Satellite Applications

AuroraNewsletter

October 2016

ContentsWelcome 3

In-Orbit Demonstrator Programme – New Call for Ideas 3

Introducing Threads 4

Developing an Agri-tech App 5

Easy Access to Sentinel Data Through SEDAS 5

Chilean Mining Industry Considering the Long-term Benefits of Space-Based Technology 6

Our Ocean Conference – Combatting Illegal Fishing 6

Partnering with Polynesian Leaders Group on Anti-Illegal Fishing Operations 8

Supporting Mobile Health in Peru 8

Securing Your Assets 9

CEMS – Cloud Computing for the Space Community 9

US Opportunities Update 10

STEM Training Gives Ambassadors Opportunity to Grow 11

Liz Cooper – PhD Student Improving Flood Prediction Using Data Assimilation 11

UAVs for UK Agriculture: Creating an Invisible Precision Farming Technology 12

Mark Jarman elected Vice-Chairman of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society 13

Introducing the Satuccino ‘Extra-shot’ 13

Women in Aerospace 14

Events Round-Up 14

Welcome – Stuart Martin

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We are now well into our fourth year of operation, and as you will see from this edition, our reach and contribution to the UK space sector continues to grow. Our programmes are helping us to focus our activities, and we are now launching ‘Threads’ – a multi-step activity that can support and link to one or more of these programmes. A brief description of our first Thread – Environmental Monitoring for Extractive Industries – has now been launched and others will follow shortly.

We are also delighted to be running the In-Orbit Demonstration Programme, a mission to identify and demonstrate new products and services from space.

This edition will give you an insight into some of our projects and initiatives, and demonstrates that we are achieving real impact on behalf of the UK space sector.

Funded by Innovate UK and managed by the Catapult, the In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) programme offers four low cost 3U CubeSat missions over the next three years, with the goal to identify a new service and/or technology.

In April 2016, an announcement was made, inviting both new service and technology providers to express their interest in this opportunity by the end of May. This call received 14 promising ideas demonstrating a strong interest from companies and universities from both inside and outside the UK, including unsolicited requests post-submission deadline.

Our interaction with the final candidates revealed that to allow more business opportunities for the community, an open call approach, providing more flexibility on the timing would be beneficial. As a consequence, the first launch has been postponed to allow further discussions and planning.

Later in October, we will be launching the new campaign. The IOD team will be hosting an ‘expert clinic’ at every Catapult Satuccino event that takes place on the first Wednesday of every month, where companies can find out more about the programme and discuss their idea.

The IOD team can also provide you with information on the range of in-space testing opportunities currently available

and put companies in touch with contacts from across the Catapult’s space network who offer these services.

Participants can access support from the IOD team all the way along the mission journey. The partners can help build the business case, define the mission, find the right partners or connect with customers and deliver mission operations and facilities to test service prototypes.

The In-Orbit Demonstration programme takes advantage of the UK’s proven expertise in in-orbit demonstration (UKube-1 and TDS-1). New partners will enable the IOD to deliver a flight-proven CubeSat platform with Clyde Space and frequent launch opportunities from the International Space Station (ISS) provided by NanoRacks, via its Space Act Agreement with Nasa’s U.S. National Lab.

This really is an exciting opportunity to test applications and services in space. To discuss any idea for a mission, contact the team at iod@sa.catapult.org.uk or call 01235 567999.

Author: Florian Deconinck

In-Orbit Demonstration Programme – New Call for Ideas

Artist’s impression of CubeSats in space.

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Introducing ‘Threads’ a focus on activities where we can understand the impact and outcomes for the community, and the activities needed to achieve these outcomes.

Threads are not static – they will evolve regularly as they are reviewed.

Introducing ThreadsThreads are not static but instead will evolve regularly as they are reviewed.

The first Thread to be approved is ‘Environmental Monitoring for the Extractive Industries’. Its vision is “To create a marketplace(s) for UK satellite applications companies to deliver services to support responsible and sustainable growth of extractive activities worldwide.”

Through engagement with the mining sector, we have uncovered a role for satellite technologies in the avoidance, management and resolution of company-community conflicts caused by the environmental and social impact of extractive activities. For a major, world-class mining project with capital expenditure of $3-5 billion, such a conflict could result in it suffering roughly $20 million per week of delayed production.

We will make an impact by creating a neutral trusted entity capable of hosting and deploying objective and trustworthy satellite-integrated solutions to monitor environmental and social impact. We will also support the development of new satellite applications related to extractive activities and enabling export opportunities.

We will communicate details of further Threads over the coming weeks.

Author: Sam Adlen

Hopefully you are all familiar with the Catapult market programmes, which focus on Blue Economy, Intelligent Transport Systems, Sustainable Living, Government Services, Explore Markets and Technology programmes. Under these programmes, we explore new concepts at a high level to find areas of opportunity for the satellite industry and user communities.

