Citizendia
Your Ad Here

This is the first crude picture obtained from Explorer 6 Earth satellite. It shows a sun-lighted area of the Central Pacific ocean and its cloud cover. The picture was made when the satellite was about 17,000 mi (27,000 km) above the surface of the earth on August 14, 1959. At the time, the satellite was crossing Mexico.
This is the first crude picture obtained from Explorer 6 Earth satellite. Explorer 6 (1959-004A or S-2) was a United States Satellite launched on August 7, 1959. It shows a sun-lighted area of the Central Pacific ocean and its cloud cover. The picture was made when the satellite was about 17,000 mi (27,000 km) above the surface of the earth on August 14, 1959. At the time, the satellite was crossing Mexico.

Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 This article is about artificial satellites For natural satellites also known as moons see Natural satellite.

Contents

History

First television image of Earth from space transmitted by the TIROS-1 weather satellite.
First television image of Earth from space transmitted by the TIROS-1 weather satellite.

The first satellite photographs of Earth were made August 14, 1959 by the US satellite Explorer 6. Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Explorer 6 (1959-004A or S-2) was a United States Satellite launched on August 7, 1959. [1] The first satellite photographs of the Moon might have been made on October 6, 1959 by the Soviet satellite Luna 3, on a mission to photograph the far side of the Moon. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Soviet spaceprobe Luna 3 (E-3 series was the third spacecraft sent successfully to the Moon and was an early triumph in the human exploration of outer space The Blue Marble photograph was taken from space in 1972, and has become very popular in the media and among the public. The Blue Marble is a famous Photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft at Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Also in 1972 the United States started the Landsat program, the largest program for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space Landsat 7, the most recent Landsat satellite, was launched in 1999. Landsat 7, launched on April 15, 1999, is the latest satellite of the Landsat program. In 1977, the first real time satellite imagery was acquired by the USA's KH-11 satellite system. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The KH-11, also referenced by the codenames 1010, Crystal and Kennan, also commonly known as " Key Hole " was a type of Reconnaissance

All satellite images produced by NASA are published by Earth Observatory and are freely available to the public. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program The NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing organization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States (US Several other countries have satellite imaging programs, and a collaborative European effort launched the ERS and Envisat satellites carrying various sensors. European Remote sensing Satellite ( ERS) was the European Space Agency 's first Earth-observing satellite. Envisat (Environmental Satellite is an Earth-observing satellite built by the European Space Agency. There are also private companies that provide commercial satellite imagery. In the early 21st century satellite imagery became widely available when affordable, easy to use software with access to satellite imagery databases became offered by several companies and organizations.

Uses

Satellite photography can be used to produce composite images of an entire hemisphere...
Satellite photography can be used to produce composite images of an entire hemisphere. . .
...or to map a small area of the Earth, such as this photo of the countryside of Haskell County, Kansas, United States.
. . . or to map a small area of the Earth, such as this photo of the countryside of Haskell County, Kansas, United States. Haskell County (county code HS) is a county located in Southwest Kansas, in the Central United States. Kansas ( is a Midwestern state in the central region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the American " The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

Satellite images have many applications in agriculture, geology, forestry, biodiversity conservation, regional planning, education, intelligence and warfare. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit Forestry is the Art and Science of managing forests tree Plantations and related Natural resources. Regional planning is a branch of Land use planning and deals with the efficient placement of land use activities infrastructure and settlement growth across a significantly Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency Intelligence (abbreviated int or intel) is not Information, but the product of evaluated information valued for its currency and relevance rather than War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Images can be in visible colours and in other spectra. The electromagnetic (EM spectrum is the range of all possible Electromagnetic radiation frequencies There are also elevation maps, usually made by radar imaging. Interpretation and analysis of satellite imagery is conducted using software packages like ERDAS Imagine or ENVI. ERDAS IMAGINE is a Raster graphics editor and remote sensing application designed by ERDAS Inc Some of the first image enhancement of satellite photos was conducted by the U.S. Government and its contractors. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For example ESL Incorporated developed some of the earliest two dimensional Fourier transforms applied to digital image processing to address NASA photos as well as national security applications. ESL Incorporated, or Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, was a Subsidiary of TRW, a high technology firm in the United States that was engaged Digital image processing is the use of computer Algorithms to perform Image processing on Digital images As a subfield of Digital signal processing The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program National security is the entire scope of measures undertaken by the Governments of Nation-states in providing assurance of national Sovereignty

