UNIT-V A

Remote sensing
Various definitions of remote sensing are given below:

 Technique of acquiring data about an object without touching it.

 Science and art of obtaining information about an object, area, or phenomenon through the
analysis of data acquired by a device that is not in contact with the object, area, or phenomenon
under investigation (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2000)
An ideal remote sensing system
1. A uniform energy source
This source would provide energy over all wavelengths, at a constant, known, high level of
output, irrespective of time and place.
2. A non-interfering atmosphere
This would be an atmosphere that would not modify the energy from the source in any manner,
whether that energy were on its way to the Earth’s surface or coming from it. Again, ideally, this
would hold irrespective of wavelength, time, place and sensing altitude involved.
3. A series of unique energy / matter interactions at the Earth’s surface
These interactions would generate reflected and/or emitted signals that not only are selective with
respect to wavelength, but also are known, invariant, and unique to each and every surface type
and subtype of interest.
4. A super sensor
This would be a sensor, highly sensitive to all wavelengths, yielding spatially detailed data on the
absolute brightness (or radiance) from a scene as a function of wavelength, throughout the
spectrum. This supersensor would be simple and reliable, require virtually no power or space,
and be accurate and economical to operate.
5. A real-time data handling system
In this system, the instant a signal over a terrain element was generated, it would be processed
onto an interpretable format and recognised as being unique to the particular terrain element from
which it came. This processing would be performed nearly instantaneously (`real-time’),
providing timely information. Because of the consistent nature of the energy/matter interactions,
there would be no need for reference data in the analysis procedure. the derived data
would provide insight into the physical - chemical – biological state of each object of
interest.System component

6. Multiple data users

These people would have knowledge of great depth, both of their respective disciplines and
of remote sensing data acquisition and analysis techniques. The same set of data would be
transformed into various forms of information for different users. This information would be
available to them faster, at less expense, and for larger areas than information collected in any
other manner. With this information, the various users would make profound, wise decisions
about how best to manage the earth resource under scrutiny, and these strategic management
decisions would be implemented– to everyone’s delight !

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 A typical real remote sensing system consists of the following sub-systems:
(a) scene 
(b) sensor 
(c) processing (ground) segment

Various stages in these sub-systems are indicated in the figure. The electro-magnetic (EM) energy forms
the fundamental component of a RS system. The following steps indicate how remotely sensed data gets
converted into useful information:
Source of EM energy (sun/self emission: transmitter onboard sensor).

Transmission of energy from the source to the surface of the earth and its interaction with the
atmosphere (absorption/scattering).

Interaction of EMR with the earth surface (reflection, absorption, transmission) or re-emission/self
emission.

Transmission of reflected/emitted energy from the surface to the remote sensor through the intervening
atmosphere.

Recording of EMR at the sensor and transmission of the recorded information (sensor data output) to the
ground.

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Preprocessing, processing, analysis and interpretation of sensor data.

Integration of interpreted data with other data sources for deriving management alternatives and
applications.

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Physics of remote sensing
Nature and properties of EMR
EMR is a form of energy which reveals its presence by the observable effects it produces when it strikes
the matter. It is considered to span the spectrum of wavelengths from 10-10 m m, the cosmic rays, up to
1010 m m, the broadcast wavelengths.

Wave description of EMR

EMR consists of an electrical field (E) which varies in magnitude in a direction perpendicular to the
direction in which the radiation is travelling, and a magnetic field (M) oriented at right angles to the
electrical field. Both these fields travel at the speed of light (c).
Schematic view of electromagnetic wave propagating along Z-axis, E and M fields oscillate in
mutually perpendicular planes perpendicular to propagation direction

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Wave properties
Amplitude, A 

Direction

Velocity, c = 3 x 10 8 m/s in a vacuum

Wavelength, λ

Frequency, n

c = n λ

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(b) Stefan-Boltzman law

The integration over the entire range wavelengths yields the total energy flux (M) radiated from a BB
which is called the radiant emittance and is measured per unit area of the surface.

