RSG 301 – SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING

1. Historical aspect of satellite launching in space

a. The owners
b. The mission
c. Economic and political considerations
2. Orbits and platforms for earth observation
3. Classification of satellites
a. Orbit
b. Applications
c. Advantages and disadvantages
4. Types of observation and orbital dynamics
a. Landsat
b. SPOT
c. IRS
d. NigeriaSat 1, 2 and X
e. Other Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) satellites

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 HISTORICAL ASPECT OF SATELLITE LAUNCHING IN SPACE

Early scientists such as Sir Isaac

Newton and writers of speculative fiction both contemplated the
idea that humans
might one day launch artificial satellites into orbit for practical
purposes.

Artificial Satellites revolving around the earth

The concept of an artificial satellite revolving around the earth depends on three basic concepts:
1. The Earth itself is a planetary body that revolves around the Sun;
2. The Earth and Moon are subject to universal laws of gravity.
3. The Moon, as a satellite, revolves around the Earth.
These three concepts makes it logical that artificial satellites could serve as a very high “artificial relay tower”
for communications (to receive and transmit radio waves from the earth to space and back).

Early History of Satellite Communications

These three concepts were confirmed by Galileo Galilei (1565–1642) in the 16th and 17th century when using
a telescope (with limited magnification); he was able to observe Jupiter and about four satellites revolving
around it. This provided sufficient physical data to draw a reasonable conclusion about the basic physics of
the Solar System’s orbital mechanics. This also helped to confirm that the Earth had its own orbiting satellite,
which we call the Moon.
Furthermore, the discovery of gravity by Sir Isaac Newton led to the understanding of how an artificial satellite
might be launched into Earth orbit and then provide services to people back on the ground. He described a
future situation where a very powerful cannon might shoot an object with enough velocity in order to allow
the “launched object” to travel greater and greater distances. He then concluded that if the object could be
shot with sufficient velocity, it would overcome the pull of Earth’s gravity and would attain orbital speed and
thus start circling the Earth.

The Modern History of Satellite Communications

On October 7, 1957, the Space Age began with the launch by the Soviet Union of the world’s first artificial
satellite, Sputnik 1. Because of the cold war, this move was interpreted by the Americans in a political context.
This led to a “satellite race” between thee USA and Russia, birthing new frontiers in the satellite industry.
These led to the following milestones in the modern history of satellite communications:

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1. On 4 October 1957, Russia orbited the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. The launch of the first commercial
communications satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit took place on 06
2. April 1965, and was launched by the United States; The Intelsat 1 was nicknamed “Early Bird.”
3. By 1980 satellites began launching on vehicles that were not wholly controlled by the government. The
first privatized commercial launch entity is officially established this year, in Europe.
4. On 30 October 1984, President Reagan signed the Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984. This act
gave U.S. commercial space oversight to the newly established Office of Commercial Space
Transportation.
5. In 1985, the Soviet Union began marketing contracted satellite launches on the Proton and Zenit rockets.
6. In 1988, the U.S. announces a new space policy that includes a new Commercial Space Initiative to
encourage U.S. commercial satellite launches to be privatized and limit NASA's involvement in
commercial space operations.
7. In 1995, International Launch Services was born.
8. 9 April 1996, ILS launches its first Proton flight with the ASTRA 1F satellite; this was the first launch of a
Western Satellite on a Russian Rocket; as well as the first commercial satellite launch on Proton.
9. On 07 June 2003, Proton successfully launches its 300th mission with the AMC-9 launch.
10. On 3 April 2009, ILS celebrated its 50th Proton launch, with the W2A satellite for Eutelsat.
11. By 14 October 2012, ILS Proton successfully launches its 75th mission, with the Intelsat 23 satellite
onboard
12. On 25 March 2012, ILS successfully completes its first SSTO mission with the successful launch of
Intelsat 22
13. By 15 April 2013, ILS celebrates the 20th anniversary of the commercialization of the Proton Rocket

Satellites and the Internet

The Internet changed the world of global telecommunications more than any single factor in the past two
decades. Telephone, data, television, high-definition television, or mobile telecommunications have become
digital with the use of IP Protocol. As a result of the satellite transmission delay associated with
geosynchronous satellites, it was initially difficult for satellite communication technologies to adapt to this IP-
based service. As a result of this the IP over Satellite (IPoS) was introduced to compensate for this delay,
and to aid the adaptation of satellite systems to the global use of IP protocols.

