Successful Controls with Remote Sensing Campaign

Munich, 28/11/16 - European Space Imaging (EUSI), DigitalGlobe’s WorldView Global Alliance partner, completed the 2016 Controls with Remote Sensing (CwRS) project for the European Commission (EC) with a near 100 % success rate. The Munich-based company again proved its reputation as a reliable partner supplying nearly half million square kilometers of large area collections of very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery well within the specified collection period.

European Space Imaging has been the major provider of VHR satellite data to the European Commission’s Controls with Remote Sensing (CwRS) program to control agricultural subsidies granted under the EC’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) since its inception in 2003. The CwRS program requires the timely and reliable provision of high-resolution and high quality imagery over control zones in Europe.

The 2016 campaign has seen a growing demand for higher quality imagery to answer the needs if the new CAP with a tendency to use higher resolution imagery in more challenging located control zones, some of which needed to be covered twice within very narrow time frames. Overall, more than 488,000 km² of data spread over 778 control zones across Europe were delivered. The majority of the collections were made using DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2 satellite which was tasked and operated through European Space Imaging’s own satellite ground station.

"We are proud to have completed another successful CwRS campaign year given the unforeseen challenging weather conditions and the growing requirements by the CAP. Writing this continued success story is a result of our set-up and great team work within the company as well as with our partners DigitalGlobe and SIIS,” says Adrian Zevenbergen, Managing Director of European Space Imaging.

The requirements for VHR in support of the CAP checks continue to evolve. European Space Imaging looks forward to an ongoing role as a key high-resolution imagery partner supporting the EU Commission and EU Member States with data supply into the future.

IMAGES: Agricultural 'Control with Remote Sensing' (CwRS) over Spain. Imaged by WorldView-2 satellite, May 2016. © European Space Imaging, German agricultural landscape imaged by WorldView-3 satellite, June 2015 as part of CwRS. © [2015] DigitalGlobe, Inc. - provided by European Space Imaging