Satellite Technology

Among the services that satellites can provide for disaster risk management and emergency response are weather forecasting, remote sensing, geo-positioning, navigation, television and telecommunication. Instruments onboard satellites circling the Earth are designed to cover specific wavelength ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to capture images, atmospheric sounding, satellite communication, geo-positioning and navigation.

Satellites are circling Earth in different orbits depending on the type of application or instrument onboard: A satellite in a geostationary orbit circles the Earth above the equator (0° latitude) synchronously to the Earth's rotation. Its apparently fixed position above a point on the equator at an altitude of more than 36,000 km makes it suitable for communications and regional climate observation of that specific area, with high temporal but low spatial resolution.

Earth observation satellites and satellites for meteorological purposes are located in low Earth orbit at an altitude of typically about 500-800 km and near polar inclination. Due to their orbit, these satellites provide global coverage with comparatively lower temporal, but medium to very high spatial resolution. Due to the high costs of space transportation, constellations of communication or navigation satellites are also placed in Low Earth Orbit.

Earth Observation satellites use either optical or radar sensors to capture images of Earth: Optical sensors for Earth observation are designed to deliver images in either panchromatic spectral format or multispectral format. Panchromatic refers to images in black and white that are reflected from Earth's surface exposed to all visible light. Multispectral images usually include four bands of the electromagnetic spectrum: blue, green, red and near-infrared.

Radar sensors for Earth observation are designed to operate in the microwave range.

Overview on satellite missions and instruments

Hazard Type - Any -Biological-Insect InfestationDroughtEpidemicLandslideNear-Earth ObjectsSevere StormTsunamiEarthquakeExtreme TemperatureFloodGlacial Lake OutburstHarmful Algal BloomSpace WeatherForest FireVolcanic EruptionClimatologicalMass MovementExtraterrestrialGeophysical-SubsidenceHydrologicalMeteorologicalPollution

Provider

Terra

Hazard types:

Drought, Forest Fire, Earthquake, Mass Movement, Tsunami, Volcanic Eruption, Flood, Extreme Temperature, Pollution

Applications:

Earth observation system studying the interactions among the Earth’s atmosphere, lands, oceans, and radiant energy

Launch Date:

Dec 1999

Operator:

NASA

Terra (ASTER)

Hazard types:

Applications:

Launch Date:

Dec 1999

Operator:

Eurimage, NASA

Terra (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR))

Hazard types:

Applications:

Launch Date:

Dec 1999

Operator:

NASA

TerraSAR-X

Hazard types:

Drought, Landslide, Tsunami, Earthquake, Flood, Glacial Lake Outburst, Forest Fire, Volcanic Eruption, Mass Movement

Applications:

Cartography, land surface, civil planning and mapping, digital terrain models, environmental monitoring

Launch Date:

Jun 2007

Operator:

DLR, Infoterra

TOPEX-POSEIDON (NRA)

Hazard types:

Applications:

Launch Date:

Aug 1992

Operator:

AVISO, NOAA, NASA

TRMM (PR)

Hazard types:

Meteorological, Severe Storm

Applications:

Launch Date:

Nov 1997

Operator:

JAXA

TRMM (TMI)

Hazard types:

Meteorological, Severe Storm

Applications:

Launch Date:

Nov 1997

Operator:

JAXA

UK-DMC-1 / BNSCSat 1

Hazard types:

Drought, Glacial Lake Outburst, Landslide, Earthquake, Flood, Forest Fire, Mass Movement, Tsunami, Volcanic Eruption

Applications:

Earth observation, optical imaging, disaster monitoring

Launch Date:

Sep 2003

Operator:

DMCii, UKSA

UK-DMC-2

Hazard types:

Drought, Glacial Lake Outburst, Harmful Algal Bloom, Landslide, Earthquake, Flood, Forest Fire, Mass Movement, Tsunami, Volcanic Eruption

Applications:

Wide area, medium resolution optical imaging for mapping, crop monitoring, environmental resource and disaster management

Launch Date:

Jul 2009

Operator:

DMCii, UKSA

For additional information, please visit the following external resources:

• European Space Agency's (ESA) satellite mission database on the EOPortal database (link)
• Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and ESA database (link)
• Poster: Overview of Satellites of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" (link)

External tutorials on satellite technologies and Earth observation

Below you will find links to external handbooks, guides and tutorials on satellite technology.

Guides: Earth observation applications

• CEOS Earth Observation Handbook: Satellite Earth Observations in Support of Disaster Risk Reduction (link)
• CEOS Earth Observation Handbook: Satellite Earth Observations in Support of Climate Information Challenges (link)
• CEOS Earth Observation Handbook: Satellite Earth Observations in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (link)

Guides: Introduction to remote sensing

• Introduction to radar remote sensing of the remote sensing education initiative (SAREDU) of DLR (link)
• Tutorial on fundamentals of remote sensing of CNRS (link)
• Tutorial on radar polarimetry (CNRS) (link)
• Tutorial on satellite data reception (link)
• Image interpretation quiz (link)

Guides: Didactic material on satellite technology for children and schools

• EDUSPACE of ESA aims to provide secondary school students and teachers with a learning and teaching tool. It is meant to be an entry point for space image data, and, in particular, to a widespread visibility of Earth observation applications for education and training. (link)
• Watching over our Planet from Space - A kit for kids (CNRS) (link)
• Remote Sensing in schools (University of Bonn and DLR) (link)