On November 18, General Director of ScanEx RDC Vladimir Gershenzon delivered a lecture on “Present-day Possibilities of Space Imaging” at the Northern Arctic Federal University (NARFU).
During the lecture at NARFU Vladimir Gershenzon described in details the modern satellites of Earth remote sensing, the Russian infrastructure that has already been created and enabling to work with satellite data in direct reception mode, which considerably reduces the final costs and, what is even more important, dramatically speeds up the solution of tasks using space images. Remote sensing data can be applied for the economy of northern regions as follows: monitoring of forested areas, of emergency situations and of natural and cultural heritage sites, of ice situation and ships navigation, subsurface resources exploration and monitoring of industrial facilities. Remote sensing data is also used for the purposes of town planning and management.
– The advantages of satellite imagery application as compared to the application of other data sources are in the wide coverage of the territory, prompt data reception and its fidelity, control of remote and hard-to-access areas, cheaper updating of maps and control of the economic activities, – explained Vladimir. An operational monitoring of fires and logging sites is done based on Earth observation images to resolve forestry tasks, to access changes in forest conditions or damage as a result of natural disasters, forest management infringements are registered, etc.
Demonstration of multi-temporal images (1986-2010) was of special interest to the audience of the lecture, where the scale and the type of forest cuttings in Kholmogorsk District of Arkhangelsk Region were clearly seen.
In addition to thematic application of satellite imagery data and the specifics of the data integration using geo-services the audience were interested in the reasons of such a high cost of the Center of Space Monitoring of the Arctic Region. According to the agreement between the NARFU and ScanEx RDC, the latter has delivered to NARFU the equipment and software for the reception and processing of remote sensing data acquired from Terra/Aqua, RADARSAT-1/-2, SPOT 5 and EROS B satellites to the tune of over 200 million rubles.
— Today, it is the minimum possible price on the world market for the Center of Space Monitoring of this level. It is important to understand that two-thirds of the expenses are the license fees to the Operators of satellite systems, who ensure access to their imaging equipment. The university leaders are “men of vision” as the Center of Space Monitoring of the Arctic Region installed today is already “furnished” with all proper licenses entitling to use optical and radar images during the next three years, – resumed Vladimir Gershenzon. – In its turn, the Center of Space Monitoring of NARFU may play an important role in this university network. Northern Arctic Federal University now has all tools required to ensure information support of the region’s economic development in view of fulfilling national tasks to develop northern regions and to master the Arctic continental shelf.