Space Data for Higher Education to be provided by ScanEx

Universities all over the world will soon be provided with the unique opportunity not only to improve their own educational process but to achieve a truly qualitative breakthrough in the area of training specialists in various fields of activities. Even today Russian Research and Development Center ScanEx and Israeli Company ImageSat International N.V. offers to the participants of the world educational market the opportunity to use space imagery with 1.8 meter resolution acquired by EROS А satellite.

Universities will get UniScan™ compact universal space data receiving stations developed by ScanEx RDC and thoroughly tested in practice as well as free annual subscription to space data reception.

As you know the agreement between ScanEx Center and ImageSat Company on receiving EROS A satellite data at UniScan™ stations in Russia has been in effect since 2004. So far EROS A satellite imagery has been mainly used by governmental agencies and other institutions in creating GIS applications, mapping urban development areas, updating existing maps, monitoring emergencies, environmental monitoring, etc.

Recently ScanEx and ImageSat companies have agreed on introducing the UniScan™ universal station for receiving and processing EROS A data in universities of different countries on flexible financial conditions. Such exclusive offer is new in the world practice. Besides, normally systems of this type are only supplied to large state-run centers for receiving space data.

Use of Earth remote sensing data in finding solutions for vast variety of tasks keeps becoming a part of everyday life. Skills required to operate these data are important for specialists in the area of Earth remote sensing and geographic information systems as well as for those employed in economics, production sector and various branches of national economy.

Vice-President of ScanEx Center Olga Gershenzon assures: “Due to introduction of space data receiving centers in the educational process future specialists will receive practical training on integration of real-time space data in the process of administrative decision-making”.

In fact, the most successful example of integrating capabilities of space data receiving stations in the educational process in Russia was UniScan universal station supplied to Space Geoinformatics Center of S. Korolev Samara State Aerospace University (SSAU) by ScanEx Center in September 2006 for reception of remote sensing data from Terra, Aqua, SPOT 2/4, IRS-P5, IRS-P6, EROS A, EROS B and RADARSAT-1 satellites.

Normally universities use stations for receiving data of low resolution from 250 to 1 000 meters from such satellites as NOAA, Terra or Aqua, which transmit data free of charge.

High cost of licenses to be granted the right to receive high resolution data is a serious constraint for introduction of these data in the educational process. Today universities all over the world are provided with the opportunity to establish their own centers for remote sensing and receiving 1.8 meter resolution data from EROS A satellite on flexible financial terms.

[ScanEx]