Answer the question in maximum 200 words. This question carries 11 marks. [MPPSC 2023]
How many types of earth resources satellites are there? Describe briefly.
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Earth resource satellites are supposed to monitor and collect data on the natural resources, environment, and human activity of Earth. These are taken into different types considering the nature of data collected and the technology used. These types include:
Purpose: They record images of the Earth’s surface using visible and infrared light.
Usage: Used mainly for vegetation monitoring, urban planning, agriculture, and land-use studies.
Examples: Landsat series, Sentinel-2.
Function: It uses radar signals to map the Earth’s surface; it can look through clouds and functions under all weather conditions even at night.
Usage: Terrain mapping, monitoring deforestation, land subsidence, movements of ice sheets, and locating oil spills.
Examples: Sentinel-1, RADARSAT.
Function: The satellites can capture the wide spectrum of light and spread it over hundreds of narrow bands, so they can detect the chemical composition and specific material.
Usage: It is used for mineral exploration, agricultural analysis, discovery of pollution, and water quality monitoring.
Examples: EO-1 Hyperion, PRISMA.
Function: They can measure the thermal (infrared) radiation emitted by objects on Earth by sensing surface temperatures.
Usage: It is used for monitoring wildfires, urban heat islands, volcanic activities, and changes in ocean temperature.
Examples: Landsat 8’s TIRS (Thermal Infrared Sensor), ASTER.
Function: Surface height of Earth distance, with a special focus on oceans, using radar or laser altimetry.
Applications: Sea level rise studies, oceanic circulation, ice sheet height monitoring, among others, and elevation changes over land.
Examples: Jason series CryoSat
All types of satellites yield rather different kinds of measurements and are often complemented with one another to achieve a more detailed understanding of Earth’s resources and environment.
An object orbiting around sun, earth or any other colossal body is konwn as a satellite. There are two major types of categorization when it comes down to satellites, one is natural and the other is man-made.Some examples of natural satellites are planets, moons, and comets. Jupiter has 67 natural satellites. The earth has one permanent natural satellite, the moon we know, which causes the tides in the sea. Sometimes other objects (like asteroids) can enter into temporary orbits of the earth and become a natural satellite for a span.
Types of Satellites:
Geostationary Satellite:
Polar Satellite:
Polar satellites revolve around the earth in a north-south direction around the earth as opposed to east-west like the geostationary satellites. They are very useful in applications where the field vision of the entire earth is required in a single day. Since the entire earth moves below them, this can be done easily. They are used in weather applications where predicting weather and climate-based disasters can be done in a short time.
Thermal infrared wavelengths
Micro wavelengths
Projectile Nature of a Satellite:
The main thing one can understand about a satellite is that at the end of the day, they are projectiles. Any object, that only has the force of gravity acting upon it, is known as a satellite. The gravity’s force is the only thing that affects a satellite once it is launched into the orbit.
Micro wavelengths
Some examples of Earth resources satellites include:
There are several types of Earth Resource Satellites (ERS), categorized based on their primary mission objectives:
1. Land Remote Sensing Satellites (e.g., Landsat, SPOT)
– Monitor land use, land cover, and vegetation.
2. Ocean Remote Sensing Satellites (e.g., TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-3)
– Study ocean currents, sea level, and ocean temperature.
3. Meteorological Satellites (e.g., GOES, INSAT)
– Provide weather forecasting, storm tracking, and climate monitoring.
4. Earth Observation Satellites (e.g., EO-1, Envisat)
– Gather data on Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and oceans.
5. Radar Satellites (e.g., RADARSAT, ERS)
– Use radar imaging for land, ocean, and ice monitoring.
6. Hyperspectral Satellites (e.g., Hyperion, PRISMA)
– Collect detailed spectral data for mineral identification, vegetation analysis.
7. Disaster Monitoring Satellites (e.g., DMSP, NPP)
– Provide emergency response and disaster management support.
8. Navigation Satellites (e.g., GPS, GLONASS)
– Enable precise location and timing services.
9. Climate Change Monitoring Satellites (e.g., Orbiting Carbon Observatory)
– Track greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise, and ice sheet dynamics.
10. Experimental/Technology Demonstration Satellites (e.g., TechDemoSat)
– Test new sensors, technologies, and mission concepts.
These categories are not mutually exclusive, as many satellites have multiple objectives and instruments.
An Earth Resource Satellite (ERS) is a spacecraft designed to study and monitor the Earth’s natural resources, atmosphere, oceans, land surfaces and natural phenomena providing valuable data for scientific research, management and conservation.There are five main types of Earth Resource Satellites (ERS) categorized based on their primary applications –
Earth Resource Satellites play a vital role in monitoring and managing natural resources, predicting disasters and aiding conservation efforts. Their data enables informed decision making, promoting sustainable development, environmental protection and improved resource utilization, benefiting humanity and the planet.