Space blog - Remote sensing

DMCii captures Rio flooding image

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:23:34 +0000

DMCii has acquired an image of the recent flooding in Brazil. Torrential rains and a broken dam caused the Paraiba do Sul river to burst its banks close to the coastal town of Atafona, Rio de Janiero. The level of the River reached 10.9m, 3 metres higher than normal meaning over 4,000 people had to be evacuated from the immediate area. As reported by the Rio Times, the nearby town of Três Vendas was so badly affected that it was patrolled by city guards to prevent looting and the power was cut to prevent short circuits occurring.

Flooding of Paraiba do Sul river. Image from UK-DMC2 © SSTL 2012, supplied by DMCii.

This is one of many flooding incidents in south-east Brazil with total evacuation numbers now reaching 35,000. The country often encounters problems with extreme weather and last year around 1,000 people were killed during the rainy season.

If you’re interested in seeing more remarkable images captured by DMCii please visit DMCii’s photostream on Flickr.

UK-DMC-2 snaps flooding worldwide

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:38:55 +0000

DMCii has acquired images of flooding in both El Salvador and Ghana - just two of the many floods that have taken place recently worldwide.

El Salvador in South America was hit by a tropical depression at the end of October. Torrential rains resulted in rockslides, landslides and widespread destruction of crops and homes. Water levels rose by a reported 3m and it is said that up 10% of the country was flooded. The aftermath of this extreme weather can be seen in this image taken by UK-DMC-2 on the 21st October.

El Savador after Flooding, Central America. UK-DMC2 Image.

Accra in Ghana also experienced heavy rains that started on the 25th October. The nation’s capital is a low-lying area and prone to flooding. However it is unusual in October as the rainy season is June to August in Ghana. The flooding has led to sanitation fears and massive disruption of transport links.

Accra, Ghana. UK-DMC2 Image.

CHRIS: 10 years of science innovation

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:39:00 +0100

Celebrating a decade in space, we take a closer look at the hyperspectral imager CHRIS and how gazing at Earth from different angles and with a large number of programmable spectral bands has made all the difference for a fantastic range of scientific studies, from classifying plants to mapping the submerged shoreline.

CHRIS is the innovative hyperspectral imager payload on the European Space Agency (ESA) microsatellite Proba-1 - that started its life as a technology demonstration satellite, but turned into an Earth observation mission serving the scientific society. Its agility makes PROBA-1 different to most Earth-observing missions, with the satellite platform and payload working as one.

Guided by a star tracker, the microsatellite spins its reaction wheels to roll 25 degrees off-nadir across track directions, and 56 degrees along-track. This means that CHRIS can acquire five different views of the same target at different viewing angles. It’s these different angles that the scientists find valuable, as they can capture or avoid reflections and look at differences in colour.

San Salvador acquired by CHRIS Sep 2005

“Say you’re looking at a sunflower on the ground,” explains Mike Cutter of SSTL’s Optical Payloads Group, which developed CHRIS and oversees its operation. “You’ll see a different mix of colours depending on where you’re stood, as well as the growing season and time of day: the yellow canopy, green stalk and leaves, brown soil, sun glint or shadows. The same is true when observing from orbit. This offers a way of giving much more accurate classification of vegetation and canopy covers, such as the tree species within forests.”

Continue reading "CHRIS: 10 years of science innovation"

UK-DMC2 satellite captures Oregon wildfires

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:21:32 +0100

This week DMCii has acquired satellite images of the Dollar Lake Fire in Oregon, USA showing the devastation caused by the current wildfires. According to officials, the fire is burning across 4,378 acres. There are now concerns that that strong winds and high temperatures may fuel the fire that is running close to Bull Run watershed, which is the main source of drinking water for people in Portland and many of its suburbs.

Dollar Lake Fire, Oregon. UK-DMC2 Image © DMCii, 2011. All rights reserved.
Click to view larger image.

The fire started on the Labor Day holiday, September 5, 2011 at 5:06 p.m and is believed to have been caused by lightning. Emergency services are fighting to contain the fire with some nine helicopters and twenty four fire engines.

This satellite image is shown for illustrative purposes only. For news updates you may wish to visit on the Oregon Live website. There are updates on the Dollar Lake Fires at the Northwest Inter-agency Coordination Center.

How much carbon dioxide do plants absorb?

