*Picture copyright: Adam Samu

Are bird strikes are a serious threat for civil aviation safety?

Having a look to reports done by international organisations, it can be deduced they are quire common: Over 87,000 bird strikes to civil aircraft in the United States were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from 1990-2008, a mere 20% of the number that likely occurred (source: http://www.birdstrike.org). Although these figures seem to be high, Civil Aviation authorities as well as airports are prepared by having existing procedures for reducing bird strike hazards at and near airports but any effective strategy against bird strikes shall include their prevention as one of their main objectives.

It has to be said that bird strikes are an issue as old as aviation, but their significance as a hazard has not been diminished along the years. The question people might have is why so? A pilot of a commercial airline gives us his opinion:

Natural selection has taught birds to wait until the very last moment to turn in order to avoid predators. This has to be done in this way, because if they move before, predators will be still able to turn and catch them. Nowadays, as planes are becoming faster and more silent, birds, perceiving planes as possible predators, do not really have enough time to turn, and therefore, got struck by aircraf

Hazards associated to bird strikes are of mandatory consideration by Civil Aviation, as it is clearly stated in Annex 14 of the SARPS (ICAO's Standards and Recommended Practices): 

When a bird strike hazard is identified at an aerodrome, the appropriate authority shall take action to decrease the number of birds constituting a potential hazard to aircraft operations by adopting measures for discouraging their presence on, or on the vicinity of, an aerodrom 

However, apart from the elimination of rubbish disposal dumps near airports, Annex 14 of the SARPS does not provide any kind of specific measures to be taken, leaving authorities the freedom to manage the situation. Obviously, this situation results on a disparity of non-standardised techniques used depending on the available resources, budget, situation and priority given by the relevant authorities.

Despite the current variety of prevention techniques used, is it possible to increase the overall performance by combining existing assets with space technologies without endangering airport operations?

European Space Agency has just started the Bird Strikes Risk Reduction for Civil Aviation study to address specifically this issue.

The overall idea of ESA is to create partnership with relevant users and stakeholders trying to identify if the integration of space technologies with current existing assets can cover identified gaps in the overall bird strikes prevention strategy and if it can provide any added-value with respect to present approaches.

Civil Aviation is composed of a multitude of bodies, including authorities, airport operators, air traffic controllers and pilots amongst others. One of the challenges of the study is to identify the bodies and even the units inside these bodies that could take advantage on the utilisation of this information as well as practically using it.

When talking about Civil Aviation we have to take into consideration liability issues, reports a specialised lawyer. For example, an airport operator's liability is usually dependant on the claimant proving the airport was at fault. In case of accident, passengers are going to make claims against airlines, and these are going to make claims against airport operators.

The legal implications of all the actors involved in the provision of a service it is a risk factor to be considered by anyone willing to provide services to Civil Aviation. 

The feasibility study will run in two phases: First dedicated to the identification of requirements and the analysis of existing technologies and services that could fulfil these requirements. If the results are successful, a second phase of the study will analyse the technical, legal and economical viability together with the liability-related of proposed services built upon these existing assets. The study is carried out by an industrial consortium led by Helios Technology Limited. Manchester, Schiphol and Heathrow airports are collaborating within the activity.

*Picture copyright: Adam Samu 

(http://www.airliners.net/photo/0620854/)

IAP is pleased to announce the starting up of the Ambassador Platform for IAP in Central & Eastern European Region (APCEE) portal. The objective of this Ambassador Platform, managed by the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), is to assist the IAP programme in spreading awareness for potential stakeholders in ESA's IAP programme, in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The region of Central and Eastern Europe is a fertile area for development of new satellite based services of direct benefit for socioeconomic development. The IAP programme, which offers opportunities for creating new innovative services utilizing the added value of space assets, can become a serendipitous gateway to meet the needs of the region.

Are you interested? Please visit the APCEE community portal website to know more!

Three Universities for Business Event, Leicester, 14th April 2010

As part of the iFestival (one of the largest innovation festivals in the UK), ESA-IAP participated in an event bringing together local businesses in the Leicester region with the three local universities of Leicester, De Montfort and Loughborough. The ESA representatives presented the IAP programme, using IAP projects as case studies to illustrate how space-based services can meet a huge range of user needs, across many different industry sectors.