What we are introducing now are our ‘Threads’.

A Thread will be developed once we have found an area where we understand: the impact it can have for the community in terms of revenue and jobs; the outcomes we want to achieve for the community; and the activities we plan to undertake to achieve each of the outcomes. These Threads will be the areas towards which we will be directing most of our attention. The two key elements in each case are a good hypothesis about how impact will be delivered and a sensible plan for how to realise it.

As we communicate these Threads they should give you a clearer idea of some of things we are looking to do, so that you can align your interests and plans accordingly.

Over the next few months we will be rolling out the initial Threads and communicating related plans. To give you an idea of what these may be, some of the areas for potential Threads are indicated in the diagram below.

Identified ‘Threads’ in line with our programme activities.

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Industries, Estel Blay.

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The Catapult and Precision Decisions have developed an app to enable UK farmers to use satellite data to assess variability across different fields.

SEDAS was created to help organisations make use of the vast amount of satellite data now available from public and private satellite operators.

The Catapult and Precision Decisions (a precision farming company) are co-developing software tools that will enable UK farmers to use satellite data to assess variability across different fields. The Field Variability Assessment Tool aims to improve farmer access to Earth observation (EO) data and help decision-making around investment in precision farming services. While historic satellite EO data is freely available, offering a valuable resource and an opportunity for farmers to evaluate the historic variability within their fields, current tools do not allow them to readily exploit this data, as the datasets are complex and lack compatibility with farmers’ existing systems.

Our Applied Digital Intelligence team is responsible for data processing for this project, while Precision Decisions is building the software tools and apps to deliver the data to the farmer in a format that is both accessible and easy to digest. The resulting solution will allow the UK farming community to benefit from EO imagery and demystify the use of satellite technology within the agricultural sector.

The UK Space Agency and the Catapult have formally announced the launch of the jointly funded and developed Sentinel Data Access Service (SEDAS) – an online data hub that will enable UK end-users to access data from the Copernicus Earth observation (EO) Sentinel satellites.

SEDAS was created to help organisations make use of the vast amount of satellite data now available from public and private satellite operators. Through the premium web-based interface, end-users can learn about, discover and analyse EO data, download news and educational content, and participate in discussion forums. SEDAS will serve both expert and non-expert users, enabling organisations with all levels of experience to access, use and benefit from EO data.

The SEDAS tools enable Sentinel-1 radar data to be searched by location, by drawing a shape or uploading a shape file to define an area of interest. Users can also specify a period of interest. Results for existing data can be downloaded, and details of data scheduled to be collected over the following fortnight will also be provided.

The aim of the app is to develop an easy-to-use, low-cost tool for arable farmers that will overlay data onto their existing field maps to illustrate where their greatest field soil variability is likely to be. Consequently, farmers will be able to focus their resources on those fields in order to get significantly improved returns from any investment in precision farming technology and services, while saving money when field variability is shown to be low.

Author: Mark Jarman

Sentinel-2 data will be available on SEDAS from late October and will provide wide-area, high-resolution, multispectral imagery in a range of optical bands, which will aid efforts to tackle deforestation, food security, disaster monitoring and coastal pollution. The satellite provides global coverage of the Earth’s land surface every 10 days, making the data of great value in ongoing studies.

Currently, SEDAS can provide immediate access to a 30-day rolling archive of data. In a future enhancement, users will be able to request data from outside the 30-day archive period.

Author: Louise Hetherton

Satellite data will help farmers assess variability across different fields.

Sentinel-1 radar vision.

Developing an Agri-tech App

Easy Access to Sentinel Data Through SEDAS

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The Chilean Ministry of Mines has commissioned a project to boost the Chilean national mineral and metal output of SMEs by $1.8 billion per year by 2023.

Our Ocean conference brought together interested parties with the shared goal of protecting and preserving the ocean.

We are leading an international team of British and Chilean organisations investigating how satellite technology can improve mining operations in Chile’s Coquimbo region, with a particular focus on the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which often represent the major part of local economies.

The project is the start of a programme being commissioned by the Chilean Ministry of Mines aimed at boosting the Chilean national mineral and metal output of SMEs by $1.8 billion per year by 2023, and is a component of the Government’s ‘Roadmap 2035 Strategy’. The initiative aims to bring significant economic improvements to Chile’s mining sector over the next decade, and deliver improvements in environmental management of extractive industries which will have broader applicability worldwide.

Working alongside us for ‘Project Hephaestus’ is the British Geological Survey, and from Chile the Empresa Nacional de Minería (ENAMI), the Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (SERNAGEOMIN) and the Comisión Chilena del Cobre (COCHILCO). Several European information data suppliers

are also involved, including Terrabotics, Airbus, European Space Imaging and Intermap, with UK Trade and Investment at the British Embassy in Santiago providing essential local coordination and facilitation support.

