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January 2002
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Remote Sensing
In Remote Sensing an era of high resolution imagery seems to gear up. Last year ImageSat launched EROS-1 successfully, this year has seen the launch of QuickBird by DigitalGlobe. India also joined the race
by launching a Test
Experimental Satellite.
DigitalGlobe launches QuickBird
Earth Watch now renamed
as DigitalGlobe has successfully
launched and deployed the
QuickBird high-resolution remote
sensing satellite in October 2001.
QuickBird provides the highest
resolution, commercially available,
satellite imagery and the foundation for
a wide array of information products. QuickBird acquires
61-centimetre (2-foot) resolution panchromatic (black and
white) and 2.44-metre (8-foot) multispectral (colour) imagery.
At 61-centimetre resolution, buildings, roads, bridges and
other detailes like footpath, boundary wall etc. become visible.
EROS-A1
EROS A1 launched by
Israel and marketed by
ImageSat International,
carries a camera with a
focal plane of CCD
(Charge Coupled Device)
detectors with 7,800
pixels per line, and
produces a panchromatic
image with a resolution of
1.8 m. It was launched in
December 2000 and began
selling imagery in August
2001. The EROS A-class
satellites provide a swath
of at least 12.5 km in
width. EROS A1 is the first
of a constellation of 7
satellites that are planned to be placed in orbit in the next few
years starting from EROS BE scheduled for launch in 2003
will provide half metre imagery.
Space Imaging “Half-Meter Resolution” License
Approved
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) has granted Space Imaging Inc. license to sell high-resolution
satellite photographs to its customers around the
world, after a year-long policy review by the White House,
Pentagon, State Department and intelligence community in
January 2001. The license prohibits the firm from providing
customers with satellite pictures within 24 hours of the time
they are taken. The U.S. government reserves the right to
‘shutter ‘commercial satellites to protect national security, as
well as any time “international obligations or foreign policy
interests may be compromised.” Space Imaging plans to
launch its next-generation imaging satellite in 2004, offering
“half-meter resolution”.
Hyperion sending data to Earth
Hyperion, the NASA’s first hyperspectral imager launched in
December 2000 became operational on-orbit and started
making the imageries available in January 2001. Data from
Hyperion is providing more detail of the Earth’s surface than
is currently available from multispectral instruments, such as
the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus instrument on Landsat
7. The detailed classification of complex land ecosystems
with hyperspectral imagery is expected to increase the
accuracy of remote sensing data in applications including
mining, geology, forestry, agriculture and environmental
management. Using hyperspectral data, minerals on the
Earth’s surface can be identified and new mineral maps can
be created to select sites for exploration; forest inventories
can be developed for remote regions to support ecological
planning and management.
TES experiment satellite
The successful launch of the Technology Experiment Satellite
(TES) by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-3) is a
mission made possible by Indian Space Research Organisation
in October 2001. The TES is a major technological
advancement for India especially in the field of Earth
Observation. The capability of 1 metre high resolution has
raised the expectation of high-resolution imagery becoming
available for civilian projects in India at economical cost.
Although there are speculations regarding the use of the
satellite for military purposes.
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