27.11.2007 - HRH The Duke of Kent opens DMCii operations centre
His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent has opened Tycho House, the new headquarters building of world leading small satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), and the operations centre for DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii).
SSTL was successfully spun-out from the University of Surrey 23 years ago. The relationship has generated huge mutual benefits, contributing to the University’s excellent reputation and expertise in engineering, and establishing SSTL as the premier supplier of small satellite missions that is truly ‘changing the economics of space’.
DMC International Imaging Ltd. (DMCii) was established by SSTL in October 2004 on behalf of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) to coordinate international disaster response and commercial imaging campaigns with the constellation of satellites built by SSTL and owned and operated by Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey, China and the UK.
His Royal Highness, Chancellor of the University of Surrey, was joined by SSTL’s founder Professor Sir Martin Sweeting and the University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Christopher Snowden, where he commented: “As Chancellor of the University of Surrey, its gives me great pleasure to officially open Tycho House, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd’s prestigious new headquarters. I am confident that Tycho House’s first class facilities will ensure that SSTL soars to even greater heights.”
Paul Stephens, DMCii’s Marketing Director showed His Royal Highness the DMCii Operations Centre, explaining that the company was currently on 24 hour Emergency On-Call Officer duty for the International Charter.
On behalf of the DMC Consortium members DMCii and the British National Space Centre currently leads the International Charter, with DMCii chairing the Executive Secretariat. DMCii coordinates not only the 5 satellites of the DMC but also, when on ECO duty, the satellites of the other Charter members, ESA, CNES (France), CSA (Canada), JAXA (Japan), NOAA (USA), ISRO (India), CONAE (Argentina) and CNSA (China).
Paul Stephens was also able to show His Royal Highness the wide extent of DMCii’s successful commercial activity including imaging Europe for land cover mapping, monitoring deforestation in the Amazon for the Brazilian Government, mapping illicit opium crops in Afghanistan, and supplying imagery for precision agriculture in the USA and Europe.
26.11.2007 - DMC satellite senses ocean reflected Galileo signals
Investigators at Surrey Satellite Technology and the University of Surrey, UK have succeeded for the first time in capturing a Galileo signal reflected off the ocean surface in orbit, demonstrating the potential for determining the weather at sea with remote sensing satellites.
The pioneering Reflectometry Experiment originally was launched onboard DMC satellite UK-DMC in 2003 to demonstrate the use of GPS reflections to determine the roughness of the ocean, using a method called "bistatic radar" or "forward scatterometry". This experiment has now successfully detected a Galileo satellite navigation signal reflected by the ocean's surface. GIOVE-A, the first Galileo demonstration satellite, also built by SSTL, was commissioned by the European Space Agency and has been transmitting prototype Galileo signals since its launch in December 2005. Read More >>
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30.10.2007 - DMC Satellites help Brazil reduce Amazon deforestation
DMCii satellite imaging helps monitor deforestation of Amazon Basin.
The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has negotiated a third contract with DMC International Imaging Ltd., (DMCii) to acquire high-resolution satellite images of the entire 5 million square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest.
In order to identify areas of change, DMCii was contracted to provide three repeat coverages in 2007 (June-July, July-August, September-October). In previous contracts in 2005, and again in 2006, DMC imaged the whole Amazon Basin in 6 weeks to provide Brazil with vital information to help monitor deforestation and combat illegal logging.
DMC imagery is provided by the five-satellite international Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). The DMC small satellites, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), use wide area cameras to capture the high-resolution images. The latest satellite, built for China, was launched into the DMC on 27 October 2005. Two new DMC satellites will be launched in 2008 and a third in 2009.
Speaking at the Royal Society in London, 25th October, Dr. Gilberto Camâra, Director General of INPE said, “The DMC data is an important affordable contribution to our assessment of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. The constellation is able to rapidly acquire and deliver high quality imagery so that we have up-to-date information to focus our efforts. It is our intention to develop a long term relationship with DMC”
Paul Stephens, Marketing Director, DMCii visited INPE the following week to participate in the Space Science Workshop as part of the UK-Brazil Year of Science. He presented Dr Camâra with a framed picture of the UK acquired by the DMC satellites.
