Space and Security

SatCen used Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 imagery acquired between 2017 and 2020 to assess the potential risks of environmental issues affecting Rohingya refugees accommodated in Bangladesh Char-Piya Island. Automatic change detection algorithms were applied on Sentinel-1 images to clearly see the situation in the island along time and detect the changes due to human activity. In particular, the timeline in the camp development was reconstructed. Sentinel-1 images were very useful during the monsoon period, were clouds covered the entire areas, as the SAR observations allowed to define the flooded areas of the island. The analysis was complemented with optical images from Sentinel-2 and Very-High Resolution satellites, to assess the evolution of built areas in the island.

SPACE-SECURITY entered in contact with Pakistani local authorities, who highlighted the importance of assessing potential land subsidence in the region of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The pilot applied SAR interferometric techniques on more than 180 Sentinel-1 images, ranged from October 2016 until September 2022. In particular, the Parallel Small Baseline Subset (P-SBAS) processing was the technique selected for the analysis. The images, acquired in descending orbit (reference orbit 107), were processed and the results showed land deformation up to 38 centimetres.

The Geospatial Data Management Platform is made available by SatCen for Space and Security partners. It is a geospatial platform which enables users to discover, access, process and exploit EO and collateral data.

GEO-DAMP makes use of innovative IT architectures to constitute an advanced environment where EO final users and EO application developers can interact, thus facilitating the enhancement of monitoring capabilities in a final user-centric approach. The platform covers the different steps of the data value chain (e.g., data discovery and access, processing and exploitation of EO and collateral data).