1 History of IRS

Indian Remote Sensing satellite

Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS) are a series of Earth Observation satellites, built,
launched and maintained by Indian Space Research Organization. The IRS series provides
remote sensing services to India.

Contents
• 1 IRS System
• 2 IRS data applications
• 3 IRS launch log
• 4 Future IRS launches
• 5 Satellite data acquisition and processing
• 6 References
• 7 External links

IRS System
Following the successful demonstration flights of Bhaskara-1 and Bhaskara-2 satellites
launched in 1979 and 1981, respectively, India began to develop the indigenous Indian
Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite program to support the national economy in the areas of
agriculture, water resources, forestry and ecology, geology, water sheds, marine fisheries
and coastal management.
Towards this end, India established the National Natural Resources Management System
(NNRMS) for which the Department of Space (DOS) is the nodal agency, providing
operational remote sensing data services.[1] Data from the IRS satellites is received and
disseminated by several countries all over the world. With the advent of high-resolution
satellites new applications in the areas of urban sprawl, infrastructure planning and other
large scale applications for mapping have been initiated.
The IRS system is the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites for civilian use in
operation today in the world.[2] With the launch of CARTOSAT-2A[3], the constellation
now has eight satellites in operation – IRS-1D, OCEANSAT-1, Technology Experiment
Satellite (TES), RESOURCESAT-1, CARTOSAT-1, CARTOSAT-2 and the latest
CARTOSAT-2A and IMS-1. All these are placed in polar sun-synchronous orbit and
provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions.

IRS data applications

Data from Indian Remote Sensing satellites are used for various applications of resources

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survey and management under the National Natural Resources Management System
(NNRMS). Following is the list of those applications:
• Preharvest crop area and production estimation of major crops.
• Drought monitoring and assessment based on vegetation condition.
• Flood risk zone mapping and flood damage assessment.
• Hydro-geomorphologic maps for locating underground water resources for drilling
well.
• Irrigation command area status monitoring
• Snow-melt run-off estimates for planning water use in down stream projects
• Land use and land cover mapping
• Urban planning
• Forest survey
• Wetland mapping
• Environmental impact analysis
• Mineral Prospecting
• Coastal studies
• Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (initiated in 1992) for generating
locale-specific prescriptions for integrated land and water resources development
in 174 districts.

IRS launch log

The initial versions are composed of the 1 (A, B,C,D). The later versions are named based
on their area of application including OceanSat, CartoSat, and ResourceSat. Some of the
satellites have alternate designations based on the launch number and vehicle (P series for
PSLV).

Seria Date of Launch

Satellite Status
l No. Launch Vehicle

17 March Vostok,
1 IRS 1A Mission Completed
1988 USSR

29 August Vostok,
2 IRS 1B Mission Completed
1991 USSR

20
Crashed, due to launch failure of
3 IRS P1 (also IE) September PSLV-D1
PSLV
1993

15 October
4 IRS P2 PSLV-D2 Mission Completed
1994

2
 28
Molniya,
5 IRS 1C December Mission Completed
Russia
1995

21 March
6 IRS P3 PSLV-D3 Mission Completed
1996

29
7 IRS 1D September PSLV-C1 In service
1997

8 IRS P4 (Oceansat-1) 27 May 1999 PSLV-C2 In service

Technology Experiment 22 October

9 PSLV-C3 In service
Satellite (TES) 2001

17 October
10 IRS P6 (Resourcesat 1) PSLV-C5 In service
2003

11 IRS P5 (Cartosat 1) 5 May 2005 PSLV-C6 In service

10 January
12 Cartosat 2 (IRS P7) PSLV-C7 In service
2007

28 April
13 Cartosat 2A (IRS P?) PSLV-C9 In Service
2008

28 April
14 IMS 1 (IRS P?) PSLV-C9 In Service
2008

Future IRS launches

Following are the remote sensing satellites planned by ISRO to be launched next
strengthening the fleet of IRS satellites and widening their applications:[2][4]
• RISAT (Radar Imaging Satellite): A microwave remote sensing mission with
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operating in C-band and having a 6 x 2 meter
planar active array antenna based on trans-receiver module architecture. SAR is an
all weather-imaging sensor capable of taking images in cloudy and snow covered
regions and also both during day and night. RISAT weighs 1,750 kg. It is slated to
be launched in April 2009.
• OCEANSAT-2: It is envisaged to continue the service of OCEANSAT-1. It will
carry an Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam scatter meter. It
is scheduled to be launched in June, 2009 on board PSLV-C13.
• RESOURCESAT-2: It will have imaging sensors similar to RESOURCESAT-1.
Payload electronics have been miniaturized to reduce the overall weight.
RESOURCESAT-2 is planned for launch by PSLV in 2009-10.
• RESEOURCESAT-3: A follow on to Resou
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• Rcesat-2, it will carry more advanced LISS-III-WS (Wide Swath) Sensor having similar
swath and revisit capability as Advanced Wide Field Sensor (Waifs), thus overcoming
any spatial resolution limitation of AWiFS. Satellite would also carry Atmospheric
Correction Sensor (ACS) for quantitative interpretation and geophysical parameter
retrieval. It slated to be launched during 2011-12.[4].
• CARTOSAT-3: A continuation of Cartosat series , it will have a resolution 30 cm
and 6 km swath suitable for cadastre and infrastructure mapping and analysis. It
would also enhance disaster monitoring and damage assessment. It is slated to be
launched during 2011-12.[4].
• OCEANSAT-3: Oceasat-3 would carry Thermal IR Sensor, 12 channels Ocean
Color Monitor, Scatter meter and Passive Microwave Radiometer. IR Sensor and
Ocean Color Monitor would be used in the analysis for operational Potential
Fishing Zones. Satellite is mainly for Ocean biology and sea state applications. It
is slated to the launched aboard PSLV in 2012-13.[4].