18.10.2007 - DMC takes lead role in the International Charter
On behalf of the Members of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) the British National Space Centre and DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) takes the lead role the International Charter 'Space and Major Disasters' from October 2007 until April 2008. The organisation's Executive Secretariat and Board met in London on 17 and 18 October 2007.
Minister for Science and Innovation Ian Pearson said: "The UK is proud to lead this important group. We often think of space as being somewhere to explore, but it can also bring enormous benefits to us here on Earth. By working together, the Charter's international partners are helping to save lives across the globe."
The Charter was set up in 2000 to provide satellite data and imagery to help governments and aid agencies plan emergency relief following major disasters. It has provided valuable information to relief agencies after earthquakes, floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions.
When the Charter is activated, Earth observation satellites operated by 14 international organisations are made freely available. The satellites provide data which is then used to produce maps and other information for emergency response efforts.
The UK-built Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) is a key member of the Charter. The five satellites were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd and are owned individually by Algeria - CNTS (Centre National des Techniques Spatiales), Nigeria – NASRDA (Nigerian Space Research & Development Agency), Turkey - Tübitak Bilten, China- BLMIT (Beijing LandView Mapping Information Technology Co. Ltd.) and the UK – SSTL (Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd). The international operations of the DMC are coordinated by DMCii, a subsidiary of SSTL.
DMCii will chair the Charter Secretariat. DMCii Managing Director David Hodgson said: "Imagery from the DMC has been provided for more than 50 disasters and is particularly valuable in monitoring fires and floods. DMCii is also proud to provide regular emergency on-call services to the Charter and to task the world's Earth observing satellites in response to disasters."
The Charter was activated by the UK twice this summer following the floods in north and south west England. Satellite data and images were used to produce maps of the flooded areas to help the Environment Agency assess the full extent of the damage.
Charter members have been called on 34 times so far this year including on 14 September after floods devastated 12 countries in West Africa. The Charter was also activated in the aftermath of Hurricane Felix which hit Nicaragua and Honduras on 4 September 2007.
09.10.2007 - 32m sample data now available online
Sample 32m Data from the DMC constellation is now online with supporting documentation. Please visit our Imagery page for more details.
12.09.2007 - Fires in Paraguay.
 The government of Paraguay has declared a state of emergency after large fires destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land. The fires have been partly blamed on land-clearing and burning by subsistence farmers.
On 27th August 07, DMC International Imaging was activated by the International Charter to monitor extensive fires in Paraguay. The fires have hit forests and agricultural areas in the Tacuati District of San Pedro, and 2000 people have been affected.
DMCii acquired excellent images of the region which were provided to the Charter. One of the maps produced to identify burning areas using images from the UK DMC satellite is shown below.
31.08.2007 - DMCii Monitors Flooding in Vietnam.
Recent floods in Vietnam caused widespread destruction and the devastation of towns and villages. Flash floods swept away houses, people and crops and will have a lasting impact on the affected areas.
In order to adequately understand the impact of this disaster and assist in the focussing of the aid effort, DMCii programmed the DMC satellites in response to the activation of the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters. The images shown below were created by the Pacific Disaster Centre to help target the relief work for the area.
17.08.2007 - DMCii responds to Peruvian Earthquake.
DMCii received yesterday the request for satellite imagery of the Peruvian earthquake from Sistema Federal de Emergencia (SIFEM) on behalf of the International Charter:"Space and Major Disasters". The worst hit area is Pisco and nearby villages approximately 200km south-west of the capital, Lima. Gary Crowley the DMCii emergency on call officer requested imagery from RADARSAT, ALOS, SPOT and Quickbird to help determine damage extent and support emergency response efforts. All information and imagery for this disaster is passed to INDECI the Civil Protection Agency of Peru.
DMCii uses knowledge of the earth observing satellite fleet made available by International Space Agencies to request imagery appropriate to individual disaster events. DMCii coordinates the activities services provided by the DMC to the International Charter on behalf of the DMC members (CNTS, BILTEN, NASRDA, SSTL, BLMIT and Deimos).
18.07.2007 - UK Satellite Helps Map UK Floods.
