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Remote Sensing - Down The Memory Lane…
Hrishikesh Samant
Hon. Associate Editor
GIS Development
Senior Lecturer
Department of Geology
St.Xavier's College, Mumbai, India.
Email: hrishikesh@gisdevelopment.net
Dhawal Kumar
Sub Editor
GIS Development
Email: Dhawal.kumar@gisdevelopment.net
Hrishikesh Samant
Hon. Associate Editor
GIS Development
Senior Lecturer
Department of Geology
St.Xavier's College, Mumbai, India.
Email: hrishikesh@gisdevelopment.net
Dhawal Kumar
Sub Editor
GIS Development
Email: Dhawal.kumar@gisdevelopment.net
Mankind's desire to fly has been documented since mythological times. The 'Pushpak' flying machine mentioned in the Indian epic 'Ramayana', made by Maya, acquired by Ravana and then used by Rama is part of Indian folklore. Since those ancient times, It has been only the select few who flew, got to experience a birds eye view or aerial perspective of the Earth.
It was only with the advent of 'Photography' that the pleasure and awe experienced by a select few 'Aeronauts' (Hot air balloonists) was shared by the general public. Foremost among those who realized the potential of this technology of 'aerial photography' was aeronaut Gaspard Felix Tournachon, who on October 23, 1858 applied for a patent for what we today call aerial survey and thus was taken the first small step towards the development of the technology which has given the common man access to spectacular views of his planet in details even a decade ago unimaginable. Today we can view any part of the world with a 'birds eye view' without ever flying or being the fortunate few to view earth from space. Today utilizing satellite imagery for purposes ranging from crop monitoring, cadastral mapping to advertising tourism destinations and scores of others is common.
The term "remote sensing," was first used in the United States in the 1950s by Ms. Evelyn Pruitt of the U.S. Office of Naval Research, is now as we all know, commonly used to describe the science-and art-of identifying, observing, and measuring an object without coming into direct contact with it i.e. even a simple portrait captured by a camera is a product of the process of remote sensing.
The history of remote sensing:
It began with the invention of photography in 1839. As early as 1840, the director of the Paris Observatory advocated the use of photography for topographic surveying, and from that time balloon photography flourished. The Frenchman Arthur Batut pioneered the development of kite aerial photography. Kites were used to obtain aerial photographs from about 1882. The most famous kite photographer was American G.R. Lawrence, who used batteries of kites to suspend huge cameras for aerial views over cities.
The Kite and Camera used by Arthur Batut (1890). Source: http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/1997_images/Background/History/batutkite.jpg
Aerial photograph of San Francisco bay taken by a camera attached to a battery of 17 kites obtained by George R Lawrence in 1906. (Source: http://latteier.com/pigeoncam/)
Kites are being used even today by hobbyists for obtaining aerial photographs. The next technological leap was to use rockets to carry the camera high up which was later returned to the ground by a parachute. This was pioneered by non other than Alfred Nobel (of prize fame) in 1897 when the first rocket photo was obtained over a Swedish landscape.
A Swedish landscape photographed by a camera on a rocket by Alfred Nobel in 1897. Source: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov
The technology of modern remote sensing began with the invention of the camera more than 150 years ago. Although the first, rather primitive photographs were taken as "stills" on the ground, the idea and practice of looking down at the Earth's surface emerged in the 1840s when pictures were taken from cameras secured to tethered balloons for purposes of topographic mapping.
A photograph of aeronaut (hot air balloonist) Gaspard Felix Tournachon, who on October 23, 1858 applied for a patent for what we today call aerial survey. (Source http://www.correodelmaestro.com/anteriores/2005/abril/2artistas107.htm)
(The earliest aerial photograph still in existence (left): Obtained by aeronauts James W. black and Samuel A. King from a tethered balloon at an altitude of 1,200 ft on October 13, 1860 of downtown Boston.
Source http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/1997_images/Background/History/boston.gif (Right) A satellite imagery of the same area (downtown Boston, MA, USA today, Source: Google Earth.
The zest for viewing the terrain as a bird would lead man to think of rather novel ways, since the first airplane was still to be successfully flown. In 1903 probably a few months before the success of the Wright brothers, Julius Neubronner from Germany patented a breast-mounted aerial camera for carrier pigeons. The results were not very spectacular, but it was still an attempt at aerial photography.