The total energy emitted is given by the area under the curve. It can be shown that the total energy
emitted from an object varies as T4 and, therefore, increases rapidly with increase in temperature. This is
called the Stefan-Boltzman law and is expressed as:     M = σT4

where M is radiant emittance (W/m2 ); T absolute temperature; σ is Stefan-Boltzman constant

This law is expressed for an energy source that behaves like a BB, i.e. as a hypothetical radiator that
totally absorbs and re-emits all energy that is incident upon it. Actual objects only approach this ideal.

(c) Wein's displacement law

The dominant wavelength at which a blackbody radiation curve reaches a maximum, is related to
temperature by Wein's displacement law. It can be obtained by differentiating, M(λ) with respect to λ
and equating it to zero

λmax                   wavelength of maximum spectral radiant existence (m)

A                       2.898 x 10 -3 m K
T rad                   Absolute radiant temperature ( K)
Maximum wavelength ( λmax - earth  ) emitted from earth for an ambient temperature of T rad  = 300 K
can be calculated as 9.7 µ m.

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Electromagnetic spectrum

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Visible Spectrum
The light which our
eyes - our remote
sensors - can detect
is part of the visible
spectrum. The
visible wavelengths
cover a range from
approximately 0.4 to
0.7 µ m.

The longest visible

wavelength is red
and the shortest is
violet.

The visible portion is

very small compared
to the overall
spectrum. There is a
lot of radiation
around us which is
invisible to our eyes,
but can be detected
by other remote
sensing instruments
and used to our
advantage.
Visible portion of the Spectrum
The visible portion is the only portion of the EM spectrum we can associate with the concept of
colours
Infrared (IR) Region
The IR Region covers the wavelength range from approximately 0.7 µ m to 100 µm - more than 100
times as wide as the visible portion!

The infrared region can be divided into two categories based on their radiation properties - the
reflected IR, and the emitted or thermal IR.

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 Infrared portion of the spectrum

Reflected and Thermal IR

Radiation in the reflected IR region is used for remote sensing purposes in ways very similar to
radiation in the visible portion. The reflected IR covers wavelengths from approximately 0.7 µm to
3.0 µm.

The thermal IR region is quite different than the visible and reflected IR portions, as this energy is
essentially the radiation that is emitted from the Earth's surface in the form of heat. The thermal IR
covers wavelengths from approximately 3.0 µm to 100 µm.
Microwave Region
The microwave region ranges from about 1 mm to 1 m.

This covers the longest wavelengths used for remote sensing.

The shorter wavelengths have properties similar to the thermal infrared region while the longer
wavelengths approach the wavelengths used for radio broadcasts.

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 Microwave portion of the spectrum

EMR interaction in Atmosphere

Before we can apply our radiation laws to remote sensing applications, we must understand the role of
the atmospheric interaction which consists of the following types:

Atmospheric Absorption
Atmospheric Scattering
Both mechanisms attenuate the radiant flux and are dependent upon the composition of the atmosphere.
There are two main constituents of atmosphere:

Pure gases
Nitrogen, oxygen, and argon are predominant. Small traces of carbon dioxide, water vapour, and ozone
are also present.

Particulate matter
Particles of various size, shape, and concentration originating from various sources, e.g. smoke, dust,
haze, soil and rock debris
Irrespective of source, all radiation detected by remote sensors passes through some distance (known as
the path length) of atmosphere and the net effect of the atmosphere varies with:

Differences in path length

Magnitude of the energy signal that is being sensed

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Atmospheric conditions present

Wavelengths involved
The number of photons that reach the sensor can originate from various sources as shown in the figure
(NERC, 1986)

Various sources of radiations reaching sensor

Absorption  Energy is absorbed and re-radiated again in all directions, usually over a different range of
wavelengths. This is a case of radiation-matter interactions, in which the quantification of energy is
important, so we will use the particle description of EMR.
Scattering  Energy is lost by redirection away from the satellite's field of view, but wavelength remains
the same.