This project is supported by the Newton Fund and is due for completion at the end of 2016. We hope it will generate significant commercial opportunities for UK and Chilean companies alike in this area during 2017 and beyond.

Author: Estel Blay

Chilean Mining Industry Considering the Long-term Benefits of Space-Based Technology

Our Ocean Conference – Combatting Illegal FishingFor the second year running the Catapult attended the exclusive Our Ocean conference, a high energy, inspirational event, hosted at the US Department of State by US Secretary of State John Kerry. Our Ocean is a confluence of governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), philanthropists,

scientists and the private sector with the shared goal of protecting and preserving the ocean. Speakers included John Kerry, Barack Obama, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, His Serene Highness The Prince of Monaco, Sir Alan Duncan (UK Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs), Leonardo

Chuquicamata in Chile is the world's biggest open pit copper mine.

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136 new initiatives were announced on marine conservation worth $5.24 billion, as well as protection of more than 4 million square kilometres of ocean.

US Secretary of State John Kerry personally highlighted the Satellite Applications Catapult’s role in helping combat IUU as part of this initiative.

Furthermore, Sir Alan pledged up to £20 million over the next four years to support the implementation, management, surveillance and enforcement of these new marine protected areas, which he termed the “Blue Belt”.

Following on from the 2015 conference, the Safe Ocean Network, in which we participated, was expanded to include 45 governments, 40 counter IUU projects, a range of NGOs and philanthropists, and many technology solutions including Eyes on the Seas. John Kerry personally highlighted the Satellite Applications Catapult’s role in helping combat IUU as part of this initiative (see video link below).

The threats facing the ocean are indeed dire, and action must be taken immediately to reverse the alarming trends, but the commitment to the challenge was palpable, and it gives rise to substantial opportunities. As President Obama said: “Working together we will save our oceans.”

In order to maintain the momentum towards these targets it was announced that the next Our Ocean conference will be held in 2017 in Malta, followed by Indonesia in 2018 and Norway in 2019.

Author: Nick Wise

Our Ocean official website: http://ourocean2016.org

Commitments made at Our Ocean conference: http://ourocean2016.org/commitments/

National Geographic Our Ocean conference video: https://youtu.be/o0AOkDpzNBM

John Kerry introduction: https://youtu.be/_639TkjC6Og

President Obama speech: https://youtu.be/e9e4l28GeSc

John Kerry closing speech: https://youtu.be/f8uszZcyIKE

John Kerry, Safe Ocean Network announcement: this includes a mention of the Satellite Applications Catapult!: https://youtu.be/f8uszZcyIKE?t=638

DiCaprio, and many more. Nick Wise, Head of Ocean Sustainability, was our representative.

Our Ocean focuses on specific threats to ocean health that are considered immediate and dire, including illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, overfishing, pollution and climate change. The conference was structured around panel sessions of prominent leaders, with sessions for governments, NGOs and scientists to highlight their work and make announcements. The primary purpose of the conference was to continue momentum behind the commitments that attendees had made in previous years and to encourage new commitments to concrete actions to protect and preserve the Earth’s oceans.

Announcements were made about 136 new initiatives on marine conservation and protection valued at more than $5.24 billion, as well as the protection of more than 4 million square kilometres of ocean, which, when added to existing protections, amounts to approximately 3% of the ocean. However, it was highlighted that around 30% of the ocean needs such protection to ensure ocean health into the future, and a target of 2030 was set for this level of protection. An interim target of 10% by 2020 was also set.

On behalf of the UK, Sir Alan Duncan announced the designation of a marine protected area throughout the whole of St Helena's 445,000 square kilometre maritime zone and the final establishment of the marine protected area around the Pitcairn Islands, which permanently closes 840,000 square kilometres of its maritime zone. In addition, the Minister announced a roadmap to define a marine protected area around Ascension Island covering at least 220,000 square kilometres by 2019 and a commitment to establish a regime for protecting the waters across the entire 750,000 square kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone in Tristan da Cunha by 2020. The Catapult, through its Eyes on the Seas project, has assisted with the monitoring of some of these UK overseas territories marine reserves.

Sea lion taking refuge in seaweed.

John Kerry addresses delegates.

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Operation Kurukuru 2015 was the first operation where the Australian Royal Navy received, reviewed and processed satellite-based surveillance imagery to augment and confirm the data generated by the Regional Surveillance Picture.

Healthcare services around the world are under increased pressure due to reduced budgets and growing and ageing populations.

Project Eyes on the Seas – a joint collaboration between the Catapult and The Pew Charitable Trusts – has made a ground-breaking contribution to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency’s (FFA) annual initiative to identify and respond to illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing.

