Euromap GmbH to Make IRS Data Available to GMES Service Projects

Euromap GmbH, the exclusive supplier of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) data in Europe, has become the first Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Contributing Mission Entity (GCM) to provide data from optical missions to European Space Agency Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) through dedicated operational interfaces developed as part of the GMES Space Component Data Access (GSC-DA) project.

A corresponding GSC-DA contract, covering the development of interfaces and the supply of data from the IRS-P6 Resourcesat-1, IRS-P5 Cartosat-1, IRS-1C and IRS-1D missions, was signed in May 2009 between ESA and a Euromap-led consortium, with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) working as a sub-contractor.

The interface development was supported by the departments National Ground Segment and Information Technology of the DLR institute German Remote Sensing Data Centre (DFD). The DFD also operates the catalogue system providing access to quick looks and metadata relating to the IRS data received by Euromap in cooperation with the DFD at the ground station in Neustrelitz, Germany.

Frithjof Barner, Technical Director of Euromap, commented, “The software and interface development was a challenge for us as a small company, but by December 2009 we had started, through the respective interfaces of about 4000 ortho products from the Resourcesat-1 LISS-III sensor, contributing to the European wall-to-wall coverage Image2009. Having mastered this we feel well prepared for the operational phase and are looking forward to further cooperation with ESA.”