Satellite communications in disaster management VVVolVolVolVol o6 o6 66l l. .No. NoNo. No78 N N 55 oo5.. 10 October 2018 2020 AFRICA Nigeria AFRICA REPORT MIDDLE EAST SPACE RACE How GPS is driving SPECIALautomation REPORT in transport industry C O N T E N T S Vol. 8 No. 10 UAE participates in WSIS Forum 2020 DLR institute of space systems Editor in-chief Aliyu Bello UAE deploys another home-grown satellite Executive Manager Tonia Gerrald Jubilations as Nigeria ignites Africa's first satellite-based SA to the editor in-Chief Ngozi Okey augmentation service Head, Application Services M. Yakubu Gilat reports Q2 2020 results Editorial/ICT Services John Daniel Connectivity demand soars as leisure vessels become Usman Bello safer places to work and rest, reports IEC Telecom Alozie Nwankwo Arabsat partners Airbus as Saudi Arabia Juliet Nnamdi expands fleet of satellites Client Relations Sunday Tache Russia to launch Angosat-2 telecoms satellite Lookman Bello for Angola in March 2022 Safiya Thani When staying connected matters most, supportingPublic Marketing Offy Pat Health needs around the world Tunde Nathaniel How 21st century GIS technologies are supporting Wasiu Olatunde the global fight against outbreaks and epidemics Media Relations Favour Madu Khadijat Yakubu Irdeto offers enhanced security services Zacheous Felicia to Forthnet Finance Folarin Tunde Rack Centre plans $100m expansion to create West Africa's largest data centre PayTV operator challenges exclusive agreements in pay-tv industry Space Watch Magazine is a publication of Satellite communications in disaster management Communication Science, Inc. All correspondence should be addressed to editor, space Watch Magazine. How GPS is driving automation in transport industry Abuja office: Plot 2009, Awka Street, UTC Building, GF 11, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria Tel: 234 80336471114, 07084706167, email: [email protected] LEGAL CONSULTANTS Idowu Oriola & Co. Garki, Abuja DISTRIBUTION CONTACTS Ade Adejo ABIJAN INTERNATIONAL Suleija, Abuja AYO DISTRIBUTION AGENCY Emir Road, Ilorin Olumayowa Ojo NEWSROUND INTERNATIONAL Area 10, Garki, Abuja Magazine Circulation Nigeria Limited 90, Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja Magazine Subscription Nigeria Limited Ikeja, Lagos. DELALI OTCHI Ridge Church, Tudu Branch, Accra, Ghana. AL AHRAM NEWPAPERS LIMITED Al Galaa Street -11511 Cairo-Egypt Ayo Olu MAGAZINE DISTRIBUTION AGENCY Jos, Plateau State. Cover source: Nigerian Broadband Plan 1 Editorial How GPS changed the way we map, move, and live On September 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines speed, bearing, distance traveled or us to see what others can't. In other flight 007 (KAL 007) was on its way from yet to travel, time needed to reach a cases, position supplements our Anchorage, Alaska to Seoul, South destination. Combined, the data gives knowledge of the physical world. Korea. Amid Cold War tensions, the a real-time awareness of where Augmented reality technology can use Boeing 747 lost track of its position and something or someone is, and where it precise positioning information to layer mistakenly strayed into Soviet airspace or they are going.Real-time tracking is unseen objects on top of visible ones. with deadly consequences. All 269 not only helpful for guiding people to One utility company in New Jersey layers passengers and crew, including US destinations, it's also necessary for the position of underground utility pipes congressman Larry McDonald (D- e m e r g i n g t e c h n o l o g i e s l i k e on top of workers' views of the physical Georgia), were killed when the plane was autonomous cars. These vehicles need road, showing them exactly where to dig shot down and crashed in the Sea of to know their precise position in real to complete repairs. Japan. time to make the right turns at the right A number of technical failures and times. As connectivity improves, this Positioning is personal, getting you from decisions contributed to the disaster, but application becomes more of a reality. point A to point B whenever you need to. one emerging technology might have Knowing your position helps you discover prevented it: global positioning. The 1983 We can think of GNSS as providing an what's around you, how far away you are tragedy rallied support and secured long- i n f i n i t e n u m b e r o f p o i n t from certain locations, and where to find term funding for the US military's Global coordinates–latitude by longitude by what you need. Positioning System (GPS), which was altitude. This “pointillistic” concept was But positioning also operates at the then under development with an a quantum leap forward in fields such enterprise level. Large amounts of uncertain future. as mapping and surveying. Before position data can be collected and The first GPS carried the name Navstar, GNSS, a forest might have been shown analyzed in a