The main topic of the BigSkyEarth meeting in Helsinki on 10-11 October, 2016, at the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute and co-organized by the University of Helsinki, Department of Physics,  was preparation of the ITN proposals and how to boost collaborative work within BigSkyEarth network. The meeting was a success as three trans-disciplinary collaborative groups emerged working on joint proposals: Hyperspectral Imaging; Engaging Mobile Data to Strengthen Disaster Resilience in Europe; Meteor Atmospheric Plasma Light Emission

Each group reached a high level of consensus on the project details. The meeting started with a talk about the ITN instrument given by Dr. Ulrika Backman, Senior Advisor at Research Funding Services of the University of Helsinki.
The group on hyperspectral imaging was coordinated by Marco Quartulli (VicomTech, Spain). The current version of the proposal concept as elicited by the working group refers to setting up and exercising a training network dedicated to the preparation of a new generation of scientists capable of working with high volumes of hyperspectral imaging data, in conditions that include the need for near real time operation as well as an imperfect knowledge of the characteristics of both the sensing system and the scene. The motivation for this Training Network depends on the rapid rise of the relevance of hyperspectral imaging methods for industrial leadership (computer vision in industry 4.0, self driving fleets and IoT), societal challenges (food and water security, logistics and transport security) and scientific and technological excellence (advanced biomed, new Earth observation, big data astronomy).

The group on mobile data utilization was coordinated by Boris Antic (University of Novi Sad, Serbia). The aim of the project is to build on accumulated experience in knowledge extraction from mobile data triggered by the rise of the people-centric sensing paradigm and to explore its potential in complementing current EO and disaster management practices to increase/strengthen disaster resilience of communities across Europe. The motivation for such a project is driven by high costs of natural disasters – since 2005, they have cost the EU close to €100 billion, with the severity and frequency of natural disasters in increase over past decades. For example, in 2013, Central Europe suffered one-hundred-year floods for the second time in just 13 years. Hence, we need better disaster preparedness and response tools and methodologies. In that respect, mobile phones can provide approximate spatiotemporal localization of users and create an immense resource for the analysis of human mobility, social behavioural patterns as well as the human footprint on the environment. This type of data can be extremely valuable to early disaster warning, response and situation assessment systems.

The group on meteor plasma was coordinated by Maria Gritsevich (University of Helsinki, Finland). Meteors have a fascinating diversity of importance in various fields of astronomy, aeronomy, geophysics, evolutionary biology, planetology and science popularization. The proposal intended to bring together observers, modellers, and data interpreters to study the formation and evolution of plasma effects generated by meteoroid particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere.  This network will bring together, for the first time, expertise from very different areas: optical and spectroscopic observations in a very wide wavelength range from the UV to IR, radar, and VLF/ULF (very low frequency/ultra-low frequency). Observations will be taken from the ground, airships and orbit, in a collaboration between academic institutions and industry. We will extend existing models for the flight of a meteoroid through the atmosphere to model the emission in different wavelength ranges and compare them to measured data. This will allow us to expand in particular the understanding of the generation of meteoric plasma.