Volume 8, Number 3     May/June 2000

Increased Access to Satellite Remote-Sensing Data

Widspread use of satellite data in the private sector has been hampered by the high ground receivers. Existing systems, such as the Alaska Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Facility, which employs a 10-meter tracking antenna, cost approximately $10 million to build.

To reduce the cost of data collection and dissemination, NASA funded Seaspace Corporation to develop a low-cost receiver that would be able to capture and analyze data from Earth-observing satellites. Under an SBIR contract managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, Seaspace successfully developed such a system. With a cost in the range of $1 million, the system is capable of handling the high data rates of NASA satellite transmissions.

The initial beneficiaries of this technology development effort are the nation's colleges and universities. Direct access to a wealth of new information on atmospheric and terrestrial surface conditions will support new research on the environment and other subjects at these institutions. Also, these low-cost ground receivers or facilities will support the training of a new generation of scientists and engineers in the utilization of information collected by remote-sensing satellites.

In the coming years, NASA plans to launch several Earth-observing satellites that will provide a wealth of new observational data on Earth's surface and atmosphere. Potential uses of these data include agriculture and forest land-use management, marine pollution studies, polar science studies and weather forecasting. Low-cost receivers will promote the commercial exploitation of this information, with corresponding benefits to the public.

Seaspace worked with the Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) to develop the first working demonstration of this technology. An example of what can be done with remote-sensing data is an image they were able to prepare using the facility at SIO. The image shows the physical displacement of the land around the recent Hector earthquake in the California desert northeast of Los Angeles. The 7.1-magnitude earthquake permanently shifted the land as much as six inches near the fault line. The image was developed from a comparison of radar images taken before and after the earthquake by a European satellite, and it was prepared shortly after receiving data transmissions from the satellite.

SIO will be using satellite observations from this Seaspace facility to study earthquake processes in the state of California. SIO will also use the receiver to collect data to study developments in the marine environment along the coast.

Using the facility at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, scientists were able to develop an image showing the physical displacement of land around the Hector earthquake in California. (Photo supplied by Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

For more information, contact Dr. Patricia McGuire at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 818/354-1258, Patricia.A.McGuire@jpl.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.