A pigeon equipped with a lightweight camera (left), and an oblique aerial photograph obtained from a camera carried by a pigeon. (Source: http://latteier.com/pigeoncam/)
Aerial Photography - The dawn of Photogrammetry
The airplane was invented in 1903 but was not used as a camera platform until 1909, when the first aerial motion pictures were taken during a flight by Wilbur Wright in Italy. With the advent of World War I, aerial photography became indispensable for military reconnaissance. By the First World War, cameras mounted on airplanes provided aerial views of fairly large surface areas that proved invaluable in military reconnaissance. The science of extracting quantitative data about terrain height, slope and dimensions of objects on ground using overlapping aerial photographs was perfected, giving birth to the field of Photogrammetry. From then until the early 1960s, the aerial photograph remained the single standard tool for depicting the earth's surface from a vertical or oblique perspective. The greatest advances in aerial photography and photointerpretation came with the Second World War, and the majority of subsequent advances in the field were an outgrowth of military development. Today, digital aerial photography and digital photogrammetry are still unbeaten contenders for quantitative data extraction though Satellite remote sensing is more popular due to easy availability and low cost.
Satellite Remote Sensing
Remote sensing from space received its first impetus through remote sensing from rockets. As early as 1891, the Germans were developing rocket propelled camera systems, and by 1907 gyro-stabilization had been added to improve picture quality. Space remote sensing began in earnest in the period 1946-50 when many cameras were carried on rockets and ballistic missiles. In 1946, V-2 rockets acquired from Germany after World War II were launched to high altitudes from White Sands, New Mexico. These rockets, while never attaining orbit, contained automated still or movie cameras that took pictures as the vehicle ascended. The development of meteorological satellites provided the impetus for most modern remote sensing. TIROS-1 was launched by US in 1960 and returned the first coarse views of cloud patterns. With refinements in imaging sensors meteorologists began to collect information on terrestrial features as well and the concept of looking through the atmosphere evolved.
The first non-photo sensors were television cameras mounted on unmanned spacecraft and were devoted mainly to looking at clouds. The first U.S. meteorological satellite, TIROS-1, launched by an Atlas rocket into orbit on April 1, 1960 is seen on the left. The image on the right is one of the first (May 9, 1960) returned by TIROS-1; Superimposed on the cloud patterns is a generalized weather map for the region. Source: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov
The early 60' saw the development of the Corona orbital satellite reconnaissance program by the CIA and U.S. Air Force while the Soviets launched the Zenit-2, keeping in tune with the cold war between the two then super powers and the atmosphere of suspicion and paranoid fear. . The manned space flights of the 1960's and 70's yielded spectacular photographs of the earth's surface where earth-orbiting cosmonauts and astronauts acted much like tourists by taking photos out the window of their spacecraft and lead to the first use of multi-spectral and microwave instruments from space. Following the success of these missions the first earth resources satellites were planned in 1967 and the ERTS-1 (later renamed Landsat 1) satellite was launched by NASA in 1972, in what was to become the forerunner to the Landsat program becoming the first readily available satellite imagery to be commercially exploited, and which continues to be so.
First Corona Satellite Reconnaissance photograph (left): Mys Schmidta Air Field, U.S.S.R on August 18, 1960. (Source: http://www.nro.gov/corona/corona2.jpg, Credit - American Society of Photogrammetry). These images were declassified in 1996. On the right is a satellite imagery (at a much higher resolution) of the same area, readily accessible to public (Source: Google Earth)
The availability of the Landsat 1 data, in the mid 70's, led to a boom in development of digital image processing techniques. The first satellite borne multispectral scanners on board the Landsat 1, 2 and 3 were opto-mechanical. The Landsat 4 (1982) was the first to be equipped with a solid state CCD array scanner in its seven band Thematic Mapper sensor (TM). In the last 35 years, satellite remote sensing has reached a level of resolution finer than 1m. What began in 1971 with a course resolution of 79m has today reached sub-meter levels.
The first multispectral photography from space happened during the famous 1968 Apollo 9 mission. Scientist mounted four Hasselblad cameras in a holder such that they all aimed at the same target point when an astronaut triggered their shutters simultaneously. Below are three filtered b & w photos of southern California around San Diego, which the astronauts took in the 1.green, 2. red, 3. photo IR bands, and 4. is a (false) color IR picture generated from a combination of 1,2 and 3. Source: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Intro
The demand for geometrically corrected and georeferenced, very high-resolution multi spectral data is ever increasing. With the supply barely meeting the requirements and demand, the market for such data is large. India is today a global player in the field of remote sensing. With the launching of IRS 1C in 1995, ISRO, made available for the first time 5m panchromatic data, which was available earlier at a resolution of 10m from the SPOT 1 (1986), 2 and 3 satellites.
