Haifa, 23 August 2016, by Dimitra Stefoudi - This summer in Haifa, one of the ISU SSP Team Projects is working on Space Big Data, under the leadership of Barack Fishbain, Daniel Brack and Sanja Scepanovic. Our team comprises of thirty-five people and we are all aiming at going through a project that will significantly impact the world of Space Big Data. Our journey together started a few days after the kick-off of the Space Studies Program, with team-building activities, where we acquired strong cooperation skills and got acquainted with efficient team organization.

The Amazing Space Big Data Team Project, showing how big Big Data is. (Intentional multiple use of the word “big”)

It did not take long to realise how great our Team is...

Really happy for our spaghetti-marshmallow tower!

Our first meetings included “Big Volumes” (inside joke) of information on the issue of space data. Inevitably, we started discussing on the definition and importance of space big data. This debate later formed the basis of our Team Project.

During our meetings, we attended very interesting lectures from experts in the field of big data, space data and remote sensing. Kerrie Dougherty, Space Technology Curator and ISU Faculty Member, gave the first lecture on Space and the Origins of Big Data Management, while Daniel Green, Harvard University Astronomer, talked about space data archiving. Nimrod Kozlovsky, Venture Capitalist with investments in the space sector, introduced us to the legal implications of Space Big Data, and Francesc Guim Bernat from Intel provided us with insights on big data applications and uses. Furthermore, University Professors, Ayelet Baram-Tsabari from Technion and Hagit Messer-Yaron from Tel Aviv, held lectures on Space, Science, Communications and Earth observation technologies and applications respectively. On a similar topic, Ilan Porat from Elbit presented on Remote Sensing from Space and Data Rate. We also had the chance to hear from ESA experts, Pier Giorgio Marchetti, Jose Manuel Delgado Blasco, and Philippe Armbruster. They introduced us to the different types of Space Big Data, the ESA Services for Earth Observation Big Data, and gave us a hands-on session on data processing, using Sentinel data processing software.

Once the experts’ lectures were over, and the SSP Core Lectures and Department Activities were concluded, we were free to dedicate all our time to the Team Project. Our previous brainstorm helped a lot in forming the research subgroups and determining our research areas. In the beginning we focused in defining “Space Big Data” in order to facilitate our further work. We are proud to report that six weeks later we have not come up with something concrete. This is due to our realisation of the diversity of big data uses and potential, which shifted our efforts to providing solutions and implementation recommendations for all stakeholders involved. We are aiming at delivering an Executive Summary that will provide a clear overview to Space Big Data for scientists, engineers, lawyers, policy-makers, businessmen, as well as to the general public. We are looking forward to finalizing our TP Executive Summary and Report, which we hope gathers the attention to the features and perspectives of Big Data from Space. The outcome of our TP will also be presented in IAC Guadalajara in September 2016, included in the paper “Mapping and Optimizing Big Space Data - An International, Interdisciplinary and Intercultural Perspective on the Space Related Data Process”.

Executive Summary Team draining all its creativity

Brainstorm Wall

The Team is currently working hard to conclude its tasks. As the final deadlines are approaching, we are all putting our best efforts towards changing the world of Big Data for good. Normally, this would be a stressful situation, but since we are working very hard, we have managed to carry on well so far. Except from sometimes, when the consequences of Space Big Data are taking over us...