Satellite imagery from the UK-DMC satellite supplied by DMCii was used in the mapping of flooded areas of the United Kingdom by the UK Environment Agency. Torrential rain across England on the 25th of June 2007 caused widespread flooding leading to loss of life and significant destruction of property.
The maps shown below created by the UK Environment Agency show flood extents in the York and Doncaster areas. Click the pictures to enlarge.
17.07.2007 - DMC images map Pakistan Floods.
DMCii was activated on 2nd July by the International Charter http://www.disasterscharter.org/disasters/CALLID_162_e.html to acquire images of severe flooding in Pakistan.
The tropical cyclone Yemyin made landfall in Baluchistan, Pakistan, after its passage to the north of the Arab Sea on Tuesday 26th June, with winds of 130 km/hour and intense rains. Heavy floods hit hundreds of villages after the passage of the cyclone. Current estimates are over 380 dead and two million affected people.
On 7th July when clouds had cleared the UK DMC -1 satellite acquired a high resolution wide area image which enabled UNOSAT to prepare a number of maps of the flooding.
15.07.2007 - DMC data maps China floods.
DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) coordinated the 5 satellites of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation to respond to International Charter activation No. 164 for flooding in China.
Widespread flooding, the worse since 1954, over 24 Chinese provinces caused over 500 deaths and 3 million evacuations, with enormous damage to dams, roads, buildings and crops. In Mengwa, near Chonqin in the Fujian basin, about 150,000 people were stranded on high ground when the Wangjia dam was opened to evacuate floodwaters. In Chongqing Municipality about 29,500 houses collapsed between 17 and 18 July.
The National Disaster Reduction Centre for China used 32 metre multispectral images from UK DMC-1 satellite (15th July) to compare with Landsat images (Sept 2000) to map the flooded Huaihe River
13.07.2007 - DMCii. wins ESA contract to supply satellite images of 38 European countries in 2007.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded a contract to UK company DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) to provide satellite imagery of 38 countries in Europe. This will be used to monitor Europe’s environment and land use including natural resources such as agriculture and forestry. The high resolution DMC satellite images will provide a valuable resource for the European Global Monitoring for Environment & Security (GMES) services and to European scientists.
It is difficult to achieve cloud free coverage of Europe in a single year, but DMCii coordinates a constellation (DMC) of 4 satellites carrying the same sensors, which can dramatically speed up the process, and help to avoid problems with cloud.
Images are acquired within dates specified by each of the 38 countries, and delivered as precisely positioned data in each national map projection. DMCii started to acquire high resolution imagery in April ‘07 and will complete the campaign in October.
Paul Stephens, DMCii Director of Sales & Marketing said; “We are delighted to have won this major project with ESA for the DMC to participate as GMES Contributing Mission. This campaign demonstrates the value of constellations for imaging large areas in a short time. With several new DMC satellites launching in 2008 and 2009 we plan to start providing multi-season imaging services in Europe and elsewhere to meet the operational needs of GMES services. ”
06.07.2007 - Latest DMC article in the press
 GEOInformatics magazine commissioned DMCii's Director of Sales & Marketing, Paul Stephens, to write an article about the Disaster Monitoring Constellation.
This was published in their April May 2007 edition, and the article gives a good overview of the latest developments in the DMC small satellite constellation and its future role in monitoring the global environment.
The article can be downloaded as a PDF here ,or see www.geoinformatics.com
11.05.2007 - DMCii Invests in Climate Change Research
DMCii today announced its plans to sponsor and advance climate change research. DMCii is sponsoring a doctorate at the Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey to study ways of increasing the frequency, resolution and quality of atmospheric gas observations from space with an initial study in monitoring carbon dioxide variations at both high spatial and temporal scales.
DMCii’s chief scientist Dr. Steve Mackin said, “Understanding the processes and impact of climate change is the most important challenge that we all face and a better understanding of the earth’s atmosphere is fundamental to understanding climate change. DMCii seeks to combine its considerable practical experience in environmental monitoring of the earth from satellite constellations with fundamental research into both approaches and the technologies required."
03.05.2007 - DMCii Managing Director Appointed BARSC Vice-Chairman
At the annual general meeting on the 3rd May 2007 DMCii's Managing director, David Hodgson, was appointed Vice-Chairman of the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC). Hodgson said "It is a privilege to work with the BARSC executive and Chairman to serve the interests of member companies at a time when understanding our environment through remote sensing is so important. UK industry has world leading companies of all sizes in many areas of remote sensing that benefit from cooperating to advance the industry as a whole."