The Mumbai International Airport seen in false colour composites made from IRS data at various resolutions.
1. IRS 1A LISS I (72.5m),
2. IRS 1B LISS II (36.25m),
3. IRS 1C LISS III (23.5),
4 IRS 1C LISS III + PAN (5m)
The use of space borne sensors is today not limited to obtaining data about the earths land surface alone. Specifically designed sensors acquire data about ocean surface characteristics, land surface temperatures, cloud formations, snow caps, magnetic and gravity anomalies, biomass content in oceans, ocean color to name just a few.
Though development of satellite remote sensing systems was mainly from governmental organizations of various countries, in 1995 a private company, Orbimage launched the first commercial remote sensing satellite. This has been followed by Digitalglobe and Space Imaging launching their own satellites.
GLOBAL REMOTE SENSING ORGANISATIONS
Among the first organizations to be setup for with the sole purpose of space research was the U.S.A's National Aeronautics And Space Administration, (NASA) in late 1950's. This was closely followed by The French civilian space program managed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), which was established in 1962.
Government of India set up Space Commission and Department of Space (DOS) in June 1972. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under DOS executes Space programme through its establishments located in different places in India. http://www.isro.org
The Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan (RESTEC) was established in August 1975 to promote social economy and the well being of the nation's citizenry http://www.restec.or.jp/
Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (MACRES) was officially established in August 1988 and fully operationalised in January 1990. http://www.macres.gov.my
The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) is a civilian authority within the purview of the Executive Office of the President of Brazil, established by law on February 10, 1994. http://www.agespacial.gov.br/
NARSS, The National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences is the pioneering Egyptian institution in the field of satellite remote sensing established in 1994 http://www.narss.org
The other major organizations are
The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca
The Thailand: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) http://www.gistda.or.th
The British National Space Centre (BNSC) formed from 11 Government Departments and Research Councils, to coordinate. UK civil space activity with a budget of around £188 million per year http://www.bnsc.gov.uk
German Aerospace Center DLR http://www.dlr.de/dlr/
Geoscience Australia - is Australia's national agency for geoscience research and geospatial information. It is located within the Industry, Tourism and Resources portfolio. http://www.ga.gov.au
The Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) is a research centre of the National University of Singapore established with funding from the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR) of Singapore.
The National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC) is a subdivision of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) http://www.nrscc.gov.cn/english/about.asp
Recent development in the field of remote sensing
Three recent developments in particular are fuelling great interest and activity in the field (http://www.asprs.org/). First, there is substantial research and development underway in the area of hyperspectral remote sensing, which involves systems that sense in literally hundreds of very narrow spectral bands simultaneously. This approach greatly increases the information and detail that can be obtained about objects on the earth's surface. Second, a series of recently launched satellite-borne remote sensing systems form NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), which is a primary component of the Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). The ESE is an international earth science program aimed at proving the observations, understanding, and modelling capabilities needed to assess the impacts of both natural events and human-induced activities on the earth's environment (www.earth.nasa.gov/).
A third major influence on the field of remote sensing today is the launch of commercial high-resolution earth-orbiting systems. Most are also pointable, with their optical systems being controlled by ground command. This will enable frequent observation of areas that are not directly below the satellite and it will also allow the collection of stereoscopic (3D) data e.g. Cartosat-1, which is equipped for near simultaneous stereoscopic coverage at 2.5m resolution (http://www.gisdevelopment.net/technology/rs/techrs023.htm) These high-resolution systems are will provide a quantum jump in the commercial applications of remote sensing, and hence the demand for professionals in the field. In all, some 45 new satellites remote sensing systems are planned for launch over the next three years (www.ersc.wisc.edu/ersc/).
In the near future:
Indian government approves Oceansat-2 mission : In an important decision, the Indian Cabinet approved the project to design and develop the Oceansat-2 mission that envisages the building and launching of a remote sensing satellite with an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band Scatterometer as payloads. The mission will involve a total estimated cost of Rs 129.15 crore (about $32 million) with a foreign exchange component of Rs 86 crore (about $21 million). With the realisation of the Oceansat-2 mission, India will have the wherewithal to cover many applications pertaining to ocean and meteorology.
