Indian Remote Sensing
Satellites
Remote Sensing effort in
India started in late sixties with the aerial survey using multi-data
instrument and aircraft carrying variety of sensors like infra-red scanner and
multi-specialty scanner, radio meter etc. for monitoring different crops, soil
degradation, water pollution, land usage etc. Considering the need to have a
global picture on a larger scale, development efforts for remote sensing
satellite were pursued. Based on the successful launch of Aryabhata and Bhaskara, new series of remote sensing
satellite called IRS were developed.
Aryabhata
ISRO has designed and
developed high performance remote sensing satellite system for India and the
first one, IRS-1A was launched on March 17, 1988 on board a Soviet Vostok Rocket.
The second satellite IRS-1B
identical to IRS-1A was launched August 29, 1991. This carried complex payloads
like linear imaging Self Scanner – LISS-1 with the resolution of 72.5 m and
LISS -2A, LISS -2B with a resolution of 36.25 m. The satellite was placed in
904 km polar sun synchronous orbit with an orbital period of 103 minutes. The
satellite return to their original orbital trace every 22 days enabling
repeated collection of data over the same place and at the same local time.
This was followed by IRS-1C class satellites.
With the PSLV getting
operational, IRS-P2 satellites were placed in
sun-synchronous orbit on October 15, 1994.
The satellite control center located at
Bangalore and other ground stations at different locations regularly track and
monitor IRS satellite. National Remote Sensing Agency
(NRSA) at Hyderabad receives the data from the IRS satellites. After processing
& distribute it to the user agencies.
IRS data has been extensively
used to evaluate agricultural crops yield estimate, drought monitoring and
assessment, flood mapping, land use and land cover mapping, waste land
management, water resource land management, ocean/marine resource survey, urban
planning, mineral prospecting, various resource survey etc. The IRS system has
become one of the main service sectors of ISRO for the nation.
The TES-Satellite
has provided a resolution of better than 1 m in which one could clearly
identify the vehicles moving on the road.