Operation Kurukuru 2015 involved the largest intelligence and analysis team ever to participate in a Pacific fisheries surveillance operation against IUU. It featured the use of satellite-based surveillance, thanks in part to the Catapult’s Ocean Sustainability Business Unit. We delivered analysis of satellite observations that provided significant situational awareness over the waters of several countries that are members of the Polynesian Leaders Group (PLG), a subset of the FFA.

Operation Kurukuru 2015 was the first operation during which the Royal Australian Navy received, reviewed and processed satellite-based surveillance imagery to augment and confirm the data generated by the Regional Surveillance Picture. The information provided by the Catapult served to improve the overall

Partnering with Polynesian Leaders Group on Anti-Illegal Fishing Operations

clarity of the Regional Surveillance Picture, with data analysis of known contacts giving us indications of illicit activity.

Following Operation Kurukuru 2015, Eyes on the Seas is continuing to support the extensive monitoring, control and surveillance efforts of several PLG member countries. This support will include the use of sensors to identify ‘dark’ vessels, along with analysis of vessel behaviour and permits that together will enable us to inform the relevant authorities of suspicious or abnormal activity that may warrant further investigation.

Author: Brad Soule

Waters around the French Polynesian Island of Moorea.

Healthcare services around the world are coming under increasing pressure due to reduced budgets and growing and ageing populations. This is leading to higher numbers of patients with multiple chronic conditions; an issue which is exacerbated in developing countries, which typically have poorer standards of healthcare and

Supporting Mobile Health in Peru

Peruvian woman on street corner.

more limited access to resources than other nations.

To support this growing problem, we are working on a project with Cayetano Heredia University in northern Peru to improve healthcare provision in remote areas of Amazonia. This uses enhanced

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The Catapult is working in Peru and is ideally placed to bring together businesses and service providers from both countries to establish long-term solutions, which can then be applied elsewhere in the world.

In 2015, we were awarded the Cyber Essential Plus certificate. Achieving this was of paramount importance and has now been agreed as the minimum standard for cyber security across the Catapult family.

Across the Catapult, we believe it is imperative that protective security is given the appropriate consideration within all areas of our business. Through engagement with many companies, we aim to provide assurance that where information is exchanged, confidentiality of information is protected in line with both customer expectations and best practice.

In 2015 we were awarded the Cyber Essentials Plus certification. Achieving this was of paramount importance to us, and it has now been recommended and agreed as the minimum standard for cyber security across the Catapult family.

With the ever-increasing and real cyber threat to all businesses, and the space

Securing Your Assetscommunity as a whole, we will continue to offer protective security guidance to all SMEs that we engage with and the additional offer of a Government-accredited secure working area for sensitive projects.

On 22 September, David Livingstone, with co-author Dr Patricia Lewis, published a Chatham House study into space and cyber security. To download a copy please visit: https://reader.chathamhouse.org/space-final-frontier-cybersecurity or for more information on securing your assets, please contact: george.balmer@sa.catapult.org.uk

Author: George Balmer

connectivity for mobile healthcare facilities combined with the use of electronic and mobile health (eHealth and m-Health) solutions.

This is a nine-month project which aims to analyse and research which technological solutions can better support patients and practitioners in the local Peruvian communities and improve the quality of and access to critical healthcare services. Maternal, newborn and child health, and the Zika virus will be prioritised health case studies.

The project focuses on Loreto, Peru’s northernmost and largest region, which is

one of the most sparsely populated areas due to its remote location in the Amazon rainforest. Loreto has a physician-patient ratio of 0.08 per 1,000 people – one tenth of the Peruvian average of 0.81.

The Catapult is already working in Peru and is ideally placed to bring together businesses and service providers from both countries to establish long-term solutions, which can then be applied elsewhere in the world.

Cayetano Heredia University, which works in the Amazon region and has experience in eHealth projects, will be responsible for local support in defining clinical needs as well as providing field knowledge and community interaction.

The project is supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Prosperity Fund scheme.

For more information about potential funding routes as well as more information on this project, please visit the Events pages on our website.

Author: Estel Blay

Our Climate, Environment and Monitoring from Space (CEMS) facility is now offering innovative new features and capabilities that are available within the cloud.

A revised pricing structure has recently been introduced, plus the introduction of several new features and services that

CEMS – Cloud Computing for the Space Community

Traditional house in the village of Pantoja, in the Lorento region of Peru.

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GRASP involves the installation of the new antenna on the International Space Station and will be used to detect a variety of forms of electronic intelligence, including Automatic Identification System (AIS).

US Opportunities UpdateGRASPThe Global Receive Antenna on Space Station (GRASP) project has been awarded funding from the Centre for Advancement in Science and Space (CASIS). We have put together a UK team to manage the project, including UK company/university engagement, and to secure funding for the development of the technologies.