modern geographic associated with “Navigation Satellite on a map as a polygon, with straight information system (GIS) to identify Timing and Ranging,” which describes lines mapping a rough estimate of the patterns of movement over time. how these satellites pinpoint position. forest's edge. With global positioning, Business leaders can optimize supply Each satellite transmits a unique time- each tree has its own point location, chain logistics by tracking an entire coded radio signal. A person with a and each point can be mapped. The operation. UPS and FedEx track the receiver gathers these signals and when combined points of the trees indicate a positions of their fleet vehicles and at least four satellites are within view, the forest, instead of the other way around. packages in near real time, using position receiver combines information from all on a large scale to plan the most efficient signals to triangulate the receiver's Now, mappers and surveyors use delivery routes. location, including latitude, longitude, and positioning to record attributes of P l a n n e r s c a n i m p r o v e e v e n t altitude. features like trees, by matching them to management by easing the flow of people The term evolved from GPS to GNSS precise locations. They can note more in and out of a venue, improving safety by (Global Navigation Satellite System) as information about each tree at a knowing where police officers are located more countries launched their own g r a n u l a r l e v e l — f o r e x a m p l e , and dispatching them quickly to incidents. satellite constellations to provide precise cataloguing which trees are suffering In 2017, Chicago Marathon organizers position. Since 1990, the cost of receivers from disease. Using GNSS, a tracked the locations of all runners in real has dropped dramatically—from bulky maintenance crew can then find the time. early versions that could cost thousands same trees at a later time to treat or Positioning enables precision agriculture, of US dollars and were the size of a large remove them. Positioning also gives as farmers can keep records of soil types backpack, down to the one in your pocket: mapmakers a powerful tool to create and locations, informing which seeds to the smartphone-sized receiver that only new maps. For instance, they can plant where. Other diverse enterprise costs manufacturers a couple of dollars. aggregate a series of tracked routes applications include archaeology, from hikers or vehicles, using these mapping and surveying, emergency Perhaps the most well-known use of inputs to map uncharted trails and response, and even time-stamping of position is wayfinding—to navigate to a service roads. bank transactions. destination and prevent getting lost. With the capabilities of global positioning and Position threads together the digital The next level for positioning is predicting smartphones, gone are the days of and physical worlds. Knowing your m o v e m e n t b e f o r e i t h a p p e n s . consulting a paper map or printing out position isn't enough, you need the C r o w d s o u r c e d p o s i t i o n i n g a n d directions before a road trip. Positioning context of a map to understand where movement data are already used to can help with simple wayfinding tasks, you are and gain perspective on where predict how traffic will impact your trip such as locating a nearby restaurant. Yet, to go next. Sometimes there's tension across a big city. Surveyors today can go the capabilities extend to navigating ships between what we see on a map and out in the field with lightweight high- through international waters, guiding what we see in reality. Maybe a downed accuracy GNSS receivers, freeing them snowplows in low visibility conditions, and tree is obscuring a trail, a building has to collect accurate positions much more helping military personnel move around in changed names, or new construction quickly than the days of carrying unknown or hostile territory. appears where you expected an open equipment like distance-measuring space. In these cases, position can be chains, transit telescopes, levels, and Position and change in position reveal a a source of truth that is unaffected by compasses. By Andea Massey number of things: location, movement, changes in the physical world, allowing Source: Esri.com 5 APPOINTMENTS ITV America elevates of Information Systems Management from extensive technical experience and Lesley University. relationships across the aerospace and Heath Banks to Chief defense industry will support Momentus' Operating Officer efforts to advance and deploy our leading- Astroscale UK Appoints edge technology for low-cost satellite In his new role, Banks will focus on the Sharon Parker-Lines as transportation.” internal management of the company, Operations Director where he will oversee and lead on all physical and technical operations, Lyle Banks named to lead processes and protocols.