Satellite data acquisition and processing

The National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) at Hyderabad is the nodal agency for
reception, archival, processing and dissemination of remote sensing data in the country.
NRSC acquires and processes data from all Indian remote sensing satellites like
CARTOSAT-1, CARTOSAT-2, RESOURCESAT-1, IRS-1D, OCEANSAT-1 and TES
as well as foreign satellites like Terra, NOAA and ERS.

TECHNOLOGY:

Remote Sensing is the science and art of acquiring information (spectral, spatial,
temporal) about material objects, area, or phenomenon, without coming into physical
contact with the objects, or area, or phenomenon under investigation. Without direct
contact, some means of transferring information through space must be utilised. In remote
sensing, information transfer is accomplished by use of electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
EMR is a form of energy that reveals its presence by the observable effects it produces
when it strikes the matter. EMR is considered to span the spectrum of wavelengths from
10-10 mm to cosmic rays up to 1010 mm, the broadcast wavelengths, which extend from
0.30-15 mm.

Types

1. In respect to the type of Energy Resources:

Passive Remote Sensing: Makes use of sensors that detect the reflected or emitted
electro-magnetic radiation from natural sources.

Active remote Sensing: Makes use of sensors that detect reflected responses from
objects that are irradiated from artificially-generated energy sources, such as radar.

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 2. In respect to Wavelength Regions:

Remote Sensing is classified into three types in respect to the wavelength regions

1. Visible and Reflective Infrared Remote Sensing.

2. Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing.
3. Microwave Remote Sensing.

Bands Used in Remote Sensing

Emission of EMR (Electo-Magnetic Radiation) from gases is due to atoms and molecules
in the gas. Atoms consist of a positively charged nucleus surrounded by orbiting
electrons, which have discrete energy states. Transition of electrons from one energy state
to the other leads to emission of radiation at discrete wavelengths. The resulting spectrum
is called line spectrum. Molecules possess rotational and vibrational energy states.
Transition between which leads to emission of radiation in a band spectrum. The
wavelengths, which are emitted by atoms/molecules, are also the ones, which are
absorbed by them. Emission from solids and liquids occurs when they are heated and
results in a continuous spectrum. This is called thermal emission and it is an important
source of EMR from the viewpoint of remote sensing.

The Electro-Magnetic Radiation (EMR), which is reflected or emitted from an object, is

the usual source of Remote Sensing data. However, any medium, such as gravity or
magnetic fields, can be used in remote sensing.

Remote Sensing Technology makes use of the wide range Electro-Magnetic Spectrum
(EMS) from a very short wave "Gamma Ray" to a very long 'Radio Wave'.

Wavelength regions of electro-magnetic radiation have different names ranging from

Gamma ray, X-ray, Ultraviolet (UV), visible light, Infrared (IR) to Radio Wave, in order
from the shorter wavelengths.

The optical wavelength region, an important region for remote sensing applications, is
further subdivided as follows:
Name Wavelength (mm)
Optical wavelength 0.30-15.0
Reflective 0.38-3.00
1. Portion Visible 0.38-0.72
2. Near IR 0.72-1.30
3. Middle IR 1.30-3.00
Far IR (Thermal,
7.00-15.0
Emissive)

Microwave region (1mm to 1m) is another portion of EM spectrum that is frequently used
to gather valuable remote sensing information.

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Spectral Characteristics vis-à-vis different systems.
The sunlight transmission through the atmosphere is effected by absorption and scattering
of atmospheric molecules and aerosols. This reduction of the sunlight's intensity s called
extinction.

The interrelationship between energy sources and atmospheric absorption characteristics

is shown in Figure 3

 Figure 3(a) shows the spectral distribution of the energy emitted by the sun (black
body at 58000 K and by earth features black body at 3000 K). These two curve
represent the most common sources of energy used in remote sensing.
 Figure 3(b) shows the spectral regions in which the atmosphere blocks the energy
are shaded. Remote-sensing data acquisition is limited to the unblocked spectral
regions called atmospheric windows.
 Figure 3(c) shows that the spectral sensitivity range of the eye (the 'visible' range)
coincides with an 'atmospheric window' and the peak level of energy from the sun.
 Figure3 (d) shows the example of atmospheric transmission characteristics and
notes some of the important 'atmospheric windows'. An 'atmospheric window' is a
portion of Electro-magnetic spectrum in which the radiation passing through the
atmosphere is not significantly altered by reflection, or absorption, or scattered by
atmospheric constituents. Some useful atmospheric windows are given in the
table.

The important point to note from the figures is the interaction and the interdependence
between the primary sources of Electro-magnetic energy, the atmospheric windows
through which source energy may be transmitted to and from the earth's surface features,
and the spectral sensitivity of the sensors available to detect and record the energy. One
cannot select the sensors to be used in any given remote-sensing task arbitrarily; one must
instead consider

1. the available spectral sensitivity of the sensors,

2. the presence or absence of atmospheric windows in the spectral range(s) in which
one wishes to sense, and
3. the source, magnitude, and spectral composition of the energy availabe in these
ranges.

Ultimately, however, the choice of spectral range of the sensor must be based on the
manner in which the energy interacts with the features under investigation.

Energy Interactions, Spectral Reflectance and Colour Readability in Satellite

Imagery
All matter is composed of atoms and molecules with particular compositions. Therefore,
matter will emit or absorb electro-magnetic radiation on a particular wavelength with
respect to the inner state. All matter reflects, absorbs, penetrates and emits Electro-
magnetic radiation in a unique way. Electro-magnetic radiation through the atmosphere to
and from matters on the earth's surface are reflected, scattered, diffracted, refracted,
absorbed, transmitted and dispersed. For example, the reason why a leaf looks green is
that the chlorophyll absorbs blue and red spectra and reflects the green. The unique
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characteristics of matter are called spectral characteristics.