Environmental satellite GOES-N to be launched by U.S.A's NOAA: Environmental satellite GOES-N is expected to be launched by the end of June by NOAA. GOES-N, like the rest of NOAA's satellites, will help to gauge the pulse of the world's changing environment and strengthen the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.
China-made satellite to improve weather forecasting: Errors in short-term weather forecasting will be greatly reduced when a meteorological satellite is put into formal use next month. The Fengyun-2C was launched last October as the country's first international-quality satellite. The weather monitor has been in orbiting on a trial basis over Malaysia since its launch. China will launch the Fengyun-2D, a more advanced orbiter, in the fall of next year
Japanese satellite to monitor Asian natural disasters: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to launch a satellite to monitor natural disasters in Asia, said Toshio Doura, Director of Earth Observation Research and Application Centre.
The launching of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), which had been delayed several times, would take-off in September, he was quoted by Bernama as saying. The satellite is designed to observe and map the earth's surface, enhance cartography, monitor natural disasters and survey land use and natural resources to promote sustainable development.
Saudi Arabia set to launch six mini satellites: Saudi Arabia will launch either by the end of this year or early next year six mini satellites for a range of applications, including the location of water and mineral sources, environmental pollution control, urban planning, agricultural production and weather observation.
They are part of a group of 24 mini satellites manufactured and designed in the Kingdom by a team of Saudi scientists and engineers as part of a program to harness space technology for commercial purposes, according to Prince Turki Ibn Saud, vice president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Research Institutes
S.Korea to develop maritime observation satellite: South Korea will embark on a plan this month to develop a maritime observation satellite capable of providing data on waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency. The envisioned geostationary satellite will be jointly designed and constructed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute and Astrium, a French satellite maker.
China, Pakistan to launch small satellite next year: A multi-purpose small satellite, developed by China, Pakistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Mongolia, South Korea and Iran will be launched in 2006. It will be used to carry out scientific experiments and environmental observations for countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The State media said that China would also send a communication satellite owned by a Hong Kong company into space during the first half of this year.
Till a decade ago, all the remotely sensed satellite data came from government owned agencies and political ideology of the few countries who had the resources decided the availability of the data to the less fortunate ones. With the entry of the private industry as a data provider, this is no longer a constraint. Today almost every developing country has an independent or collaborative program in remote sensing which in some instances rivals those of the developed nations. It is a technology, which though expensive, no one can do without, so it is not the cost of the technology but rather the cost of not having it that matters.
It was only with the advent of 'Photography' that the pleasure and awe experienced by a select few 'Aeronauts' (Hot air balloonists) was shared by the general public. Foremost among those who realized the potential of this technology of 'aerial photography' was aeronaut Gaspard Felix Tournachon, who on October 23, 1858 applied for a patent for what we today call aerial survey and thus was taken the first small step towards the development of the technology which has given the common man access to spectacular views of his planet in details even a decade ago unimaginable. Today we can view any part of the world with a 'birds eye view' without ever flying or being the fortunate few to view earth from space. Today utilizing satellite imagery for purposes ranging from crop monitoring, cadastral mapping to advertising tourism destinations and scores of others is common.
The term "remote sensing," was first used in the United States in the 1950s by Ms. Evelyn Pruitt of the U.S. Office of Naval Research, is now as we all know, commonly used to describe the science-and art-of identifying, observing, and measuring an object without coming into direct contact with it i.e. even a simple portrait captured by a camera is a product of the process of remote sensing.
The history of remote sensing:
It began with the invention of photography in 1839. As early as 1840, the director of the Paris Observatory advocated the use of photography for topographic surveying, and from that time balloon photography flourished. The Frenchman Arthur Batut pioneered the development of kite aerial photography. Kites were used to obtain aerial photographs from about 1882. The most famous kite photographer was American G.R. Lawrence, who used batteries of kites to suspend huge cameras for aerial views over cities.
The Kite and Camera used by Arthur Batut (1890). Source: http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/1997_images/Background/History/batutkite.jpg
Aerial photograph of San Francisco bay taken by a camera attached to a battery of 17 kites obtained by George R Lawrence in 1906. (Source: http://latteier.com/pigeoncam/)
Kites are being used even today by hobbyists for obtaining aerial photographs. The next technological leap was to use rockets to carry the camera high up which was later returned to the ground by a parachute. This was pioneered by non other than Alfred Nobel (of prize fame) in 1897 when the first rocket photo was obtained over a Swedish landscape.
