14:30 - 16:30
Observing the Earth from space serves different purposes that range from meteorology, management of natural resources, and marine applications, to climate, energy, and security services. In Europe, one of the main programmes is COPERNICUS, which is a contribution to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.
In combination with other systems such as the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) or commercial satellites, COPERNICUS offers a wide range of services and can enable a tremendous number of commercially viable downstream applications.
The session will address both scientific and commercial applications of Earth Observation data, showcase successful applications, and will increase participant awareness regarding current trends.
14:30—14:40
Introduction of the session
Virginia Puzzolo, Head of the Project Management Sector, Research Executive Agency
14:40—15:00
Remote Sensing
Switching back and forth between the real world and the digital
Steven Krekels, Unit Manager, VITO Remote Sensing
15:00—15:20
Geo-information services
André Jadot, CEO, Eurosense
15:20—15:40
Meteorology and Climatology
Paul Counet, Head of Strategy & International Relations, Eumetsat
15:40—16:00
Atmospheric research
Didier Fussen, Head of Department, BIRA-IASB
16:00—16:30
Q&A and Panel discussion
Speakers
Virginia Puzzolo
Since 2013, Virginia Puzzolo is the Head of the Project Managment Sector in the Space Research unit of the Research Executive Agency (REA). She started her career in the European Commission in 2004 in the Joint Reasearch Center as researcher in earth observation applications, mainly in the field of land monitoring. Then, in 2006, she joined the team in DG Enterprise (today DG Growth) that developed the Copernicus programme. Before joining the European Commission, she worked for more than five years as researcher in Earth observation for forest monitoring.
Earth observation is for her one of the most powerful tool we have today to monitor our environment and the Copernicus programme is the dream of her life coming true, as copernicus is the bridge from research to policy making we needed.
Head of the Project Management Sector, Research Executive Agency
Steven Krekels
Steven Krekels has been the manager of VITO’s Remote Sensing unit since November 2014. VITO Remote Sensing develops and operates space- and airborne-based earth observation systems that translate raw data into consumable information about population, growth, urban development, agriculture & vegetation, natural disasters, and more. I like to beat at the sweet spot where cutting-edge technology, creative people and viable business meet!
Unit Manager, VITO Remote Sensing
André Jadot
André Jadot has a Master Degree in Chemical Engineering (University of Louvain) and a Master Degree in Business Administration (University of Ghent).
He started his career at BP Belgium in 1987 and joined Belconsulting in 1989 reaching the role of Director. In the Eurosense Group, he exercised the role from 1991 till 2010 of Director in charge of Sales and Business Development. In 2011, he joined the start-up Gatewing, which was later on succesfully acquired by Trimble. Since 2017, André Jadot is CEO of Eurosense and CEO of Esri BeLux.
CEO, Eurosense
Paul Counet
Paul Counet is the Head of Strategy, Communication and International Relations at EUMETSAT and the Head of Cabinet of the Director-General. He has been with EUMETSAT for the last 20 years, with a short break of 2 years in the Space Policy Unit of the European Commission, between 2004 and 2006. Before his EUMETSAT time, he had his own consultancy company based in Belgium supporting SMEs from the space sector to enter into EU-funded projects and working on applications of EO data, mainly in the field of control of subsidies to agriculture and of development of cadastral databases using satellite images.
Head of Strategy & International Relations, Eumetsat
Dider Fussen
Dr Didier Fussen, Head of Department Solar Radiations in Atmospheres, is the leader of the Limb Remote Sounding group at the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy. He joined this federal scientific institute in 1988 after a PhD degree in Atomic Physics. He is the proposer of the ALTIUS EarthWatch mission on PROBA to perform atmospheric limb imaging for ozone monitoring in the UV-Vis-NIR domain. He is also leading the PICASSO cubeSat mission and its spectral imager VISION.
Head of Department, BIRA-IASB