GEO-PICTURES can save lives and mitigate disaster effects on environment

Targeted for use in emergencies, GEO-PICTURES will save lives and mitigate disaster effects on environment. In emergency situations striking humanity, environment and the civil public, it is of paramount importance to communicate from the field what has happened and where as quickly and accurately as possible so that appropriate actions can be taken. One cannot rely on an existing infrastructure except satellite communications for global coverage. GEO-PICTURES provides near-real-time input of pictures, video, sensors and assessment results worldwide. The novel emergency management platform will be developed in Oslo with several partners, and form a seamless solution hosted by United Nations (UNOSAT-UNITAR) on the CERN campus in Geneva. The European project is lead by AnsuR Technologies AS of Norway and co-funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework program.

Partners with specific expertise in rapid on-line mapping will produce real-time situational maps with a combination of space & terrestrial image and sensor information. Completely new and a missing link in operations this provides a significant contribution to larger and medium scale emergency management all over the world, and specifically in areas with poor communication infrastructure after the disasters.

GEO-PICTURES combines state of the art in satellite communication, navigation and earth observation, based on a core technology with geo-tagged image and sensor communication combined with latest satellite earth observation. A main challenge is high resolution photo communications without broadband infrastructure. An innovation award winning core concept already tested forms an excellent basis for enhancement, further integration and direct use in operations.

A key technology component is provided and developed further by AnsuR Technologies AS of Norway. Says Dr. Harald Skinnemoen, Founder and Managing Director of AnsuR: "We are extremely proud to have won this project in Europe in challenging competition, and to have been chosen to lead this prestigious European consortium. It shows that Norway has excellent technology for global disaster management, as well as a long tradition to care and contribute to humanitarian operations and efforts"

GEO-PICTURES allows a large number of accurate optical field observations, tagged with position, transferred via satellite-optimized protocols to a control center. Optical observations include photos, video, audio and sensors that measures temperature, moisture, wind etc; data that is helpful in emergency/disaster management and for improving interpretation of space based remote sensing data.

Continues Harald: "This is a very proud moment for AnsuR and our long and sustainable efforts in developing our technology. We are happy that we have been entrusted by the EU lead this project and for their confidence in our skills as project leaders and key technology developers in space based satellite and wireless image communications for disaster and emergency response.

GEO-PICTURES will also design small lightweight equipment based on the latest mobile technology; in particular the open Linux based platform Android. This will give disaster management experts an all-in-one tool for rapid damage assessment, in addition to the dedicated camera/computer/communication unit solutions. The consortium also considers small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as a platform for observations.