Energy Interactions
When electro-magnetic energy is incident on any given earth surface feature, three
fundamental energy interactions with the feature are possible. See Figure 4

Spectral Reflectance & Colour Readability

Two points about the above given relationship (expressed in the form of equation) should
be noted.

1. The proportions of energy reflected, absorbed, and transmitted will vary for
different earth features, depending upon their material type and conditions. These
differences permit us to distinguish different features on an image.
2. The wavelength dependency means that, even within a given feature type, the
proportion of reflected, absorbed, and transmitted energy will vary at different
wavelengths.

Thus, two features may be distinguishable in one spectral range and be very different on
another wavelength brand. Within the visible portion of the spectrum, these spectral
variations result in the visual effect called COLOUR. For example we call blue objects
'blue' when they reflect highly in the 'green' spectral region, and so on. Thus the eye uses
spectral variations in the magnitude of reflected energy to discriminate between various
objects.

A graph of the spectral reflectance of an object as a function of wavelength is called a

spectral reflectance curve. The configuration of spectral reflectance curves provides
insight characteristics of an object and has a strong influence on the choice of wavelength
region(s) in which remote sensing data are acquired for a particular application. This is
illustrated in figure 5, which shows highly generalized spectral reflectance curves of
deciduous and coniferous trees. (In the discussion, we use the terms deciduous and
coniferous somewhat loosely, referring to broad-leaved trees, such as Oak and Maple, as
deciduous and to needle-bearing trees, such as pine and spruce, as coniferous.). It should
be noted that the curve for each of these object types is plotted as a 'ribbon' (or 'envelope')
of values, not as a single line. This is because spectral reflectances vary somewhat within
a given material class. That is, the spectral reflectance of one deciduous tree species and
another will never be identical. Nor will the spectral reflectance of trees of the same
species ever be exactly equal.

Figure 6 shows the typical spectral reflectance curves for three basic types of earth
feature:

 Green vegetation
 Soil
 Water.

The lines in this figure represent average reflectance curves compiled by measuring large
sample features. It should be noted how distinctive the curves are for each feature. In
general, the configuration of these curves is an indicator of the type and condition of the
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features to which they apply. Although the reflectance of individual features will vary
considerably above and below the average, these curves demonstrate some fundamental
points concerning spectral reflectance.

Colour Discrimination based on Wavelengths of Spectral Reflectance.

(IRS-IA/IB LISS I and LISSII*)
Band wavelength Principal
(µm)
1 0.45-0.52 Sensitive to sedimentation, deciduous/coniferous forest cover
discrimination, soil vegetation differentiation
2 0.52-0.59 Green reflectance by healthy vegetation, vegetation vigour,
rock-soil discrimination, turbidity and bathymetry in shallow
waters
3 0.62-0.68 Sensitive to chlorophyll absorption: plant species
discrimination, differentiation of soil and geological boundary
4 0.77-0.86 Sensitive to green biomass and moisture in vegetation, land
and water contrast, landform/geomorphic studies.

Electro-Magnetic Remote Sensing of Earth's Resources -- Process & Elements

Major Components of Remote Sensing Technology:

The following are major components of Remote sensing System:

1. Energy Source
2. Passive System: sun, irradiance from earth's materials;
3. Active System: irradiance from artificially generated energy
sources such as radar.
4. Platforms:(Vehicle to carry the sensor) (truck, aircraft, space shuttle, satellite, etc.)
5. Sensors:(Device to detect electro-magnetic radiation) (camera, scanner, etc.)
6. Detectors: (Handling signal data) (photographic, digital, etc.)
7. Processing:(Handling Signal data) (photographic, digital etc.)
8. Institutionalisation: (Organisation for execution at all stages of remote-sensing
technology: international and national orrganisations, centres, universities, etc.).

Platforms
The vehicles or carriers for remote sensors are called the platforms. Typical platforms are
satellites and aircraft, but they can also include radio-controlled aeroplanes, balloons kits
for low altitude remote sensing, as well as ladder trucks or 'cherry pickers' for ground
investigations. The key factor for the selection of a platform is the altitude that determines

8
the ground resolution and which is also dependent on the instantaneous field of view
(IFOV) of the sensor on board the platform.

Salient feature of some important satellite platforms.

Features Landsat1,2,3 Landsat SPOT IRS-IA IRS-IC

4,5
Natre Sun Sys Sun Sys Sun Sys Sun Sys Sun Sys
Altitude 919 705 832 904 817
(km)
Orbital 103.3 99 101 103.2 101.35
period
(minutes)
inclination 99 98.2 98.7 99 98.69
(degrees
Temporal 18 16 26 22 24
resolution
(days)
Revolutions 251 233 369 307 341
Equatorial 09.30 09.30 10.30 10.00 10.30
crossing
(AM)
Sensors RBV,MSS MSS,TM HRV LISS- LISS-
I,LISS-II III,PAN,WIFS

SENSORS
ACTIVE SENSORS PASSIVE SENSORS
(Detect the reflected or emitted (Detect reflected responses from objects that
electromagnetic radiation from natural are irradiated from artificially-generated
sources.) energy sources such as radar.)
Passive Active
Non-Scanning Non-Scanning

 Non-Imaging. (They are a  Non-Imaging. (They

type of profile recorder, ex. are a type of profile recorder,
Microwave Radiometer. ex. Microwave
Magnetic Radiometer.Microwave
sensor.Gravimeter.Fourier Altimeter.Laser Water Depth
Spectrometer. Meter.Laser Distance Meter.