GRASP involves the installation of a new antenna on the International Space Station (ISS) and will be used to detect a variety of forms of electronic intelligence, including Automatic Identification System (AIS). The US team will be travelling to the UK in October to meet UK companies and universities involved in the project. UK participants include: ETL Systems, ESRO and Queen Mary University.

New OrleansProgress is being made on the Situational Awareness Trial in the Gulf of Mexico, which aims to see whether fibreglass vessels can be detected using a combination of satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical imagery. The proposal, submitted by the Catapult, has now been agreed with the US Coast Guard (USCG) District 8 and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). The trial will be focused within an area measuring 7 × 7 nautical miles in the Gulf of Mexico and will involve deployment of two USCG vessels (an 87ft patrol boat and a 17ft cutter) and one TPWD 65ft boat.

Progress is also being made on the New Orleans Water and Vegetation project using imagery from Sentinel-2 to demonstrate what could be done with free data. The City of New Orleans has expressed significant interest and there is potential to involve other interested parties, including the Coastal Restoration Programme and the Trust for Public Land. The imagery has been recognised as being very useful for monitoring soil moisture levels and the state of wetland areas and

vegetation in general. Our next steps are to submit a more formal proposal of what could be provided with higher resolution commercial imagery and a cost benefit analysis of satellite imagery versus aerial photography. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Catapult and New Orleans City Council is being developed.

Flooding & InsuranceDiscussions are underway with the British Consul General in Miami in relation to a series of events focused on insurance, natural hazards and resilience, with a particular focus on sea level rise and flooding. The objective is to identify opportunities to invest in infrastructure that will reduce the possibility of future flooding. These investments could be partially funded by insurance companies through bonds, which will reduce the risk to those insurers. We have been invited to participate in a roadshow to demonstrate the role satellites can play. The roadshow will take place in early 2017 and focus on cities that are already developing resilience strategies, including Miami, San Francisco, Boston and possibly a fourth city. Our US representative is working with the Consulate General and his team to develop the events, including introducing UK companies as and when appropriate.

Author: Cathy Johnson

can be added to a tenant’s cloud space. These include near line archive storage, disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) and managed antivirus protection for a tenant’s virtual machines.

CEMS is part of the UK’s collaborative ground segment, which provides distribution, data access and processing facilities for the European Space Agency’s Sentinel satellite missions. CEMS receives a daily feed of Sentinel-1a and 2a data from Airbus Defence and Space,

which can be discovered, viewed and downloaded via the recently launched SEDAS portal, and then processed within the CEMS cloud computing facilities.

In August 2016, CEMS was awarded a place on the G-Cloud 8 Government procurement framework for Infrastructure as a Service.

More information on CEMS can be found on our website.

Author: Rob Fletcher

Sentinel-2 transmitting data by laser.

CEMS is part of the UK’s collaborative ground segment, which provides distribution, data access and processing facilities for ESA’s Sentinel satellite missions.

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With the UK’s growing risk of river and coastal flooding, Liz Cooper, PhD student, is looking at ‘improving flood predictions using data assimilation’.

The significance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects is important to promote to young people interested in pursuing careers within the space sector.

Sixteen of our staff members took part in STEM ambassador training during the summer.

Run by Science Oxford (a not-for-profit organisation promoting science), the ambassadors were given training and advice on working with schools, an overview of the current educational landscape, and ideas and information on how to work closely with schools in the classroom environment.

The significance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects is important to promote to young people interested in pursuing careers within the space sector, as many of the specialist job roles require STEM skills, such as designing and building satellites or analysing satellite data and imagery.

Of the ambassadors trained, many were SPIN (Space Interns in Industry) students undertaking an eight-week work placement within the Catapult. These students were keen to promote space careers to school children, and partake in outreach and engagement activities, on returning to their respective universities.

Being a STEM ambassador is a UK-wide recognised qualification, and can be a great starting point for individuals with a desire to inspire young people and support teachers in the classroom by explaining the most up-to-date application of STEM within industry or research environments.

STEM Training Gives Ambassadors Opportunity to Grow

Our Catapult STEM ambassadors have already taken part in a number of schools’ outreach activities including an Earth observation schools event during World Space Week (4-10 October).

Christopher Duff, STEM Engagement Coordinator for the Catapult, said: “It is great to now have so many of the staff trained as ambassadors. It means that schools can be confident knowing that each ambassador is able to walk into a classroom, or a room here at the Catapult, and deliver a high quality activity or talk about the diverse range of uses of satellite data and technology, to a number of students, highlighting to them the role STEM plays in the space sector.”

Author: Gemma Wilson

STEM ambassador training.

