Indian Remote Sensing satellite
Encyclopedia
Indian Remote Sensing satellites (IRS) are a series of Earth Observation satellites, built, launched and maintained by Indian Space Research Organisation
. The IRS series provides many remote sensing
services to India
.
satellites launched in 1979 and 1981, respectively, India began to develop the indigenous Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite program to support the national economy in the areas of agriculture, water resources, forestry and ecology, geology, water sheds, marine fisheries and coastal management.
Towards this end, India established the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) for which the Department of Space
(DOS) is the nodal agency, providing operational remote sensing
data services. Data from the IRS satellites is received and disseminated by several countries all over the world. With the advent of high-resolution satellites new applications in the areas of urban sprawl, infrastructure planning and other large scale applications for mapping have been initiated.
The IRS system is the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites for civilian use in operation today in the world, with 10 operational satellites. All these are placed in polar sun-synchronous orbit and provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions.
Indian Space Research Organisation
The Indian Space Research Organisation is an independent Indian governmental agency established in 1969 for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space within and outside of Earth’s atmosphere. Headquartered in Bangalore...
. The IRS series provides many remote sensing
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
services to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
IRS System
Following the successful demonstration flights of Bhaskara-1 and Bhaskara-2Bhaskara Satellite series
The Bhaskara-I and II Satellites were two satellites built by the Indian Space Research Organisation that formed India's first low orbit Earth Observation Satellite. They collected data on telemetry, oceanography and hydrology.-Bhaskara-I:...
satellites launched in 1979 and 1981, respectively, India began to develop the indigenous Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite program to support the national economy in the areas of agriculture, water resources, forestry and ecology, geology, water sheds, marine fisheries and coastal management.
Towards this end, India established the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) for which the Department of Space
Department of Space
The Department of Space is an Indian government department responsible for administration of the Indian space program.The Indian Space Research Organization is the primary research and development arm of the DoS...
(DOS) is the nodal agency, providing operational remote sensing
Remote sensing
Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
data services. Data from the IRS satellites is received and disseminated by several countries all over the world. With the advent of high-resolution satellites new applications in the areas of urban sprawl, infrastructure planning and other large scale applications for mapping have been initiated.
The IRS system is the largest constellation of remote sensing satellites for civilian use in operation today in the world, with 10 operational satellites. All these are placed in polar sun-synchronous orbit and provide data in a variety of spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions.
IRS data applications
Data from Indian Remote Sensing satellites are used for various applications of resources survey and management under the National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS). Following is the list of those applications:- Preharvest crop area and production estimation of major crops.
- Drought monitoring and assessment based on vegetation condition.
- Flood risk zone mapping and flood damage assessment.
- Hydro-geomorphological maps for locating underground water resources for drilling well.
- Irrigation command area status monitoring
- Snow-melt run-off estimates for planning water use in down stream projects
- Land use and land cover mapping
- Urban planning
- Forest survey
- Wetland mapping
- Environmental impact analysis
- Mineral Prospecting
- Coastal studies
- Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development (initiated in 1992) for generating locale-specific prescriptions for integrated land and water resources development in 174 districts.
IRS launch log
The initial versions are composed of the 1 (A,B,C,D). The later versions are named based on their area of application including OceanSat, CartoSat, ResourceSat. Some of the satellites have alternate designations based on the launch number and vehicle (P series for PSLV).| Serial No. | Satellite | Date of Launch | Launch Vehicle | Status |
| 1 | IRS 1A | 17 March 1988 | Vostok Vostok Vostok may refer to one of the following.Spaceflight*The Soviet Vostok programme of human spaceflight.*The Vostok spacecraft used in that programme and also the basis of a reconnaissance satellite.*The Vostok rocket, used to launch the Vostok spacecraft.... , USSR |
Mission Completed |
| 2 | IRS 1B | 29 August 1991 | Vostok Vostok Vostok may refer to one of the following.Spaceflight*The Soviet Vostok programme of human spaceflight.*The Vostok spacecraft used in that programme and also the basis of a reconnaissance satellite.*The Vostok rocket, used to launch the Vostok spacecraft.... , USSR |
Mission Completed |
| 3 | IRS P1 (also IE) | 20 September 1993 | PSLV-D1 | Crashed, due to launch failure of PSLV |
