Galileo – the European Programme for Global Navigation Services for civil purposes is an initiative led by European Union. We provide regular updates to our readers on the Galileo programme.

US expresses concern over satellite-killing test by China
The USA, Australia and Canada have voiced concerns to China over the fi rst known satellite-killing test in space in more than 20 years. The capability demonstrated by China was no surprise to the Bush administration, which revised U.S. national space policy in October to assert a right to deny space access to anyone hostile to US Interests. The US has been researching satellitekillers of its own, experimenting with lasers on the ground that could disable, disrupt and destroy spacecraft. http://news.scotsman.com

NATO awards GIS contract to TENET
NATO NC3 Agency has awarded the GIS Data Preparation Contract to TENET supported by Galdos Systems Inc. and IIC Technologies Inc in Canada. The project involves the generation of a wide range of geospatial data models compliant with some of the latest spatial open information standards from OGC and ISO and the conversion of many terabytes of vector, raster and gridded data. A large proportion of NATO’s paper holdings of maps and charts will also be digitized and converted to the same set of open standards. The objective is to create an open and shareable map database as part of NATO core GIS infrastructure withinz the Alliance. At the forefront of these open standards are the two key encodings of GML and GMLJP2 to provide effective encoding for Raster and Coverage data.
www.galdosinc.com

Russia, India sign agreements on GLONASS
Russia and India has signed two cooperation agreements on GLONASS, which will be used by Moscow’s longtime partner in the military-technical sector. The agreements were signed by the head of Russia’s Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, and Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Perminov earlier said Russia and India plan to jointly use GLONASS. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Moscow and New Delhi had agreed to launch GLONASS-M satellites with the help of Indian booster rockets, and to create new-generation navigation satellites. The Russian Ministry of Defense has already lifted all restrictions on obtaining and using the geospatial information provided by the GLONASS.
http://en.rian.ru

OnFinally, Google agreed.
Agreed to blur the pictures of sensitive Indian establishments.
Recently, Google Earth shocked many.
Many took the development as the deathblow to the issues like
“non-accessibility/non-availability of spatial information”.
However, many got worried, more than ever before,
about the security implications.
The issue was more important as many contended that “such
exposures” were selective in nature and not for all …

GloNav unveils industry’s lowest-power GPS RFIC
GloNav Inc. announced the volume production availability of its ultra low-power L1 GPS RFIC optimized for integration into cellular handsets, portable consumer electronic devices and battery operated GPS devices.
The GNR1040 is a highly integrated, low-power, single-conversion low- IF GPS RFIC for the 1.575GHz – L1 signal that includes built-in flexibility and programmability to support multiple GPS baseband processors. www.glonavgps.com

Leica FCMS Flight & Sensor Control Management System
Sweden-based Leica Geosystems’ Flight & Sensor Control Management System (FCMS), assists pilots and sensor operators to effi ciently control GPS-based survey fl ights. It performs all tasks, such as fl ight guidance, sensor recording and sensor monitoring, on a single man-machine interface, providing automated operation and minimized user interaction.Leica Geosystems also introduces the Rugby 50 and Rugby 55. With the Leica Rugby 50 and 55 are two new lasers that are designed for different applications: The Rugby 50 is dedicated to general construction contractors, being a tough, affordable laser with a single button. Whereas the Leica Rugby 55 is designed for the interior contractor – a versatile laser, perfect for almost any leveling and alignment job. In addition, Leica Geosystems has also announced a new enterprise software licensing program called Leica EnterpriseElite. Qualifi- ed companies benefi t from simplified software license management tools, fl exibility to immediately react to changing project demands, signifi cant software cost savings, and the ability to effi ciently standardize an entire global organization. www.leica-geosystems.com

February 2007

Integrated Water Resource Management- (IWRM-2007)

5-7 February, Banglore, India

www.angelfire.com/planet/kerf/

Geomatica 2007: Geomatics …

As part of the 17th United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for Asia and the Pacific (UNRCC-AP) held in Thailand in September 2006, Working Group 3 of the Permanent Committee for GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacifi c (PCGIAP) organised a one-day international workshop (21st September 2006) on the‘Integration of Built and Natural Environmental Datasets within National SDI Initiatives’. The workshop was conducted with the support of the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration, the University of Melbourne.

Satellite Navigation – Truths & Myths
PROFESSOR DAVID LAST
Determination of local gravimetric
geoid S K SINGH, BRIG (DR) B NAGARAJAN, PK GARG
A new approach for SINS stationary selfalignment JIANGBIN ZHOU, JIANPING YUAN, XIAOKUI YUE, JIANJUN LUO
The datum debate LT GEN SURINDAR, P MEHTA (RETIRED) , Prof M N Kulkarni and N K Agrawal
Online: GPS-GAP DR ALFRED LEICK
PCGIAP workshop