A Swedish landscape photographed by a camera on a rocket by Alfred Nobel in 1897. Source: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov
The technology of modern remote sensing began with the invention of the camera more than 150 years ago. Although the first, rather primitive photographs were taken as "stills" on the ground, the idea and practice of looking down at the Earth's surface emerged in the 1840s when pictures were taken from cameras secured to tethered balloons for purposes of topographic mapping.
A photograph of aeronaut (hot air balloonist) Gaspard Felix Tournachon, who on October 23, 1858 applied for a patent for what we today call aerial survey. (Source http://www.correodelmaestro.com/anteriores/2005/abril/2artistas107.htm)
(The earliest aerial photograph still in existence (left): Obtained by aeronauts James W. black and Samuel A. King from a tethered balloon at an altitude of 1,200 ft on October 13, 1860 of downtown Boston.
Source http://arch.ced.berkeley.edu/kap/1997_images/Background/History/boston.gif (Right) A satellite imagery of the same area (downtown Boston, MA, USA today, Source: Google Earth.
The zest for viewing the terrain as a bird would lead man to think of rather novel ways, since the first airplane was still to be successfully flown. In 1903 probably a few months before the success of the Wright brothers, Julius Neubronner from Germany patented a breast-mounted aerial camera for carrier pigeons. The results were not very spectacular, but it was still an attempt at aerial photography.
A pigeon equipped with a lightweight camera (left), and an oblique aerial photograph obtained from a camera carried by a pigeon. (Source: http://latteier.com/pigeoncam/)
Aerial Photography - The dawn of Photogrammetry
The airplane was invented in 1903 but was not used as a camera platform until 1909, when the first aerial motion pictures were taken during a flight by Wilbur Wright in Italy. With the advent of World War I, aerial photography became indispensable for military reconnaissance. By the First World War, cameras mounted on airplanes provided aerial views of fairly large surface areas that proved invaluable in military reconnaissance. The science of extracting quantitative data about terrain height, slope and dimensions of objects on ground using overlapping aerial photographs was perfected, giving birth to the field of Photogrammetry. From then until the early 1960s, the aerial photograph remained the single standard tool for depicting the earth's surface from a vertical or oblique perspective. The greatest advances in aerial photography and photointerpretation came with the Second World War, and the majority of subsequent advances in the field were an outgrowth of military development. Today, digital aerial photography and digital photogrammetry are still unbeaten contenders for quantitative data extraction though Satellite remote sensing is more popular due to easy availability and low cost.
Satellite Remote Sensing
Remote sensing from space received its first impetus through remote sensing from rockets. As early as 1891, the Germans were developing rocket propelled camera systems, and by 1907 gyro-stabilization had been added to improve picture quality. Space remote sensing began in earnest in the period 1946-50 when many cameras were carried on rockets and ballistic missiles. In 1946, V-2 rockets acquired from Germany after World War II were launched to high altitudes from White Sands, New Mexico. These rockets, while never attaining orbit, contained automated still or movie cameras that took pictures as the vehicle ascended. The development of meteorological satellites provided the impetus for most modern remote sensing. TIROS-1 was launched by US in 1960 and returned the first coarse views of cloud patterns. With refinements in imaging sensors meteorologists began to collect information on terrestrial features as well and the concept of looking through the atmosphere evolved.
The first non-photo sensors were television cameras mounted on unmanned spacecraft and were devoted mainly to looking at clouds. The first U.S. meteorological satellite, TIROS-1, launched by an Atlas rocket into orbit on April 1, 1960 is seen on the left. The image on the right is one of the first (May 9, 1960) returned by TIROS-1; Superimposed on the cloud patterns is a generalized weather map for the region. Source: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov
The early 60' saw the development of the Corona orbital satellite reconnaissance program by the CIA and U.S. Air Force while the Soviets launched the Zenit-2, keeping in tune with the cold war between the two then super powers and the atmosphere of suspicion and paranoid fear. . The manned space flights of the 1960's and 70's yielded spectacular photographs of the earth's surface where earth-orbiting cosmonauts and astronauts acted much like tourists by taking photos out the window of their spacecraft and lead to the first use of multi-spectral and microwave instruments from space. Following the success of these missions the first earth resources satellites were planned in 1967 and the ERTS-1 (later renamed Landsat 1) satellite was launched by NASA in 1972, in what was to become the forerunner to the Landsat program becoming the first readily available satellite imagery to be commercially exploited, and which continues to be so.