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:58:46 +0000

SSTL’s Optical Payloads Group has commenced a science project that will study fluorescent emissions from vegetation using a remote sensing instrument designed to fly onboard a small satellite.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is notoriously difficult to measure and so far it has been impossible to calculate the uptake of the Earth’s CO2 sinks with sufficient accuracy for scientific analysis – for example hindering our ability to monitor the efficacy of CO2 mitigation policies. There is an urgent need to improve data on the natural CO2 uptake of vegetation in order to improve our understanding of its influence on the Earth's carbon cycle and its potential to suppress today’s increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration. Even minor changes in ecosystem-scale photosynthesis can have a significant affect on the global carbon balance.

FLEX Concept. (ESA - AOES Medialab)

Satellites have made a huge difference to our knowledge of vegetation conditions, but until now most of that information has come from remotely sensing reflected sunlight with multi-spectral Earth observation satellites. There is, however, one additional source of information about vegetation in the optical and near-infrared wavelength range. During photosynthesis part of the energy absorbed by chlorophyll is not used for carbon fixation, but re-emitted at longer wavelengths as fluorescence.

'The European Space Agency (ESA) Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX), which is a candidate for the Earth Explorer 8 missions, aims to provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence that can be converted into an indicator of photosynthetic activity. These data would improve our understanding of how much carbon is stored in plants and their role in the carbon and water cycles.

SSTL will identify one optimised design of an instrument under a 400k€ contract from ESA that will detect the weak radiation emitted in this specific wavelength range from space. The Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer (FIMAS) instrument will be compact enough to fly on a small satellite as a precursor to the primary instrument onboard FLEX.

Remembering Gordon Hopkinson 1952-2010

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 11:50:28 +0100

Gordon Hopkinson, from SSTL's Optical Payloads Group was a physicist who made a notable contribution to the development of today’s space imaging systems

Gordon Hopkinson was one of the world’s experts in the physics of optical detectors used in a wide range of applications from digital cameras through to international space missions and even mobile phones. For three decades he was involved in detailed analysis and modelling of solid state cameras and contributed significantly to the research of their use in a wide range of applications from X-ray mammography, the mapping of the stars to the search for dark matter.

Gordon Hopkinson

His ability to undertake detailed measurements, identify new phenomena and develop the underlying mathematical models was second to none. Gordon was also a very kind person, modest and with a high standard of integrity. He will be sorely missed by friends and colleagues both within the UK and across the world.

Hopkinson began his research at Manchester University with spells at Durham and Leicester undertaking research into astronomy, such as spectral investigations of comets and observations of zodiacal dust. His move to Leicester coincided with the emergence of the new and revolutionary solid state detectors based on silicon chips, known as Charge Coupled Devices (the heart of today’s digital cameras). The first of these were developed in the UK in 1972 by EEV (subsequently known as e2v). The Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) would replace the previous bulky vacuum tube detectors and eventually give rise to the demise of photographic film.

At Leicester University Hopkinson developed ground breaking techniques for achieving low noise performance from CCDs and together with David Lumb wrote the definitive paper on the subject. These techniques were subsequently applied to the new breed of space imaging missions and are still used to this day. He has several publications in this field and numerous citations. The research that Hopkinson undertook at Leicester would shape his professional life.

In 1983 Hopkinson moved to the Sira research and development organisation in Kent and immediately found that his expertise in CCDs was essential to fully exploit the capabilities of these devices in a range of new and highly demanding space instrumentation. Hopkinson’s first task was to support the development of the state of the art star trackers and a star mapper for a X-ray satellite mission called ROSAT, funded by the German Space Agency and launched in 1990. The ROSAT mission undertook an all-sky survey of x-ray emitting objects and led to a detailed morphology of supernova remnants and clusters of galaxies. ROSAT operated until 1999. Similar applications soon arose in the use of CCDs for first inter-satellite laser communications system (SILEX), oceanographic monitoring (MERIS) and the measurement of ozone from space (GOMOS), all of which are still in operation today providing invaluable information and capabilities to the European science community.

Hopkinson’s key expertise was not only in achieving high performance from solid state detectors but also analysing the complex effects arising from the harsh space radiation environment of protons and gamma rays. This was a special interest that led to international recognition. Of particular note was a request by the European Space Agency (ESA) for Hopkinson to undertake detailed radiation analysis on a new but highly demanding astrometric mission called GAIA. This mission aims to create the largest and most precise three dimensional chart of our Galaxy taking measurements of about one billion stars.

