Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
3
Blue Carbon Assessment
…
Blue carbon of the planet Earth
Can save mankind from oxygen dearth
…
.
The Authors
(OCEANSAT) is the
rst satellite primarily built
for ocean applications. The 1,050-kg satellite is
placed in a polar sun-synchronous orbit of 720 km
height. IRS-P4 has on-board Ocean Colour
Monitor (OCM) and a Multifrequency Scanning
Microwave Radiometer (MSMR). OCM is a
solid-state camera operating in eight narrow
spectral bands. The camera is used to collect data
on chlorophyll concentration, detect and monitor
phytoplankton blooms and obtain data on atmo-
spheric aerosols and suspended sediments in the
water. MSMR, which operates in four microwave
frequencies both in vertical polarization and hor-
izontal polarization, is used to collect data on sea
surface temperature, wind speed, cloud water
content and water vapour content in the atmo-
sphere above the ocean. IRS-P4 vastly augments
the IRS satellite system of ISRO, which at present
comprises four satellites, IRS-1B, IRS-1C, IRS-
P3 and IRS-1D, and extend remote sensing
applications to several newer areas. The salient
features of IRS-P4 along with its scanner speci-
3.1
Remote Sensing Technology
Remote sensing may be de
ned as the collection
and interpretation of information about an object,
area or event without being in physical contact
with the object. Aircraft and satellites are the
common platforms for remote sensing of the
earth and its natural resources. Aerial photogra-
phy in the visible portion of the electromagnetic
(EM) wavelength was the initial stage of remote
sensing, but technological developments have
enabled the acquisition of information at other
wavelengths including near infrared (NIR),
thermal infrared and microwave. Collection of
information over a large numbers of wavelength
bands is referred to as multispectral or hyper-
spectral data. The development and deployment
of manned and unmanned satellites has enhanced
the collection of remotely sensed data and offers
an inexpensive way to obtain information over
large areas. The capability of remote sensing to
identify and monitor vegetation has expanded
greatly over the last few years. Today, the
satellite imageries (output of the remote sensing
technology) are used to scan the health of coastal
vegetation, their degradation rate and restoration.
Thus, in the blue carbon domain, the utility of
remote sensing is immense not only to under-
stand the magnitude of threat, but also to monitor
the gradual steps of ecorestoration.
Nowadays, the phytopigments (pigments of
phytoplankton) in the waterbodies are also mon-
itored through remote sensing. Launched by
ISRO
cations are listed in Tables
3.1
and
3.2
.
The productivity of aquatic system is pres-
ently monitored through satellite imageries. Time
series analysis of satellite data re
ects accurately
the variation of phytoplankton community and
associated phytopigments on which with the
distribution and population of
fl
sh population
depends. This is the basics of predicting potential
shing zone (PFZ).
Some common satellites used for scanning
objects from distances are listed here.
GOES
5 spectral bands 1
41 km spatial resolution
-
s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
from SHAR Centre,
'
geostationary
Sriharikota,
IRS-P4
