(First published in Rail Technology Magazine, Issue April/May 2011)

Railways and satellites are not obvious companions, but an increasing number of rail companies across Europe are starting to explore the commercial and operational benefits of integrating space technologies into their systems.

In the latest issue of the Rail Technology Magazine, Alan Brunstrom of the European Space Agency explains the impact that space technology could have on the rail industry in signaling and telecoms.

Based on the example of the IAP funded and UK-based rail project IRISS (Intelligent Railways via Integrated Satellites), he discusses aspects of fuel-efficient driving, better information to support decision making, improved liability of trains and accurate, up-to-date timetable information in relation to the role of space technology.

The complete article is available for download below.

Whether at sea, on rail, staggered or stored, shipping containers can now be tracked worldwide via satellite. Cont-Trak, an efficient satellite-based container tracking solution has been developed with the help of ESA's Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme.

Field tests have been carried out at a container yard in Halifax (CA) to test different staggering or stacking situations and during transit of containers shipping from Europe to North America. Containers were fitted with Cont-Trak terminals and deployed on their normal routes. Terminals were set to provide reports every four hours. These successful tests showed that seamless coverage between North American and European systems can be achieved; that transmission capability in the container environment on board ship, in a harbour, on a truck or rail car was successful; and the system had the capability to receive and process polling commands.

"Cont-Trak can track containers in remote locations where no terrestrial communication networks are available, such as the transit of containers via rail, road, ships in the middle of the ocean, or storage of containers in remote locations all over the world," explains Norbert Hübner, ESA's technical officer for the Cont-Trak project. "The major challenge of the activity was to solve the problem of container staggering which typically represents a major obstacle for the requirement of line of sight communication with satellites. This challenge was met successfully."

The Cont-Trak solution consists of a satellite terminal that is located on the outer hull of the container and contains two distinct elements. The first is the GPS / satellite communication terminal which provides location-based information as well as the link to the communication satellites.

The second element is the newly-developed Container Tracking Interface Module (CTIM). The CTIM communicates with the satellite communication terminal, with container sensors, and with other containers that do not have a line of sight to a communication satellite, via a UHF wireless inter-container communications link. This data is collected and transmitted via an L-band satellite to the specially-designed Cont-Trak server.

"The CTIM will connect to the container that has line of sight to a communications satellite, thereby setting up autonomously a communication network between all containers equipped with the Cont-Trak solution,. says Mr. Hübner. .One big advantage of this solution is that it can be applied globally, as the frequency of the CTIM was chosen to be 2.4 GHz which has no utilisation restrictions worldwide, compared to other frequencies."

Novacom (FR) and GlobalWave (CA) were the original Cont-Trak project contractors. GlobalWave has since been sold to SkyWave Mobile Communications (CA). The GPS / satellite communication terminal used in the Cont-Track solution was based on the MT3550 terminal which is already used commercially. Novacom was responsible for designing the Cont-Trak server.

ESA is helping to take the bite out of mosquitoes and their deadly diseases by tracking their distribution and habitat via satellite-based observations, navigation and mobile communications.

The VECMAP initiative is testing the accurate mapping of mosquitoes in Europe, in particular, mosquitoes carrying diseases, for public health agencies and regional mosquito controllers.

Testing began in 2009 in the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy. Transmitters of disease such as mosquitoes are known as vectors.

With this information, the insects can be kept below the level where they become a nuisance or able to spread disease.

"Diseases such as Dengue or West Nile fever that are carried by mosquito vectors are an increasing public health concern in many European countries, yet very little is known about the distribution of either the diseases or the vectors that transmit them to humans", says Michiel Kruijff, ESA's technical officer.

"There is a clear need for maps showing where mosquitoes have been detected, where they could be and when the population will peak".

"VECMAP is now being refined and is planned to be tested further by users in several European countries during the next two summer seasons to prepare for commercial marketing."

But predicting mosquito presence, abundance and risks is difficult. The conditions, location and timing of hatching vary widely between species. Highly detailed and frequent information on the local environment and weather conditions are required.

ESA has enabled three companies to join forces in developing VECMAP, who are now working closely with  a representative selection of potential users, i.e. public health, industrial and academic entities. These involved users have been coordinated by The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

VECMAP is a system and service that addresses the problem by integrating the entire process of producing risk maps into a single package that can be used by a wide range of practitioners.

"It literally is a one-stop-shop for vector mapping", says Dr Marieta Braks, a medical entomologist at RIVM.

VECMAP combines inputs from field work and Earth observation satellites such as vegetation, land temperature, moisture and water bodies. The field measurements are entered into a palm-to-web terminal or smart phone, which pinpoints them using satellite navigation. Then they are transferred to a central database. In this way, the field work can be done effectively and independently.

