Africa Surveyors January-February issue 2023 digital

INTERNATIONAL
World Economic Forum
Selects Terradepth for
Ocean Data Challenge
World Economic Forum Selects Terradepth
for Ocean Data Challenge|image:courtesy
Terradepth, a leading provider of ocean
data solutions, has been selected to
participate in the World Economic
Forum’s (WEF) prestigious Ocean Data
Challenge, a program aimed at enhancing
sustainable ocean management and building
the blue economy. One of only 11 Challenge
winners, Terradepth will become part of the
WEF UpLink Innovation Network, including
a mentoring program and partnering
opportunities.
WEF announced the Ocean Data Challenge
winners at its 2023 Annual Meeting in Davos,
Switzerland. The Challenge was created
by WEF in response to the United Nations’
proclamation that 2021–2030 be a Decade of
Ocean Science for Sustainable Development
and has called for creation of a global ocean
data ecosystem to connect businesses,
organizations, and government data providers.
“Terradepth is proud to be recognized by
the World Economic Forum as an innovator
in creating technologies that play critical
roles in deepening our understanding of
ocean environments,” said Joe Wolfel, CEO
of Terradepth. “We look forward to working
alongside some of the most influential
players in the ocean science community.”
The Ocean Data Challenge selected
Terradepth for its innovation in scaling ocean
data collection and ocean data dissemination.
Terradepth is accomplishing this by
developing long endurance autonomous
underwater vehicles (AUVs) that revolutionize
the economics of ocean data collection and
reduce its environmental impact. Additionally,
as an ocean data-as-a-service (ODaaS)
provider, Terradepth has spearheaded efforts
to deploy low-logistics AUVs configured
with multiple sensors to conduct seafloor
hydrographic and geophysical surveys for a
fraction of the cost of traditional surveys.
Skydel Becomes First GNSS Simulator to Break
High-Capacity Barrier
Orolia, a Safran Electronics & Defense
company, has announced that Skydel,
its flagship GNSS simulation engine
software, can generate more than 500
signals from a single platform. By leveraging
its software-defined architecture, Skydel’s
potential can be massively scaled upwards
when employing a robust set of hardware
components. GNSS users, experts, and
manufacturers, as well as those looking
for an LEO-capable simulation system, can
greatly benefit from this unmatched number
of signals.
“GNSS chipset, cellular handset, and GNSS
receiver manufacturers have been looking
for a robust solution that can generate a
very high capacity of signals — with all the
constellations and multiple frequencies –
from a single workstation. Skydel gives them
that capability,” explained Pierre-Marie Le
Veel, Orolia’s Simulation Product Director.
“With the right hardware, Skydel is the first
high-capacity GNSS simulator on the market
that can also accurately generate advanced
multi-path, jamming, spoofing, or the high
number of signals and frequencies needed
for a true LEO constellation simulation.”
Sercel and AP Sensing are pleased
to announce the launch of a joint
innovative solution for comprehensive
railway infrastructure monitoring.The world’s
first Below Ballast Scan (BBS) solution is
the result of joint technical work combining
AP Sensing’s unique Distributed Acoustic
Sensing (DAS) technology and Sercel’s
comprehensive geophysical solution for nearsurface
evaluation using DAS data. The joint
solution provides insights to help customers
understand the roadbed and underlying
geology to better manage their geotechnical
risks.
The BBS monitoring solution provides critical
data needed for safe railway operations and is
an important complement to existing shallow
near-surface inspection techniques and rail
Orolia’s Skydel Simulation Engine offers the
best of both worlds|image: Orolia
Skydel contains a rich feature set that
includes multi-constellation/multi-frequency
signal generation, remote control from userdefined
scripts, and integrated interference
generation. However, one of Skydel’s
greatest assets is its open, software-defined
architecture.
“Skydel’s software-defined GNSS simulation
approach is just the tip of the iceberg,” added
Le Veel. “With more and more customers
simulating multi-path and jamming scenarios,
and the need for more signals in more
applications –even beyond traditional
simulators – the need for high-capacity has
never been greater. The Skydel engine opens
the possibility for users to escalate to over
1000 signals and not be limited by hardware
design.”
Sercel & AP Sensing launch innovative railway
monitoring solution
Sercel & AP Sensing launch innovative
railway monitoring solution|image: Sercel
monitoring. The use of already-existing fiber
optic infrastructure, together with extremely
long-range evaluation capability, makes the
joint Sercel and AP Sensing solution very costeffective
and non-intrusive. Assessment of rail
track subsurface using DAS does not interfere
with traffic and allows monitoring changes
in real time for more predictive planning of
maintenance operations, especially in areas
with complex geological conditions or high
geotechnical risks.
6 January-February issue l 2023 www.africasurveyorsonline.com