Liz Cooper, a PhD student at the University of Reading, is part of the SCENARIO doctoral training programme (DTP) at Reading, funded by the National Environment Research Council (NERC) with support from the Catapult.

Her project is called ‘Improving flood predictions using data assimilation’, and is concerned with forecasting flooding from rivers. Flooding is a major and costly problem in the UK and worldwide, with an estimated two million properties in the UK at risk of river or coastal flooding. Furthermore, climate models suggest that the volume and intensity of rainfall over

the UK are likely to increase in the future, which may lead to more frequent and more extreme flooding events.

Flood inundation forecasts use a computational model to predict where flood water from an overtopping river will go in space and time. The figure shows a map of flood depths in a simple domain as an example of output from an inundation forecast model. Real-time, accurate forecasting of this type can

Liz Cooper – PhD Student Improving Flood Prediction Using Data Assimilation

Liz Cooper.

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Real-time accurate forecasting can help mitigate the damage caused by flood events by warning people when and where they are likely to be affected by flooding.

UAVs can become an essential farming tool, both as imaging sources and as farming machinery, (for example as drone sprayers).

help to mitigate the damage caused by flood events by warning people when and where they are likely to be affected. Data assimilation (DA) is a sophisticated mathematical technique for improving forecasts, by combining model and observational data, taking account of uncertainties in the data.

Mathematical inundation models require information about the topography of the area at risk of flooding (often available as a digital terrain map) and information about the inflow of water into the area (such as from an upstream river gauge or from a hydrologic model). The model equations also contain uncertain parameters describing, for example, the effect of friction on the flowing water. Her project uses data assimilation to combine model predictions with synthetic aperture radar

(SAR)-derived water level observations as they become available from satellite overpasses, thus reducing uncertainty and improving inundation forecasts. Furthermore, DA can be used to update values of uncertain model parameters from the same observations as part of the DA process. Such techniques have been demonstrated for a few test cases. Liz’s project aims to address some of the underlying questions concerning the impact of observations on the forecast. She is also interested in trying out different ways of extracting information from SAR images in order to use them in the DA framework.

Liz has spent time working at the Catapult office, including using the Climate, Environment and Monitoring from Space (CEMS) facility and the Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP) toolbox to look at and manipulate some Sentinel-1 SAR images.

She said: "I found this particularly useful, as so far my work at Reading has been more focussed on the theoretical parts of the project. Applying techniques such as calibration, geo-location and speckle filtering has given me a much better understanding of the work that goes into producing the data which I need for my project. It has also been really interesting to get an idea of the huge variety and scope of projects with which the Catapult is involved, and to talk to experts on the Applied Digital Intelligence team about their work. I hope to be back again soon!”

Author: Nafeesa Dajda

Forecast flood depths from an inundation model in a simple model domain with a central channel and symmetrical flood plain. The green colour represents dry land and the numbers show locations of simulated river gauges.

associate farms with machines such as tractors or enabling technologies such as real time kinematic (RTK) navigation.

By exploring the plans for the UK Government’s remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) ‘Pathfinder’ projects and the current UAV landscape within

The Catapult recently published a white paper to look at how unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies can become an integral or ‘invisible’ precision farming technology exploitable by different users across the agricultural sector. UAV technology has not yet reached maturity, with many agricultural end-users failing to see any proven agronomic or economic benefits of the technology or data products.

The challenge, therefore, is to address the current status of how these systems are being exploited and to address this alongside other regulatory, operational and analytical developments. By doing so, UAVs can become an essential farming tool, both as imaging sources and as farming machines (for example as drone sprayers), in the same way that we

UAVs for UK Agriculture: Creating an Invisible Precision Farming Technology

Drone camera flying over field.

We have extended our popular monthly Satuccino networking event through our Centres of Excellence to enable a wider audience to benefit.

On the first Wednesday of each month, we host up to 120 people at our offices in Harwell, enabling space sector companies to engage and learn about the latest updates on our activities, discover what neighbouring organisations are up to, hear about new collaborations or funding opportunities, share ideas and network. This is all done over a specially created Satuccino coffee and other refreshments. In September, we broadened its scope,

agriculture, the white paper considered how the identified enablers across four identified areas – Systems, Infrastructure and Platforms; Sensors, Data and Information Services; Products and Applications; Users and Benefits – can be

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Mark Jarman, Senior Earth Observation Specialist, is elected as new Vice-Chairman of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society.

Our popular monthly Satuccino event is adding an ‘extra shot’ with simultaneous events taking place at our Centres of Excellence.

Mark Jarman, Senior Earth Observation Specialist at the Catapult, was recently elected the new Vice-Chairman of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc) during the society’s annual conference in September. RSPSoc is the UK's leading society for remote sensing and photogrammetry, and their application to education, science, research, industry, commerce and public services, both in the UK and around the world. As a charity, its remit is to inform and educate its members and the public. The society also supports networking between the university, business and government sectors.

