INTERVIEW: MDA

JOHN HORNSBY, GENERAL MANAGER - MDA GEOSPATIAL SERVICES INTERNATIONAL

GEO: The company recently re-branded to become 'MDA' corporation. Can you explain what brought that re-branding about and how the company is now structured? How have services changed as a result of this?
JH: Rebranding our name to MDA set the tone perfectly for our direction in 2006. In recent years we felt that RADARSAT International did not adequately reflect our ever-changing business. Rebranding the company to the common name MDA was part of MDA's strategy to bring together a number of its business units - often serving a similar customer base - under a single, recognisable brand. It's an effective strategy that moves us into a stronger position to offer our customers more comprehensive products and services through MDA's extensive systems and services capabilities. That is a platform we are building upon in 2006. In addition, with the upcoming launch of RADARSAT-2 we are positioning the company to prepare for total management and operation of the system and developing a strategic business model to accommodate these new elements.

GEO: RADARSAT 1 recently celebrated 10 years in space. Did you anticipate that the satellite would still be providing useful and valuable data after all this time? What does the future hold for RADARSAT 1?
JH: RADARSAT-1 has been and still is an amazing system. Even though it has advanced in age, users are still prepared to invest in ground systems to receive the data. It is still in very good health and is expected to continue providing high quality imagery for several years. The question for us will become what to do with RADARSAT-1 when RADARSAT-2 is launched. We will need to determine what the cost benefit is of continuing to support the satellite once RADARSAT-2 is operational.

GEO: MDA is heavily involved in land data and information services. Could you explain some of the information services you offer and why you feel MDA is a good match for providing these services?
JH: MDA has garnered great success in the land information services market. Its push into the sector began with the operation of BC Online through which it really began to understand the intricacies of collecting, maintaining and providing property information. Businesses began purchasing this comprehensive property information such as property ownership and value to help them make intelligent decisions. Based on this success, MDA expanded its reach into the property information sector through acquisitions in the US and the UK where it competitively won the bid to develop the NLIS on behalf of the UK government. Now we are transferring this knowledge and experience to create land information services in developing regions such as El Salvador and Costa Rica.

GEO: The company has a long history of international participation. Which types of products and services are in greatest demand these days and in which parts of the world?
JH: Customers worldwide want to have highquality information products that will provide them with valuable business intelligence on a routine basis. We are meeting those demands in a variety of industries and now have a substantial number of RADARSAT operational users - particularly in the marine and petroleum sectors - across the globe. On the optical side we have also established a respectable customer base in the US including the USGS who are benefiting from routine information services we provide them. Through the work of our ICT group, we have secured some very high profile projects with powerful organisations such as the World Health Organization, which has taken us into new application areas to add to our already successful programs in the land information and agriculture information services market.

GEO: MDA is involved in large number of projects that involve natural disasters and environmental monitoring. Why is that?
JH: With its all-weather imaging capabilities SAR is perfectly suited for natural disasters and is a natural fit for our company as a geospatial services and data provider. As our acquisition-planning department is available 24 hours a day, we are always ready to provide imagery to anyone in need in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Similar to disaster events, RADARSAT is also well suited for environmental monitoring operations as many users are in cloud-covered regions and cannot rely on optical imagery. Our oil spill monitoring programs operating in a variety of regions including Northern Europe, South America and Canada are great examples of routine SAR-based information services that assist users in meeting their operational mandates. We also launched an ambitious initiative to develop an integrated pipeline geohazard monitoring information service using RADARSAT and advanced InSAR techniques that will help us in our endeavour to develop routine environmental monitoring applications for varied onshore markets.

GEO: RADARSAT International is also a top seller of 'Quickbird' imagery. How was the company able to achieve that distinction?
JH: For one, Quickbird doesn't overlap or compete with the other image sets we sell and it has its own natural position in the market place. We purposefully have built our data portfolio to provide diverse image sets, each with its own application and business strengths so that we're not trying to sell two competing datasets or to push just one solution. A well planned, diversified product offering enables us to sell what's appropriate for an end user's given application. We have also developed a successful range of valueadded products, particularly for the aviation industry, based on Quickbird's unique image features. I think we have also been able to achieve greater success than other suppliers have because we are company known for our reputable service and high quality ethics. That helps us maintain and grow a solid customer base.