Absorption

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Absorption by various constituents (CH4, N2O, O2, CO2, H2O, in the atmosphere

Atmospheric Windows

Because various gases absorb electromagnetic energy in specific wavebands, they strongly
influence where one can look spectrally with any given remote sensing system. These wavelength
ranges in which the atmosphere is particularly transmissive are referred to as atmospheric
windows (see figure). In this regard, we uses two terms:

Atmospheric windows
Regions of the EM spectrum in which the Earth's atmosphere is relatively transparent and
observation of the surface from space is possible.

Atmospheric blinds
Where absorption is high the atmosphere must also emit radiation (from Kirchhoff's Law).
These wavelengths are useful for observing atmospheric processes.

  

Atmospheric windows 
The following figure indicate some prominent atmospheric windows. From this figure it can be
noted that:

The atmosphere is nearly opaque to EMR in the mid and far IR

In the microwave region, most of the EMR moves through unimpeded

so that radar at commonly used wavelengths will nearly all reach the Earth surface
unimpeded

although specific wavelengths are scattered by raindrops.

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 Some sensors, especially those on meteorological satellites, are designed to directly measure
absorption phenomena such as those associated with CO2 and other gaseous molecules.

atmospheric windows for remote sensing

Atmospheric scattering
.

It is considered as a disturbance of the EM field by the constituents in the atmosphere resulting in the
change in the direction and spectral distribution of energy in the beam.

Scattered radiation, whether coming from the sun or reflected from the earth surface, is not attenuated
but rather redirected. This redirection is wavelength-dependent. It must be remembered that while
molecular absorption removes energy as it passes through the atmosphere and re-radiates uniformly in
all directions at a different wavelength, scattering changes the direction of propagation only, not the
wavelength.

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Multiscatter

If the particles are sparse, EMR is scattered once. The scatter primarily changes the angle of
propagation, removing (attenuating) energy from the beam of radiation.

If the particle density is high, EMR is scattered repeatedly. This can both add and remove energy from
the beam of radiation, or result in isotropic radiance.

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Significance of scattering in RS

Energy is directed outside the field of view (FOV) of the sensor:

Large FOV
Some scattered radiation will be accepted, enhancing the signal being received by the sensor
Small FOV 
Virtually all scattered radiations will be rejected producing an apparent attenuation or dimming of the
image.
In both cases, scattering degrades image quality and adversely affects RS observations in two ways:
(a) Reduces image contrast cause blurring  of image
(b) Changes spectral signature of ground object being sensed by sensor.

Energy Interactions with Earth Surface Features(target)

When Electromagnetic energy is incident on any given earth surface feature, three fundamental energy
interactions with the feature are possible:

• Reflection

• Absorption

• Transmission

The relationship between these three energy interactions :

E i (l) = E r (l) + E a (l) + E t (l)

E i= Incident energy

E r= Reflected energy

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 E a= Absorbed energy

E t= Transmitted energy

Spectral reflectance curve

Spectra of surfaces

Effective utilization of remotely sensed data requires good understanding of spectral characteristics of ground
features and factors that affect these spectral responses.

We have to understand the fundamental energy-matter interactions that control and influence the spectral
responses and find out the temporal and spatial aspects related to these interactions

The spectral reflectance characteristics of four main types of environmental surface will be discussed further:

Vegetation

Water and Snow

Soil
Spectral reflectance curve

The reflectance characteristics of earth surface features can be quantified by measuring the portion of incident energy
that is reflected.

This is termed spectral reflectance, and is defined as:

Energy of wavelength (l) reflected from object x 100

Energy of wavelength (l) incident upon the object

The power of emitted photons in each wavelength depends on the surface.

An RS sensor can detect spectral responses from objects in various wavelength ranges.

Each class of objects has a different spectral responses across wavelength

Spectral reflectance values of an object can be plotted on a graph as a function of wavelength, known as a
spectral reflectance curve

Spectral reflectance curves are generally collected in advance of a remote sensing survey to help in both the
identification of different surfaces and to decide on which remote sensor should be used to observe them.