| 4 | IRS P2 | 15 October 1994 | PSLV-D2 | Mission Completed |
| 5 | IRS 1C | 28 December 1995 | Molniya Molniya Molniya may refer to:* The Molniya , the Soviet military communications satellite.* Molniya orbit, distinctive orbit associated with the satellite.... , Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
Mission Completed |
| 6 | IRS P3 | 21 March 1996 | PSLV-D3 | Mission Completed |
| 7 | IRS 1D | 29 September 1997 | PSLV-C1 | Mission Completed |
| 8 | IRS P4 (Oceansat-1) | 27 May 1999 | PSLV-C2 | Mission Completed |
| 9 | Technology Experiment Satellite Technology Experiment Satellite Technology Experiment Satellite or is an experimental satellite to demonstrate and validate, in orbit, technologies that could be used in the future satellites of Indian Space Research Organization . TES weighs 1108 kg and was successfully placed in 568 km sun synchronous orbit on ... (TES) |
22 October 2001 | PSLV-C3 | In Service |
| 10 | IRS P6 (Resourcesat-1 RESOURCESAT-1 RESOURCESAT-1 is an advanced remote sensing satellite built by Indian Space Research Organization. The tenth satellite of ISRO in IRS series, RESOURCESAT-1 is intended to not only continue the remote sensing data services provided by IRS-1C and IRS-1D, both of which have far outlived their... ) |
17 October 2003 | PSLV-C5 | In Service |
| 11 | IRS P5 (Cartosat 1 CARTOSAT-1 Cartosat-1 is a stereoscopic Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite was built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Weighing around 1560 kg at launch, its applications will mainly be towards cartography in India. It was launched by... ) |
5 May 2005 | PSLV-C6 | In Service |
| 12 | Cartosat 2 CARTOSAT-2 Cartosat-2 is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite was built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation. Weighing around 680 kg at launch, its applications will mainly be towards cartography in India... (IRS P7) |
10 January 2007 | PSLV-C7 | In Service |
| 13 | Cartosat 2A Cartosat-2A Cartosat-2A is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is the thirteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series to be built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation... (IRS P?) |
28 April 2008 | PSLV-C9 | In Service |
| 14 | IMS 1 IMS-1 IMS-1 is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite which is the fourteenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series has been built, launched and maintained by the Indian Space Research Organisation... (IRS P?) |
28 April 2008 | PSLV-C9 | In Service |
| 15 | Oceansat-2 Oceansat-2 Oceansat-2 is an Indian satellite designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor instrument on Oceansat-1. It will also enhance the potential of applications in other areas... |
23 September 2009 | PSLV-C14 | In Service |
| 16 | Cartosat-2B Cartosat-2B CARTOSAT 2B is an Earth observation satellite in a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is the seventeenth satellite in the Indian Remote Sensing satellite series to be built by the Indian Space Research Organisation... |
12 July 2010 | PSLV-C15 | In Service |
| 17 | Resourcesat-2 Resourcesat-2 Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 and and the eighteenth Remote Sensing satellite built by ISRO.RESOURCESAT-2 is intended to continue the remote sensing data services to global users provided by RESOURCESAT-1, and to provide data with enhanced multispectral and spatial coverage... |
20 April 2011 | PSLV-C16 | In Service |
Future IRS launches
Following are the remote sensing satellites planned by ISRO to be launched next strengthening the fleet of IRS satellites and widening their applications:- RISAT (Radar Imaging Satellite)RISATRISAT is a series of Indian radar imaging reconnaissance satellites built by ISRO. They provide all-weather surveillance using synthetic aperture radars ....
: A microwave remote sensing mission with Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) operating in C-band and having a 6 x 2 meter planar active array antenna based on trans-receiver module architecture. SAR is an all weather-imaging sensor capable of taking images in cloudy and snow covered regions and also both during day and night. RISAT weighs 1,750 kg.
- RESEOURCESAT-3: A follow on to Resourcesat-2, it will carry more advanced LISS-III-WS (Wide Swath) Sensor having similar swath and revisit capability as Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS), thus overcoming any spatial resolution limitation of AWiFS. Satellite would also carry Atmospheric Correction Sensor (ACS) for quantitative interpretation and geophysical parameter retrieval. It slated to be launched during 2011-12..
- CARTOSAT-3CARTOSAT-3Cartosat-3 is the latest satellite of the Cartosat series of satellites from ISRO, the current generation of Indian remote sensing satellites, which are intended to replace the IRS series. Cartosat-1 has a resolution of 2.5 m with stereo imaging capability...
: A continuation of Cartosat series , it will have a resolution 30 cm and 6 km swath suitable for cadastre and infrastructure mapping and analysis. It would also enhance disaster monitoring and damage assessment. It is slated to be launched during 2011-12..
- OCEANSAT-3: Oceasat-3 would carry Thermal IR Sensor, 12 channel Ocean Color Monitor, Scatterometer and Passive Microwave Radiometer. IR Sensor and Ocean Color Monitor would be used in the analysis for operational Potential Fishing Zones. Satellite is mainly for Ocean biology and sea state applications. It is slated to the launched aboard PSLV in 2012-13..