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  Imaging. (Example of this
are the cameras which can Scanning
be: Monochrome, Natural  Imaging. (It is a radar
Colour, Infrared etc.) ex. Object Plane scanning:

Scanning • Real Aperture

Radar.
 Imaging. Image Plane • Synthetic
scanning.Ex. TV Aperture Radar.
CameraSolid scanner.

Object Plane scanning.Ex. Image Plane Scanning:

Optical Mechanical
ScannerMicrowave • Passive
radiometer. Phased Array Radar.

Resolution
In general resolution is defined as the ability of an entire remote-sensing system,
including lens antennae, display, exposure, processing, and other factors, to render a
sharply defined image. Resolution of a remote-sensing is of different types.

1. Spectral Resolution: of a remote sensing instrument (sensor) is determined by the

band-widths of the Electro-magnetic radiation of the channels used. High spectral
resolution, thus, is achieved by narrow bandwidths width, collectively, are likely
to provide a more accurate spectral signature for discrete objects than broad
bandwidth.
2. Radiometric Resolution: is determined by the number of discrete levels into which
signals may be divided.
3. Spatial Resolution: in terms of the geometric properties of the imaging system, is
usually described as the instantaneous field of view (IFOV). The IFOV is defined
as the maximum angle of view in which a sensor can effectively detect electro-
magnetic energy.
4. Temporal Resolution: is related ot the repetitive coverage of the ground by the
remote-sensing system. The temporal resolution of Landsat 4/5 is sixteen days.

An Ideal Remote Sensing System

Having introduced some basic concepts, we now have the necessary elements to
conceptualize an ideal remote sensing system. In doing so, we can then appreciate some
of the problems encountered in the design and application of the various real remote-
sensing systems examined in subsequent chapters.

The basic components of an ideal remote-sensing system are shown in figure 8. These
include the following components.

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  A uniform energy source. This source will provide energy over all wavelengths, at
a constant, known, high level of output, irrespective of time and place.
 A non-interfering atmosphere. This will be an atmosphere that will not modify the
energy from the source in any manner, whether that energy is on its way to earth's
surface or coming from it. Again, ideally this will hold irrespective of wavelength,
time, place, and sensing altitude involved.
 A series of unique energy/matter interaction at the earth's surface. These
interactions will generate reflected and/or emitted signals that are not only
selective in respect to wavelengths, but also are known, invariant, and unique to
each and every earth surface feature type and subtype of interest.
 A super sensor. This will be a sensor, highly sensitive to all wavelengths, yielding
spatially detailed data on the absolute brightness (or radiance) from a scene (a
function of wavelength), throughout the spectrum. This super sensor will be
simple and reliable, require, virtually no power or space, and be accurate and
economical to operate.
 A real-time data handling system. In this system, the instant the radiance versus
wavelength response over a terrain element is generated, it will be processed into
an interpretable format and recognized as being unique to the particular terrain
element from which it comes. This processing will be performed nearly
instantaneously (real time), providing timely information. Because of the
consistent nature of the energy/matter interactions, there will be no need for
reference data in the analytical procedure. The derived data will provide insight
into the physical-chemical-biological state of each feature of interest.
 Multiple data users. These people will have comprehensive knowledge of both
their respective disciplines and of remote-sensing data acquisition and analysis
techniques. The same set of data will become various forms of information for
different users, because of their vast knowledge about the particular earth
resources being used.

Unfortunately, an ideal remote-sensing system, as described above, does not exist. Real
remote-sensing systems fall short of the ideal at virtually every point in the sequence
outlined.

Remote Sensing Satellites

A satellite with remote sensors to observe the earth is called a remote-sensing satellite, or
earth observation satellite. Remote-Sensing Satellites are characterised by their altitude,
orbit and sensor.

TRIOS Series (1960-1965)

The Television and Infrared Observation Satelites.

NOAA It is the first generation of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

satellites and was as the first operation operational remote sensing satellite system.

The third generation NOAA satellites are also successfully used for vegetation
monitoring, apart from meteorological monitoring. It is equipped with Advanced Very
High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensors, and is established at an altitude of 850
11
km. In polar orbit.

GMS Geo-synchronous meteorological satellite. It is established at an altitude of 36,000

km, and its main purpose is meteorological observations

Landsat is established at an altitude of 700 Kms is a polar orbit and is used mainly for
land area observation.

Other remote sensing satellite series in operations are: SPOT, MOS, JERS, ESR,
RADARSAT, IRS etc.

Indian Remote Sensing Satellite Cartosat-1: Technical features and

data products
Introduction
In the area of Satellite based remote sensing in the past, the first generation satellite IRS-1A and
1B were designed, developed and launched successfully during 1988 and 1991 with multi-spectral
cameras with spatial resolution of 72.5 m and 36 m. respectively. Subsequently, the second
generation remote sensing satellites IRS-1C and 1D with improved spatial resolutions of 70 m in
multi-spectral and 5.8 m. in Panchromatic bands and a wide field sensor with 188m resolution and
800 Km. swath, have been developed and successfully launched in 1995 and 1997 respectively.
These satellites have become the principal components in the National Natural Resource
Management System and the data was used in various applications, viz., agriculture and soil, land
form and land use studies, water resource, forestry, drought and flood monitoring, cartography,
town planning and coastal zone monitoring. Especially IRS-1C/D data has been used for
cartographic and town planning application up to 1:10,000 scale. These satellites also provide
stereo pairs of imageries to get height information to an accuracy of approximately 10 meters.

