27
3. THE CEO INITIATIVES TO COLLECT AND ANALYZE USER
REQUIREMENTS FOR EARTH OBSERVATION
3.5.1
Insurance companies
This group has a wide range of land, sea and atmosphere information
requirements. Here, the overriding need is to understand in some detail
exactly where EO can help. At present, two characteristic activities have
been identified. Risk assessment (done in advance of any event) is likely to
have a recurring need of EO information. Damage assessment after the
effects of an event (storms, floods, etc.), will have one-off requirements for
information, but may have substantial funds available.
3.5.2
Travel/Tourism industry
With increasing leisure time and income levels, this is an industry that
has grown enormously in recent years. The use of EO information at present
is low, confined largely to products like posters and images. The potential
for gaining new customers includes real time services (e.g., what is the
weather like in Majorca now?), historical records (e.g., snow cover, climate
statistics, archive images such as 3-D views) and products to holiday makers
(e.g., posters, CD-ROMs, fly-through, etc.). For the latter, the growing
popularity of large area adventure travel (e.g., Himalayas, river tours,
cruises, etc.) make EO products more technically possible, whilst average
disposable income of these types of holiday makers is high.
3.5.3
Environmental protection organizations of land resources
Here a range of regional, national and pan-European (e.g., Alpine group)
organizations can be identified. They are often governmental, but other
groups (local, environmental, etc.) are also be included since they have a
high profile and can be a catalyst for the adoption of new techniques. The
benefits of EO for mapping and monitoring natural land resources were
evaluated as the largest potential profitable area; hence sea and atmosphere
problems are not addressed by the study.
3.5.4
Town/City local government departments
The two main contributions that EO information can make are in the
process of planning and in the detection of changes. The potential customers
are public bodies, with a local interest for a particular town, city or urban
area, and include architects, road and infrastructure planners, environmental
control and health, parks and woods, etc. The expected availability of higher
3. THE CEO INITIATIVES TO COLLECT AND ANALYZE USER
REQUIREMENTS FOR EARTH OBSERVATION
3.5.1
Insurance companies
This group has a wide range of land, sea and atmosphere information
requirements. Here, the overriding need is to understand in some detail
exactly where EO can help. At present, two characteristic activities have
been identified. Risk assessment (done in advance of any event) is likely to
have a recurring need of EO information. Damage assessment after the
effects of an event (storms, floods, etc.), will have one-off requirements for
information, but may have substantial funds available.
3.5.2
Travel/Tourism industry
With increasing leisure time and income levels, this is an industry that
has grown enormously in recent years. The use of EO information at present
is low, confined largely to products like posters and images. The potential
for gaining new customers includes real time services (e.g., what is the
weather like in Majorca now?), historical records (e.g., snow cover, climate
statistics, archive images such as 3-D views) and products to holiday makers
(e.g., posters, CD-ROMs, fly-through, etc.). For the latter, the growing
popularity of large area adventure travel (e.g., Himalayas, river tours,
cruises, etc.) make EO products more technically possible, whilst average
disposable income of these types of holiday makers is high.
3.5.3
Environmental protection organizations of land resources
Here a range of regional, national and pan-European (e.g., Alpine group)
organizations can be identified. They are often governmental, but other
groups (local, environmental, etc.) are also be included since they have a
high profile and can be a catalyst for the adoption of new techniques. The
benefits of EO for mapping and monitoring natural land resources were
evaluated as the largest potential profitable area; hence sea and atmosphere
problems are not addressed by the study.
3.5.4
Town/City local government departments
The two main contributions that EO information can make are in the
process of planning and in the detection of changes. The potential customers
are public bodies, with a local interest for a particular town, city or urban
area, and include architects, road and infrastructure planners, environmental
control and health, parks and woods, etc. The expected availability of higher