The three local universities each presented a variety of technologies that have arisen from their work in the space domain but which are being transferred into down-to-earth products and services. Many of them are world-leading, reflecting the enormous concentration of space-related expertise that exists in the East Midlands region. More than 70 delegates attended the event, which was held against the backdrop of the UK National Space Centre, culminating in a viewing of the highly successful, full-dome planetarium show, “We are Astronomers”, which was developed at the centre by the NSC Creative Team. The previous day, a smaller workshop focused on applications in the realm of Intelligent Transport, with an audience comprised of representatives of the city council along with academics, business development and technology transfer staff from the three universities in the area. This was hosted by the University of Leicester and was led by the ESA representative Dr Stefan Gustafsson (from the Integrated and Telecommunications related Applications Department, ESTEC) and Alan Brunstrom (Manager of the Ambassador Portal for Enhanced Mobility, based at the new ESA Centre in Harwell).

[ Photo - Leicester Mercury newspaper: from left to right: Professor Roy Kalawasky, University of Loughborough; Professor Eric Goodyear, De Montfort University; Alan Brunstrom, Manager of the Ambassador Platform for Enhanced Mobility (ESA Harwell); Dr Stefan Gustafsson, ESA; Nick Carter, Chairman of Prospect Leicestershire; Professor George Fraser, University of Leicester: standing in front of a Soyuz space capsule in the National Space Centre, Leicester]

Etihad Airways will install new state-of-the-art technology on its long and ultra long haul aircraft which can monitor the condition of passengers who display signs of sickness that might require immediate medical attention.

The "Tempus IC" system, developed in partnership with ESA, allows cabin crew to gather vital information about a passenger's health quickly and efficiently. The data covers a wide range of the passenger's vital signs including blood pressure and an electrocardiogram. It also allows the crew to take photo imagery. 

That information is then transmitted to a medical team of global experts specialised in assistance in in-flight medical contingencies. Following their advice the crew will take a decision about what to do next for the passenger and the flight.

Captain Richard Hill, Etihad Airways. chief operations officer, said: .Passenger welfare and safety is of the utmost importance to Etihad Airways and the introduction of the Tempus IC system will ensure that when medical emergencies do occur they are evaluated quickly. 

"This helps ensure that the passenger can receive the appropriate treatment when the aircraft lands, whether this is as a diversion or at its final destination."

Etihad will introduce the Tempus IC technology, designed and manufactured by UK-based RDT, on its A340 and Boeing 777 aircraft and then subsequently across the remaining long and ultra long haul fleet.

Grahame Fever, Commercial Aviation Sales Director RDT, said: "We are delighted that Etihad has chosen RDT .s Tempus on-board telemedicine technology."

"We know from our existing Tempus customers and the in-flight trials with Etihad cabin crew that Tempus technology, with its unique ease-of-use help screens and features, makes a significant difference to quality and speed of on-board medical care."

Following the successful launch of the "Tempus IC" system, ESA's IAP programme is partnering once again with RDT on a new project, together with International SOS, to develop, integrate, test, and validate a tele-assistance service called Amazon, that makes use of multiple space assets (Satcom, Satnav), for professional clinical users in remote locations using a highly compact device for vital-sign monitoring and remote diagnosis.

About Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates based in the UAE.s capital, Abu Dhabi.   

About RDT

RDT was founded in 1997 and is based near Basingstoke in the UK, the company specialises in the development of leading-edge diagnostic device technology for use by non-experts in remote locations.

At the meeting held on 2nd February 2010 at ESA HQ Paris, Dr. Iagor Kalandadze and Dr.Ucha Nanava, from the national centre for Tuberculosis in Georgia  presented the main results of the impact of the Satellites For Epidemiology project implemented by MEDES France in Georgia in the frame of the Integrated Application (IAP) Programme preparatory phase.

At present there are about 6000 tuberculosis (TB) cases per year in Georgia. The rate is about 140 per 100.000 people.