While VECMAP is tailored for mosquito mapping, it can be expanded to other vectors of disease targets that are largely under influence of environmental and climatic factors such as ticks, biting midges as well as wide range of animal and even the human diseases they transmit.

The consortium is led by Avia-GIS (BE), a company specialising in spatial risk management, and includes ERGO (GB), MEDES (FR) as developing partners; VITO (BE) and EARS (NL) which provide remote sensing imagery; and RIVM which represents the user community.

The Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme of the European Space Agency (ESA)  is inviting public and commercial organisations to propose ideas and suggestions for new services in the Alpine area. The aim is to generate ideas leading to new services that will improve business performance and operations, and help enforce new regulatory standards (for instance on environmental protection).

The ideas will be used to help define and consolidate requirements for user-driven services supported through the IAP.

Themes that it is intended to cover in this Call for User Ideas include (but are not restricted to):

• Transport (public and private).
• Tourism (e.g. search and rescue, telemedicine, safety).
• Energy (e.g. hydropower, wind energy, solar energy).
• Environmental Monitoring (e.g. pollution, natural hazards, biodiversity protection).
• Any other promising topic.

The ideas submitted will be used to help define and consolidate requirements of IAP projects which are planned to start in 2012.

Full details of the Call and on how to submit your ideas can be found on the IAP portal at: /opportunities/iap/alpine-call-for-user-ideas.

Your ideas and suggestions should reach us by 22nd May 2011.

The European Space Agency in cooperation with the European Commission and the Telemedicine Task Force (TTF), formally awarded the SAHEL demonstration project to a consortium led by EADS CASA ESPACIO last December 14th 2010. This 18 month initiative aims to support the extension of sustainable eHealth services in Africa through the integrated use of satellite based technologies and other forms of information and communication technologies. 

An operational pilot system connecting some isolated areas in both Western and Eastern countries of the Sub-Saharan Africa will be defined and implemented together with medical centres of excellence. The final goal will be to pave the way for a comprehensive eHealth system including clinical services and eLearning as a contribution to a future pan-African network for telemedicine, in line with the TTF objectives.

The SAHEL project proposes an efficient cooperation between technological players (industries, operators), health stakeholders (health workers, nurses, specialists...), centres of excellence providing medical content for eLearning and NGOs for local implementation with the support of regional actors. Key African partners are involved in the activity such as AMREF for East Africa - a well known health development centre of excellence in Kenya - and Le Kinkeliba for West Africa - a medical NGO set-up in Senegal since 1995.

SAHEL intends to place users at the forefront of the activity. Correspondingly the project will start with an extensive survey lasting six months to retrieve the user needs and service requirements in the domain of health care services in the relevant sub-Saharan Africa countries. For this purpose, a specific questionnaire has been created and will be broadcasted in the following weeks to all key African stakeholders, organisations, health workers and potential users which can provide information about healthcare facilities. SAHEL key for success is to accurately meet the user needs. Consequently it will need to collect a comprehensive set of user driven demands in order to build a suitable telemedicine platform capable of answering satisfactorily to the needs of African citizens.

Contacts:

AMREF (Flying Doctors)

Peter Ngatia: peter.ngatia(at)amref.org

Caroline Mbindyo: caroline.mbindyo(at)amref.org

Le Kinkeliba

Maëlle Prevotat: lekinkekliba(at)gmail.com

Astrium EADS CASA Espacio

Patricia Inigo: patricia.inigo(at)astrium.eads.net

Following an initiative of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF), an open competition on the topic of Space Assets for Demining Assistance (SADA) was launched by ESA. Three consortia have been awarded a contract. To ensure the intended services are directly relevant their target users, the Mine Action community takes the driving seat in the activity.  In particular, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) plays an important role as ESA.s external advisor. GICHD supports ESA in the definition of the study objectives and by providing a neutral perspective during the course of the study.

In a recent interview with ESA (see embedded video below), GICHD representative Dr. Daniel Eriksson shares his views on the added values of space assets, the relevance of the envisaged services, and acknowledges the necessity of a user driven approach:

The three studies will be run in parallel, providing complementary approaches to the complex and multi-faceted problem. They are expected to produce multiple concepts for space enabled services supporting land release in Mine Action, at its various stages.  As part of each feasibility study, the added value, fieldability, affordability and viability of the proposed services will be investigated. The studies will also propose a detailed way forward for one or more pre-operational demonstrations.

Following the information meeting, a User Requirement Consolidation Meeting took place on 27 January at EMSA in Lisbon. Close to 100 participants from representatives from EU Member States, ESA, European Commission Services, the user community, service providers and industry were in attendance.

