In keeping with its mission of streamlining access to the Earth observation data and understanding the role of a quality education in the development of the human potential, ScanEx R&D Center has been realizing the possibilities of fitting up Russian and foreign higher education institutions with the real-time high resolution (up to 1.8 m) remote sensing data reception technology in 2009.

ScanEx Center offers to the international education community the possibility to get the universal small-aperture ground station UniScan™ with licenses to receive 100 scenes of EROS A, 600 minutes of IRS-1D and unlimited access to SPOT 4 images within the first year of station operations, all included. Initial inclusion of the license into the functionality of the UniScan™ station (as per the agreement with Operators of the respective RS programs) will enable to significantly decrease the total cost of the ground station and of space images for the universities and to make telemetry license prices affordable.

In such a way universities may efficiently use modern space technologies in education, research and development processes, applying up-to-date satellite data, received to own ground stations with the footprint of up to 2500 kilometers in radius.

"To date, the possibility to systematize, analyze and optimize large data volumes and to operate under conditions of quickly developing technology becomes a priority for the successful business activity of human beings," explained ScanEx Vice-President Mrs. Olga Gershenzon. Application of remote sensing data in the solution of managerial, economic and environmental tasks requires a high level of knowledge and skills that are important to be acquired already in the university.

Until recently, world universities have been mostly receiving the free space data (AVHRR/NOAA, MODIS/Terra, Aqua, etc.) Nowadays there is an actual possibility to receive high resolution data on flexible financial terms, improving the scientific and educational process and expanding RS data application, when resolving different tasks. UniScan™ ground station will at the same time enable to receive MODIS data from Terra and Aqua satellites as well.

Selection of specific satellite programs for UniScan™ station depends on the university specialization. Thus, for example, the Israeli EROS A satellite is intended to acquire very high resolution data (1.8 meters) for region development monitoring, detailed visualization of middle and low resolution images and large scale maps updating. ImageSat Int. being the Operator of EROS A satellite plans to extent its operation till 2012.

Multispectral images of SPOT 4 (10 m resolution in PAN and 20 m in multispectral mode, Operator- Spot Image S.A., France) are irreplaceable for drawing thematic maps at 1:50 000-1:1 000 000 scales, agricultural and forest monitoring, etc. Although the satellite has been operating on-orbit since 1990, Spot Image specialists report a stable operation of the spacecraft, its onboard imaging instruments and a good data quality. Satellite lifetime has been extended till 2014.

Control and optimization of different resources (land, farmland, human resources, etc.) – this is the primary task of the Indian IRS-1D satellite, operated by ANTRIX Corp. Ltd. The satellite advantages are in its sensor complement: it includes three sensors – panchromatic camera (PAN), LISS-III camera (Linear Imaging and Self-Scanning Sensor) and wide field sensor WiFS (Wide Field Sensor). PAN camera carries out imaging at 5.8 m resolution with the scene size 70 km x 70 km. LISS-III sensor creates MS images in three bands at 23 m resolution with the scene size of 140 km x 140 km. WIFS camera provides images in two spectral bands at 188 m resolution and the scene size of 810 km x 810 km. IRS-1D has been operating since 1997, however its data quality and performance, according to specialists, are still meeting the standards.

UniScan™ ground receiving station with the license to receive raw data from satellites included is manufactured and installed turnkey together with software applications developed for satellites passes scheduling, programming orders submission, data acquisition, ingestion, processing, archiving and thematic analysis. In particular, software includes ScanMagic® application (enables to process images in real-time mode) and ScanEx Image Processor® (for preliminary and thematic processing of images, creation of end products – maps, physical indices, models, etc.). Therefore, functionality of a UniScanTM ground station will not require from the universities any additional time and expenses for the introduction of space technologies directly into the education process. At the same time the station itself shall become a core of an education center of geo-information technologies development.

Currently, educational Centers of Remote Sensing Data based on UniScan™ ground stations have already been established and functioning in universities in Russia, Kazakhstan and Spain: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Tyumen, Astrakhan, Belgorod State Universities, Southern and Siberian Federal Universities, Samara State Aerospace University after Korolev, Ufa State Aviation and Technical University, Kazakh National Technical University after Satpaev, Kazakhstan-British Technical University, Spanish University in Valencia and others.

<p style=text-align:right;><i>Источник: EOportal (http://news.eoportal.org/policy/090428_pol1.html)</i></p>