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 Spectral reflectance curves

To understand interaction of EMR with vegetation, first we have to understand the interaction of EMR with a
typical leaf.

Generally, a leaf is built up of layers of structural fibrous organic matter, within which are pigmented, water
filled cells and air spaces. Each of the following features have an effect on the reflectance, absorbance and
transmittance properties of a green leaf:

Pigmentation

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Physiological Structure

Water Content

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Factors affecting reflectance from water surface
The following factors affect the reflectance from water surface:
Turbidity caused by suspended sediments

. Organic matter

Presence of natural and synthetic substances

Oil slick
(a) Turbidity
It is the major factor affecting spectral response of water and results in significantly higher reflectance.
Further, the peak reflectance for turbid water is at a longer wavelength than for clear water.

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Effect of turbidity (Swain and Davis, 1978)

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Spectra of soil

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Most of the energy incident on soil is either absorbed or reflected with very little transmission. The reflectance of
most soil types are similar, with an increase in reflectance with wavelength. The following main factors affect
the interaction of EMR with soil:
 Moisture content
 Organic matter
 Mineralogy or chemical composition
 Particle size and texture

(a) Moisture content

Variation in soil moisture is a primary factor in causing variations in spectral response.

Soil surfaces become visually darker with increasing moisture levels due to decreased reflectance in the visible
region with increasing moisture content

Water selectively absorbs at all wavelengths, but with increasing absorptance at longer wavelengths.

Because most of the reflectance of soil occurs in top layers of soil particles, only the water in these top layers
will affect reflectance of soil surface.

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 Concept of digital image
Digital image is a file containing numbers that constitute gray level values or digital number (DN) values, and is
usually stored in the computer as a two-dimensional array.

digital image of the original photograph! The photograph was scanned and subdivided into pixels with
each pixel assigned a digital number representing its relative brightness. The computer displays each
digital value as different brightness levels. Sensors that record electromagnetic energy, electronically
record the energy as an array of numbers in digital format right from the start.

This digital image has eleven rows and eleven columns. Each DN in this digital image corresponds to one small
area of the visual image and gives the level of darkness or lightness of the area. Higher the DN value, the lighter
the area. Hence the zero value represents a perfect black, the maximum value perfect white and the intermediate
values are shades of gray.

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Pixel

The term pixel is derived from two words picture and element and represents the smallest representative area to
which a DN value is assigned. Each pixel has an associated DN value and co-ordinates in terms rows and
columns. This gives its location and attribute in the image array. The origin of the co-ordinate system adopted
and the corresponding gray level values are shown in previous figures

NOTE: The numeric value assigned to each pixel is called the grey level value (Pixel or DN value). The
minimum and maximum values assigned in an image depend on how the photograph is scanned. Scanner
provides an option to select the range of these values during scanning of photographs. For example, if a
photograph is scanned for a range of 0 to ng -1 will generates ng number of grey levels with 0 minimum
and ng -1 maximum grey level value, usually a scale of 0 to 255 is used. This is also called an 8-bit or one-
byte image.

Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery

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would have to broaden the wavelength range detected for a particular channel or band.
Unfortunately, this would reduce the spectral resolution of the sensor. Conversely, coarser spatial
resolution would allow improved radiometric and/or spectral resolution. Thus, these three types of
resolution must be balanced against the desired capabilities and objectives of the sensor.

Band Wavelength Applications

0.45 to 0.52 Blue Distinguishing soil from

vegetation, water
penetration, deciduous vs. conifers

0.52 to 0.60 Green Determining plant vigor

(reflectance peak)

3 0.63 to 0.69 Red Matches chlorophyll

absorption-used for
discriminating vegetation types.

4 0.76 to 0.90 Near IR Refl IR - biomass

content.

1.55 to 1.75 Short Wave IR Refl IR - Indicates

moisture content of soil and veg.,
cloud/smoke penetration, veg.
mapping.

6 10.40 to 12.50 Thermal IR Geological mapping, soil

moisture, thermal pollution
monitoring, ocean current studies.

7 2.08 to 2.35 Short Wave IR Ratios of bands 5 &

7 used to map
mineral deposits.

