Sixense takes part in writing international monitoring standards

A group of about ten European experts has been working since 2010 on writing international monitoring standards.

Sixense is involved in the project via Martin Beth, director of our Monitoring Division France, by representing France among monitoring specialists from all over Europe, in charge of elaborating European and worldwide standards (CEN and ISO).

Their aim is to help sharing best practices in monitoring, by coordinating and writing them collectively.

Our expert explains :

Each standard takes between 2 and 3 years work in average and we will prepare about ten of them in the following years. The basic standard on general rules was published in 2015, followed by the standards on extensometers, inclinometers, piezometers and pore pressure cells. Our group is currently working on standards for liquid level settlement sensors, strain gauges and load cells and will start working shortly on geodetic monitoring instruments (automatic theodolites for example).

Martin Beth, director of Monitoring Division France, Sixense

We are delighted to announce that a consortium led by Sixense and Imperial College London (with support from experts at Royal Holloway, Crossrail and Thames Tideway) has been selected to produce a CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association) guidance report on the application of ‘Earth Observation and InSAR technology in civil infrastructure’. This report will draw on the extensive experience of the consortium members and will detail current practices, illustrated with case study examples, and outline respective advantages and limitations of the various techniques to assist all users and, in particular, those involved in asset management and construction. A separate online database of case studies will also be developed in parallel by CIRIA to support the guidance document. We understand that this document will form an important review, of current practices and ongoing developments, to inform newcomers to Earth Observation as well as those already using such technologies.

Civil engineering and infrastructure (construction, maintenance and monitoring) are activities which demand high spatiotemporal accuracy, precision and detail of observations and measurements. Satellite borne remote sensing techniques are now able to produce data and information of a quality which satisfies such requirements. Yet there are few standards and regulations for best practice in the production and use of Earth Observation products. CIRIA has therefore recognised a need to inform stakeholders, to realise the full potential of Earth Observation techniques in both research and commercial operations; hence this guidance report will form a much needed and important step towards establishing the employment of Earth Observation techniques as a matter of ongoing best practice for asset management in all infrastructure projects.

The guidance document will be published in 2021. For more information, please contact satellite@https://sixenseuk.sixense-group.com