With the above scenario, India has a lead in the civilian remote sensing field in the world not only
in terms of realisation and launching of complex satellites with high, medium and coarse
resolution cameras, but also in the application areas as well. In order to maintain this lead and
also provide continuity of data to global users, Cartosat-1 with two improved fore and aft PAN
cameras with better than 2.5 m. spatial resolution is planned to be realised for launch by middle of
2003. This paper briefly presents the technical elements and the planned data products of the
Cartosat-1 spacecraft.

Cartosat-1 Spacecraft Technical Elements:

The spacecraft is configured with the Panchromatic cameras which are mounted such that one
camera is looking at +26 deg. w.r.t. nadir and the other at -5 deg. w.r.t. nadir along the track.
These two cameras combinedly provide stereoscopic image pairs in the same pass. Also the
whole spacecraft is steerable across track to provide wider coverage in a shorter period. A brief
description of the payload and the other mainframe elements are given in the subsequent
sections.

1. Remote Sensing Payloads:

The payload performs the function of imaging an area along the track and transmits the
data for ground processing. Each Panchromatic camera consists of three 3 mirror off-axis
all reflective telescope with primary, secondary and tertiary mirrors. These mirrors are
made from special zerodur glass blanks and are light weighted to about 60%. These
mirrors are polished to an accuracy of l/80 and are coated with enhanced AlO2 coating.
The mirrors are mounted to the Electro-optical module using iso-static mounts, so that the
distortion on the light weighted mirrors are very minimum. The configuration of the electro-
optical module of the camera is given in Fig.2.1. In order to meet the high resolution and
the swath requirement 12K, 7 micron linear array CCD is planned to be used as a

12
detector. The CCD processing electronics will be using high speed devices to meet the
high data rate requirements. Some of the important specifications of the payload are
given in Table 2.1.

Fig 2.1 Electro-optical module configuration of pan camera

Table 2.1: Payload Specifications

SpecificationFore (+26 deg.) Aft
S.No . Parameter Name
(-5 deg)
Spatial Resolution:GIFOV (m)
1. 2.5 x 2.78 2.22 x 2.23
(Across-track x along-track)
Spectral Resolution
1 Panchromatic
2. a) No. of Bands
500 nm to 850 nm
b) Bandwidth
Radiometric Resolution
55mw/cm*cm/str/micron
a) Saturation Radiance
3. 10 bits
b) Quantisation
345 at Saturation Radiance
c) SNR
Swath (km) (Stereo) 30
4.
Fore + Aft Combined (Mono) Km. 26.855
CCD Parameters:
12000 per camera
a) No. of Detectors \ elements
5. 7 x 7 microns
b) Detector Element Size
35 microns staggered
c) Odd-Even Spacing
Optics
3
a) No. of Mirrors
1980
6. b) Effective Focal Length (mm)
F/4.5
c) F-Number
+/- 1.08
d) Field of View (degrees)
7. Integration Time (ms) 0.336
MTF
20
8. a) Across track
23
b) Along track
9. Onboard Calibration Relative, using LEDs

13
 10 . Data Rate 105 Mb/s
Data Compression:
JPEG
11. a) Algorithm
Max.3.2
b) Compression Ratio
12 Nominal B/H Ratio for Stereo 0.62
14. P/L Operating Temp. Range 20 +/- 1 degree C.