The detailed results of the EMSA User Benefits Analysis were presented and consolidated as well as the scenario descriptions for the Phase B1 system activity. At the meeting it was recommended to establish a User Group that would support the validation of the user needs, support’s the further definition process of the scenario description as well as the trade offs at mission level.

Close to 50 representatives from EU Member States, ESA, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and ESA JCB delegates attended the second joint EMSA/ESA SAT-AIS initiative information meeting in Lisbon on 26 January. This meeting reviewed the achievements and work in progress since the first information meeting held one year ago.

“One highlight at this meeting included the presentation of the user benefits questionnaire. A total of 53 entities from 28 nations had responded,” said Mr. Carsten Tobehn, Head of SAT-AIS Programme Office Section. “The presentation gave attendees a good overview of information and current status of the EMSA/ESA SAT-AIS Programme.”

The status and functions of the common EMSA/ESA Data Processing Centre (DPC) was discussed. The DPC, an equivalent to the regional server of the terrestrial AIS, will form the space segment or "space node" of EMSA’s SafeSeaNet. The DPC is currently under development in partnership with EMSA through element 20 of ESA's Advanced Research In Telecommunications Systems (ARTES)programme.

The next steps for the Operational Demonstration Mission (ODEM) were also introduced. The ODEM shall demonstrate the SAT-AIS capabilities in a user-driven operational environment and will allow for early provision of services based on a dedicated geographical use-case area, explained Mr. Tobehn.

Presentations given by EMSA and ESA were complemented by a presentation from the Norwegian Space Centre (NSC) which focused on the AISSat1 background, in orbit experience, cooperation activities with ESA and future plans. Following the NSC presentation, EMSA showed a live demonstration of the Norwegian Satellite-AIS data embedded in SafeSeaNet.

One of the biggest challenges for widespread commercial deployment of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is to be able to fly the unmanned aircraft in non-segregated airspace, i.e. in an airspace that is available to any user. In the IAP feasibility study "SINUE (Satellites for the Integration in Non-segregated airspace of UAS in Europe)" it has been investigated how satellites can be used for providing a Beyond Line-of-Sight connection between the Ground Control Station and the unmanned aircraft, both for the purpose of Command & Control and Air Traffic Control (ATC) communication, required to fly the unmanned aircraft itself, as well as for payload communication. Within the project a demonstration scenario has been worked out, which is expected to be able to pave the way for integrating UAS in non-segregated airspace using satellites.

The suggested scenario is focused on maritime surveillance needs as brought forward by a number of end-users. The UAS would be equipped with various sensors and flown over large areas of water to gather surveillance data to detect for example illegal immigration, suspicious shipping, or environmental pollution. Link-budget evaluations as well as simulations verified that satellite communication is capable to supply a reliable high-bit rate communication link to transmit e.g. high-quality video from the aircraft.s sensors to a ground station. The analyses also verified that a two-way Command & Control/ATC relay link can be provided by a satellite in the whole mission area.

A part of the SINUE study has been dedicated to investigate issues related to ATC communication and procedures when flying UAS in controlled non-segregated airspace, which is considered the next main step for UAS air traffic insertion and is also the baseline of the potential demonstration mission. The investigations made use of the NARSIM simulation environment, with which a realistic air traffic control environment can be created and challenging situations can be simulated without having to fly any aircraft for real. The simulations were concentrating on general ATC handling of UAS, both when using terrestrial communications for Line-of-Sight conditions as well as satellite based communications for Beyond Line-of-Sight conditions, and contingency procedures in case of communication loss. The simulated scenarios were demanding involving dense airliner traffic next to the unmanned aircraft.

The main conclusions from these simulations are the following:

. In the considered scenario, handling a UAS did not pose particular problems for the Air Traffic Controllers and the latency caused by the satellite communication had no influence on the controller.s work.

. It is important that the Emergency Procedures for the UAS are well known by the controllers. Emergency routes need to be developed in consultation with the local ATCs.

. A telephone connection between the ATC and the pilot of the UAS needs to be available as back-up and procedures for its use need to be established.

. There was no negative effect on the safety caused by flying the UAS in the considered scenario. Click here to see a video showing how the NARSIM simulations were carried out.

This initiative is carried out in partnership with EDA.

The following is the second part of the interview done to the team in charge of the INTOGENER activity.

This initiative is aimed to give users and companies the opportunity to bring their thoughts and insides from a non-ESA perspective. It will be used by IAP as an additional feedback to find ways of improving towards future projects.

To see the first part of the interview please click here.

Q4. IAP: Your activities are really wide, but it is hard to imagine at first glance a utility using space technology. How will this be done?

Dr. José M. Pardos-Gotor, Head of Technology Projects, ENDESA Corporation

As part of ENDESA.s strategy there has always been an interest in using new technologies to meet operational needs. A practical case reflecting this is the attempt to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of water-flow prediction.

