VEGETATION - 2000

Lake Maggiore - Italy, 3-6 April 2000

VEGETATION Production entity

Dirk Van Speybroek
Proxy of the Production Entity
VITO
Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol, Belgium
E.mail: dirk.vanspeybroeck@vito.be

The VEGETATION Production Entity monitors and programs the VEGETATION instrument, receives, archives and processes the recorded data, monitors and controls the image quality, generates VEGETATION products and provides the interface with the distribution organisation. Five ground segments make up the Production Entity:

• The SPOT 4 satellite control and VEGETATION programming centre (CMP/CPV), the VEGETATION image quality centre (QIV), and the VEGETATION L-band validation centre (SRVL), all located in Toulouse (France) and operated by CNES;
• The main X-band receiving station (SRIV) located in Kiruna, in far northern Sweden, and operated by SSC;
• The VEGETATION imagery processing and central archiving centre (CTIV), located in Mol (Belgium), and operated by Vito.

The VEGETATION Production Entity started its formal activities in July 1998, only three months after the successful launch of the VEGETATION instrument, to become fully operational in March 1999. Since then, and in co-operation with Spot Image, thousands of standard products have been delivered to end-users, either via ftp, CDROM or DAT.

This presentation gives an overview of the organisational and operational aspects of the VEGETATION Production Entity, which proves to be consistent in the fast delivery of high quality VEGETATION images.