ACESSORIES:
Following the successful demonstration flights of Bhaskara 1 and Bhaskara 2 launched in
1979 and 1981, respectively, India began development of an indigenous IRS (Indian
Remote Sensing Satellite) program to support the national economy in the areas of
"agriculture water resources, forestry and ecology, geology, water sheds, marine fisheries
and coastal management". The Indian Remote Sensing satellites are the main-stay of
National Natural Resources Management system (NNRMS), for which Department of
Space (DOS) is the nodal agency, providing operational remote sensing data services.
Data from the IRS satellites is received and disseminated by several countries all over the
world. With the advent of high resolution satellites new applications in the areas of urban
sprawl, infrastructure planning and other large scale applications for mapping have been
initiated.
Remote sensing applications in the country, under the umbrella of NNRMS, now cover
diverse fields such as crop acreage and yield estimation, drought warning and assessment,
flood control and damage assessment, land use/land cover information, agro-climatic
planning, wasteland management, water resources management, under-ground water
exploration, prediction of snow-melt run-off, management of water- sheds and command
areas, fisheries development, under development, mineral prospecting forest resources
survey, Active involvement of the user ministries/ departments has ensured in an effective
harnessing of the potential of space-based remote sensing. An important application of
IRS data is in the Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (IMSD) initiated in
1992. IMSD, under which 174 districts have been identified, aims at generating locale-
specific action plans for sustainable development.
The first two IRS spacecraft, IRS-1A (March' 1988) and IRS-1B (August, 1991) were
launched by Russian Vostok boosters from the Bikaner Cosmodrome. IRS-1A failed in
1992, while IRS-1B continued to operate through 1999. From their 22-day repeating
orbits of 905 km mean altitude and 99 degrees inclination, the two identical IRS
spacecraft hosted a trio of Linear Imaging Self-Scanning (LISS) remote sensing COD
instruments working in four spectral bands: 0.45-0.52 µm 0.52-0.59 µm, 0.62-0.68 µm,
and 0.77-0.86 µm. The 38.5-kg LISS-I images a swath of 148 km with a resolution of
72.5 m while the 80.5-kg LISS-IIA and LISS-IIB exhibit a narrower field-of-view (74-km
swath) but are aligned to provide a composite 145-km swath with a 3-km overlap and a
resolution of 36.25 m.
Each IRS spacecraft is 975 kg at launch with a design life of 2.5-3 years. The 3-axis
stabilized spacecraft is essentially rectangular (1.1m by 1.5 m by 1.6 m) with two narrow
solar arrays producing less than 1 kW electrical power. The Spacecraft Control Center at
Bangalore oversees ail spacecraft operations, but the principal data reception station for
the remote sensing payload is located at Shad agar. Spacecraft data transmissions are
14
effected via X-band and S-band antennas at the base of spacecraft.
IRS-1A and IRS-1B were to be joined in 1993 with IRS-1E, the modified IRS-1A
engineering model' which had been equipped with the LISS-I and a German Monocular
Electro-Optical Stereo Scanner. The spacecraft was lost, however, when its PSLV launch
vehicle failed to reach Earth orbit. Thirteen months later, in October, 1994, the PSLV
functioned correctly, allowing IRS-P2 to assume an 820-km, sun-synchronous orbit. This
spacecraft continued in operations until September 1997. With an 870-kg mass (slightly
less than IRS-1A and IRS-1B), IRS-P2 carried the LISS-II system with a ground
resolution of 32 m across-track and 37m along-track. The total swath width is 131 km,
and the CCD array is tuned to four spectral bands between 0.45 and 0.86 am. The
spacecraft's solar arrays provide up to 500 W and are linked to conventional nickel
cadmium storage batteries
As of late 1999 five IRS satellites were operating, and more were scheduled for launch by
the year 2000. IRS-1C, successfully launched on December 28, 1995 on board a Molniya
rocket of Russia, was the last Russian launch of the program (Molniya rather than Vostok,
while IRS-1D was orbited by India's PSLV. IRS-P3 was launched by PSLV in 1996 with
a German modular electro-optical scanner and an Indian visible-lR scanner.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and its commercial marketing arm,
ANTRIX Corp. Ltd., successfully launched the IRS-1D Earth imaging satellite on 29
September 1997 from Sriharikota, India. The satellite is an identical twin to the IRS-1C,
launched in December 1995. The dual use of these satellites provides 5.8-meter resolution
images to customers twice as often as was possible with just the IRS-1C.
IRS-1C and IRS-ID introduced a heavier (1,350 kg), more capable Earth observation
platform. The spacecraft bus will be similar to those of IRS-1A and IRS-IB, but a slightly
larger solar array generates more than 800 W. Both IRS-1C and 1D produce 5.8-meter
panchromatic (0.50.75 µm - black and white) imagery, which is resampled to five-meter
pixel detail. This resolution, which as of early 1998 was the best of any civilian remote
sensing satellites in the world, is superior to the 8-meter resolution initially reported for
the panchromatic imager. These satellites are also equipped with two-band Wide Field
Sensors (WiFS) that cover a 774-square-kilometer (481-square-mile) area in a single
image, as well as LISS-3 4-band (0.52-0.59, 0.62-0.68, 0.77-0.86, and 1.55-1.70 µm)
multispectral sensors that provide 23.5-meter resolution multispectral coverage. The 23.5-
meter resolution imagery is resample to produce 20-meter pixel detail. The spacecraft also
carry a 2-channel (0.62-0.68 and 0.77-0.86 µm) wide-field sensor (190 m resolution)
The IRS C,D Pan sensor sacrifices swath width for its higher resolution. However, it can
be pointed off the orbit path which allows 2 to 4 day revisits to specific sites. IRS-1C and
IRC-1D data can be received and procured from EOSAT (USA) or in India at the NRSA,
Hyderabad.
Upcoming launches include IRS-P5 in 1998, IRS-2A in 2000, and IRS-2B in 2004, all
with the new LISS-4 sensor suite.
IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT-1) will have payloads, specifically tailored for the measurements of
physical and biological oceanography parameters. An Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) with
eight spectral bands, Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR)
operating in four frequencies will provide valuable Ocean-Surface related observation
capability. The OCEANSAT-1 was slated for launch by PSLV in early 1998.

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IRS-P5 (CARTOSAT-1) has an improved sensor system that provides 2.5 m resolution
with fore-aft stereo capability. This mission caters to the needs of cartographers and
terrain modeling applications. The satellite will provide cadastral level information up to
1:5000 scales and will be useful for making 2-5 m contour maps.
IRS-P6 (RESOURCESAT-1) will be a state-of-art satellite mainly for agriculture
applications and will have a 3-band multispectral LISS-IV camera with a spatial
resolution better than 6 m and a swath of around 25 km with across track steer ability for
selected area monitoring. An improved version of LISS-III with four bands (red, green,
near IR and SWIR), all at 23 m resolution and 140 km swath will provide the essential
continuity to LISS-III. These sensors will provide data which will be useful for vegetation
related applications and will allow multiple crop discrimination and species level
discrimination. Together with an advanced Wide Field Sensor (WiFS) with 80 m
resolution and 1400 km swath, the payloads will greatly aid crop/vegetation and
integrated land and water resources related applications. The IRS-P6 is slated for launch
by PSLV by end of 2000. The IRS-2 series (OCEANSAT-2/CLIMATSAT-1/ATMOS-1)
will be an integrated mission that will cater to global observations of climate, ocean and
atmosphere. Microwave instruments to cater for oceanographic applications will be
mainly a Ku band Altimeter, Ku band Scatterometer, Microwave Radiometer and
Thermal Infrared Radiometer for observing oceanographic parameters like winds, sea
surface temperature, waves, bathometry and internal waves. Instruments for atmospheric
chemistry applications include spectrometers, sounders and radiometers for studying the
atmospheric constituents, pollution and for monitoring ozone and greenhouse effect.
Instruments to observe climate and meteorological parameters will include microwave
sounders, radiometers and rain radars.
IRS-3, beyond 2002, will have all weather capabilities with multi-frequency and multi
polarization microwave payloads and other passive instruments.

