Resourcesat-2 used in chopper search operation: ISRO

Chennai: ISRO used its latest remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 along with other satellites in the search mission to locate the crashed helicopter that carried late Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu.
Resourcesat-2 was launched into space from Sathish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on April 20.ISRO referred to the "rough mountainous Himalayan terrain covered with thick forested area, simultaneous persistent cloudy conditions and incessant bad weather" for its limited use of optical remote sensing data in locating the ill-fated chopper.
Though the space agency used microwave remote sensing data, "which can penetrate clouds and quickly image large areas in all weather conditions" to locate the missing helicopter, the target size in this case was expected to be of 2-3 metres only, thus requiring data of 1m spatial resolution, an ISRO release said.
"Since microwave sensors are side looking, the grazing angle and slope produce layovers, foreshortening and shadow effects causing distortions in hilly terrain hampering the interpretation and microwave data of short wavelength (X, C bands) do not penetrate dense vegetation," the release said.
Despite the complexities associated with microwave data especially in the mountainous regions, efforts were made to identify objects with "bright signatures", it said.
Based on decision criteria, probable locations for search operations were identified and communicated to Arunachal Pradesh government.
07/05/11 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Categories: Safety May 2011