Foster the development of innovative applications, bridge the gap between research and real-world needs, and establish international cooperation. This is the formula of the STEREO programme of BELSPO to support research in Earth observation.

After the welcome given to the participants by Ms Dominique Tilmans, Eurisy president and former senator of Belgium, this new episode of the Eurisy Members’ Corner series was introduced by Jean-Christophe Schyns, from BELSPO’s Earth Observation programme.

The STEREO programme (Support To Exploitation and Research in Earth Observation), managed by the “Space Research and Applications” directorate of BELSPO, offers to Belgian universities, public scientific institutions and non-profit research organisations opportunities and tools for the development of an expertise in Earth observation and a maximised scientific use of satellite and airborne data.

The current edition (STEREO-III) will end in 2022, but a new call has already been released to look for applicants for the next programme’s phase. Considering the relatively small size of Belgium, the investments made in this programme by the government are not negligible at all.

The programme funds projects with a duration of 2-5 years with a budget that currently ranges from 200.000 up to 1 million EUR, according to the scope of the project and the number of partners involved. Non-Belgian institutions can also be partners in this funding scheme.

Epidemiology and Urban Studies have been among the thematic priorities of STEREO-III, which funded three interconnected projects on population and malaria risk in sub-Saharan African cities. Such projects included five Belgian and three foreign research teams with a total budget of 2,25 M EUR, and aimed at developing tools based on EO to be made freely available to the local populations.

Catherine Linard, from the Department of Geography of the University of Namur, presented two of these projects, MAUPP and REACT.

Even though in Africa only 40% of the population lives in cities, urbanisation represents a growing trend, and a challenge for urban planners who need to adapt the cities’ infrastructure to a growing population.

The STEREO-III projects presented in the webinar aimed at providing urban planners with the data they need to prepare for upcoming risks in African cities. Indeed, even if large-scale gridded population datasets exist, the quality of such data for African cities is often insufficient for urban planning.

To estimate and monitor risks in cities, planners need data on the risk areas and on the population living there. When observing high resolution images of African urban areas, the researchers saw that such cities are very heterogeneous in the materials used for building and in their natural features, which makes it particularly difficult to build a system to characterise urban areas that could be immediately adapted to different cities.

Within the MAUPP project (Modeling and forecasting African Urban Population Patterns), aimed to build a monitoring system on urban areas that could be refined, researchers used high-resolution images (30-100 m) on 48 African cities and very-high-resolution images (<5 m) in the cities of Ouagadougou and Dakar. Satellite imagery allowed them to realise land cover and land use maps and detailed intra-urban population datasets for these two cities.

Within the REACT project (Remote Sensing foe Epidemiology in Sub-Saharan African CitTes), scientists used satellite imagery to improve knowledge of intra- and inter-urban malaria risk. They started by collecting feedback from the population through a survey. The results of the survey were then coupled with EO data on climate variables influencing vector-borne diseases (such as temperature, humidity, and vegetation), to identify hotspots where diseases are more likely to be transmitted within urban areas.

The project included knowledge transfer workshops aimed at providing local stakeholders with the capabilities to use the EO-based maps produced.

According to Ms Linard, it is very important that the EO datasets produced within projects are used by local urban planners, but it is also crucial to inform them about the uncertainties of such datasets.

Sabine Vanhuysse, from the Earth Observation and Geospatial Information Science department of the Free University of Brussels, presented the SLUMAP project (Remote Sensing for Slum Mapping and Characterisation in sub-Saharan African Cities), aimed at developing an open-source framework for the processing of remote sensing images to identify and characterise deprived urban areas.

The first target of the Sustainable Development Goal 11 aims at ensuring safe and affordable housing for all by 2030. Nevertheless, the UN estimates that 1 billion people still leave today in deprived urban areas.

To support a better management of deprived areas in African cities, the researchers involved a number of local stakeholders in a needs’ assessment that highlighted a gap in spatial data in such areas. Also in this case, the heterogeneity of deprived urban areas represented a challenge for the transferability of a satellite-based system to characterise deprived areas in different cities. At the same time, the cost of very high resolution images limits the scalability of such solutions.

Having these challenges in mind, the researchers used EO to assess deprivation probability in African cities. Satellite imagery was used to map urban morphology, characterise land cover, assess buildings’ density, and identify waste piles.

EO images were also shown to the local population through a mobile app, in order to assess the perception of deprivation of local populations. Such perception data were then used to calibrate the EO data. The results of the project are meant to be used by local associations to claim measures to improve living conditions in the studied urban areas.