Hopkinson was a recognised international authority in his field of research and has published many papers, participated by invitation in NASA, ESA and Japanese working groups and acted as chairman at many international conferences. He not only received many credits for his work but through his considerable reputation and expertise sat on the Awards Committee of the Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

Hopkinson moved with the Sira Space Group to Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd in 2006, the world leading small satellite manufacturer, and set up new facilities to continue his work. This has included continued research into detectors for space missions such as Solar Orbiter, to produce images of the Sun at an unprecedented resolution, EarthCARE, a joint European-Japanese mission addressing the need for a better understanding of the Earth’s climate, and EUCLID, with the primary goal to map and characterise the geometry of the dark universe, a feature of considerable interest to the science community.

Gordon Robert Hopkinson was born in 1952, the only child of Jessie and Alan and brought up in Nottingham. He was educated at Forest Fields Grammar School, Nottingham and went onto read Physics at Manchester University graduating with first-class honours in 1973, he then undertook a PhD graduating in 1977.

Gordon loved barbeques, walking, history, crosswords and real ale. Most family holidays involved incorporating as many of these as possible. Top of the list were camping holidays in France with barbeques every night and walking holidays in Derbyshire, where the route would be planned according to the beer.

He is survived by his wife, Jacqui, whom he married in 1980 and by their two daughters and son.

Gordon Hopkinson, detector physicist, was born on July 4th 1952. He died on September 12th 2010, aged 58.

See new EO capabilities at IAC 2010

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:29:38 +0100

SSTL is a proud sponsor of the 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2010 that takes place in next week Prague (27th September – 1st October).

Founded by Sir Martin Sweeting, the British small satellite pioneer will celebrate its 25 year heritage of launching unparalleled value satellite missions and unveil new Earth observation capabilities for the first time at the exhibition. SSTL will also actively participate in the conference programme, presenting seven technical papers on diverse subjects ranging from space navigation and optical payloads to small satellite design and operation.

Visit SSTL on stand A5 to explore new Earth Observation capabilities for very high-resolution imaging, daily global imaging systems and new models for capacity leasing. Exhibits will also explain how SSTL’s EO capabilities are changing the way private companies and governments procure and utilise geospatial information to manage the world’s resources and security.

In celebration of its 25th anniversary, SSTL will put its unique heritage of cost effective value engineering on display - from its academic roots and exciting recent advances to its roadmap for future developments.

The IAC is the most established space conference in the space industry’s calendar, bringing together space experts from around the world for debate and discussion. SSTL’s Zeger de Groot will present a paper on in-orbit results from the high capacity 22m UK-DMC2 satellite and Joost Elstak will present a paper entitled “A million square kilometre satellite for Kazakhstan”. Martin Unwin and Mike Cutter will present papers on the SQR-ReSI instrument that uses GNSS signals for remote sensing and Phil Davies will present papers “Maximising re-use through a modular range of small satellite platforms” and “Rapid development of navigation payloads for Galileo Full Operational Capability”.

Visit www.sstl.co.uk/iac2010 for details.

New DMC satellites deliver stunning images

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:24:23 +0100

It's a busy time for both SSTL and DMCii as the new DMC satellites UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, which were launched on the 29th July are commissioned and their imaging systems thoroughly tested and calibrated.

Just a week after launch, DMCii had already begun acquiring stunning satellite imagery from both satellites using the new 22m multi-spectral imaging payloads that they carry onboard. This would not have been possible without the new 22m multi-spectral imager that was developed by SSTL's Optical Payloads Group (OPG) in Sevenoaks, Kent. In a addition to the more obvious resolution increase it has over the previous 32m DMC imager, it includes a number of technological advances that improve the quality and calibration of the images DMCii receives.

First UK-DMC2 satellite image

This first image shows the states of Texas and Oklahoma, USA. The DMC satellites are specifically designed to image very large areas with rapid response and at regular intervals, as shown in this first multi-state image. The new satellites can image much larger areas in a single pass than the previous DMC satellites due to advances in onboard storage and high speed satellite downlinks to the Earth.

