company Deimos Imaging in Spain which will soon join the DMC with its new satellite DEIMOS-1.
Dave Hodgson, Managing Director DMCii commented, “We feel that this is a unique and valuable contribution to the science community, and look forward to supporting some deserving scientific research that will contribute to our knowledge of the Earth and our impact on its resources.”
Satellite imaging is a powerful tool for monitoring land use. It offers a valuable “eye in space” for monitoring and recording environmental change on a global basis. DMCii has previously provided free data to the science community, from which scientists have produced excellent results which include monitoring the burning of peatlands in Indonesia.
Nowhere is the need to improve knowledge of resource more pressing than in improving our knowledge and monitoring of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that 17.3% CO2 emissions in 2004 were the result of changing land cover change, predominantly deforestation. By improving knowledge of the rainforests, satellite imaging is helping to measure the rate and location of
deforestation and contributing to scientific models that will improve understanding of climate change mechanisms.
The DMC constellation of 5 satellites work together to image large areas of the Earth. Because several satellites and their respective owners (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey, UK) cooperate together, the constellation can image a given geographical location frequently to identify changes or make the most of cloud-free periods. This unique combination makes the constellation highly effective for monitoring land use.
The multi-spectral sensors on-board the 5 spacecraft capture accurate images of the Earth, in visible spectral bands as well as infra-red, which is invisible to the naked eye. This additional information is used by scientists to identify specific detail, such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data which assesses whether the target being observed contains live green vegetation or not.
For more than 4 years, DMCii has acquired images enabling Brazil to monitor deforestation in the Amazon Basin. The DMC constellation has also contributed to the EC’s landmark Global Monitoring for Environmental Security (GMES) project.
Both DMCii and Deimos are launching their own commercially funded satellites in 2009, UK-DMC2 and DEIMOS-1. The winning scientific projects will be able to request data from the 2 new satellites, which will offer higher resolution (22m) imaging capability and increased data capacity to the DMC constellation.
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 (DMC). DMC data is now used in a wide variety of commercial and government applications including agriculture, forestry and environmental mapping.
In partnership with the British National Space Centre (BNSC) and the other DMC member nations (Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain), 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 tsunami, hurricanes, fires and flooding.
DMCii was formed in October 2004 and is a subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, the world leader in small satellite technology. SSTL designed and built the DMC with the support of the BNSC and in conjunction with the DMC member nations Algeria, China, Nigeria, Turkey and Spain.
www.dmcii.com
Image description
The accompanying image of Rondonia, Brazil shows the extensive deforestation caused by settlement schemes in the region, where road systems have been extended into the forests and small parcels of land have been farmed, leaving very little remaining forest. The red colour shows the signature of the near infrared part of the spectrum which is invisible to the human eye, but which is associated with vegetation. A pall of smoke hangs over the left of the image from fires. The image acquired by the UK-DMC satellite in 2006 is some 450km wide, and has a pixel size of 32metres.
Notes to editor
An accompanying image (described above) is available from Robin Wolstenholme as a high resolution 5mb jpeg file. Press release can be downloaded from www.ballard.co.uk/dmcii
Press contacts:
Robin Wolstenholme, Ballard Communications Management
Tel: +44 (0)1306 882288
Email: r.wolstenholme@ballard.co.uk
Paul Stephens,
Sales & Marketing Director, DMC International Imaging Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1483 804299
Email: p.stephens@dmcii.com