The major problem is the management of Multi-Drug Resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The  national centre for Tuberculosis in Georgia (TBGEO) is the head institution in the field of TB in Georgia and manages the national TB program. At regional level, there are second level institutions. Each region has 5 to 10 districts. Each district has a TB Unit where TB doctors receive and follow patients. The country includes 67 districts with their TB units. The TB surveillance network in Georgia is divided into the regions. Each region has a network of TB facilities where patients are followed by TB doctors and has a database (DB) manager who is in charge of collecting TB notifications. Before the starting of the Georgia SAtellites For Epidemiology (SAFE) project, data were entered on paper by TB doctors at local and regional levels and sent by regular mail to the National TB Centre in Tbilisi, to be entered in a desktop program and in a local database in order to generate reports for national authorities and for the World Health Organisation.

Interview with Dr. Iagor Kalandadze and Dr.Ucha Nanava from the National Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Georgia

The aim of the project

The Georgia SAFE project, following the specific request of the TBGEO, aimed to deliver a set of services that should make more effective the TB surveillance and reporting in Georgia. The project consisted in developing, deploying and validating the system including:

1. a data collection information system made of a web application to collect data directly in a digital format at a regional level;
2. satellite communications connectivity to give access via internet to the relevant SAFE services in underserved areas;
3. a web conferencing service to organize meetings between regions without having participants to travel long distances.

Project Implementation

The information system was developed by MEDES and delivered to TBGEO in December 2008.

The data collection system and the satellite communication means were delivered to TBGEO between December 2008 and February 2009, with the training for the DB managers and the System Administrator. The training for 11 regional database managers started in February 2009.

The Web conferencing solution has been made available to TBGEO since beginning of December 2009 until December 2010.

Main results

The deployed system has now become the only system for TB notification in Georgia. The system is fulfilling the needs of TBGEO concerning TB and MDR-TB case notification. DB managers have adopted the system in their operational scenario. In 2009, 4446 TB cases have been entered in the system by the DB managers as of 07/12/2009. It also contains the historical TB data for 2006, 2007 and 2008. This concerns 18059 historical cases. In addition, TBGEO used the reporting functionalities of the system to process the reports to be delivered to the Georgian national authorities and to WHO about the TB cases. TBGEO will maintain this service as it has become an essential tool for the surveillance of TB and MDR-TB cases.

The satellite communication connectivity that has been set up in Abastumani enabled the centre to get access to the relevant SAFE services.

The Abastumani TB centre is located in a remote place in the mountains. Thanks to this internet access, this centre could perform TB case data collection, do web searches, access to email tools, etc, and the personnel of the centre had access to the internet. 

Thanks to the SAFE project, the TB surveillance has now moved to a more integrated electronic surveillance.

Through the combination of ICT and satellite communications, the SAFE project has brought innovative solutions to support the surveillance of TB and MDR-TB cases in Georgia.

Thanks to the satellite communication means that were brought by the SAFE project, the TB centre in Abastumani was able to participate in the TB case notification process at a regional level.

The project showed finally that it was possible to do collaborative work through web conferences using satellite communications.

In an operational context, the SAFE services (satellite communication means, epidemiological data collection information system) showed to be relevant for the epidemiological surveillance. 

ESA and the European Defence Agency (EDA) are furthering their combined efforts into the study of satellite services for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), through the signing of contracts with two consortia to carry out parallel feasibility studies.

The contracts were signed at the European Defence Agency's 2010 annual conference which took place in Brussels on 9th of February 2010. EDA's Chief Executive, Alexander Weis, signed one contract with EADS Astrium (France) and in parallel ESA's Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, Ms Magali Vaissiere, signed a second contract with INDRA Espacio (Spain).

From an ESA point of view, the studies are expected to prove that satellite services can significantly contribute to paving the way for a broad range of civil and commercial UAS applications. Main drivers for these applications are improved safety, reduced costs, and sustainability, said Ms Vaissiere.

Pursuing the ESA study falls in line with ESA's new Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) programme. IAP was instigated to promote the development of sustainable operational services for a wide range of users through the combination of different systems demonstrating the added value of space.

The subject of the two feasibility studies is a very good demonstration that space-based services can provide added value to new user communities outside the space domain, explained Ms Vaissiere.

The two studies, conducted in parallel for a duration of six months, will set out to determine:

• The feasibility and the overall planning for a UAS mission, demonstrating that UAS can be integrated into non-segregated airspace using satellite communications and satellite navigation for Command and Control, Sense and Avoid, and Air Traffic Control.
• The added value of satellite communications for high data rate payload links.
• The viability of such a solution for future services based on UAS supported by space systems.
• The investments necessary in the future and the next steps required in technical and regulatory terms to effectively establish such services.
• The roadmap for institutional (e.g. civil protection, crises management) and commercial (e.g. pipe line monitoring) services development.

