High altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS) are systems or platforms that usually float or operate for long periods, sometimes for months, at about 20 km above the Earth’s surface and can be potentially used to complement earth observation satellites.
earth observation
GIS Industry
The Rise of Femtosatellites
Femtosatellites, very small-scale satellites (weighing less than 100 grams / 0.22 lbs), have developed over the last fifteen years thanks to advances in nanotechnology.
GIS Industry
‘SpaceDataHighway’ Delivers Satellite Data in Minutes
A new data delivery system is being tested that will allow the download of data via lasers from satellites within minutes.
GIS Data
Learn How to Access and Use Sentinel-3 Data
Learn how to download and use earth observation data from ESA’s Sentinel-3 satellite.
GIS Data
Use of Earth Observation Data for Oil and Gas
Andrew Cutts, owner of ACGeospatial, discusses the role of GIS and earth observation data in the oil and gas industry in this guest article.
GIS Data
First Satellite Images from Sentinel-2 Delivered
Four days after its launch, the first images from Sentinel-2 have been delivered. Covering an area from central Europe and the Mediterranean, ending in Algeria, images from the satellite is part of the Copernicus environmental monitoring program. Designed as a twin satellite system, Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2b (which will launch in 2016) will provide […]
GIS Data
Free and Open Access to Sentinel Satellite Data
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced that free and open access to Sentinel satellite data will become available during the Copernicus operational phase. Copernicus is an earth observation program operated by a partnership of the European Commission (EC), European Space Agency (ESA), and the European Environment Agency (EEA). The […]
Spatial Analysis
Tracking Global Vegetation with Micro-Satellite Proba-V
The ESA, also known as the European Space Agency, has managed to do a lot of amazing feats in the field of space technology. They have created the Proba-1 and Proba-2 satellites, and their latest microsatellite, the Proba-V, is currently undergoing testing before its launch into space. The Proba-V is […]
GIS Learning
Geospatial Redux: Envisat End of Mission Declared, GIS for Geocaching, Tunneling the Earth
With communication broken with the earth monitoring satellite since April 8, 2012, the European Space Agency (ESA) has declared an end of mission for Envisat. The ten year old satellite has delivered over a thousand terabytes of data, doubling its expected lifespan of five years. The lowering of its orbit back in […]
GIS Data
Envisat Satellite Malfunctioning
Envisat, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) earth observation satellite, has stopped functioning properly. Communication with the satellite was lost on April 8th when data was unable to be retrieved as it passed over the ground control station in Kiruna, Sweden. Efforts by members of the ESA mission control team have […]