To know more about the activities of BELSPO visit: https://spaceoffice.sk/ 

The recordings of the webinar are available here:

Stay tuned for the next webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner that will be hosted by the French National Centre for Space Studies on the 1st of July 2022 between 11:00 AM and 12:00 AM CET: https://bit.ly/3aoVkBx

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Open doors to foreign partners, connect European and global partners to local companies and look for the hidden potential of the national economy. This is the approach of the Slovak Space Office to enhance the development of the space downstream sector.

Daniel Sagath, International Cooperation Manager at the Slovak Space Office, introduced the audience to the activities and the mission of the newly established national space agency, created one year ago as a common project of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports and of the Investment and Trade Development Agency of Slovakia.

A formula that combines tradition with innovation and that has proved to be successful to get the interest of local entrepreneurs towards the opportunities offered by the space sector both upstream and downstream. The SSO has launched its first business incubator last year and is looking forward to implementing larger projects in the next future.

Slovakia collaborates with policy-making bodies on the international space scene since several years, and the country is soon to join the European Space Agency as an associate member, which will unblock more funding and support opportunities for Slovak companies interested in the potential of satellite applications.

Different Slovak state organisations (ministries and national authorities in charge of transport infrastructure, land monitoring and border control, among others) profit or could profit from GNSS services.

To give examples of the creativity of the Slovak SME ecosystem, in this second webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner series the Slovak Space Office introduced three companies, successfully established on the market, that are using satellite navigation and imagery to boost innovation in road and air transport.

Sygic, a company with 18 years of existence and 200 employees based in Bratislava and Brno, has developed an app/ software based on satellite navigation which has been downloaded by over 200 million people, including more than one million professional drivers, and that counts 12 million monthly active users.

Radim Cmar, Business Architect at Sygic, explained that they are exploring the potential of satellite navigation to enhance the lane assistance feature in their app. GPS satellites can tell on which lane the drivers have to go, but not on which lane the drivers currently are. The Galileo system, with a precision up to one metre, would allow the app to direct the drivers based on the lane they are in.

The company is also looking into the potential of Copernicus satellites to collect floating car data, in particular to assess car density, and to build augmented maps, for example to inform drivers about the weather and city managers about pollution.

NG Aviation provides instead services to facilitate the digital transition of the civil aviation sector. NG Aviation developed a service based on GNSS to improve airport traffic management, which allows relevant stakeholders to communicate in a common language and using a common data format while supporting a single source of truth.

Ivan Kratochvil, Sales and Business Development Manager at NG Aviation told us that they are mainly interested in using Earth observation data as the main layer to present the information that airport authorities and stakeholders need to share to grant the smooth and safe functioning of an airport. By merging their data with the satellite-based data, NG Aviation can produce real-time statistics that offer a real-added value to improve airports’ cost-efficiency.

Microstep-MIS  has 30 years of experience in developing and manufacturing monitoring and information systems, in data processing, research, and numerical modelling in more than 80 countries. Microstep-MIS targets several sectors, including aviation (the company developed aviation weather systems for 370 airports), hydrology and road transport, among others.

Juraj Bartok, Head of Research at Microstep-MIS, explained that for maritime meteorology, they use satellite navigation data to trace meteorological buoys carried by sea currents. Moreover, Mr Bartok showed how the company employs satellite images taken with 5 to 15-minute frequency to improve fog forecasts in Dubai, where drivers and public authorities need to be warned about dense fogs in highly trafficked highways.  He showcased how satellite imagery allows for the visualisation of the position and the movements of the fog to adjust forecasts and warnings. Finally, he explained how they use EO also to tune up models for sandstorm predictions.

The three examples showed how satellite data can be creatively used to enable innovation in the transport sector and increase transport security.

To know more about the activities of the Slovak Space Office visit: https://spaceoffice.sk/ 

The recordings of the webinar are available here:

Stay tuned for the next webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner that will be hosted by the Belgian Science Policy Office on the 17^th of June 2022 between 11:00 AM and 12:00 AM CET!

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People, Planet, Profit: this is the formula behind the approach of the Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme of the European Space Agency.

During the first webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner series, Davide Coppola, Business Developer and Project Manager at ESA, provided insights into the support and funding opportunities made available by ESA to private companies of all sizes to integrate space technologies and bring their products to the market.

The “3P approach” aims at putting space capabilities to good use to favour the transition into a sustainable, green, and digital Europe.

By providing technical and business support, zero equity funding and access to its partners’ network, the BASS programme supports EU start-ups, SMEs, as well as mid-caps and corporates to define, develop, verify and validate innovative and sustainable applications/services utilising space assets and fulfilling customers and end-users’ needs.

