Satellite navigation (GNSS) experts from SSTL are contributing remote sensing and satellite know-how to a pioneering UK-led project that aims to improve forecasting of adverse weather conditions at sea.

Using satellite data to measure ocean roughness has been an area of interest for SSTL since an experimental GNSS receiver payload was launched onboard its UK-DMC satellite. During the past few years, the GNSS receivers team has investigated the use of GNSS reflectometry – the use of reflected navigation signals from space to characterise ocean weather – with promising results, and produced a prototype instrument in collaboration with partners in the UK that will be developed into a payload for the TechDemoSat-1 technology demonstration satellite.



Smarter shipping
In addition to shipping, many marine operations such as offshore oil platforms and renewable energy projects depend on high quality information on sea-state (wave height, period, direction, steepness) for economic and safety decision making. However, the information currently available is based on atmospheric/ocean models and lacks sufficient temporal and spatial resolution.

Martin Unwin, Principal Engineer commented,

Wave conditions are always changing and can vary tremendously over just 100km, or over a period of two hours. This also makes modelling and forecasting very difficult, so the most immediate use of this data is more likely to be what we call ‘nowcasting’ – assessing current conditions thoroughly before commencing an operation.

Another problem with conventional methods is that the use of buoys provides good information around the coast and shipping lanes, but is simply not economical nor practical for charting the vast oceans of Earth. This is one area where satellites, with their global view, are ideally equipped.

All hands on deck
Recognising the opportunity for an improved system, the UK’s Technology Strategy Board has provided co-funding for the WaveSentry project. WaveSentry will address shortcomings on two fronts:

• By exploiting new data sources that include SSTL’s novel satellite remote measurements of wave steepness.


• By integrating data from all sources in a single system (including real-time buoy and ship data).

This multi-disciplinary project will bring together partners from all areas to develop and apply techniques to substantially enhance the integration of diverse data sources to offer improved data about adverse sea-states to a number of markets. SSTL and its partner National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton, are investigating the potential for spaceborne GNSS Reflectometry measurements to contribute towards knowledge of sea state in combination with other data sources.

You can keep up to date with the WaveSentry project on the the Marine Southeast website.

Yesterday was a busy day at SSTL's HQ in Guildford. As the £110m DMC3 satellite constellation contract was being agreed with Chinese company 21AT, SSTL was also delighted to host a visit by three Members of Parliament with strong interests in space and what space applications can do for the "man on the street".

Simon Wright, MP for Norwich South, is vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Space Committee with a particular interest in Earth Observation and Climate Change. David Morris, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale in Lancashire, is also a vice-chairman of the Parliamentary Space Committee with a particular interest in Space Science and Satellite Broadband access.

It’s genuinely exciting to see the high tech space industry working and growing here in Surrey. A facility like SSTL deserves a high level of Government support.

commented Jonathan Lord MP, who was interested in visiting SSTL given the proximity of the company's Guildford Headquarters to his Woking constituency.


During the visit the MPs met SSTL's founder and board chairman, Sir Martin Sweeting. Sir Martin commented:

SSTL is primarily an exporting company and needs to work closely with the government in many of our export activities. In addition to working closely with the newly formed UK Space Agency, the Parliamentary Space Committee provides an excellent forum for space companies like SSTL to discuss, with members of Parliament, the means by which the government can support our export activities.

Continue reading "Space-savvy MPs visit Kepler technical facility"

Heavy rains have caused major rivers in the Sucre/San Marcos region in Colombia to burst their banks, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. DMCii was activated via the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters to acquire images of the area giving rescue workers and officials a better estimate of the full impact of the flooding.

The image above was provided to Augustin Codazzi Geographic Institute (IGAC) which coordinates Earth observation imagery with Colombian organisations involved in disaster response such as IDEAM, COCLCIENCIAS.

The extreme weather further caused a hillside to collapse near the Colombian city of Medellin and according to BBC reports yesterday, 24 bodies were recovered with more than 100 people missing and feared dead. Several hundred people, including Red Cross rescue workers, soldiers and police, are digging through the deep mud in an effort to find survivors. More than 20 sniffer dogs have also been brought in.


View Larger Map The area seen from Google maps

The extreme weather is attributed to the La Nina climatic phenomenon, which is caused by water currents that are colder than usual along the Pacific coast. According to the Washington Post, Colombia's government says 1.6 million people have either lost their homes or had homes suffer partial damage. About 70 percent to 80 percent live in inundated flood plains and have not abandoned them "because they don't want to leave their homes and belongings for fear of losing everything," Luz Amanda Pulido, Colombia's national disaster management office, said.

DMCii regularly responds to disasters throughout the world, providing up to date imagery to help authorities and relief agencies to plan disaster relief efforts.

Space Blog caught up with Shaun Kenyon from SSTL’s Mission Concepts following a busy IAC 2010 at the start of the month for the eagerly awaited follow-up to our Mission Concepts interview with Kathryn Graham.

Shaun is perhaps one of the luckiest men in the building. One of his tasks is to keep on top of the latest commercial technologies and space research, and evaluate any synergies with SSTL activities.

The space industry today is moving forward as fast as ever. What's great about my job is that I keep my finger on that pulse so to speak, and help work out how SSTL fits and in some cases lead in that future.

There’s so much to cover that we have put together a series of small stories to give you a taste of the technical research developments afoot in Mission Concepts. Here’s an introduction.

Nano-satellites

The classification of satellites varies from place to place, but Mission Concepts constantly reviews the feasibility of using 10-50 kg nano-micro satellites for SSTL missions. This would come as no great surprise from the small satellite pioneer, but the question is what applications are they suitable for?

Shaun said:
“Nanosats really excite me at the moment. There's real momentum building up behind the cubesat movement and other nano-satellite developments. SSTL spearheaded a quiet revolution over the last few decades that saw microsatellites become acceptable for industrial use. I see current nanosat developments as a continuation of that revolution, and naturally I'd like to see SSTL be involved!”

Shaun’s Team Leader Kathryn Graham commented:
”One of the questions we are asking ourselves is what could a Disaster Monitoring Constellation-type program using nano-satellites achieve?”

We’ll be exploring the varying size and application of nano-satellites with Shaun in the coming weeks so watch this space.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)

Kathryn’s colleague Shaun is looking at flying common Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and other miniaturized components seen in everyday modern technologies like games consoles and using them for applications as wide ranging as attitude determination, attitude control, Failure Detection, Isolation and Recovery (FDIR), space weather monitoring, and manipulating radio parts to miniaturize low data rate communications.

Inter-Satellite Links (ISLs)

Mission Concepts is also looking at a number of exciting ways to communicate between satellites – with wide ranging application for both constellations and formations. These include reducing the lag time for tasking Earth Observation (EO) satellites to acquire images of the Earth, using industry standard 802.11 wireless networking ("Wi -Fi") between nano-satellites to coordinate a swarm of nano-satellites, and using miniature lasers for interplanetary communications.

Stay tuned for more on Inter-Satellite Links (ISLs) and Wi-Fi swarms.

Plug and play satellites SSTL has a long history of building and launching reliable space-grade missions more quickly and cost effectively by applying Commerical Off The Shelf (COTS) technology. USB is not an exception – Mission Concepts is considering the use of electrical interfaces like USB for responsive space applications - plug and play means “build it quick”.