The British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC) was established in 1985, and represents the interests of all those involved in remote sensing activities, from major companies to SMEs and independent consultants. For more information see http://www.barsc.org.uk/
26.04.2007 - New DMC satellite developments presented at Brazilian conference
Paul Stephens, Marketing Director DMC International Imaging Ltd (DMCii) attended the 13th Simposio Brasileiro de Sensoriamento Remoto, in Brasil. The conference was well attended with over 1400 delegates from Brazil.
Paul presented the latest advances in the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, including the planned launch in 2008 of two enhanced DMC satellites, and a very high resolution DMC satellite, NigeriaSat-2 in 2009. These three satellites are under construction in the UK at Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL).
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The two enhanced DMC satellites, UK DMC-2 and Deimos-1, will be capable of
• Imaging several thousand km along track.
• Delivering double the data density of the 1st generation DMC satellites, increasing the ground sample distance from 32 metres to 22 metres, whilst maintaining the very wide swath of 660km.
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Paul also presented results from the Compact Hyperspectral Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) which was built by the Surrey Satellite Technology Optical Group and is in operation on the ESA PROBA mission, launched 22 October 2001.
20.04.2007 - DMCii responds to Colombian Volcanic Eruption
 The Nevado del Huila volcano erupted at 02:57 local time on 18 April, causing avalanches and floods that affected the villages of La Plata, Paicol, Tesalia, Natagá, et Belalcázar. About 5,000 people were evacuated.
DMCii’s Gary Crowley, on duty this week as Emergency On-Call Officer for the International Charter, got the call when he had just gone home after a busy week handling Charter activations #155 for Floods in New York State, and #156 for 100 ships trapped in pack ice off Newfoundland.
Gary said ”In a bizarre twist of fate, I was also the ECO on duty when the Charter was activated in response to the increased seismic activity at Nevado del Huila (Call ID 146 in Feb 2007). This time round it looks a lot more serious”
In addition to the 4 DMC satellites, Gary tasked image acquisitions from Radarsat, ENVISAT, ALOS, SPOT, LANDSAT and Ikonos.
In 1985, the Nevado del Ruiz volcano exploded, setting off a series of mudslides that wiped the village of Armero away, killing about 21 000 people.
At 5,365 metres (17,602 ft) the volcano is the highest in Colombia, and the third highest peak.
19.04.2007 - 100 Sealing boats trapped in Canadian ice; DMCii Emergency On-Call Officer coordinates International Charter disaster response.
In the second activation this week of the International Charter, Gary Crowley, the Emergency On-Call Officer at DMC International Imaging (DMCii), coordinated both optical and radar satellites to image the pack ice off Newfoundland. About 100 small boats carrying seal hunters are trapped by thick ice off Canada's Atlantic coast on Wednesday and at least one crew had to abandon ship as the pack ice began to crush ships.
Reuters reported that:
"Conditions have deteriorated over the last few days as a result of the wind pressing the ice floes into the land," Canadian Coast Guard Capt. Windross Banton told CBC Television from an icebreaker trying to make its way to the stranded vessels, which included one from the Coast Guard.
"There's quite a few different pockets of vessels all about the area ... unfortunately the weather conditions forecast right up until the end of this week are probably going to cause conditions to even deteriorate more so than they are now," Banton said.
Separately, the CBC said some of the boats were running out of fuel and food. Seal hunter Gill Cadwell told the network that the ice floes had pushed his boat high out of the water for a time. "I've never, ever experienced nothing like this", he said.
More information:
http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1831969320070418
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18185276/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070419.ICY19/TPStory/National
http://www.space.gc.ca/asc/eng/satellites/radarsat1/featured_image.asp
16.04.2007 - New York State Floods; DMCii Emergency On-Call Officer coordinates international satellite response.
Gary Crowley, DMCii Operations Manager, has just returned from the International Charter meeting in Tokyo where he, and Michael Rose of the British National Space Centre, represented the Disaster Monitoring Constellation at the Charter Executive Secretariat and Board respectively.