GEO: Many people are wondering about the Radarsat 2 polar orbiter. How is that satellite coming along and when can we expect to see it launched?
JH: The satellite is coming along well and is now undergoing integration and testing. The launch is scheduled for December 2006.

GEO: Will both RADARSAT 1 and RADARSAT 2 have common operating strengths or are they likely to perform different roles? Do you see the demand for information products from each satellite coming from similar markets?
JH: RADARSAT-2 will carry all of the heritage beam modes of RADARSAT-1 so there will be great continuity there. In addition it will have advanced image resolutions of 3 meter and a 1-meter SpotLight mode. It will also offer full polarimetric capability. Polarimetry will offer users a significantly higher level of information and application capabilities. Similar to RADARSAT-1, RADARSAT-2 will also be a fully programmable satellite, providing the ability to potentially customize applications-specific modes in the future. For example, we're looking at the agriculture market to determine the best mode to provide broad coverage, adequate resolution and polarimetry capabilities. Equally important to the imaging component of the system is the operations component, which includes tasking and order handling. We have designed a completely new ground system to give users a highly interactive and dynamic system to allow them to capitalise on the existing and new advanced features of RADARSAT-2.
Initially we expect to see continued interest from our anchor clients and ground stations, which are presently preparing to acquire the data. Some of our veteran clients like KSAT are greatly increasing their utilization of RADARSAT-2. Even in our tried and true applications such as maritime surveillance, RADARSAT-2 will provide enhancements to these operations. I anticipate we'll see our biggest growth in land-based applications mainly due to the combination of higher resolution and polarimetry. Those two features will generate a lot more information that is specifically geared towards land applications.

GEO: What is the connection of the Canadian government to MDA operations, if any?
JH: In both cases, we're partners with the Canadian government. For RADARSAT-1 the government owns and operates the satellite. With RADARSAT-2, MDA will own and operate the satellite, however, the government has pre-purchased a substantial volume of imagery to support their operations over the lifetime of RADARSAT-2.

GEO: MDA has become involved in natural disasters around the world in the past year. The theme of 'military security' is continually raised it seems, when disaster relief is pursued. How can countries acquire the necessary information for relief efforts while at the same time preserving sensitive security issues over those same areas?
JH: Our MDA organisation in Washington DC, has been serving the geospatial needs of the defence and intelligence communities for a long time. We recognise that defence and geointelligence customers have unique and specialised requirements, but we have in many cases been able to bring the technologies, methodologies and cost efficiencies from our commercial work into the defence and intelligence domains. With the advanced features of RADARSAT-2 we expect to see more interest in the data from a security standpoint.

GEO: What trends are you seeing in the use of radar based information products?
JH: More and more we see a drive for seamless data integration and whole market solutions. We continue to move beyond the single SAR scene to package and offer industry-driven services such as those we built and presently provide to marine authorities in Australia, France, Denmark and Canada as well as aviation companies. In Australia for example, our customer's intent is to establish an operational concept that merges their airborne activities with spaceborne monitoring to provide a complete maritime picture. The land information side is moving in the same direction. Although much of our core business is delivering data, in many cases people aren't interested in seeing the image itself. It's the information derived from the image that's of greatest benefit. Coupled with customers' better understanding of the technology and the ability to extract far more intelligence from a single scene, imagery is now becoming an integral data source in many integrated solutions.

GEO: What have been the bottlenecks to increased use of imagery products in the past? What is needed to support and encourage greater use of these products in the future?
JH: For SAR, there has been on-going educational campaign to increase the awareness of and use of the data. Historically, image analysts were more used to the optical imagery which is more intuitive - typically with little knowledge of imagery you can recognise features on an optical image. With SAR, you can pinpoint some features to a certain extent but to derive the meaningful information you need to have a certain understanding of SAR to be able to fully interpret a scene. Even for veteran users of SAR the true potential and capabilities of the technology is still a learning process. This is an on-going challenge and that's a strong driver for continuing to push the information product approach because you no longer have to have the SAR experts. Eliminating that barrier makes radar more relevant to a broader group of people.