Between 2016 and 2021, the European Space Agency has been supporting more than 600 activities aimed at transferring space technologies to a number of civilian sectors, the most prominent being: Transport and Logistics, Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing, and Health and Social Care.  Most of such activities have been implemented in cooperation with SMEs, while 33% of the private companies involved were “newcomers” in the ESA ecosystem.

Indeed, ESA has simplified the procedure for companies to obtain support to develop their business ideas, with the aim of attracting more and more organisations working on pressing issues such as circular economy, sustainable digital economy, renewable energy, and humanitarian assistance.

A number of funding opportunities are currently open to private companies wishing to embark in the space venture. Some are kick-starter opportunities and other are thematic calls. Information on such opportunities is available on the BASS’ webpage: https://business.esa.int/how-to-apply

An initiative that has not been issued yet is the “Space in response to humanitarian crises” call. An info session to present the call will be organised online on the 21st of April 2022, while the call will open to applications on the 25th. Further information can be accessed here: https://business.esa.int/funding/invitation-to-tender/space-response-to-humanitarian-crises

If you want to know more about the opportunities made available by the Business Applications and Space Solutions (BASS) programme of the European Space Agency visit their webpage: https://business.esa.int/

The recordings of the webinar are available here:

Stay tuned for the next webinar of the Eurisy Members’ Corner that will be hosted by the Slovak Space Office on the 20^th of May 2022 between 11:00 AM and 12:00 AM CET!

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Aimed at both private and public stakeholders, these can facilitate the integration of satellite based applications (Earth Observation, satnav, satcom), as well as other types of technology to manage cultural heritage sites and more.

A detailed look at the calls can be found in Ms Virginia Puzzolo, Head of Space Project Management Sector at the EU’s Research Executive Agency’s presentation here. Here are our top 8 picks!

SPACE-01-EO-2018-2020: The call aims at fostering the development of products that use Copernicus data to create user-centric operational services that will be useful in a number of fields, ranging from environmental protection to land management, infrastructure monitoring and management of cultural heritage.

LC-SPACE-04-EO-2019: Aims to support research activities to foster cross-cutting applications of Earth observation data between sectors ranging from energy to agriculture, health, cultural heritage, and ecosystem preservation, among others.

LC-SPACE-05-EO-2019: The call is directed towards putting together a gap analysis to prepare future activities for Copernicus data. The call challenges the scientific community to map the requirements (type of measurements, geophysical parameters acquired, resolution in space and time, data uncertainty and quality, timeliness, etc.) for in situ data and compare it to the existing observation system to find gaps. It also invites bidders to propose IT solutions to harmonise the acquisition and harmonisation of in-situ data and to better integrate it with Copernicus data.

LC-SPACE-06-EO-2019: Challenges bidders to enhance international cooperation for the shared use of Copernicus data through jointly developed algorithms, services and/or products which could serve local public authorities. Participants are encouraged to use the Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (DIAS) cloud storage, or other existing data access solutions.

DT-SPACE-09-BIZ-2019: Space Hubs aims to specifically support stakeholders that can organise initiatives at local level for start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs to use and commercialise Copernicus and Galileo based products (but not exclusively).

Under the Horizon 2020 Work Programme Part “Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials”, the call SC5-20-2019 is now open for applications! Proposals should include actions to re-activate and re-generate historic urban areas and/or cultural landscapes. They should foster innovation by relevant start-ups, cultural and creative industries, including from the digital technologies sector, small scale advanced manufacturing producers and local ‘makers’, craft workshops, etc. for adaptive re-use and leverage of heritage assets and social integration.

Under the Horizon 2020 Work Programme Part “Europe in a changing world – Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies”, the call DT-TRANSFORMATIONS-11-2019: Collaborative approaches to cultural heritage for social cohesion aims at making cultural experiences more accessible and inclusive.

Proposals should develop strategies for fostering collaborative and participative approaches to cultural encounters via communication channels such as social media platforms, participatory approaches, art and co-designed activities. Proposals should consider both tangible and intangible heritage, researching new applications and tools that allow for a more inclusive approach such as digital tagging of objects or co-authoring of societal and place-based memories.

Bidders to the DT-TRANSFORMATIONS-16-2019 call should propose actions to develop a platform to achieve a common understanding of the requirements for the quality of restoration and also of all other interventions in the historical environment and cultural heritage sites at European level.  Consortia should include partners belonging to research communities, heritage professionals, public and private actors and policy makers at local, regional, national and international levels concerned with the impact assessment and quality of interventions on historical and cultural heritage.

Don’t know where to start? Have a look at a list of “Tips&Tricks” on how to write a high-quality and successful proposal“, presented by Ms Virginia Puzzolo, Head of Space Project Management Sector, Research Executive Agency of the European Commission during our “Space4Culture” event.

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