CIG Ottawa Branch

​

Optimal Earth Observation Monitoring – Simplifying a Complex Problem

In 2016, there were 374 Earth Observation (EO) satellites in orbit around the earth.  This was up from 192 satellites in orbit as recent as 2014!  Statistics from the Earth Observation System and Data Information System (EOSDIS), which is the system that manages NASA’s Earth Science Data, distributes almost 28TB of data a day.  This is just a small portion of the total available EO data on a daily basis.  Design and launch of sensors and satellites are more affordable now than even 5 years ago, and future mission trends introduce a constellation type approach to Earth Observation, which will increase data quantities exponentially.

 
C-CORE has been involved in delivering EO based solutions to clients in the public and private sectors for over 40 years.  This presentation will demonstrate several of C-CORE’s key applications that have leveraged the abundance of EO data into solving real-world problems for communities, municipalities, private sector clients, and governments worldwide.  Applications will include:

​

• Corridor monitoring of pipeline Right of Way for events and breaches;

• Urban infrastructure monitoring of large areas for potential settlement;

• River ice monitoring;

• Community based water quality and sedimentation monitoring; and

• Vegetation trend tracking and monitoring for indications of land coverage changes.

Each of these examples will demonstrate the increased information value, and cost reduction of a monitoring approach that include an EO component from best-suited missions (optical, radar, hyperspectral imagery).

In addition to the ability to access, use and derive relevant information from these EO satellites, it is important to leverage the most recent advances in shared computing, interconnectivity, and cloud storage, to control, host and develop these applications in a way that meets each sector needs, without significant infrastructure investment.  The final part of the presentation will show the current use and future direction of C-CORE infrastructure, and how it has been developed to address both client and developmental needs, while keeping the focus on information requirements and easy to use products.