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Economic Advantage of Satellite Technology

While the race for space conquest started as a political reason and a show of dominance between leading
countries of the world, it led to the creation of larger, more powerful, and more proficient spacecraft with
longer lifetimes and greater opportunity for automated operation. The evolution of the technology has allowed
the ground devices to become simpler, easier to use, and less costly.

The development of the technology and the allocation of new frequency bands has also allowed the creation
of a wider and wider array of satellite communications services that include fixed satellite services; large-
scale networking among multinode corporate business satellite networks; broadband digital services based
on the Internet Protocol (IP) standards; various types of television, audio, and radio broadcasting and media
distribution; aeronautical, maritime, and land mobile satellite services; various types of search and rescue
services; as well as various types of satellite communication links to support other satellite applications for
remote sensing, precision timing, satellite navigation, meteorological and geodetic services, as well as
scientific satellite missions.

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 Key Components of a Satellite

1. Altitude Control and propulsion: This includes the rocket motor that brings the spacecraft to its
permanent position, as well as small thrusters (motors) that help to keep the satellite in its assigned
place in orbit as a result of external influences from solar wind, gravitational or magnetic forces.
2. Electric Power: This generates electricity from the solar panels on the outside of the spacecraft. The
solar panels also store electricity in storage batteries, which can provide power at times when the sun
isn't shining on the panels. The power is used to operate the communications subsystem. The entire
communications subsystem can be operated with about the same amount of power as would be used
by 10 light bulbs.
3. Telemetry, Tracking, and Command: These handles all the transmission and reception functions.
It receives signals from the Earth, amplifies them, and transmits (sends) them to another satellite or
to a ground station.
4. Structure and mechanisms: This helps provide a stable framework so that the satellite can be kept
pointed at the right place on the Earth's surface. Satellites can't be allowed to jiggle or wander,
because if a satellite is not exactly where it belongs, pointed at exactly the right place on the Earth,
the television program or the telephone call it transmits to you will be interrupted.
5. Thermal Control: The thermal control subsystem keeps the active parts of the satellite cool enough
to work properly. It does this by directing the heat that is generated by satellite operations out into
space, where it won't interfere with the satellite.

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 6. Attitude Reference: This points the spacecraft precisely to maintain the communications "footprints"
in the correct location. When the satellite gets out of position, the attitude control system tells the
propulsion system to fire a thruster that will move the satellite back where it belongs.
7. Payload: Satellite payloads function to receive, process and transmit radio frequency waves to the
ground receiving station.

ORBITS FOR EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES

The orbit is the path taken by the artificial satellites including earth observation satellites when they fly
around the earth. There are several types of orbits, and the orbit is selected depending on purposes of the
satellites. Earth observation satellites have a major mission to observe the entire earth, so they circle the
most orbit. There are 3 types of satellite orbits. These are

1. Polar Orbits: Otherwise referred to as Near Polar Orbits, These orbits have an inclination near 90
degrees. This allows the satellite to see virtually every part of the Earth as the Earth rotates underneath
it. It takes approximately 90 minutes for the satellite to complete one orbit. These satellites have many
uses such as measuring ozone concentrations in the stratosphere or measuring temperatures in the
atmosphere.

2. Sun Synchronous Orbits: These orbits allows a satellite to pass over a section of the Earth at the same
time of day. Since there are 365 days in a year and 360 degrees in a circle, it means that the satellite has
to shift its orbit by approximately one degree per day. These satellites orbit at an altitude between 700 to

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 800 km. These satellites use the fact since the Earth is not perfectly round (the Earth bulges in the center,
the bulge near the equator will cause additional gravitational forces to act on the satellite. This causes the
satellite's orbit to either proceed or recede. These orbits are used for satellites that need a constant
amount of sunlight. Satellites that take pictures of the Earth would work best with bright sunlight, while
satellites that measure longwave radiation would work best in complete darkness.

