Urban Thematic Exploitation Platform - supporting urban research with EO data processing, integrative data analysis and reporting

Urbanization is among the most relevant global trends that affects climate, environment, as well as health and socio-economic development of a majority of the global population. As such, it poses a major challenge for the current urban population and the well-being of the next generation. To understand how to take advantage of opportunities and properly mitigate to the negative impacts of this change, we need precise and up-to-date information of the urban areas. The Urban Thematic Exploitation Platform (UrbanTEP) is a collaborative system, which focuses on the processing of earth observation (EO) data and delivering multi-source information on trans-sectoral urban challenges. The U-TEP is developed to provide end-to-end and ready-to-use solutions for a broad spectrum of users (service providers, experts and non-experts) to extract unique information/ indicators required for urban management and sustainability. Key components of the system are an open, web-based portal connected to distributed high-level computing infrastructures and providing key functionalities for i) high-performance data access and processing, ii) modular and generic state-of-the art pre-processing, analysis, and visualization, iii) customized development and sharing of algorithms, products and services, and iv) networking and communication. The service and product portfolio provides access to the archives of Copernicus and Landsat missions, Datacube technology, DIAS processing environments, as well as premium products like the World Settlement Footprint (WSF). External service providers, as well as researchers can make use of on-demand processing of new data products and the possibility of developing and deploying new processors. The onboarding of service providers, developers and researchers is supported by the Network of Resources program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the OCRE initiative of the European Commission. In order to provide end-to-end solutions, the VISAT tool on UrbanTEP allows analyzing and visualizing project-related geospatial content and to develop storylines to enhance the transport of research output to customers and stakeholders effectively. Multiple visualizations (scopes) are already predefined. One available scope exemplary illustrates the exploitation of the WSF-Evolution dataset by analyzing the settlement and population development for South-East Asian countries from 1985 to 2015 in the context of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.3.1 indicator. Other open scopes focus on urban green, functional urban areas, land-use and urban heat island modelling (e.g.)

Earth observation-based service platforms - a new instrument to provide geo-information for urban and regional planning

The upcoming suite of Sentinel satellites in combination with their free and open access data policy will open new perspectives for establishing a spatially and temporally detailed monitoring of the Earth's surface. The Sentinel fleet will provide a so-far unique coverage with Earth observation (EO) data and new possibilities with respect to the implementation of innovative methodologies, techniques and geo-information products and services

New Opportunities for Global Environmental Monitoring Arising from Integrative Service Platforms for Earth Observation Data Exploitation

The upcoming suite of Sentinel satellites in combination with their free and open access data policy will open new perspectives for establishing a spatially and temporally detailed monitoring of the Earth’s surface. The Sentinel fleet will provide a so-far unique coverage with Earth observation (EO) data and new possibilities with respect to the implementation of innovative methodologies, techniques and geo-information products and services. However, the capability to effectively and efficiently access, process, analyze and distribute the mass data streams from the Sentinels and high-level information products derived from them poses a key challenge. This is also true with respect to the necessity of flexibly adapting the processing and analysis procedures to new or changing user requirements and technical developments. Hence, the implementation of operational, modular and highly automated processing chains, embedded in powerful hard- and software environments and linked with effective distribution functionalities, is of central importance. This paper introduces concepts for the utilization of modern information technology functionalities and services to bridge the gap between the technology-driven EO sector and the information needs of environmental science, planning, and policy. Key components of such systems are currently developed in the projects OPUS-GMES and TEP Urban. This includes the implementation of an open, web-based platform employing distributed high-level computing infrastructures (Platform as a Service – PaaS) as well as providing key functionalities for i) high-performance access to thematic data (Information as a Service – InaaS), ii) modular and generic state-of-the art pre-processing, analysis, and visualization (Software as a Service – SaaS), iii) customized development and dissemination of algorithms, products and services, and iv) networking and communication. These services and functionalities are supposed to enable any interested user to easily exploit and generate thematic information on the status and development of the environment based on EO data and technologies

The Urban TEP - Utilizing Multi-Source Data for Innovative Urban Analysis and Monitoring

Urbanization and climate change, representing two of the most relevant developments related to the human presence on the planet, challenge our environmental, societal and economic development. Over the past two decades, cities have become the global economic platforms for production, innovation and commerce. At the same time they act as focal points of social developments. The availability of and access to accurate, detailed and up-to-date information will impact decision making processes all over the world. The Copernicus Sentinel satellites and the free and open access data policy of the European Space Agency (ESA) contribute to a spatially and temporally detailed monitoring of the Earth’s surface. At the same time a multitude of additional sources of open geo-data is available - e.g. from national or international statistics or land surveying offices, volunteered geographic information or social media. Based on these developments, the capability to effectively and efficiently access, process, and jointly analyze the mass data collections poses a key technical challenge. The Urban Thematic Exploitation Platform (U-TEP) is developed to provide end-to-end and ready-to-use solutions for a broad spectrum of users to extract unique information/ indicators required for urban management and sustainability. Key components of the system are an open, web-based portal connected to distributed high-level computing infrastructures and providing key functionalities for i) high-performance data access and processing, ii) modular and generic state-of-the art pre-processing, analysis, and visualization, iii) customized development and sharing of algorithms, products and services, and iv) networking and communication. EO-based processing has been used generate several global thematic layers, including the Global Urban Footprint (GUF 2012) binary human settlement mask, several collections of TimeScan products providing spectrally and temporally harmonized representations of the land surface, and the experimental GUF-DenS 2012 product. In addition, several (global) auxiliary data sets have been integrated, including demo data for High Altitude Pseudo Satellites (HAPS), WorldPop, Gridded Population World, Global Administrative Units, VIIRS Nighttime Lights, ESA CCI Land Cover, World Bank statistics, UN statistics and geotagged Tweets. U-TEP provides the possibility to define and conduct on-demand processing and production of individual thematic content based on multi-mission remote sensing imagery and above mentioned data sources. The complementary data might either be publically available on the platform or individually uploaded by the user. For processing and data analysis, U-TEP provides high-level processing solutions and high-performance IT-infrastructures, which support large-scale and near-real-time data exploitation. For the development of own content or applications, U-TEP offers interfaces to upload and run user-defined algorithms and processes and provides functionalities to develop own methods and products (e.g., the functionalities of the Sentinel tool boxes). In the first project phase, which covered the time span from March 2015 to March 2018, already more than 300 institutions from more than 40 countries of diverse users (i.a. from science, public institutions, NGOs, industry) have requested Urban TEP products, services and system access. This indicates that U-TEP meets the expectations of the user community. The intended follow-up funding phase will last 4 years, in which the platform will enter the operational phase