What is Planet Action ?

-        Planet Action is a non-for-profit collaborative initiative launched in June 2007 by Spot Image, a world leader in satellite imagery. Its purpose is to encourage the Earth Observation industry and geographic information professional communities to help and tackle the climate change related issues.

•         The Earth Observation industry provides images and data about the Earth from various sources:

-          Optical satellites

-          Radar satellites

-          airborne images (images taken from an airplane)

-          carborne/ground images (images taken from vehicles on the ground)

•         Geographic Information organise, manage and display geographical data (images, maps, and any related information) according to geographical references

•         The Earth observation and geographic information industries deliver data, products and services to numerous activities, whether businesses, governmental, non-governmental or territorial organisations.

-          Images and observation data in various resolutions

-          Geographical content and databases

-          geographic information systems, services and expertise

-          Location based services

-          Visualization tools and interface

-          Education and training

-          Planet Earth is a vast living system with complex and interwoven equilibriums. Since we are able to contemplate the Earth from the distance, it has become increasingly obvious that Planet Earth is our unique and common home, which we collectively share and are responsible for.

-          It is now scientifically established that human activities may durably impact and alter these equilibriums with consequences for our human race, the intensity of which are hard to predict.

-          Man-made climate change is a global issue with serious threats, deep implications and impacts that concern every country, place, organisation or individual on the planet. This is a rather new challenge for our societies and communities, which requires new and cooperative approaches.

-          It is now proven that uncontrolled and rapid technology evolution, combined with unprecedented demographic growth, is among the causes of man-made climate change.

-          We have launched Planet Action because we believe that technology may be part of the solution as well.

-          Earth imagery has a very powerful effect in understanding what is currently happening and at what pace, when it combines different images of a same location over time. For instance, one can precisely measure the speed at which glaciers recede, ice caps melt, lakes or forests decline.

-          The EO industry is among the few that can help and address this issue thanks to:

•         its extensive observation means and daily Earth observations

•         its huge image archives (20 years for Spot Image, 25 years for Landsat) that makes possible to demonstrate climate change impacts along various time series

•         its experience in analysing and understanding Earth images

•         Its massive networks of scientists, scholars, teachers and searchers.

-          Spot Image and its partners have engaged in Planet Action, because they believe that such a cause may undoubtedly be useful to our communities and societies, while bearing strong indirect benefits for our respective businesses as well.

-          The Planet Action initiative has three core purposes:

•         To support any project, whether big or small, whether from the scientific or civil societies, that assesses climate change impacts and suggests ways for action.

•         To support cooperation within and between project teams, local communities, global organisations and to use Earth imagery and Geographic information as a link between these communities

•         To help any individual or community to engage into action

-          These objectives translate into 3 main actions:

•         Active and ongoing support to projects that meet the Planet Action criteria

•         Launch and management of an information and exchange internet platform about climate change: the ambition is to make it a common depository of the knowledge generated around the Planet Action projects.

•         Education and outreach programs supported by the Planet Action projects and internet platform.

Back to top

-          Planet Action support projects that investigate and assess climate change related issues in one of the 5 following focus areas:

•         Human dimensions & habitation (for instance health risks attached to the expansion of viral vectors, societal and economic changes due to permafrost thawing)

•         Drought, desertification & water resources

•         Vegetation, biodiversity & ecosystems (for instance: invasive plants correlated to climate change, or coral reef bleeching)

•         Oceans

•         Ice & snow cover (for instance, impacts of melting glaciers)

Back to top

-          Spot Image (France) started Planet Action in early 2007.

•         Spot Image is a worldwilde  provider of Earth imagery. It is a French company that operates earth observation satellites and distributes Earth images to various businesses, administrations and organisations, with some 50 affiliates and business partners all over the world.

•         Spot Image operates a fleet of 3 satellites owned by the French Space Agency (CNES) to which another 2 will be added in 2009 (the Pleiades satellites). Spot Image is the distributor of images from other operators such as Formosat-2 (exclusive distribution from Taiwan NSPO), Kompsat-2 (South Korea Kari), Envisat (ESA).