3. Geosynchronous Orbits: Also known as geostationary orbits, satellites in these orbits circle the Earth at
the same rate as the Earth spins. The Earth actually takes 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.09 seconds to
make one full revolution. So based on Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, this would put the satellite at
approximately 35,790 km above the Earth. The satellites are located near the equator since at this latitude,
there is a constant force of gravity from all directions. At other latitudes, the bulge at the center of the
Earth would pull on the satellite.
Geosynchronous orbits allow the satellite to observe almost a full hemisphere of the Earth. These satellites
are used to study large scale phenomenon such as hurricanes, or cyclones. These orbits are also used
for communication satellites. The disadvantage of this type of orbit is that since these satellites are very
far away, they have poor resolution. The other disadvantage is that these satellites have trouble monitoring
activities near the poles.

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 SWATHS FOR EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES

As a satellite revolves around the Earth, the sensor "sees" a certain portion of the Earth's surface. The area
imaged on the surface, is referred to as the swath.

Imaging swaths for spaceborne sensors generally vary between tens and hundreds of kilometres wide. As the
satellite orbits the Earth from pole to pole, its east-west position wouldn't change if the Earth didn't rotate.
However, 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 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.

If we start with any randomly selected pass in a satellite's orbit, an orbit cycle will be completed when the
satellite retraces its path, passing over the same point on the Earth's surface directly below the satellite (called
the nadir point) for a second time. The exact length of time of the orbital cycle will vary with each satellite. The
interval of time required for the satellite to complete its orbit cycle is not the same as the “revisit period".

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Using steerable sensors, a satellite-borne instrument can view an area (off-nadir) before and after the orbit
passes over a target, thus making the 'revisit' time less than the orbit cycle time. The revisit period is an
important consideration for a number of monitoring applications, especially when frequent imaging is required
(for example, to monitor the spread of an oil spill, or the extent of flooding). In near-polar orbits, areas at high
latitudes will be imaged more frequently than the equatorial zone due to the increasing overlap in adjacent
swaths as the orbit paths come closer together near the poles.

CLASSIFICATION OF SATELLITES

Satellites orbiting the earth can be classified based on certain peculiar characteristics and contexts.
This classification could be based on source, size, output resolution, orbit, and mission Source

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A satellite is an object that orbits or circles around a larger object. Within this context, satellites can
be distinctively classified as being either natural or artificial. Natural satellites such as the moon
orbit the earth, while other man made satellites can be classified as being artificial satellites.

Size
Based on sizes, satellites can be classified into groups such as femto (< 100g), pico (1-3 Kg), nano
(3-10 Kg), micro (10-100kg), Mini (100-500 kg), Medium (500-1000Kg), and large (> 1000 Kg).
Resolution
Based on resolution, satellites can also be grouped into coarse (NOAA AVHRR, MODIS, spatial
resolution from 250m – 4km), medium (e.g SPOT, Landsat, NigeriaSat-1, with spatial resolution
between 10-32m), high (IKONOS, QuickBird, GeoEye, with spatial resolution between 40 cm –
2.5m), and super-high (military satellites).

Orbit
1. Low Earth Orbit: Satellites in this orbit usually orbit the earth at altitudes of less than 2000km
(1242 miles). They can get clearer surveillance images and require much less power to transmit
data to the earth. Examples of these includes ISS, IKONOS and most of the high spatial
resolution earth observation satellites.
2. Medium Earth Orbit: Satellites in this orbit usually orbit the earth at an altitude of around 10000
km (6000 miles). This altitude balances thee advantages and disadvantages of low earth orbit
and geostationary orbits. Medium Earth Orbit Satellites are used generally for navigational
satellites and communications satellites.
3. Geostationary Orbit: Satellites in this orbit usually orbit the earth at an altitude of around 35790
km. GEO orbits are used primarily for weather and atmospheric monitoring. Intercontinental
communication linking also make effective use of the GEO orbit.

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Mission
Based on its proposed mission, satellites can be classified into several types, which includes Atmospheric
Studies satellites (Polar), Communications satellites (Anik E), Navigation satellites (Navstar), Reconaissance
satellites (Kennan, Big Bird, Lacrosse), Remote Sensing satellites (Radarsat), Search and Rescue satellites
(Cospas-Sarsat), Space Exploration satellites (Galileo). Weather satellites (Meteosat), manned missions or
space stations. These satellites are required to be placed in different orbits as per the mission requirement
or application.

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