International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXII Part 7C2, UNISPACE III. Vienna, 1999 
71 
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I5PR5 
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UNISPACE III - ISPRS Workshop on 
“Resource Mapping from Space” 
9:00 am-12:00 pm, 22 July 1999, VIC RoomB 
Vienna, Austria 
ISPRS 
PERSONAL GROUND STATION (PGS) SCANER - NETWORK FOR “RESURS-O” SATELLITE DATA ACQUISITION 
AND PROCESSING. NEW IMAGE NEURONET PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENT MONITORING 
AND RESOURCE MAPPING. 
Dr. Vladimir E. Gershenzon 
General Director 
Research & Development Center ScanEx 
22/5, L'va Tolstogo st., 119021 Moscow, Russia 
ABSTRACT 
A new approach to satellite monitoring - low cost compact ground station based on Pentium PC - Personal Ground Station (PGS) is 
described. The system’s complete automatization minimizes operation costs and make it possible for users to receive on-line Resurs- 
01 # 3,4 (Russia) satellites (as well as Okean-O # 1 and Meteor-3M satellites) data with a resolution of 30-35x30-45 m per pixel 
(MSU-E scanner) and 130-150x30-45 m per pixel (MSU-SK scanner). Our suggestion would be to define the PGS as low cost 
complex for real-time data acquisition, which needs no special maintenance and servicing. They are based on personal computers and 
can efficiently operated by one operator or a researcher. In addition the cost of the passage acquisition order is 300 $ which is much less 
than from analogue satellites. The report presents the station specification structure and features of the station software, describes a 
development of a network of the stations in Russia and the perspectives of the further progress. The new developments of the Research 
and Development Center (R&D Center) ScanEx - the software Image Transformer for the transformation of the images into wide used 
geographic projections, application for Catalogue Manager for remote access to satellite images and software ScanEx NeRIS for raster 
images thematic processing are described . It is therefore possible for the end user not only to receive the images on his own PC. but 
also to prepare them for GIS processing. 
The thematic application of tire Resurs-0 images is wide: multitemporal environmental monitoring, forestry, agriculture, control for the 
hazardous territories, control for the seashore zones. One of the problems in the thematic interpretation of the remote sensor (RS) data 
concerning the processing of the sets of multispectral, multidate images is discussed in more details. The problem is that when we try to 
compare two and more RS image, we have to rectify their geometry and correct atmospheric effects. While the geometric correction 
could be done with high precision, the atmospheric correction for a set of images is a very complex task, and it could not be solved in a 
common case. A new approach, based on the artificial neural networks, for a stable RS images classification and interpretation without 
the atmospheric correction is described. This approach lias been realized as a part of the ScanEx image processing teclinologv in a 
computer program NeRIS (Neural Raster Interpretation System). Several concrete examples of this technology application in 
environmental protection and resource mapping are discussed. 
Therefore, the PGS ScanER gives the possibility of direct access to satellite information, allowing the solution of different tasks 
without great expenditures, which is very important for universities, geological and environmental protection organizations, etc. 
RESURS-Ol BRIEF INFORMATION 
Resurs-01 is Russian satellite series for the Earth observation. 
Currently operating Resurs was launched in 1994, has an ordinal 
number 3 and usually is referenced to as Resurs 1-3. 
Resurs-01 # 3 is capable of imaging the surface in two modes: 
either with 35 x 45 m spatial resolution within 45 km 
wide 
swath, in 3 spectral channels (from 0.6 to 1.1 microns), 
or with 150 x 250 m resolution, 600 km swath width, 
in 4 spectral channels (lying approximately in the same 
wavelength range). 
In either of the modes, the output data are transformed into a 
digital code with 8 bit/pixel thus providing (along with 
housekeeping data) 7.68 Mbit/s stream (QPSK modulation type) 
which is downloaded in 8 GHz and 465 MHz frequency band. 
The data rate is twice higher - 15.36 Mbit/s (BPSK modulation 
type) - for Resurs-01 #4, Okean-O # 1 and Meteor-3M. 
Up to the recent past, due to a high data rate and requirements to 
an antenna system, this kind of data were received and 
distributed only by special receiving centers. 
We present a personal ground station for Resurs-Ol that is a 
station affordable (from the point of view of its cost, installation, 
control) practically to any user - up to an individual one. 
THE STATION DESCRIPTION 
Hardware 
The station is based on an ordinal IBM personal computer 
(Pentium-166 and higher, with a sufficiently fast hard disk - 
approx. 3 MB/s and more). Besides of a PC, the station consists 
of an antenna system and PC/antenna interface. 
The antenna system includes: 
a parabolic mirror with a feeder on a rotation table, 
a low-noise amplifier and frequency converter mounted 
on the feeder.