First Corona Satellite Reconnaissance photograph (left): Mys Schmidta Air Field, U.S.S.R on August 18, 1960. (Source: http://www.nro.gov/corona/corona2.jpg, Credit - American Society of Photogrammetry). These images were declassified in 1996. On the right is a satellite imagery (at a much higher resolution) of the same area, readily accessible to public (Source: Google Earth)
The availability of the Landsat 1 data, in the mid 70's, led to a boom in development of digital image processing techniques. The first satellite borne multispectral scanners on board the Landsat 1, 2 and 3 were opto-mechanical. The Landsat 4 (1982) was the first to be equipped with a solid state CCD array scanner in its seven band Thematic Mapper sensor (TM). In the last 35 years, satellite remote sensing has reached a level of resolution finer than 1m. What began in 1971 with a course resolution of 79m has today reached sub-meter levels.
The first multispectral photography from space happened during the famous 1968 Apollo 9 mission. Scientist mounted four Hasselblad cameras in a holder such that they all aimed at the same target point when an astronaut triggered their shutters simultaneously. Below are three filtered b & w photos of southern California around San Diego, which the astronauts took in the 1.green, 2. red, 3. photo IR bands, and 4. is a (false) color IR picture generated from a combination of 1,2 and 3. Source: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Intro
The demand for geometrically corrected and georeferenced, very high-resolution multi spectral data is ever increasing. With the supply barely meeting the requirements and demand, the market for such data is large. India is today a global player in the field of remote sensing. With the launching of IRS 1C in 1995, ISRO, made available for the first time 5m panchromatic data, which was available earlier at a resolution of 10m from the SPOT 1 (1986), 2 and 3 satellites.
The Mumbai International Airport seen in false colour composites made from IRS data at various resolutions.
1. IRS 1A LISS I (72.5m),
2. IRS 1B LISS II (36.25m),
3. IRS 1C LISS III (23.5),
4 IRS 1C LISS III + PAN (5m)
The use of space borne sensors is today not limited to obtaining data about the earths land surface alone. Specifically designed sensors acquire data about ocean surface characteristics, land surface temperatures, cloud formations, snow caps, magnetic and gravity anomalies, biomass content in oceans, ocean color to name just a few.
Though development of satellite remote sensing systems was mainly from governmental organizations of various countries, in 1995 a private company, Orbimage launched the first commercial remote sensing satellite. This has been followed by Digitalglobe and Space Imaging launching their own satellites.
GLOBAL REMOTE SENSING ORGANISATIONS
Among the first organizations to be setup for with the sole purpose of space research was the U.S.A's National Aeronautics And Space Administration, (NASA) in late 1950's. This was closely followed by The French civilian space program managed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), which was established in 1962.
Government of India set up Space Commission and Department of Space (DOS) in June 1972. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under DOS executes Space programme through its establishments located in different places in India. http://www.isro.org
The Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan (RESTEC) was established in August 1975 to promote social economy and the well being of the nation's citizenry http://www.restec.or.jp/
Malaysian Centre for Remote Sensing (MACRES) was officially established in August 1988 and fully operationalised in January 1990. http://www.macres.gov.my
The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) is a civilian authority within the purview of the Executive Office of the President of Brazil, established by law on February 10, 1994. http://www.agespacial.gov.br/
NARSS, The National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences is the pioneering Egyptian institution in the field of satellite remote sensing established in 1994 http://www.narss.org
The other major organizations are
The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Natural Resources Canada http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca
The Thailand: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) http://www.gistda.or.th
The British National Space Centre (BNSC) formed from 11 Government Departments and Research Councils, to coordinate. UK civil space activity with a budget of around £188 million per year http://www.bnsc.gov.uk
German Aerospace Center DLR http://www.dlr.de/dlr/
Geoscience Australia - is Australia's national agency for geoscience research and geospatial information. It is located within the Industry, Tourism and Resources portfolio. http://www.ga.gov.au
The Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (CRISP) is a research centre of the National University of Singapore established with funding from the Agency for Science, Technology & Research (A*STAR) of Singapore.