GEO: Has online mapping through Google Maps/Earth, Yahoo, Microsoft and others, increased the use of MDA data and information services? Could you explain please?
JH: Contrary to initial concerns, those online information services have greatly heightened our visibility among the general population and have led to more sales.

GEO: MDA has begun more activities in Europe within the past year. Can you provide some background on the European initiatives and the directions they are taking?
JH: We have a very vibrant data business in Europe and expect that to grow even more with the advent of RADARSAT-2. In addition, the MDA organisation has a solid and strong presence in Europe, particularly in land-based applications that we can build upon.

GEO: The company is involved in software services. Can you explain why the decision was made to support software development and how this supports the companies goals?
JH: MDA's roots are in software development. The company evolved from the development of software design and maintenance for ground systems. Software engineering is still one of our core competencies throughout the entire company.

GEO: MDA is publicly traded, why should someone invest in MDA?
JH: We have built a world class capability in information solutions, especially geospatial information solutions. We have developed the discipline to deliver firm fixed prices and onschedule while meeting our customer's total needs. As the market comes to realise what we can do, it drives our growth.

GEO: Could you explain what your 'Smart Mapping' products are all about?
JH: SMART Mapping products are mapping products derived from high-resolution satellite imagery to assist in the sustainable growth and management of the facilities and natural resources within a city. We deliver a complete GIS-ready vegetation and impervious surface classification for a whole city. For example, we have determined the total area of impervious surface, tree canopy, grass, and water for the City of Richmond in BC.

GEO: What observations do you make about the international satellite imagery market? What trends do you see in satellite imagery products and services internationally.
JH: One of the most significant trends in this market is the sheer number of missions being launched and planned for future launch. The level of commitment to SAR across the globe speaks to the importance of SAR data and the growing awareness of the benefits of radar imagery. That is great for the market because it will provide an even broader range of capabilities and choice. Parallel to this development is that many of these national commitments are adopting a constellation approach rather than just single satellite missions. RapidEye will be an optical-based constellation, RADARSAT-3 will also be a constellation of satellites, further enhancing the operational capabilities of the program. With more missions, users will see a great increase in repeat coverage - an area that has been particularly problematic for data providers. So we expect the use of satellite imagery to become ever more pervasive in the next few years.

GEO: Are MDA products and services solely for geospatial professionals and large governments or are they also useful for small businesses, local governments and individuals?
JH: The majority of MDA's geospatial products and services are delivered to large government organisations and geospatial professionals. A smaller percentage is sold to local government and small businesses. At the local government level there has always been a demand for higher resolution which we will have soon with RADARSAT-2. That will afford us more opportunity to serve that market with more products like our Smart Mapping products. And with Quickbird in our portfolio, we've successfully penetrated the retail market with sales to retail giant IKEA. Adding high-resolution radar imagery should increase our opportunity to continue to sell to the retail market.

GEO: What are you thoughts on imagery analysis software, what are the strengths and weaknesses you see for use with satellite imaging products?
JH: From the imagery analysis software perspective, there really hasn't been significant change in the standard product offerings and analysis techniques in the last number of years. There has been an increase in automation and enhancements to user interfaces.
With the advent of RADARSAT-2 and polarimetric features, we expect to see some work to develop processing algorithms to handle the new polarimetric data. On the optical side, moving into the hyperespectral realm will drive the need for further processing techniques in order to derive meaningful information from a much greater volume of data.

GEO: Where do you see MDA in five years time?
JH: At that time, RADARSAT-2 will be well into its operating life and we expect that our business will have grown substantially as users become more familiar with the capabilities and benefits of the satellite. We also anticipate that we'll be involved in other missions that will bring mutual benefit. In addition, we expect to have advanced more prominently into providing a broader range of information services to a variety of customers. With MDA's expertise in both the radar realm and the broader geospatial market, we are poised in an excellent position to not only improve our service to our traditional business markets but to expand our portfolio and serve new markets.