Page 90 - Digital Analysis of Remotely Sensed Imagery

Overview of Remotely Sensed Data 61

whose CCD focal plane records images over 0.5 to 0.9 μm at a nominal
spatial resolution of 1.9 m with a nadir swath width of 14 km (IODM,
2006). EROS B was launched on April 25, 2006. Aboard it was a
slightly larger camera that produces a resolution of 0.7 m in the
panchromatic mode, superior to that of EROS A, though the ground
swath width is reduced to only 7 km. With this pointable sensor, it is
possible to acquire stereo pairs of imagery at a temporal resolution as
short as 3 to 4 days. Scheduled for launch in 2009, EROS C will have
an altitude of 480 to 600 km. The payload will be a camera with CCD/
TDI (time delay integration) that is able to provide 20,000 pixels per
line at a resolution of 0.7 m in the panchromatic mode, and 2.8 m in
the multispectral mode.
Resurs DK-1 is a commercial Earth observation satellite launched
on June 15, 2006. Weighing 6.6 tons, it has an elliptical orbit of 360 to
604 km at a standard revisit cycle of 5 to 7 days (nadir). Its inclination
of only 69.9°, the lowest among all remote sensing satellites, is designed
to sense the polar region primarily. It has a period of 94 minutes and
repeat period of 6 days at nadir. The cameras aboard the satellite
capture data over 0.58 to 0.8 μm in one panchromatic band and three
multispectral bands at a spatial resolution of 1.0 m and 2 to 3 m,
respectively, both covering a ground swath of 28.2 m (Anshakov and
Skirmunt, 2000). All data are quantized to 10 bits. Additional payload
includes the Russian-Italian spectrometer Ramela, designed for
astronomical applications. The Resurs DK-1 remote sensing satellite is
designed mainly to collect data for studying natural resources, ecology,
sea surface status, ice situation, and meteorological conditions in the
polar region. Its ground receiving station is located in Moscow, without
international distribution channels established yet. So it is uncertain
whether the data will become available to users outside Russia.
Formosat-2 was successfully launched into a sun-synchronous
orbit of 891 km in height at an approximate period of 103 minutes on
May 21, 2004, passing through Taiwan twice a day. Images are captured
in two modes, panchromatic (2-m resolution) and multispectral (8 m).
Both are able to view the terrain stereoscopically via tilting the
scanning mirror by up to 45°. A ground swath of 24 km is covered
during each scan (SIC, 2008). Formosat data can be purchased from
SPOT Image at 2500 Euro per scene for either 2-m panchromatic or
8-m multispectral bands. The price goes higher if special programming
is requested or both types of data are purchased. The price goes even
higher if more processing is done to the data, reaching a maximum of
5000 euro per scene.
Kompsat (Korean Multi-Purpose Satellite)-2 was launched on July
28, 2006. Aboard the satellite is a multispectral camera that is able to
record 1 m panchromatic images and four multispectral bands at a
spatial resolution of 4 m, both of which can be acquired simultaneously.
A 15 15 km ground area is covered per scene. All data have a
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