Arctic IAP project overview...

Marine South East has secured a role contributing to the Arctic IAP, a European Space Agency (ESA) project with the objective of developing and trialling a fast Integrated Situational Awareness Service for companies operating in the Arctic.

Activities in the Arctic region are set to increase significantly in coming years, with investment reaching $100Bn or more within 10 years due to global involvement in the changing environment through oil extraction, mining, increased tourism and shipping routes. This project aims to reduce commercial operational problems and improve management and policing in the area. Monitoring will reduce the risk of environmental and human tragedy.

To achieve this, project lead partner Telespazio VEGA UK will develop a range of value-added services using layers of geo-information and commercial data that can be customised to the needs of specific operators.

The services will include primarily satellite derived imagery VMS (24/7 Vessel Monitoring System) from the Telespazio Group, AIS (Automatic Identification System) provided by Canadian consortium member, Exact Earth, and low bandwidth high fidelity image transfer system from AnsuR, a Norwegian company. Additional maritime data layers will be provided by Stevenson Astrosat and HR Wallingford.

Marine South East will provide maritime expertise and access to potential users of the new services. The project is being carried out with support from key members in the oil and gas, maritime and tourism sectors.

Via tailored innovative & user friendly interfaces the project will provide a situational awareness service supporting the maritime environment.

The participating organisations will integrate:

* Near Real Time (NRT) Geo-I imaging and analysis
* Weather data and modelling
* Situational modelling
* Geo-location (AIS, VMS, etc)
* Narrow Bandwidth Satellite Communications
* Real Time in situ Verification data
* Total maritime picture

This will enable Integrated Situational Awareness information to be delivered to a phone or tablet.

More information can be found on the ESA Project Information Page:

http://artes-apps.esa.int/projects/security/arctic-iap

Marine South East has created on online group for those interested in the Arctic IAP project, particularly potential users of new situational awareness services.

You can apply to join the group at:

http://groupspaces.com/ArcticIAPUserGroup/.

Members will receive invitations to project workshops and will have access to more project information.

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