Author: Richard Hilton

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Mark Jarman elected Vice-Chairman of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society

Introducing the Satuccino ‘Extra-shot’with a Satuccino event hosted by the South West Centre of Excellence at the Exeter Science Park at the same time as the one at Harwell. A Skype link-up from Harwell was set up, and delegates from each location were able to hear the presentations and network across the ether.

The next ‘Extra-shot’ will be scheduled at our Centre of Excellence in Scotland on Wednesday 2 November. For more information, please visit the Events section of our website: sa.catapult.org.uk/events

Author: Henrieta Sanislova

exploited to ensure successful exploitation of UAVs within precision farming.

You can access the white paper on our website.

Author: Mark Jarman

Guests gathering at the September Satuccino event.

Mark Jarman, the Catapult's Senior Earth Observation Specialist.

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The Catapult is supporting the Women in Aerospace (WIA) local group which will be officially launched at the Reinventing Space conference in October 2016.

World Space Week – an international celebration of science and technology, and its contribution to the betterment of the human condition.

Female employees within the Catapult are supporting the development of a ‘UK Women in Aerospace’ (WIA) local group. The new WIA group was initiated through a networking event at the Farnborough Airshow in July 2016 and will officially launch at the Reinventing Space conference taking place in London in October 2016. The WIA group has already generated interest from over 40 women.

WIA’s aims are to: raise awareness of the behaviours and policies required to make it easier for women to achieve their potential in the aerospace sector; support existing female employees and those just entering the industry; and raise awareness of the

opportunities for women in the UK space sector. WIA will also provide support and leverage the networks of experts, business leaders and policy makers to help promote this initiative through major events. Committee members have been drawn from women in the aerospace community, including the Catapult, CGI, UK Space Agency, Neptec and QinetiQ, and the group is chaired by Elizabeth Seward from Airbus Defence and Space.

If you are interested in joining the group, please email: wiaeurope@gmail.com

Author: Karen Rogers

Women in Aerospace

Events Round-Up

October SatuccinoDate: 5 October 2016 Venue: Satellite Applications Catapult, Harwell

This month’s event took place on Wednesday 5 October, with over 70 people attending from around the space sector, to celebrate Satuccino’s 2nd birthday. The 60-second presentations covered topics such as an update on the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme, the Innovate UK In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) opportunities (featured earlier in the newsletter), an introduction to Threads (also featured), and the winners of the European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) and Copernicus Masters. Company pitches were given by Oxford Space Systems,

Qurus, Canaria and Grant Tree. Andy Proctor from Innovate UK also gave an overview of the first Innovate UK Emerging and Enabling Competition.

To find out more, visit the Satuccino web page: https://sa.catapult.org.uk/news-events-gallery/events/october-satuccino/

World Space Week – Space Night 2016Date: 5 October 2016 Venue: The Hive, Sawmill Walk, Worcester, WR1 4PD

World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and its contribution to the betterment of the human condition.

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Innovate 2016 is taking place at Manchester Central: to get your 20% registration discount use code INNOFRIENDS.

Mathematics for Planet Earth – Sandpit Meeting – 19 October 2016, Imperial College London. If you’re a PhD and Mres supervisor, individual partner or a student, come along and join us.

market. Representatives from the Catapult spoke and moderated at several special interest sessions, and were on hand on the EU Pavilion to discuss opportunities for satellite technology within ITS.

For more information please contact: Ashweeni.Beeharee@sa.catapult.org.uk

Mathematics for Planet Earth – Sandpit MeetingDate: 19 October 2016 Venue: Imperial College London

The Mathematics for Planet Earth Centre for Doctoral Training hosted a ‘Sandpit’ meeting at Imperial College for potential PhD and MRes supervisors, industrial partners and students. There were short talks about research interests as well as break-out groups where supervisory teams were created and links made with students. Electra Panagoulia, our Data Scientist, attended this event.

To view the event agenda, visit: mpecdt.org/sandpit-meeting/

To support this important initative, we attended a public event at The Hive, in Worcester, where families were invited to attend free of charge to come and find out about space activities. We featured our Satellites for Everyone programmes, along with exhibits and presentations from other organisations and businesses. We also we hosted over 60 children at our offices from local schools to come and find out about space, astronauts and what it's like to live in space.

To find out more contact: marketing@sa.catapult.org.uk

One Billion Coalition for Resilience Technology Workshop – Day 1Date: 5 October 2016 Venue: Future Cities Catapult, London

The aim of this workshop was to identify a vision and roadmap for developing the infrastructure to make preparedness and resilience data available to individuals, communities and organisations. The day focused on exploring the blocking issues and corresponding enablers in building an infrastructure environment that would support the One Billion Coalition’s five platforms and their apps, and showcased examples of the types of tools the infrastructure will be likely to support.

