International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B7. Istanbul 2004
missions serving operational applications. Missions like
GOCE, ADM-Aeolus, Cryosat and SMOS are planned and
being implemented under Earth Explorers; and TerraSat,
FuegoSat, and Radarsat (near term), Ocean Earth Watch
and Land Optical Earth Watch Missions are planned for
Medium and Long term under Earth Watch programme
(http://www.esa.int/export/esal.P/ ;
/ASERBVNW9SC_index_0.html).
The Japenese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
is pursuing advances in EO programme through GOSAT,
ALOS, AQUA and ADEOS-II satellites
(http://www.jaxa.jp/missions//projects/sat/eos/index e.htm
l.
In addition, various countries like Argentina, Brazil,
Canada, China, Korea, Russia, and Ukraine are also
contributing significantly towards earth observations
through CEOS.
With the availability of complementarity of remote sensing
data from various missions by different agencies, some
focused research towards disaster management is also
taking place. The concept of virtual satellite like Tech21,
missions like DEMETER and GRACE too have definite
role to play.
Analytical Tools
Along with the technical developments in the imaging or
sensor systems, advances are also necessary in devising
new analytical tools and improving / developing process
models (which may not be available off-the-shelf) by
research teams. Efforts towards analyzing hyperspectral
data in quantifying the physiology/stress related properties
of plant, physicochemical properties of soil and water,
understanding the impact of angular effect in remote
sensing- detailed study on use of BRDF for biophysical
parameter retrieval, development of suitable algorithms
for deriving aerosol properties for a wide variety of
situations for more accurate atmospheric correction,
algorithms for retrieval of geophysical / biophysical
parameters and SAR Polarimetry are quite important. Also
in the data processing, developing appropriate data fusion
techniques for high spatial resolution data with high
spectral resolution data is also an emerging area. In the
domain of feature extraction (information retrieval)
evaluation of classifiers such as soft classifiers (e.g.
fuzzy), knowledge based methods, textural/contextual
methods, extraction of planimetric and 2.5-D/3-D features
from remote sensing data, development of new image
processing procedures, which incorporates
photogrammetry, advanced classifiers and GIS based
modeling are quite relevant. Very relevant to the agro
ecosystems research are some research interests like
development of sustainability indicators amenable to
remote sensing, precision farming: efficacy of space
inputs, development of expert systems for crop
monitoring/forecasting, use of remote sensing to aid
alternate sustainable cropping systems, characterization
of and biodiversity at global and regional scale, and
hydrological modeling to study runoff, water balance and
soil moisture. Development of integrated monitoring
systems using RS, GIS, GPS etc. is an important and
interesting area across the EO systems. Towards disaster
management, forecast / early warning systems, design of
a total system for disaster forecast, monitoring, mitigation
1327
and damage assessment, constellation of satellite system
is always going to be on the research forefront. For any
global / regional level earth system research, creation of
long-term global datasets useful in terms of seeking
evidence of climate change, whether regionally or
globally, assimilation of satellite data derived parameters
for improving weather forecasts is going to be important.
Similarly ocean state forecasting, polar research are also
important thrust areas.
Concluding Remarks
Humankind in pursuit of its needs has put earth resources
to a severe strain. This is resulting in degrading the
environment thereby causing at times, irreversible
damage to the very existence of life on this planet earth.
Sustainable development is one approach, which
attempts to find solutions to some of the self-induced
human maladies. The present paper tried to tread the
productive ecosystem approach to find probable solutions,
and the role of EO systems towards providing the required
information needs. Studies across the world are showing
increased scope for use of EO data acquired in multiple
dimensions by virtue of advances in space-based and in-
situ measurement systems. Data availability from
satellites like Hyperion, MODIS, QUCIKBIRD, IKONOS-II,
Resourcesat-1, SPOT-5 etc. have opened new vistas in
earth resources applications. Integration of
complementary data sets from different spacecrafts,
integration of data from multiple sensors / platforms like
satellite and in-situ, and algorithms for processing
different satellite data sets, techniques of data fusion etc.
have become important. Development of integrated
monitoring systems, forecast / early warning systems,
design of a total system of constellation of satellites for
disaster warning, monitoring, mitigation and damage
assessment, are high on the agenda. Global level EO
initiatives of CEOS, International Charter on Space and
Major Disasters, IGOS-P, GEOSS are some of the
programmatic endeavours in this direction. Thus, the new
trends in EO strategies coupled with analytical techniques
would further enhance our understanding of the Earth
systems processes towards sustainable development.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank many of their colleagues
for providing valuable inputs, and in particular Dr. P V N
Rao and Dr. M V R Sesha Sai at NRSA for their critical
reading of the draft.
References
CEOS. “The Use of Earth Observing Satellites for Hazard
Support: Assessments and Scenarios”, Final Report of
Disaster Management Support Group of CEOS.
Dadhwal V K. 1999: "Remote Sensing Applications for
Agriculture — Retrospective and Prospective", Proc. of
ISRS, ISRS, pp 11-22.
Densham, P.J. 1991. “Spatial decision support systems",
Geographical Information Systems: Principles and
Applications. Ed. D. Manguire, MF Goodchild and D.
Rhind. Wiley, New York.
