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The EO-ALERT European Commission H2020 project proposes the definition, development, and verification and validation through ground hardware testing, of a next-generation Earth Observation (EO) data processing chain. The proposed data processing chain is based on a novel flight segment architecture that moves EO data processing elements traditionally executed in the ground segment to on-board the satellite, with the aim of delivering EO products to the end user with very low latency. EO-ALERT achieves, globally, latencies below five minutes for EO products delivery, and below one minute in realistic scenarios. The proposed EO-ALERT architecture is enabled by on-board processing, recent improvements in processing hardware using Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components, and persistent space-to-ground communications links. EO-ALERT combines innovations in the on-board elements of the data chain and the communications, namely: on-board reconfigurable data handling, on-board image generation and processing for the generation of alerts (EO products) using Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), on-board AI-based data compression and encryption, high-speed on-board avionics, and reconfigurable high data rate communication links to ground, including a separate chain for alerts with minimum latency and global coverage. This paper presents the proposed architecture, its hardware realization for the ground testing in a representative environment and its performance. The architecture’s performance is evaluated considering two different user scenarios where very low latency (almost-real-time) EO product delivery is required: ship detection and extreme weather monitoring/nowcasting. The hardware testing results show that, when implemented using COTS components and available communication links, the proposed architecture can deliver alerts to the end user with a latency below five minutes, for both SAR and Optical missions, demonstrating the viability of the EO-ALERT architecture. In particular, in several test scenarios, for both the TerraSAR-X SAR and DEIMOS-2 Optical Very High Resolution (VHR) missions, hardware testing of the proposed architecture has shown it can deliver EO products and alerts to the end user globally, with latency lower than one-point-five minutes.

EO- ALERT is a European Commission H2020 project coordinated by Deimos Space. Partners are DEIMOSImaging, OHB Italia, DLR, Politecnico di Torino and TU Graz. The goals of the project are thedefinition and development of the next-generation Earth Observation (EO) data processing chain. Incontrast to conventional EO satellites, key elements of EO data processing is taking place on board usingadvanced avionics with the aim of delivering the EO product to the End Users with very low latency.Applications considered in the project are ship detection and severe weather monitoring and nowcasting.An important element is the communications subsystem which has to deliver bulk data and alerts generatedon board with high data rates and minimum latency. The latency requirements for global datadelivery are quite stringent: 30 minutes for bulk data and max. 5 minutes for alerts. Since the raw syntheticaperture radar (SAR) and optical images are large (466 and 200 MB each) high-speed links arenecessary. The alerts are small in comparison (10 kB), but during an orbit up to 900 alerts can be generatedresulting in a data volume of 9 MB.In the framework of EO-ALERT TU Graz is investigating a variety of efficient solutions for data deliveryon a global scale meeting the latency and throughput requirements. Ka-band direct-to-ground linkswith data rates up to 1.8 Gbit/s are the baseline for bulk data delivery. Alternatively, new developmentsin the area of optical terminals both for direct-to-ground communications using optical ground stationsas well as optical data relay links to the European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system have been investigated. Copyright 2020 as per EO-ALERT Consortium Agreement

EO- ALERT is a European Commission H2020 project coordinated by Deimos Space. Partners are DEIMOS Imaging, OHB Italia, DLR, Politecnico di Torino and TU Graz. The goals of the project are the definition and development of the next-generation Earth Observation (EO) data processing chain. In contrast to conventional EO satellites, key elements of EO data processing is taking place on board using advanced avionics with the aim of delivering the EO product to the End Users with very low latency. Applications considered in the project are ship detection and severe weather monitoring and nowcasting. An important element is the communications subsystem which has to deliver bulk data and alerts generated on board with high data rates and minimum latency. The latency requirements for global data delivery are quite stringent: 30 minutes for bulk data and max. 5 minutes for alerts. Since the raw synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical images are large (466 and 200 MB each) high-speed links are necessary. The alerts are small in comparison (10 kB), but during an orbit up to 900 alerts can be generated resulting in a data volume of 9 MB. In the framework of EO-ALERT TU Graz is investigating a variety of efficient solutions for data delivery on a global scale meeting the latency and throughput requirements. Ka-band direct-to-ground links with data rates up to 1.8 Gbit/s are the baseline for bulk data delivery. Alternatively, new developments in the area of optical terminals both for direct-to-ground communications using optical ground stations as well as optical data relay links to the European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system have been investigated. Copyright 2020 as per EO-ALERT Consortium Agreement