Don Benito, Spain. Deimos-1

This is one of the first 11 images taken by Deimos-1, see the Deimos-1 gallery provided by the satellite owner Deimos Space for more.

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A year in orbit for Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:38:47 +0100

This evening SSTL will celebrate the first anniversary of the Earth observation satellites Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2 that were launched in July last year onboard a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The two satellites were quickly commissioned and joined the Disaster Monitoring Constellation to deliver their first images in August just a week after launch.

Deimos-1 was the first Earth Observation satellite built by SSTL for Spanish company Deimos Imaging, who have been capturing fantastic imagery of the world during the year. The following image and many more can be viewed in their online gallery.

The whole island of Cyprus, image taken 7th August 2009. Credit: Deimos Imaging

It has also been an eventful year for the SSTL's own UK-DMC2 satellite, which captured images of the Forest Fires in California and more recently the spread of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick last month.
Continue reading "A year in orbit for Deimos-1 and UK-DMC2"

Antennas ship for COMDEV maritime mission

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:43:54 +0100

SSTL has delivered eight S-Band patch antennas to COM DEV this month that will play a small part in the Canadian space company’s exciting M3MSat (Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Micro-satellite) mission.

The M3MSat (Maritime Monitoring and Messaging Micro-satellite) is a technology demonstration mission jointly funded and managed by Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The microsatellite is being designed, built and launched by COMDEV for the Government of Canada to support Canadian sovereignty, security, safety and communications needs within the territorial and maritime regions of Canada and beyond.

M3MSat is designed to demonstrate the full capability of advanced space-based AIS (Automatic Identification System) technology developed by COM DEV. AIS signals are broadcast from the world’s major marine vessels for navigation and identification purposes, but they are currently only collected by other ships and land-based receivers within a severely limited 50 nautical mile range. COMDEV's unique AIS technology exceeds the performance of any other known system and the collection of these signals from space would enable an unprecedented global view of the world's shipping traffic – rather like air traffic control but for ships.

The new S-band antennas will allow M3MSat to communicate with groundstations, and the four GPS patch antennas will allow the satellite to receive GPS signals to determine their position in space. This latest delivery supplements two GPS patch antennas that SSTL shipped to COMDEV last year.

S Band patch antenna

SSTL’s patch antennas are particularly cost effective, an attribute further strengthened by their low mass design. The patch antennas belong to a complete S-band communications suite for telecommand, telemetry, and payload downlink that also includes Isoflux quadrifilar helix antennas for different coverage requirements.

GPS Patch Antenna

A secondary communications payload will be operated on M3MSat to demonstrate a range of low data rate applications that can support Canadian civil needs as well as commercial requirements. The micro-satellite is expected to be launched in 2010.

INPE observes slowing deforestation with DMCii

nospam@example.com (Robin Wolstenholme) — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:20:21 +0100

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has completed its August 2008-July 2009 detailed survey of deforestation by shallow cut throughout the Amazon region (INPE announcement). Its PRODES (Monitoring of the Brazilian Forest by Satellite) programme analyzed 400 images from Landsat, CBERS and the DMC Satellite Constellation to confirm that deforestation during the period was 7464 square kilometers, a reduction of 42% in comparison to 2007-2008. This is the lowest annual deforestation rate since INPE started systematic monitoring of the Amazon forest by satellite in 1988.

DMCii has worked with INPE to provide annual imaging of the whole Amazon Basin since 2005 to support this activity. By using multiple satellites, each capable of imaging a 650km wide swath of the forest canopy, DMCii is able to provide multi-spectral images of the entire area in 4-6 weeks. This provided INPE with valuable and timely information to help identify the extent of deforestation.

DMCii satellite images show illegal logging in Amazon rainforest

A significant decline in deforestation in the Amazon Basin has been observed since 2004. This is due in part to INPE’s new earth DETER system that detects deforestation in real time by fortnightly satellite imaging. This allows the supervisory board to take effective and prompt actions to combat illegal logging as it happens, rather than having to wait until after the damage is done.

Satellite capabilities play a crucial role in providing impartial information about deforestation in these large, inaccessible areas. The development of satellite constellations, pioneered by the DMC satellite constellation, has led to improved temporal and spatial resolution, enabling operational monitoring to support active and timely response to deforestation.

INPE announcement: www.inpe.br/ingles/news/news_dest117.php