Remote Sensing System

 Remote sensing systems which measure energy that is naturally
available are called passive sensors. Passive sensors can only be
used to detect energy when the naturally occurring energy is
available. For all reflected energy, this can only take place during
the time when the sun is illuminating the Earth. There is no
reflected energy available from the sun at night. Energy that is

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 naturally emitted (such as thermal infrared) can be detected day or night, as long as the
amount of energy is large enough to be recorded.

• Active sensors provide their own energy source for illumination. The sensor
emits radiation which is directed toward the target to be investigated. The
radiation reflected from that target is detected and measured by the sensor.
Advantages for active sensors include the ability to obtain measurements
anytime, regardless of the time of day or season. Active sensors can be used for
examining wavelengths that are not sufficiently provided by the sun, such as
microwaves, or to better control the way a target is illuminated. However, active
systems require the generation of a fairly large amount of energy to adequately
illuminate targets.

• Some examples of active sensors are a laser fluorosensor and a synthetic

aperture radar (SAR).

Platforms and Sensors

In order for a sensor to collect and record energy reflected or emitted from a
target or surface, it must reside on a stable platform removed from the target or

surface being observed. Platforms for remote sensors may be situated on the
ground, on an aircraft or balloon (or some other platform within the Earth's
atmosphere),

or on a spacecraft or satellite outside of the Earth's atmosphere.

• Ground-based sensors are often used to record detailed information about

the surface
• which is compared with information collected from aircraft or satellite
sensors. In some cases, this can be used to better characterize the target which is being imaged by
these other
sensors, making it possible to better understand the information in the imagery. Sensors may be
placed on a ladder,scaffolding, tall building, cherry-picker, crane, etc

Remote Sensing Satellite

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Geo-stationary Orbit

Geo-stationary:

• Orbits over the equator

• Goes through one orbit every 24

hours

• Hence, it rotates at the same speed

as the earth

• Approximately 36,000 km above earth

Takes 5 satellites to cover the entire disk

Polar Orbit
• Orbits over the poles

• Takes approximately 100 minutes to complete an orbit

• Can view the entire earth’s surface in approximately

2-6 days

• Approximately 700-1500 km above the earth

• Also called “Sun synchronous”

Example: Polar Orbiting NASA’s Terra Platform

Flying at an altitude of 705 km, Terra orbits the Earth once every
98 minutes in a near-polar orbit. The spacecraft descends
southward across the equator at 10:30 a.m., when cloud cover is
minimal and its view of the surface is least obstructed. As Terra
orbits, notice that the Earth is also spinning, so that adjacent orbits are offset somewhat at the equator
and there is a small gap between the MODIS instrument's viewing swaths. It will take a little more than 1
day for these gaps to be filled on subsequent overpasses, so that MODIS will provide us snapshots of the
entire surface of the Earth within every 2 days.

SWATH
• The area imaged on the surface, is referred to as the swath.

• As seen from the Earth, it seems that the satellite is shifting westward
because the Earth is rotating (from west to east) beneath it. This apparent

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 movement allows the satellite swath to cover a new area with each consecutive pass. The satellite's
orbit and the rotation of the Earth work together to allow complete coverage of the Earth's surface,
after it has completed one complete cycle of orbits.