Within hours of his return on Monday 16th April, Gary was on duty as the Emergency On-Call Officer (ECO) for the Charter, and in record time (back in the office at 8 pm) was hard at work handling an emergency activation for floods in New York State, USA. A severe storm hit the eastern coast of the United States, causing the evacuation of thousands in the New York metropolitan area. Media report nine dead.
Gary coordinated immediate image acquisitions from the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors on Radarsat and Envisat, which can penetrate cloud, and later images from DMC and SPOT optical sensors when the clouds may have cleared.
This Charter activation and others can be reviewed on the Charter website http://www.disasterscharter.org/
29.03.2007 - Cisco router on UK-DMC first to use IPv6 onboard a satellite in orbit
On Thursday, 29 March 2007, a Cisco Systems router, flying in low Earth Orbit onboard the UK-DMC satellite built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), was successfully configured by NASA Glenn Research Center to use IPsec and IPv6 technologies in space. IPv6 is the next generation of the Internet Protocol (IP), designed to improve on the popular IPv4 that built the Internet, while IPsec is the protocol used to secure communication across IP networks.
The UK-DMC satellite is a member of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), used for observing the Earth for major disasters and commercial land monitoring. The five DMC satellites in orbit rely on standard IP networking to send mission-critical imagery to ground stations and to interact with terrestrial networks. The DMC effectively extends the Internet to orbit, and its farsighted adoption of IP has made it possible to take the backbone of the Internet even further into space. Internet technologies new to the space environment, such as IPv6 and IPsec, can be tested using the Cisco 3251 Mobile Access Router provided by Cisco Systems as an experimental payload on the UK-DMC satellite.
On Thursday morning NASA Glenn was able to reach across the Internet to the UK-DMC satellite from Cleveland, Ohio via SSTL's Guildford, England, Mission Control Centre, using mobile routing. The 3251 router in orbit was configured and tested during a twelve-minute period while the UK-DMC satellite passed over the ground station. The Cisco Systems router and firewall used in SSTL's Mission Control Network were given simple software upgrades to add IPv6 capabilities to allow this end-to-end IPv6 testing to take place.
Working together, Cisco Systems, NASA Glenn Research Center and SSTL are the first to configure and test IPsec and IPv6 on a satellite.
Further information:
SSTL's UK-DMC page: http://www.sstl.co.uk/index.php?loc=113
Cisco space: http://www.cisco.com/go/space
14.03.2007 - UK Company to launch new higher-resolution satellite imaging service in 2008
DMC International Imaging Ltd. (DMCii) plans to launch a high-resolution optical imaging satellite, UK DMC-2, in 2008 to provide continuous Continent-level imaging with direct downlink of data to customer’s ground stations.
At just 120 kg, UK DMC-2 will be a very capable low cost Earth Observation (EO) satellite, carrying a higher-resolution (22-metre) multi-spectral DMC imager with an ultra-wide 660km imaging swath. The enhanced micro-satellite will be able to image continuously while broadcasting data in real-time to licensed ground stations.
UK DMC-2 will be launched into the existing international Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) with Deimos-1, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) for Deimos Imaging SL, Spain. The 2 new generation DMC satellites will be coordinated with the other 5 satellites in the DMC to provide data continuity and a new level of imaging output. The rapid revisit capability of the constellation is especially valuable for remote sensing applications that monitor fast changing phenomena such as fires, floods and crops. It also covers large areas quickly including Amazon Basin, Australia, and Europe, providing the capability for multi-season coverage of major agriculture.
David Hodgson, Managing Director DMCii, commented: “We are delighted to announce the next generation of DMC missions which will serve our existing and new customers with higher resolution imagery and allow high frequency continent-wide environmental monitoring. The commercial success of the DMC, coordinated by DMCii, shows the advantage of a small satellite constellation approach to data supply and is the result of DMCii's dedication to tailoring services to the individual needs of customers.”
DMCii works with the Members of the DMC to coordinate international commercial imaging campaigns, and coordinates rapid disaster response through the International Charter: Space & Major Disasters. DMCii’s extensive calibration and process development programme generates high quality products to meet the demanding requirements of many remote sensing applications from precision agriculture to illegal logging.
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