Operational Remote Sensing Satellites

The field of remote sensing took shape during the 1960s as an outgrowth of aerial
photography. New instruments, forming images in the infrared as well as in visible light,
produced “false color” photos in which forests and farms appeared red rather than green.
They contained astonishing amounts of information, and William Pecora, director of the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), took the lead in pushing for a spacecraft that could cover
the entire world with such images.

The first of them, Landsat 1, reached orbit in 1972, with four more following during the
next dozen years. Their photos showed where crops were infected with diseases such as
leaf blight. Geologists saw complete fault zones at a glance. Hydrologists monitored the
snowpack in mountains and forecast the availability of water. Land use planners studied
the spread of suburbs. In South America, Landsat photos led to the first accurate maps of

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much of that continent. In California, a single analyst took only a week to inventory 25
separate crops across the entire state, noting how much of each was being grown.

Landsat was a program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In 1979, President Jimmy Carter transferred it to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), which already operated the Nation's weather satellites. In 1983
President Ronald Reagan directed NOAA to place the program in the hands of a private
corporation. The Land Remote-Sensing Commercialization Act of 1984, enacted by
Congress, gave guidelines for this transfer. However, a problem quickly emerged: the
need for federal subsidies.

Within the national economy, the information from Landsat had a value as great as $10
billion per year. This was quite enough to justify a remote-sensing program with an
annual budget in the hundreds of millions, to cover the cost of developing new
instruments and spacecraft. But the main source of income for such a program appeared to
lie in sales of photos and images, which could bring in as little as $6 million per year.
Studies showed that subsidies of up to $500 million were therefore required, to be spread
over several years.

The Reagan administration did not like subsidies and cut the offer to $250 million. On
this basis, only one company remained willing to bid for NOAA's Landsats, and it took
over the program. This was Eosat, a joint venture between the satellite manufacturer
Hughes and the electronics firm RCA. This firm was to operate Landsats 4 and 5, which
had reached orbit respectively in 1982 and 1984; build two new satellites, Landsats 6 and
7; and hold exclusive rights to market photos and other data.

Events soon showed that while individual analysts placed great value on the Landsat
images, no one in Washington had the influence to win support for the program at high
levels of government. Even at reduced levels, the subsidy payments proved hard to come
by. Eosat did what it could—quadrupling the price of its photos, collecting fees from
overseas stations that received the satellite data—but still found itself surviving on a
financial shoestring. Work on Landsat 6 went ahead, slowly, but the company limped
from one financial crisis to the next.

By contrast, the French had no qualms about subsidies. Their government launched the
SPOT program, the Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre, in 1978 and in 1982,
established the firm of SPOT Image, to market its photos. The first spacecraft flew to
orbit in 1986 and quickly showed that its photos had superb quality. In Washington, the
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Pentagon had issued rules to prevent Landsat images from having military value, but
these regulations did not apply in France. News organizations soon found that SPOT was
ready to serve as a reconnaissance satellite for use by the press.

Meanwhile, as Eosat stumbled along, it became increasingly clear in Washington that the
market for a commercial Landsat still was far from ripe. A new law, the Land Remote-
Sensing Policy Act of 1992, repealed the 1984 law and returned Landsat to the
government. Matters came to a head in October 1993 when Landsat 6 failed in its launch
attempt, underscoring the need for Landsat 7.

Decisions during 1994 sorted out the responsibilities. Eosat continued to operate Landsats
4 and 5 and retained the right to sell their photos. NASA took responsibility for building
Landsat 7, with NOAA agreeing to operate this spacecraft in orbit. The USGS took over
the task of marketing its data, while maintaining an archive of photos for sale to
customers.

In this fashion, the 1992 law laid solid groundwork for Landsat 7, which reached orbit in
1999. By then it had company. The 1992 law arranged for the licensing of true
commercial remote-sensing satellite systems, which took shape during subsequent years.
Lockheed was the first company to obtain such a license, winning federal approval for its
Ikonos satellite in 1994. Other systems followed: Orbview of Orbital Sciences, Quickbird
for the firm of DigitalGlobe.

These spacecraft have saved money by being lighter than Landsat 7's 4,780 pounds (2,168
kilograms). Several of them have also broadened their markets by providing photos with a
sharpness that the Central Intelligence Agency might have envied. The Ikonos craft have
used both approaches. Its license endorsed a Lockheed plan for resolution of one meter;
that is, the ability to show objects as small as one meter in the photos. Ikonos 1, with one-
third the weight of Landsat 7, flew to orbit in September 1999. Its color images of
Manhattan, taken from an altitude of 423 miles (681 kilometers), were so crisp that they
showed cars on the city's highways.

Orbital Sciences has pursued a step-by-step approach. Its first satellite, Orbview 1, went
into orbit in April 1995. It was a weather satellite that returned black-and-white images.
Orbview 2, in August 1997, was a true remote-sensing craft with only one-seventh the
weight of Landsat 7. Its photos covered broad swaths of land and sea, but lacked detail.
However, Orbview 3, currently planned for launch, is to match Ikonos by providing its
own one-meter resolution.
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Quickbird, which flew in October 2001, currently is doing even better. Its photos show
detail as small as two feet in size. Its images can cover more than three times the area of
North America in the course of a year, while its spacecraft weighs less than half as much
as Landsat 7.

Other nations have built their own operational remote-sensing satellites. Canada's
Radarsat, launched in 1995, forms its images by using radar instead of visible light. It
thereby operates at night as well as in the daytime, while its radar beams pierce through
clouds. An Argentinian spacecraft, the Scientific Applications Satellite or SAC-C, carries
remote-sensing equipment along with other instruments. Launched in November 2000, its
tasks include determination of the migration route of the Franca whale.

