Satellite Monitoring of Near Equatorial Forests
- Paper number
IAC-07-B4.4.04
- Author
Mr. Keijo Nissen, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Coauthor
Prof. Sias Mostert, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Year
2007
- Abstract
The paper will describe a mission analysed to improve coverage of equatorial forests. The rapid development in the field of small imagers opens up new possible applications in earth monitoring. Current earth observation satellites in visual bands have limited opportunity to image near equatorial forests due to prevailing cloud patterns. Near equatorial forests are important for their impact on local economies, global climate and demand for wood in the international market. Achieving regular observation of these areas will lead to a higher level of understanding and a better possibility to support sustainable development in these areas. Up to now it has been difficult to monitor the equatorial regions and their rainforests due to cloud patterns. Contemporary imagers like Landsat and SPOT were launched in orbits with equatorial through passes of about 10am to 11am. These orbits provide a good imaging capability for higher latitudes considering that at these latitudes the demand on images is high. This is due to the reason that sun elevations above 45° are desirable when sensing vegetation and at higher latitudes these elevation occur at daytimes close to noon. Large remote sensing satellites with good resolution are expensive so that these economically advantageous orbits are chosen. For equatorial imagery these orbits are of limited use due to cloud cover behavior. The sun rise and high humidity, leads to evaporation and cloud coverage above the equator at late morning hours which makes visual imaging unfeasible. For these reasons it is of interest to investigate if a low cost micro-satellite can be used to provide useful images of equatorial rainforests by using an uncommon early morning orbit. The cost/performance makes such a solution with a mission specific application attractive and economically feasible. The mission analyses that include the impact of lower sun elevation angles will form part of the full paper. The paper will conclude with a small satellite solution that will be adequate to execute such a mission.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-07-B4.4.04.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.