The National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC) is a subdivision of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) http://www.nrscc.gov.cn/english/about.asp
Recent development in the field of remote sensing
Three recent developments in particular are fuelling great interest and activity in the field (http://www.asprs.org/). First, there is substantial research and development underway in the area of hyperspectral remote sensing, which involves systems that sense in literally hundreds of very narrow spectral bands simultaneously. This approach greatly increases the information and detail that can be obtained about objects on the earth's surface. Second, a series of recently launched satellite-borne remote sensing systems form NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), which is a primary component of the Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). The ESE is an international earth science program aimed at proving the observations, understanding, and modelling capabilities needed to assess the impacts of both natural events and human-induced activities on the earth's environment (www.earth.nasa.gov/).
A third major influence on the field of remote sensing today is the launch of commercial high-resolution earth-orbiting systems. Most are also pointable, with their optical systems being controlled by ground command. This will enable frequent observation of areas that are not directly below the satellite and it will also allow the collection of stereoscopic (3D) data e.g. Cartosat-1, which is equipped for near simultaneous stereoscopic coverage at 2.5m resolution (http://www.gisdevelopment.net/technology/rs/techrs023.htm) These high-resolution systems are will provide a quantum jump in the commercial applications of remote sensing, and hence the demand for professionals in the field. In all, some 45 new satellites remote sensing systems are planned for launch over the next three years (www.ersc.wisc.edu/ersc/).
In the near future:
Indian government approves Oceansat-2 mission : In an important decision, the Indian Cabinet approved the project to design and develop the Oceansat-2 mission that envisages the building and launching of a remote sensing satellite with an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band Scatterometer as payloads. The mission will involve a total estimated cost of Rs 129.15 crore (about $32 million) with a foreign exchange component of Rs 86 crore (about $21 million). With the realisation of the Oceansat-2 mission, India will have the wherewithal to cover many applications pertaining to ocean and meteorology.
Environmental satellite GOES-N to be launched by U.S.A's NOAA: Environmental satellite GOES-N is expected to be launched by the end of June by NOAA. GOES-N, like the rest of NOAA's satellites, will help to gauge the pulse of the world's changing environment and strengthen the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.
China-made satellite to improve weather forecasting: Errors in short-term weather forecasting will be greatly reduced when a meteorological satellite is put into formal use next month. The Fengyun-2C was launched last October as the country's first international-quality satellite. The weather monitor has been in orbiting on a trial basis over Malaysia since its launch. China will launch the Fengyun-2D, a more advanced orbiter, in the fall of next year
Japanese satellite to monitor Asian natural disasters: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to launch a satellite to monitor natural disasters in Asia, said Toshio Doura, Director of Earth Observation Research and Application Centre.
The launching of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), which had been delayed several times, would take-off in September, he was quoted by Bernama as saying. The satellite is designed to observe and map the earth's surface, enhance cartography, monitor natural disasters and survey land use and natural resources to promote sustainable development.
Saudi Arabia set to launch six mini satellites: Saudi Arabia will launch either by the end of this year or early next year six mini satellites for a range of applications, including the location of water and mineral sources, environmental pollution control, urban planning, agricultural production and weather observation.
They are part of a group of 24 mini satellites manufactured and designed in the Kingdom by a team of Saudi scientists and engineers as part of a program to harness space technology for commercial purposes, according to Prince Turki Ibn Saud, vice president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Research Institutes
S.Korea to develop maritime observation satellite: South Korea will embark on a plan this month to develop a maritime observation satellite capable of providing data on waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency. The envisioned geostationary satellite will be jointly designed and constructed by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute and Astrium, a French satellite maker.
China, Pakistan to launch small satellite next year: A multi-purpose small satellite, developed by China, Pakistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Mongolia, South Korea and Iran will be launched in 2006. It will be used to carry out scientific experiments and environmental observations for countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The State media said that China would also send a communication satellite owned by a Hong Kong company into space during the first half of this year.
Till a decade ago, all the remotely sensed satellite data came from government owned agencies and political ideology of the few countries who had the resources decided the availability of the data to the less fortunate ones. With the entry of the private industry as a data provider, this is no longer a constraint. Today almost every developing country has an independent or collaborative program in remote sensing which in some instances rivals those of the developed nations. It is a technology, which though expensive, no one can do without, so it is not the cost of the technology but rather the cost of not having it that matters.