In Asia, South Korea has pursued a program resembling that of Orbital Imaging. That
country started in 1992 and 1993 with two small spacecraft, each weighing about a
hundred pounds. The program, called Uribyol or Our Star, has doubled its weight with its
third satellite, which flew in 1999. This project is important; it shows how small a remote-
sensing spacecraft can be while still returning useful data.

Moreover, China and India have not only built their own remote-sensing craft but have
orbited them using their own launch vehicles. The Indian Remote Sensing program has
been particularly active, flying its first spacecraft in 1988, aboard a Soviet rocket and
continuing since 1994 with India's own Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The newest craft,
called Oceansat, flew in 1999, and only a few months later, surveyed the damage done by
a powerful typhoon.

China has entered this field more recently, but its Ziyuan craft flew successfully in 1999
and 2000. In contrast to the lightweight satellites of South Korea, these tip the scale at
more than a ton and a half. Both reached orbit aboard a new rocket of the Chinese-built
Long March series.

Remote sensing began in the United States and France, but today an increasing number of
nations in the Third World are involved in these programs. Brazil cooperated with China
in building Ziyuan 1, Brazil also is developing its own launch vehicle. A spacecraft for
Thailand, the Thai Microsatellite, resembles the early Uribyol craft of South Korea and
flew in 1998. Such nations are unwilling to purchase photos from America or France; they
want images that are all their own.
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Related Links:
• ISRO (External website that opens in a new window)
• Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (External website that opens in a new window)
• Space Applications Centre (External website that opens in a new window)
• Development & Educational Communication Unit (External website that opens in
a new window)
• ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (External website that opens
in a new window)
• INSAT Master Control Facility (External website that opens in a new window)
• ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (External website that opens in a new window)
• Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres (External website that opens in a new
window)
• Physical Research Laboratory (External website that opens in a new window)
• National Mesosphere Troposphere Radar Facility (External website that opens in a
new window)
Sectors:
• Agriculture
• Commerce and Industries
• Finance
• Communications and IT
• Defence
• Education
• Rural Development
• Water Resources
• Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
• Transport
• Science & Technology
• Health & Family Welfare
• Environment & Forests

CONCLUSION:

IRS (INDIAN REMOTE SENSING SATELLITE) is the technology that underpins most
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of the world's satellite systems. Indian has the largest constellation of Remote Sensing
Satellites, which are providing services both at the national and global levels. From the
Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites, data is available in a variety of spatial resolutions
starting from 360 meters and highest resolution being 2.5 meters. Besides, the state-of-
the-art cameras of IRS spacecraft take the pictures of the Earth in several spectral bands.
In future, ISRO intends to launch IRS spacecraft with better spatial resolution and capable
of imaging day and night. The satellites of IRS system which are in service today are IRS-
1C, IRS-ID, IRS-P3, OCEANSAT-1, Technology Experimental Satellite (TES),
RESOURCESAT-1, and the recently launched CARTOSAT-1 capable of taking stereo
pictures. The upcoming Remote Sensing Satellite are Cartosat-2, RISAT (Radar Imaging
Satellite) and Oceansat-2.
Imagery sent by IRS spacecraft is being put to a variety of uses in India with agricultural
crop acreage and yield estimation being one of the most important uses. Besides, such
imagery is being used for ground and surface water harvesting, monitoring of reservoirs
and irrigation command areas to optimize water use. Forest survey and management and
wasteland identification and recovery are other allied uses. This apart, IRS imagery is also
used for mineral prospecting and forecasting of potential fishing zones.
With regard to applications in planning and management, IRS data is being used for urban
planning, flood prone area identification and the consequent suggestions for mitigation
measures. Based on this experience, the concept of Integrated Mission for Sustainable
Development has been evolved wherein the spacecraft image data is integrated with the
socio-economic data obtained from conventional sources to achieve sustainable
development

.7 References
REFERENCES
564. Annual Report 1988-89, Department of Space, Government of India, 1989.
565. PTI News Agency, 16 October 1994.
566. All-India Radio, 15 October 1994.
567. "IRS-P2 Remote Sensing Craft Declared Operational", Space News, 21 November- 4
December 1994, p. 17.
568. K.P. Corley, "EOSAT-India Partnership Broadens International Remote Sensing
Market", Earth Space Review, Vol. 3, No. 4, 1994, pp. 20-26.
569. D.F. Robertson, "India Strikes Out for Commercial Gelds, Space, March-April 1995,
pp. 3-5.
570. V. Raghuvanshi, "Germany to Supply Part for India's IRS-P2", Space News, 8-14
February 1993, p. 20.
571. A. Lawler, "India's IRS-1C Satellite To Offer Sharper Images", Space News, 25-31
May 1992, p. 11.
572. "India Building Follow-On Remote Sensing Spacecraft", Space Fax Daily, 23
November 1992, p. 1.
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573. V. Raghuvanshi, "India Prepares Second Generation IRS Spacecraft for 1995
Launch", Space News, 1-7 August 1994, p.18.
574. W. Ferster, "India Readies Sharper IRS-1C for Molniya Launch", Space News, 9-15
January 1995, p. 3.
575. W. Ferster, "India's Data Policy Stalls Remote-Sensing Ambitions", Space News,

• R. Wattenhofer: “INDIAN REMOTE SENSING”

• Sigmund M. Red, Matthias K. Weber, Malcolm W. Oliphant (May 1998):
"REMOTE SENSING SATELLITES"
• Fried helm Hillenbrand:"GSM and UMTS, The Creation of REMOTE
Communications"
Web References
• https://styx.uwaterloo.ca/jscouria/IRS
• http://www.IRSworld.com/technology/IRS.shtml
• http://www.ISRO.com

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