Your Global Geospatial Briefing for June 4th: Free Sentinal-2 images; GEO Business; Hexagon and Klau Geomatics; Gaofen-6; Galileo second generation

ESRI users will receive Sentinel-2 Image Services free 

Imagery from the Earth Observation Satellite Sentinel-2 is available through the Living Atlas, included with all ArcGIS online subscriptions, and will now be available to all ESRI ArcGIS users. Part of the largest single Earth observation program Copernicus, the service will include Sentinel-2’s multi-spectral imagery going back 14 months and is updated with new data for all ground locations every five to seven days. 

Largest ever geospatial event in the UK 

Record numbers recently appeared at the fifth installment of GEO business in London, England—the place to do business in GIS. 2602 attendees from 52 countries gathered to discuss Smart Cities, GIS and Big Data, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Engineering, Tunneling, and more. Anticipating a “fourth industrial revolution” fueled by geospatial data, professionals used the event as a chance to network, attend workshops, view what was on offer from over 200 exhibitors including Survey Solutions Scotland, Ordnance Survey, Topcon, GAP Group, Bentley Systems, Trimble, Viametris, Phoenix, CHC Navigation and Leica Geosystems. 

China launches Gaofen-6 

The new Earth observation satellite Gaofen-6 was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on June 2, along with experimental satellite Luojia-1. Gaofen-6 has improved cameras which will allow it to observe chlorophyll and other plant nutrients; it will also be used to monitor agricultural disasters like flooding and drought. The Gaofen satellites have given China increasingly clear views of the planet, with Gaofen-1 able to cover the world in 4 days, Gaofen-2 collecting multispectral images accurate to 0.8 meters in full colour, and Gaofen-5 offering the highest spectral resolution of the Chinese remote-sensing satellites. 

EU will launch the second generation of Galileo satellites

In addition to sending a delegation to Abuja, Nigeria, to seek a partnership in marketing Galileo and Egnos Satellite global programmes, the EU has published a contract notice for the procurement of four new Galileo transition satellites, which will build on the first generation of constellation satellites. Twenty-two first generation Galileo satellites have been deployed thus far with a further 16 to go, and the recent contract notice includes options for additional satellite to join the Galileo constellation in the future. 

Revolutionary solution from Hexagon and KlauGeomatics

A new collaboration between industry-leader Klau Geomatics and Hexagon’s Geosystems Division has produced a new No-Base-Station high accuracy georeferencing solution for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s). The station will allow users to conduct UAV surveying projects without running a GPS reciever–while producing more efficient, high-quality 3-D data.  

Says Adam Chabok, technical director of Klau Geomatics: “Users don’t need any survey equipment to place Ground Control Points (GCPs) or even a local base station for their PPK. They can collect precise georeferenced UAV data and even capture ground check points just using their UAV.” 

The KlauPPK solution is compatible with most fixed wing, multirotor UAV’s or manned aircrafts and is already available in Europe and Australia, and will soon be deployed in North America.