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June 2000
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Vexcel's Satellite Ground Station for MODIS Becomes Operational at South Carolina Site
14th of June, Boulder, Colorado-Vexcel Corporation announced that its Apex Ground Station™ for EOS demonstration system, located at the facility for Jackson and Tull, SMARTech division (Moncks Corner, South Carolina), has achieved operational status. The low-cost ground station, which is specifically designed for the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on board NASA's Terra satellite, is a complete data acquisition and processing system. The demonstration system features a three-meter SMARTech antenna, as well as Vexcel's data capture system (VxDCS™) and MODIS data processing software. Launched December 18, 1999, Terra is the first of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. Both Vexcel and SMARTech have supplied systems directly to NASA in support of the agency's EOS ground stations.
"The fully operational 'demo system' allows prospective customers to see the system in action, to ask questions, and to get a sense of how our system would perform within their respective organizations," says Ron McCoy, Director of Marketing at Vexcel. "Customers can witness first-hand data being downlinked and then processed into information-rich image products."
Vexcel's basic Apex Ground Station for EOS consists of an antenna of approximately (Continued) three meters in diameter, receivers, and Vexcel's data acquisition and processing sub-systems. System upgrades are available to allow for reception and processing of additional remote sensing satellites such as Landsat, ERS, and RADARSAT. The low-cost MODIS system is designed to appeal to universities, scientific research centers, national centers for remote sensing, and certain specialized commercial organizations.
Terra's direct broadcast service provides a free and nearly continuous data transmission from the satellite directly to suitable ground stations and is available for the MODIS instrument onboard the spacecraft. MODIS data applications include measuring land and ocean surface temperatures, detecting fires, monitoring ocean color for sediment and phytoplankton, and producing global vegetation maps and data for change-detection measurements. The second satellite in the EOS series, Aqua, is scheduled to launch in early 2001. Aqua will also provide MODIS data via direct broadcast.
"The combination of an economical ground station with the free MODIS downlink makes the system attractive for users desiring rapid, regular access to data for a number of scientific, environmental, and operational applications," says Leslie Davis, Marketing Director at SMARTech. "The opportunity to directly downlink data from the Terra satellite is generating immediate interest worldwide."
For details visit: www.vexcel.com
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