-          Many other organisations support Planet Action or are in the process of becoming partners:

•         Unesco

•         ESRI

•         Infoterra

•         Spot Image regional partners such as CRISP In Singapore, CStar in the US

-          Support modalities to Planet Action are currently being discussed with  national or international organisations such as

•         The United Nation Environment Program UNEP

•         The French Space Agency CNES

•         The European Space Agency ESA

•         NASA and NOAA in the US

•         USGS

•         ProNatura International

•         Graînes d’Iles

•         Nevantropic

•         And many others

-          Any organisation or business can become a Planet Action partner. In doing so, a business or organisation makes 3 commitments at least on a yearly basis:

•       To contribute to the Planet Action projects with products or services it usually delivers to its customers, at cost or if possible for free.

•         To participate in the project selection and management process

•         To participate in the Planet Action knowledge platform, whether in kind or in expertise.

-          Planet Action partnership is not limited to Earth Observation and GIS industries: it is open to any other industry that agrees with and wishes to contribute to the Planet Action objectives.

-          When an organisation feels appropriate, it may contribute to the Planet Action Foundation as well, thus becoming a Planet Action member.

•         Funding the Foundation with yearly contribution which varies according to the membership level

•         Contributing to the Foundation in expertise or in kind. Such organisations are de facto members of the Foundation Advisory Board or Scientific Committee.

-          So far, Spot Image contribution to the Planet Action initiative is the following:

•         Starting and establishing the initiative.

•         Promoting the Planet Action initiative whether to potential partners or to the general public. Spot Image made the first public presentation of Planet Action at the International Symposium for Digital Earth (San Francisco June 2007)

•         Providing early support to a selection of projects: Spot Image is committed to supplying the equivalent of 300 free satellite images to the projects selected in 2007 (500 for projects selected in 2008). Additional images may be supplied at cost according to how many new projects will be selected in 2008

•         Starting and establishing the Planet Action exchange platform together with ESRI and other partners.

-          As a founding member of the future Planet Action Foundation, Spot Image will actively participate in the foundation orientation, management and communication actions

•         ….

-          In order to qualify for a support from the Planet Action Initiative, projects must meet the 4 following criteria:

•         Assess climate change related issues  AND propose course of action

•         Deal with one of the 5 Planet Action focus areas

•         Supported by a university, private or public lab that assess scientific interest

•         Project objectives & team validated by the Planet Action scientific committee.

•         project team must have a local partner in the country where the project takes place

-          The Planet Action Foundation will be in charge of managing the 3 main Planet Action activities:

•         the yearly Planet Action call for projects

•         the Planet Action exchange platform

•         the Planet Action education and outreach programs

-          The Planet Action Foundation is in charge of coordinating the scientific support to its projects:

•         Helping with satellite image analysis

•         Support in data collection and analysis

•         Recommendation in scientific publications relating to the project fields

•         Connection with scientific teams working on similar topics

•         More generally, guidance and mentoring for the research

•         Support Planet Action in selecting projects, assessing scientific validity of research, evaluating the projects protocols, findings and conclusions, as well as in defining the most relevant programs from the Call for Projects

-          The Foundation will subsequently be in charge of fund-raising to support the various Planet Action activities. For instance, the Planet Action Foundation will make it possible for the project to benefit from the contributions of the PA partners for free, even though they are produced at cost by the partners.

-          The Planet Action Foundation will be incorporated in 2008. Until then, Planet Action is managed by a operational committee jointly established between partners

-          The financial contributions to projects will be coordinated and managed by the Planet Action Foundation.

-          The Planet Action funds available for projects come from:

•         Earmarked funds whether from business sponsors and foundation members, other foundations or the general public

•         The Planet Action Foundation itself when its revenues exceed its operational needs and can be reallocated to projects.

-          The Planet Action Foundation governance rules, results and financial reports will be publicly displayed on the Planet Action web site.

Back to top