The advantages to using satellite services for the operations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles include:

• Always-on communication capabilities to all flight levels over a wide geographical range,
• Command, Control and Communications Beyond-Line-of-Sight (BLOS) allowing the UAV pilot to be based at a mission independent central location,
• A payload data return capability providing near real-time access to mission data Beyond-Line-of-Sight.

EDA Chief Executive Alexander Weis highlighted the cooperative spirit between the two organisations. Referring to the overall topic of EDA's Annual Conference Bridging Efforts, he further stressed the need for concrete synergies and result-oriented projects. In this context EDA's initiative on a European Framework Cooperation aims at systematically reaping the benefits of working together with partners such as the European Commission and ESA, including the strategic research area of UAS for air traffic insertion by 2015.

This contract signature marks the first milestone on the common EDA-ESA journey and paves the road for future joint activities extending possibly also to other areas like maritime security and reaching at some point of time a global dimension, concluded Ms Vaissiere.

The first sitting of the Integrated Application Promotion Advisory Committee (IAPAC) took place at ESA headquarters in Paris on 15th January 2010.

The IAP Advisory Committee – IAPAC – has been set up to support the Integrated Applications Promotion (IAP) Programme, and to provide external, independent and cross-disciplinary expertise. Its purpose is to support IAP on the identification of the most promising application domains, in order to maximize the likelihood of investment resulting in operational applications meeting citizens’ demand.

IAPAC will make recommendations on the most propitious areas for development into demonstration projects, which applications areas have the greatest potential for the development of IAP, and how this potential may best be realised for the benefits of end-users.

Appropriate Satellite Technology in Support of African Electoral Cycles

SatElections: Appropriate Satellite Technology in Support of African Electoral Cycles, is an innovative project for the production and delivery of eLearning modules on Effective Electoral Assistance and Electoral Administration via satellite.

The SatElections project is receiving the financial support of the Governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy that are funding an industrial consortium coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the frame of the ARTES 4 Industry Partnership Telecommunications Programme.

The SatElections project is closely interacting with the activities of the European Commission (EC)  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) led Global Training Platform on Effective Electoral Assistance, and represents the first step toward validating the fulfillment of the operational communication needs required in African Electoral Cycles. A pilot utilisation of the satcom platform proposed for the SatElections project will be run in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Independent Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (IEC-DRC) is acting as sponsoring partner and user. This Electoral Management Body received the largest aid ever in the context of the EC-UNDP partnership in the area of electoral assistance.

Thanks to the cooperation of the Industrial Partners (Openet, Newtec and SES Astra), the IEC-DCR, and UNDP, EC, International IDEA, the SatElections project aims to:

• produce the first ever eLearning modules on effective electoral assistance and electoral administration
• assess the feasibility of broadcasting the modules with appropriate, cost effective and sustainable satellite technology
• assess the feasibility of using the same satellite technology for creating an internal network for Electoral Management Bodies and for their electoral data transmission

The project will demonstrate, through the real case opportunity of the 2008-2011 Electoral Cycle of the DRC, that the SatElections system and associated services can provide an effective, sustainable and scalable solution in support of African Electoral Cycles.

ESA, TSB and BNSC have organised an IAP event on Transport, Safety and Energy, held at Harwell (UK).

The event attracted a wide number of participants, with more than 140 registrations!

The participants at this well-attended event represented a broad cross-section of stakeholders across users and solution providers.

The presentations covered a broad selection of topics across the thematic domains of Transport, Safety and Energy, and presenting different aspects and views, which can be represented in three groups:

• The user experiences working with solution providers and ESA;
• The solution providers view  on projects ran during the “IAP Preparatory Programme” phase;
• Users who have the first occasion to express their needs and to have dialogue with the space community.

This workshop brought together diverse stakeholders along various value chains of applications. The atmosphere was well captured by good resonance and discussions between speakers and attendees.

In summary, the participants were enthusiastic and there was much fruitful discussion and useful exchanges amongst them, leading to several good new ideas for promising projects.

All presentations are available on a hyperlinked agenda for downloading, which is found on the right hand menu "Related links".

A picture gallery will be posted in the next days.