Evolution and advances in remote sensing satellites and sensors

There are eight distinct eras of remote sensing; some running parallel in time periods, but are distinctly
unique in terms of technology, concept of utilization of data, applications in science, and data characteristics
(e.g., Table 1). These are discussed below:
Airborne remote sensing era: The airborne remote sensing era evolved during the first and the Second
World War (Avery and Berlin, 1992, Colwell, 1983). During this time remote sensing was mainly used for
the purposes of surveying, reconnaissance, mapping, and military surveillance.
Rudimentary spaceborne satellite remote sensing era: The spaceborne remote sensing era began with
launch of “test of concept” rudimentary satellites such as Sputnik 1 from Russia and Explorer 1 by the
United States at the end of 1950s (Devine, 1993, House et al., 1986). This was soon followed by the first
meteorological satellite called Television and Infrared Observational Satellite-1 (TIROS-1) by
the United States also in the late 1950s (House et al., 1986).
Spy satellite remote sensing era: During the peak of the cold war, spy satellites such as Corona (Dwayne et
al., 1988) were widely used. Data was collected, almost exclusively, for military purposes. The data was not
digital, but was produced as hard copies. However, the spin-off of the remote sensingdeveloped for military
purposes during the above 3 eras spilled over to mapping and slowly into
environmental and natural resources applications.
Meteorological satellite sensor remote sensing era: The early meteorological satellite sensors consisted of
geo-synchronous Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and polarorbiting National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
(Kramer, 2002). This was an era when data started being available in digital format and were analyzed using
exclusive computer hardware and software. This was also an era when global coverage became realistic and
environmental applications practical.
Landsat era: The Landsat era begins with the launch of Landsat-1 (then called Earth Resources Technology
Satellite) in 1972 carrying multi spectral scanner (MSS) sensor. This was followed by other path-finding
Landsat satellites 2 through 3 which carried MSS and 4 and 5 which carried Sensors 2007, 73211 Thematic
Mapper (TM). The Landsat 7 carries Enhanced Thematic mapper (ETM+) sensor. The
Landsat-6 failed during launch. The Landsat-8 carrying Operational Land Imager (OLI) is planned for
launch in 2011. The Landsat era also has equally good sun-synchronous Land satellites such as Systeme
Pour l'Observation de Ia Terre (SPOT) of France and, Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) of India
(Jensen, 2000). These satellites have high resolution (nominal 2.5-80 meter) and have global coverage
potential. At this resolution, only Landsat is currently gathering data with global wall to wall coverage. This
is, by far, the most significant era that kick started truly wide environmental application of remote sensing
data locally and globally.
Earth Observing System era: The Earth Observing System (EOS) era (Stoney, 2005, Bailey et al., 2001,
Jensen, 2000, Colwell, 1983) began with launch of Terra satellite in 1999 and has brought in the global
coverage, frequent repeat coverage, high level of processing (e.g., georectified, at-satellite reflectance), easy
and mostly free access to data. The Terra\Aqua satellites carrying sensors such as
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Measurements of Pollution in
theTroposphere (MOPITT) have daily re-visit and various processed data. Applications of sensor data have
become wide spread and applications have multiplied. Institutions and individuals who never used remote
sensing have begun to take an interest in remote sensing. Also, the availability of the processed data in terms
of products such as leaf area index (LAI) and land use\land cover (LULC) have become routine. Currently,
MODIS itself has 40+ products. The active spaceborne remote sensing sensors using radar technology also
became prominent around this time (and during the

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Landsat era) launch of European Radar Satellite (ERS), Japanese Earth Resources satellite (JERS),
Radarsat,and Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS). The Shuttle Radar Technology Mission
(SRTM) was used to gather data for digital elevation.
New Millennium era: The new millennium era (Bailey et al., 2001) refers to highly advanced “test-of
concept” satellites sent into orbit around the same time as EOS era, but the concepts and ideas are different.
These are basically satellites and sensors for the next generation. These include Earth Observing-1 carrying
the first spaceborne hyperspectral data. The idea of Advanced Land Imager (ALI) as a cheaper,
technologically better replacement for Landsat is also very attractive.
Private industry era: The private industry era began at the end of the last millennium andbeginning of this
millennium (see Stoney, 2005). This era consists of a number of innovations. First, collection of data in very
high resolution (<10 meter). This is typified by IKONOS and Quickbird satellites. Second, a revolutionary
means of data collection. This is typified by Rapideye satellite constellation of 5 satellites, having almost
daily coverage of any spot on earth at 6.5 meter resolution in 5 spectral bands including a red-edge band.
Third, is the introduction of micro satellites, some under disaster monitoring constellation (DMC), which are
designed and launched by surrey satellite
technology Ltd. for Turkey, Nigeria, China, USGS, UK, and others. Fourth, is the innovation by Google
Earth (http://earth.google.com) in making rapid data access of VHRI for any part of the World through
streaming technology that makes it easy for even a non-specialist to zoom and pan remote sensing data.

