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Defence Industry and Space
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GRALLE – Galileo Reliable Automatic Low Latent Emergency Warning Service

Details

Status
Closed
Publication date
Deadline date

Description

The main objective of GRALLE was to define, design and demonstrate an efficient Galileo-based, low latency, reliable and highly standardised Emergency Warning Service (EWS) to improve worldwide safety and security.

Contract Number: Call for Tenders No 536/PP/GRO/RCH/16/9261

Project Segment: Horizon 2020, Galileo Mission and Services evolution

Duration: 24 months (January 2017 - December 2018)

Budget: € 950 000

Project Partners: Thales (France), Telespazio (France), Intelligence for Environment and Security Solutions (Italy), and ST Micro (Italy)

Project Coordinator:
Pauline Martin (TAS), Project Technical Manager
pauline [dot] martinatthalesaleniaspace [dot] com (pauline[dot]martin[at]thalesaleniaspace[dot]com)

European Commission Project Manager:
Frederic Domps
Frederic [dot] Dompsatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (Frederic[dot]Domps[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

Background

This project sought to address the following requirements:

  • define the way emergency warnings are obtained from existing sources, and prepare for the future integration of new sources
  • define the capability for the Galileo-based EWS to combine alerts from different sources and generate alert and warning messages
  • design the process to deliver emergency warnings and alerts via the Galileo system (mission segment, space segment and receivers) with low latency and in a reliable and secured way
  • define possible strategies to combine information and actions, and transform them into guidance for the population to maximise alert efficiency

It addressed these requirements through:

  • collection of information on EWS and "guidance to react" stakeholders
  • detailed implementation in Galileo including definition of the Galileo service, of the signal in space, of the evolutions of the Galileo Mission Segment, and the impact on the receiver, including the security strategy and an in-detail analysis of costs
  • end-to-end demonstration of the solution designed
  • dissemination of the results

The project benefited from the large scope of skills and expertise offered by the consortium:

  • Thales Alenia Space France - TAS-F (France), acting as prime contractor and connecting safety, security, and Galileo;
  • Intelligence for Environment and Security Solutions, IES Solutions (Italy), acting as the expert in disaster management and emergency services
  • Telespazio (France), providing expertise in service provision
  • STMicroelectronics (Italy), as provider of the user terminal solution

The combination of these skills ensures the best results for this new Galileo service, and will help save lives in the future. The operational concept was demonstrated through a set of real-time demonstrations.

Project objectives

  1. Identify global EWS stakeholders and their user needs
  2. Define a potential global EWS based on Galileo infrastructure including the GNSS Service Centre, and determine its service and mission requirements
  3. Perform a preliminary high-level analysis on the impact of EWS deployment on existing Galileo infrastructure, including the GNSS Service Centre and associated operations
  4. Based on the previous point, determine the high-level cost of the EWS from the point of view of infrastructure and operations
  5. Perform a trade-off analysis between a Galileo-based EWS and existing systems across the globe
  6. Demonstrate the EWS with a remote EWS user

Results

From the point of view of industry, GRALLE was a successful project that achieved all its objectives. The technical analysis demonstrated the relevance of implementing the GRALLE concept within the Galileo system, and most stakeholders were enthusiastic about presenting and exchanging information on GRALLE concepts. The emergency community seems very supportive of the initiative and is expecting a Galileo Emergency Warning Service to be deployed soon.

Further insight into the results are available in the GRALLE final report.

Expected impact

Although complicated by the unavailability of the Galileo navigation signal for transmitting the required EWS message, the demonstration activity produced significant enthusiasm and received very positive feedback. The shared demonstration with the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), performed in Australia, although requiring dedicated solutions for both Galileo and QZSS signals, was completely successful. The trials largely demonstrated:

  • concept maturity
  • interoperability of the designed Galileo EWS with the existing QZSS EWS, which bodes well for future interoperability of the deployed Galileo EWS
  • compliance of the designed Galileo EWS with the needs of demonstration participants and EWS providers

Disclaimer: The project results represent the views of the consortium. They do not necessarily represent the views of the European Commission and they do not commit the Commission to implementing the results.