One Billion Coalition for Resilience Technology Workshop – Day 2Date: 6 October 2016 Venue: Future Cities Catapult, London

Similar to Day 1 (see above), the aim of the workshop was to identify a vision and roadmap for developing the infrastructure to make preparedness and resilience data available to individuals, communities and organisations. However, Day 2 focused on how to: gain familiarity with the key challenges, ideas and tools that are driving the One Billion Coalition for Resilience; outline the scale of the problem, the identified needs and opportunities from Day 1; and broaden and diversify the One Billion Coalition and identify routes to success, including funding.

ITS MelbourneDate: 10-14 October, 2016 Venue: Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Australia

ITS Melbourne 2016 is identified as one of the key engagement events under our Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) programme. Having a presence within the EU Pavilion at the event provided us and the UK satellite industry with the opportunity to further engage with the ITS community, and with the Asia-Pacific

Innovate 2016Date: 2-3 November 2016 Venue: Manchester Central, Windmill Street, Manchester

Innovate 2016 will act as a key platform to communicate messages on government policy, strategy and support in key areas for improving economic prosperity, driving productivity and developing the North’s potential. The Catapult will have a stand, so please come along and talk to us about how we can potentially help you with business opportunities.

For further details on the event, please visit: www.events.ukti.gov.uk/innovate-uk-2016

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Join us at the International Navigation Conference taking place in Glasgow in November. INC 2016 will feature the latest developments in topics such as indoor positioning, autonomous vehicles and security against cyber attacks.

International Navigation Conference 2016Date: 8-10 November 2016 Venue: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

The Catapult will be taking part in the Royal Institute of Navigation’s International Navigation Conference 2016 (INC 16), which will address cutting-edge issues in positioning, navigation and timing. INC 16 will feature the latest developments in topics such as GNSS, indoor positioning, autonomous transport, security against cyber-attacks, resilience and quantum technology. The conference will include peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed tracks, and will cater for academic, industrial and end-user interests.

For more information please visit: www.internationalnavigationconference.org.uk

SpaceCom 2016Date: 15-17 November 2016 Venue: George R Brown Convention Centre, Houston, USA

The Catapult will be returning to the Space Commerce Conference and Exposition (SpaceCom), a three-day event engineered to highlight the intersection points between terrestrial industries and the aerospace community. SpaceCom 2016 will explore business opportunities from, and between, space and terrestrial industries, with an emphasis on common technology challenges across industries. Our CEO Stuart Martin will be taking part in the opening plenary, while other Catapult experts and interested SMEs will be presenting in featured sessions on energy, maritime advanced manufacturing, agri-business and medical.

Stuart Martin will be part of the opening plenary session at this year’s SpaceCom, a three-day event engineered to highlight the intersection points between terrestrial industries and the aerospace community.

If you are interested in joining the Catapult stand at the event or want to find out more, please contact: marketing@sa.catapult.org.uk

To find out more about the event please visit: www.spacecomexpo.com

UK Space Conference 2017Hold the date: 30 May – 1 June 2017 Venue: Manchester Central, Manchester

The most influential event for space in the UK – the 2017 UK Space Conference – is set to be the best and biggest ever. Held every two years, this flagship event brings together the entire space community, including government, industry, academia, end-users, education providers, researchers and the financial community.

Taking place over two and a half days, the UK Space Conference 2017 is the key opportunity in the space calendar to meet, network, do business and shape the landscape for the coming years.

The UK Space Conference 2017 is an exceptional opportunity to increase awareness of your brand across the supply chain and for your organisation to demonstrate its engagement in the strategic issues affecting the space sector.

Email: sponsorship@ukspace2017.co.uk for more information.

World Agri-SummitDate: 2-3 November 2016 Venue: 5 More London, Tooley Street, London

The World Agri-Tech Investment Summit returns to London for two days of networking and debate. Global agribusinesses, venture capital investors and technology start-ups from around the world come together to uncover exciting innovations in agricultural technology, and to forge the right partnerships to take those solutions to market. The Catapult will be attending the summit, alongside several SMEs in the agri-tech field.

For more information, please visit: worldagritechinvestment.com/

Satellite Applications Catapult Ltd is an independent technology and innovation company. It is one of a network of elite centres established by Innovate UK to accelerate the take-up of emerging technologies and drive economic growth. The Satellite Applications Catapult is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company Registration Number 07964746. Registered office: Electron Building, Fermi Avenue, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QR, UK.

Electron BuildingFermi AvenueHarwell OxfordDidcotOxfordshireOX11 0QR

For more information:

T: +44 (0) 1235 567999W: sa.catapult.org.ukE: info@sa.catapult.org.uk @SatAppsCatapult

October 2016