Remote sensing in India

India, one of the leading nations in space science, has directed its efforts in three main areas
(Reference ):

Development of remote sensing satellites under Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) series

Development of communication and meteorological satellites under INSAT series

Development of different types of launch vehicles to put the satellites in proper orbits.

In India, Department of Space with ISRO (headquarter at Bangalore) as the nodal agency is responsible
for coordinating all efforts in space technology. National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA at Hyderabad)
is responsible for satellite data dissemination to the user community.

So far nine IRS satellites have been launched: IRS-1A, IRS-1B, IRS-1C, IRS-1D, IRS-P3 and IRS-P4
(OCEANSAT), and Technology Experiment Satellite (TES), and IRS-P6 (RESOURCESAT),
CARTOSAT-1.

The first two IRS-1A and 1B have completed their useful life and the remaining six forms the largest
constellation of remote sensing satellites in the world offering a variety of data in different spectral
bands and various spatial resolutions.

The Technology Experiment Satellite (TES) was launched on board PSLV-C3 on October 22, 2001. It is
an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate in orbit technology that could be used in the future
satellite of ISRO.

Some of the technologies that are being demonstrated in TES are altitude and orbit control system, high
torque reaction wheels, new reaction control system with optimized thrusters and a single propellant
tank, light weight spacecraft structure, solid state recorder, X-band phased array antenna, improved
satellite positioning system, miniaturized TTC and power system and two-mirror-on-axis camera optics.

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 TES also carries a panchromatic camera with a spatial resolution of 1m.

INSAT system is the largest domestic satellite communication system in Asia Pacific Region comprising
of four satellites, INSAT-2C, INSAT-2D, INSAT-2E and INSAT-3B. Besides these satellites, INSAT-
1D, which was launched in June 1990, is used for meteorological imaging and a few other services even
after eleven years of operation. INSAT-2B launched in July 1993 is decommissioned from regular
services but is used for Satellite Aided Search and Rescue and Data Relay Services and scientific
experiments.

The successful first test-flight of Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D1) from
Sriharikota on April 18, 2001 has been a significant milestone of the Indian space programme. Another
important event during this period is the successful flight of PSLV-C3 on October 22, 2001 from
Sriharikota. In this fifth consecutive successful flight, PSLV placed three satellites-India's Technology
Experiment Satellite (TES), Belgian PROBA and German BIRD into polar sun-synchronous orbit thus
establishing the reliability of PSLV for launching multiple satellites.
Characteristics of a few Indian satellite for Earth observation

Acronyms and Abbreviations

ASTER Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
ALI Advanced Land Imager
AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
CBERS -2 China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite
FORMOSAT Taiwanis Satellite Operated by Taiwanis National Space Organization NSPO. Data Marketed by
SPOT
Hyperion First Spaceborne Hyperspectral Sensor Onboard Earth Observing-1(EO-1)
IKONOS High-Resolution Satellite Operated by GeoEye
IRS-1C/D-LISS Indian Remote Sensing Satellite /Linear Imaging Self Scanner
IRS-P6-AWiFS Indian Remote Sensing Satellite/Advanced Wide Field Sensor
KOMFOSAT Korean Multipurpose Satellite. Data Marketed by SPOT Image
Landsat-1, 2, 3 MSS Multi Spectral Scanner
Landsat-4, 5 TM Thematic Mapper
Landsat-7 ETM+ Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus
MODIS Moderate Imaging Spectral Radio Meter
QUICKBIRD Satellite from DigitalGlobe, a private company in USA
RAPID EYE – A/E Satellite constellation from Rapideye, a German company
RESOURSESAT Satellite launched by the India
SPOT Satellites Pour l’ Observation de la Terre or Earth-observing Satellites
SWIR Short Wave Infrared Sensor
VNIR Visible Near-Infrared Sensor

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