In this context, as earlier mentioned, ENDESA launched the Novare Awards, which are part of ENDESA.s Global Strategy for Sustainability, led by the scientific community and SMEs with the ambition to promote technological innovation; one of these awards led to the HYDRO project, during which, ENDESA had the opportunity to assess the potential of using space technologies for hydropower management.

ENDESA believes that it is necessary to promote the innovative spirit in all matters related to the value chain of the energy industry to successfully address the environmental challenges that are expected in the future economic world development. ENDESA Novare Awards promote the development of R&D&I projects in SMEs and in relevant areas to ENDESA innovation strategy, contributing to serve in a more sustainable way the society energy requirements.

Q5. IAP: What makes you believe that space-based services is what you need in order to solve your issues, and therefore to co-fund this development?

Soledad Zenteno, Technical Support and Technology Management, ENDESA Chile

ENDESA has always had a strong interest in keeping close to the latest technological developments available that can benefit our field of activity, and space-based solutions are part of this. Moreover, the fact that some of our facilities are located in remote areas of difficult access, exploring the use of Earth Observation (EO) technologies seems a natural decision, in complex areas where the use of in-situ sensors is not always possible, remote monitoring solutions could provide a significant advantage.

ENDESA has supported the use of EO data in water-flow predictions, as shown with the support and funds to HYDRO project carried out by Starlab. We expect that HYDRO results will feed into the launch of INTOGENER service and at the same time incorporate new elements and added value for ENDESA. Therefore, both projects are complementary, HYDRO being the R&D foundation project and INTOGENER serving the transition to an operational service. ENDESA once again will support Starlab, providing manpower and logistical support during the INTOGENER execution.

As already mentioned, ENDESA has its own R&D&I programme, funding initiatives coming from companies on several topics related to energy. Starlab achieved one of these contracts in the past, so we have taken the opportunity to ask them how different it is to work for ENDESA or ESA. Laia Romero, INTOGENER Project Manager answers us these questions.

Q6. IAP: Can you explain to us how it is to work with two so different customers such as ENDESA and ESA?

Laia Romero, INTOGENER Project Manager, Starlab

Although both customer relationships are based on a well defined proposal in terms of tasks, timing and outputs, the management approach differs. While ESA tends to be very demanding at technical level and in the reporting of project results to understand how things are done, a company like ENDESA is less worried about the .how. and more focused on the operational results, including what benefits the technology can offer. From our experience, the level of detail on deliverables is much more demanding in ESA projects and requires meticulous documentation. On the contrary, ENDESA appreciates concise reporting and specially values demonstration results.

Another difference is that work with ENDESA usually requires the interaction with more than one department at managerial level, sometimes located in different geographical regions. This makes the relationship more fruitful but more complex as well. In the case of ESA, a unique project officer manages the interaction with the provider through a clear reporting line of communication.

In addition, we have to consider that a client like ENDESA is, at the same time, the final user of the service and technology proposed. This means that some flexibility in the project implementation is required since the operational requirements might vary according to the project progress and final results.

We feel very comfortable working for both kinds of customers. The important thing is to understand well the motivation behind each one and to boost common interest within the project results.

Q7. IAP:How did you hear about IAP? What made you apply to this programme and not to other ESA programmes?

Laia Romero, INTOGENER Project Manager, Starlab

We heard about IAP through our National Delegation . CDTI (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial). CDTI organised an information day where we had the opportunity to hold a short meeting with an IAP representative, to whom we presented a summary of the idea and obtained more information about the IAP application process.

We saw the IAP programme as a great opportunity to fill the gap between the service idea and the commercialisation phase. In our market it is not always easy to launch a new service since this requires major investment, not only for technical development, but also for essential matters such as user federation and promotion. This investment is especially difficult for an SME like Starlab. The IAP co-financing supports the bridge between a mature technology idea and its market commercialisation.

IAP.s long term vision facilitates the link between the service provider and the user, making them work together for a significant period, including further stages such as the demonstration and pre-operational phases. In our opinion, this makes it easier to establish a solid relationship with the user and assess properly the service definition, architecture and validation, aiming to boost the operational phase with minimum risk. Issues such as market prospects and business case are deeply analysed. At the same time, IAP requests the involvement of the user in the service concept definition, making them express their requirements from the beginning and participate directly in the service evolution.

In addition, the IAP programme offers other added value, such as technical advice and a good promotional platform by disseminating the project results within a number of workshops attended by stakeholders and users.

We would encourage other companies to participate in the IAP programme if they have service ideas with an identified target user and with a clear willingness to commercialise the service once operational. The co-financing mode is for sure a good support to companies to achieve results and market success.