SpatialNews Press Release

GAF and Definiens Imaging Sign Agricultural Observation and Mapping Partnership Agreement

www.definiens-imaging.com

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Munich, December 2001. The "Gesellschaft für angewandte Fernerkundung", GAF, which provides information systems for multi disciplinary geodata applications and is a market leader in high quality software and services for agricultural declarations and control with airborne and satellite remote sensing data signed an agreement with Definiens Imaging, global leader in object oriented image analysis and feature recognition systems, to strengthen the use of Definiens' eCognition technology for agricultural monitoring purposes.

In this agreement GAF will be able to integrate eCognition into solutions and services GAF is currently providing for its customers. These systems allow the precise delineation of agricultural fields for the declarations required by the European Commission and the subsequent independent control of the crops.

With the new Version 2.0 release, eCognition includes the capability to delineate and export automatically generated objects into a vector format (shape). In addition, the land parcels found by eCognition are annotated with basic size, shape and classification information. "This information is just what is required in the various fields of our activities" says Dr. Axel Relin, Director for Agricultural Information Systems at GAF.

To demonstrate the object recognition and vectorization capabilities in the European agricultural context, GAF and Definiens held a joint presentation at the "7th Annual Conference on Control with Remote Sensing of Area-based Subsidies" in Baveno, Italy, Nov 23-24. The conference was attended by 140 European Commission and national governmental officials and representatives of companies involved in the supply and service for the "Monitoring of Agriculture with Remote Sensing" (MARS) programme.

About eCognition:

eCognition software provides object oriented multi-scale satellite image analysis capabilities, and classifies an image based on attributes of the image objects rather than on the attributes of individual pixels. This classification process allows users to collect a large range of statistical parameters and detailed information from any Earth-observation data and any raster or vector based information tailored specifically to their information needs. Definiens has just released its new eCognition 2.0.

About ZEUS, LaFis and AgroView: Against a background of European political decisions over the last decade encouraging the utilization of remotely sensed data comes the official request for obligatory inclusion of GIS techniques in the European Agricultural Administrations. In the frame of the European decision, GAF has been developing and successfully implementing adequate systems in Europe since 1992. The combination of detailed knowledge of the demands of the user community (European Commission, national authorities and farmers), in-depth understanding of all related disciplines (GIS, remote sensing, database management and agriculture) and human resources, expertise and motivation, has been yielded the capability and sustainability to develop and maintain adequate Information Systems.

ZEUS has been developed to meet the specific demands of an efficient remote sensing control of agricultural subsidy applications from farmers. Major service providers in Europe have successfully utilized ZEUS in Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Czech Republic and United Kingdom. ZEUS enables a fast and efficient integrative analysis of digital vector and alphanumeric data along with multi-temporal earth observation data (aerial photographs, multi-spectral and radar satellite data.)

LaFIS ® the agricultural Information and Decision Support System for administrative use, fully complies to current EU-requests. Close co-operation with the users further induced the development of a sophisticated product at once efficient, robust, user streamlined and markedly easy to learn and to handle. More than 400 software licenses sold in 2001 alone. Farmers use AgroView® as a powerful graphic tool for precise and highly efficient recording of current field boundaries and farm management. AgroView® integrates high resolution raster imagery with multiple vector data like any cadastral information, GPS - measurement and supports the digital declaration. This solution was especially designed for farmers to master all these present demands. Now the advantage of administration control technologies can be equaled.

About GAF: www.GAF.de

GAF, a private sector enterprise was initiated in 1985 by Dr. Rupert Haydn and started its activities by providing services centered around earth observation satellite data. These services were soon combined with state-of-the-art information system technology.

Today, GAF is an internationally renowned company with leading competence and experience in the development of dedicated software and services for applied remote sensing and information systems of uncompromising quality. GAF offers a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from procurement of geodata (e.g. satellite and aerial data, DEM, land use and land cover data), value added processing, information processing and software development to the provision of turn-key technical assistance projects and customized spatial land management and monitoring systems. These products and services are based on state-of-the-art technology and know-how.

GAF's interdisciplinary team is comprised of highly qualified individuals, experienced in project work at home and overseas. In 2001 GAF employed 35 experts with professional experience in remote sensing/information systems and geography, geology, agriculture, forestry, cartography, informatics and land management. GAF GmbH´s activities are run by Dr. Rupert Haydn. GAF is a member of AHT Group AG.

About Definiens Imaging GmbH: www.definiens-imaging.com

Definiens Imaging GmbH was established in 2001 and incorporates all Geomatics and Imaging technologies and products of Definiens AG (www.definiens.com). Definiens AG evolved in September 2000 from Delphi2 Creative Technologies GmbH. The company was founded in 1994 by Nobel Laureate Professor Gerd Binnig and science journalist Dieter Herold. Definiens AG develops decentralized communication platforms as well as software for knowledge management and image analysis. Definiens AG's solutions are based on the "Cognition Network" model invented by Prof. Dr. Gerd Binnig and his team. The "Cognition Network" uses technology that closely emulates human thought patterns. Scientific activities are coordinated by Prof. Dr. Gerd Binnig. Business activities are run by Thomas D. Grevel. Definiens AG and Definiens Imaging GmbH are based in Munich, Germany. eCognition was awarded the European Information Society Technology prize in 2001.

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Jan 10, 2002 Jun 26, 2002