The PIPEMON
project is part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA)
Earth Observation Market Development Programme (EOMD) and
aims to promote and develop the use of Earth Observation
(EO) techniques by pipeline and oil & gas storage operators
for pipeline and structure monitoring and pipeline route
planning.
Innovative technologies provide the key to making pipeline
operations more efficient by complementing existing technologies.
Thanks to recent progress in satellite-based remote sensing
and image processing, it is now possible to design pipeline
monitoring systems with remote sensors and context-oriented
image processing software, as has been demonstrated in
particular by this project.
The multi-skilled team of seven partners have built strong
working relationships over a number of years within previous
projects (PRESENSE and ESA EOMD). It has particular experience
in the EO industry (NPA, Definiens and Tele-Rilevamento
Europa), pipeline consultancy industry (EBA Engineering
Consultants, Advantica, Intergraph). In addition, the
British Geological Survey are acting as science reviewer.
The main services of the project are:
-
Measurement of ground motion along
pipelines, over oil & gas infrastructure in relation
to landslip, river crossings, tectonic hazard zones,
underground oil and gas storage facilities and mining
areas using state-of-the-art satellite radar interferometry
(InSAR) techniques.
- The range of techniques offered include the new Persistent
Scatterer Interferometry (PSI; sub- millimetric precision
in height), conventional differential InSAR (centimetric
precision) and the Corner Reflector Interferometry (sub-centimetric
precision
Pipeline
route planning
-
Determining where there may be clear
benefits for the pipeline industry in terms of integrated
use of EO data and services (i.e., both optical and
radar data, used in combination with spatial data such
as digital elevation models (DEMs) and terrain, land
cover or other mapping).
- Demonstrating the utility of interferometry methods
such as PSI for detection and characterization of ground
hazards, as a part of pipeline route planning.
The project team is working in close co-operation with
pipeline companies in order to provide the most appropriate
integrated and easily accessible system for supplying
geo-information that encompasses their requirements. This
will ensure that the commercial and economic utility of
the service is within the price sensitive limits of the
pipeline industry and the alternatives available to them.
This three-year project started in November 2003 and
is at the end of its second Phase. Phase 1 saw the definition
and implementation of the two EO services for pipeline
operators, while Phase 2 focuses on applying these services
on real test site locations, marketing and expanding the
customer base.
For more details contact the PIPEMON Project Manager
- Dr Michael Riedmann, NPA, michael.riedmann@npagroup.com
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