| NEWSBRIEFS – REMOTE SENSING |
| Indo-Norwegian pact on
developing TOPAZ |
WAn Indo-Norwegian agreement was signed
to collaborate in developing an operational
ocean modelling and data assimilation
system for the Indian Ocean—the TOPAZ
Indian Ocean forecasting system. The
parties from Norway are the Nansen
Environmental and Remote Sensing
Centre (NERSC) and the University of
Bergen (UoB), while the Indian National
Centre for Ocean Information Services
(INCOIS) and Nansen Environmental
Research Centre-India (NERCI) Kochi
are from India. According to a press
release issued here, the TOPAZ Indian
Ocean system has been implemented,
assessed and used by a group of scientists
of Bergen and Kochi. www.hindu.com |
| Israeli satelite placed in orbit |
India has launched an Israeli satellite
‘Polaris’ from the spaceport at Sriharikota
by a homegrown Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV) and successfully
placed it in the intended orbit, ISRO
said. The PSLV-C10 lifted off from the
First Launch Pad (FLP) at the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre at 0915 hours
with the ignition of the first stage. |
| Japanese mapping satellite flops |
The “Daichi” satellite by Japan went up
about two years ago to collect data to
create maps of remote parts of the country.
But according to Geographical Survey
Institute, the images received are blurry
and could not be used for the detailed
mapping planned. But the images won’t go
to waste as it will be used as background
data for land use determination and
the like. http://afp.google.com |
| Sikkim has the largest number
of glaciers in India |
Sikkim, comprising 0.5 per cent of India’s
landmass, has 84 glaciers, the largest
number as compared to any other state
or union territory. The present number of
glaciers at 84, with the mapping exercise
still underway to find about out more
ice caps in the state has grown by about
four times over the past six years as
the figure of glaciers stood at 21 at that
time, according to a senior scientist of
the science and technology department,
which has been carrying out mapping of
the glaciers and other landscapes of the
state. The glaciers have been mapped
by using remote sensing application
system and capturing data through
satellite, he said. www.hindu.com/ |
| Geoeye launch delayed |
The GeoEye-1 satellite is unlikely to be
launched before 22 August at the earliest.
GeoEye Inc in the US informed the
Securities and Exchange Commission
of the latest delay on 12 January. Under
a contract with Boeing Launch Services
and United Launch Alliance, the satellite
was scheduled for launch in April from
the Vandenberg Air Force Base. The delay
has been caused by unspecified problem
on a military satellite. Both satellites are
to be launched on Detla-2 rockets, but the
military craft will not be ready until June. |
| Remote sensing applications
for agriculture get European
parliament approval |
The European Parliament adopted a
non-binding report on remote sensing
applications developed within the
CAP with 594 votes in favour, 23
against and 54 abstentions. The EU’s
agricultural policy takes account of the
social structure of agricultural and the
natural disparities between the various
agricultural regions of the EU. Hence
there is a need for information on land
condition and crop use. Remote sensing
applications help provide some of this
information. Between 2003 and 2007 a
pilot project on remote-sensing techniques
was initiated. www.newsdesk.se/ |
| ISRO offers free access to
RS data in SARC |
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and
other SAARC nations will have access to
free-of-cost remote sensing data collected
by various satellites launched by the
Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) during major disasters in the
region, according to an official of
home ministry. The official said since
the satellite imaging of the region also
involves the security concerns of the
neighbouring countries, it would be
discussed with each nation concerned.
The idea was discussed in a workshop
recently, to use geo-informatics in riskmapping,
risk assessment and risk
monitoring under diverse geographical,
socio-economic and cultural settings.
Indian Sexperts specifically mentioned
how remote sensing images taken even
by commercial satellites clearly captured
the tsunami along the eastern coast
(2004), Kashmir earthquake (2005) and
Bangladesh cyclone ‘Sidr’ (2007). http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/ |
| CARTOSAT-1 satellite
data agreement |
Euromap GmbH (Germany) and ANTRIX
Corporation (India) have agreed to
expand Euromap’s participation in the
Indian Remote Sensing satellite program
with the reception and distribution of
high-resolution stereo imagery from
the Cartosat-1 (IRS-P5) satellite.
Under the terms of the new three year
agreement, Euromap will have the
exclusive distribution rights in Europe
to receive and distribute Cartosat-1
data collected over Europe and North
Africa. Euromap represents the only
receiving and distribution facilities
for IRS satellite data in Europe. |
| ISRO plans satellite series
for civilian applications |
India plans to create a chain of nine earth
observation satellites which will be used
for civilian applications such as identifying
potential fishing zones or mapping streets
in cities. They will be placed in the socalled
low earth orbit or around 700km
above the earth’s surface by the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The agency will launch the satellites,
also known as remote sensing satellites,
over the next five years beginning June
with Oceansat-2, a satellite that has
devices that can track wind velocity on
the surface of the sea and which can
be used to identify fishing zones. |
| February 2008 |