Resolution and data

The resolution of satellite images varies depending on the instrument used and the altitude of the satellite's orbit. Image resolution describes the detail an Image holds The term applies equally to Digital images film images and other types of images For example, the Landsat archive offers repeated imagery at 30 meter resolution for the planet, but most of it has not been processed from the raw data. The Landsat program is the longest running enterprise for acquisition of imagery of Earth from space Landsat 7 has an average return period of 16 days. Landsat 7, launched on April 15, 1999, is the latest satellite of the Landsat program. For many smaller areas, images with resolution as high as 10 cm can be available.

Satellite imagery is sometimes supplemented with aerial photography, which has higher resolution, but is more expensive per square meter. Aerial photography is the taking of Photographs of the ground from an elevated position Satellite imagery can be combined with vector or raster data in a GIS provided that the imagery has been spatially rectified so that it will properly align with other data sets.

DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe's WorldView-1 satellite provides the world's highest resolution commercial satellite imagery[1]. The 50 cm resolution of WorldView-1's panchromatic images allows the satellite to distinguish between objects on the ground that are at least 50 cm apart. Panchromatic film is a type of Black-and-white Photographic film that is sensitive to all Wavelengths of Visible light. Similarly DigitalGlobe's QuickBird satellite provides 2. Specifications Sensors (137 μrad Panchromatic at Nadir (547 μrad Multispectral at Nadir 4 meter resolution multispectral images. Multi-spectral imaging is a technology originally developed for space-based imaging

GeoEye

GeoEye's GeoEye-1 satellite is scheduled for launch Aug. 22, 2008 [2]. The GeoEye-1 satellite will have the highest resolution of any commercial imaging system and be able to collect images with a ground resolution of 0. 41-meters or 16 inches in the panchromatic or black and white mode. It will collect multispectral or color imagery at 1. 65-meter resolution or about 64 inches, a factor of two better than existing commercial satellites with four-band multispectral imaging capabilities. While the satellite will be able to collect imagery at 0. 41-meters, GeoEye's operating license from the U. S. Government requires re-sampling the imagery to 0. 5-meter for all customers not explicitly granted a waiver by the U. S. Government.

Disadvantages

Because the total area of the land on Earth is so large and because resolution is relatively high, satellite databases are huge and image processing (creating useful images from the raw data) is time-consuming. Image processing is any form of Signal processing for which the input is an image such as photographs or frames of video the output of image processing can be either an image Depending on the sensor used, weather conditions can affect image quality: for example, it is difficult to obtain images for areas of frequent cloud cover such as mountain-tops. A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument

Commercial satellite companies do not place their imagery into the public domain and do not sell their imagery; instead, one must be licensed to use their imagery. Thus, the ability to legally make derivative products from commercial satellite imagery is minimized.

Privacy concerns have been brought up by some who wish not to have their property shown from above. Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively Google Maps responds to such concerns in their FAQ with the following statement: "We understand your privacy concerns. FAQ is an Acronym for " Frequently Asked Question(s " . . The images that Google Maps displays are no different from what can be seen by anyone who flies over or drives by a specific geographic location. "

Moving images

In 2005 the Australian company Astrovision (ASX: HZG) announced plans to launch the first commercial geostationary satellite in the Asia-Pacific. A geostationary orbit (GEO is a Geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth 's Equator (0° Latitude) with a period equal to the Earth's It intended to provide true color, real-time live satellite feeds, with down to 250 metres resolution over the entire Asia-Pacific region, from India to Hawaii and Japan to Australia. They were going to provide this content to users of 3G mobile phones, over Pay TV as a weather channel, and to corporate and government users.

Unfortunately, the market response to the AstroVision concept fell into the classic chicken-egg problem: potential customers were excited by the possibilities offered, but they were unwilling (or, in government cases, generally unable) to sign contracts for a service that would not be delivered for 3-4 years (the length of time required to build and launch the satellite). AstroVision ran low on funds and was forced to shut down the program in 2006.

See also

Composite image of Earth at night
Composite image of Earth at night

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic