Disaster Monitoring Constellation
Encyclopedia
The Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) consists of a number of remote sensing
satellites constructed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
(SSTL) and operated for the Algerian, Nigerian, Turkish, British and Chinese governments by DMC International Imaging
. The DMC provides emergency Earth imaging for disaster relief under the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters
, which the DMC formally joined in November 2005. Other DMC Earth imagery is used for a variety of civil applications by a variety of governments. Spare available imaging capacity is sold under contract.
The DMC provides far larger areas of imagery than, but at comparable resolution to, established government imaging satellites such as Landsat. DMC imagery was deliberately designed to be comparable to Landsat imagery, in order to leverage the expertise and software of the large established remote sensing community used to working with Landsat images. Imagery can be provided far more rapidly from the DMC than from Landsat, thanks to having multiple similar satellites in orbit ready to cross over a point of interest, and the larger images produced. This brings the responsiveness that is needed for emergencies and for disaster support, with images provided across the Internet from the responsive satellite and a member country's ground station within a day or less of a request being made.
The DMC has monitored the effects and aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami
(December 2004), Hurricane Katrina
(August 2005), and many other floods, fires and disasters.
The individual DMC satellites are:
The sun-synchronous orbit
s of these satellites are coordinated so that the satellites follow each other around an orbital plane, ascending north over the Equator at 10:15 am local time (and 10:30 am local time for Beijing-1).
Some of these satellites also include other imaging payloads and experimental payloads: onboard hardware-based image compression (on BilSAT), a GPS reflectometry
experiment and onboard Internet router (on the UK-DMC satellite). The DMC satellites are notable for communicating with their ground stations using the Internet Protocol
for payload data transfer and command and control, so extending the Internet into space, and allowing experiments with the Interplanetary Internet
to be carried out. Many of the technologies used in the design of the DMC satellites, including Internet Protocol use, were tested in space beforehand on SSTL's earlier UoSAT-12 satellite
.
SSTL is building more DMC satellites for Nigeria.
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...
satellites constructed by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd, or SSTL, is a spin-off company of the University of Surrey, now fully owned by EADS Astrium, that builds and operates small satellites. Its satellites began as amateur radio satellites known by the UoSAT name or by an OSCAR designation...
(SSTL) and operated for the Algerian, Nigerian, Turkish, British and Chinese governments by DMC International Imaging
DMC International Imaging
DMC International Imaging is the company that manages the Disaster Monitoring Constellation for the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters. It also sells satellite imaging services under contract. DMCII is a wholly owned subsidiary of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd...
. The DMC provides emergency Earth imaging for disaster relief under the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters
International Charter on Space and Major Disasters
The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters is a charter which provides for the charitable retasked acquisition of and transmission of space satellite data to relief organizations in the event of major disasters...
, which the DMC formally joined in November 2005. Other DMC Earth imagery is used for a variety of civil applications by a variety of governments. Spare available imaging capacity is sold under contract.
The DMC provides far larger areas of imagery than, but at comparable resolution to, established government imaging satellites such as Landsat. DMC imagery was deliberately designed to be comparable to Landsat imagery, in order to leverage the expertise and software of the large established remote sensing community used to working with Landsat images. Imagery can be provided far more rapidly from the DMC than from Landsat, thanks to having multiple similar satellites in orbit ready to cross over a point of interest, and the larger images produced. This brings the responsiveness that is needed for emergencies and for disaster support, with images provided across the Internet from the responsive satellite and a member country's ground station within a day or less of a request being made.
The DMC has monitored the effects and aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
(December 2004), Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
(August 2005), and many other floods, fires and disasters.
The individual DMC satellites are:
First Generation
- AlSAT-1AlSAT-1A|Sat-1 is the first Algerian satellite and it is part of a group of satellites collectively known as the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. The satellite was built by a group of engineers from Surrey Satellite Technology and CNTS. It was the first DMC satellite to be launched, in November 2002. It...
(Algeria), launched November 2002, which completed its mission in August 2010. - BilSAT (Turkey), launched September 2003, which completed its mission in August 2006 due to failed battery cells
- NigeriaSAT-1 (Nigeria), launched September 2003.
- UK-DMCUK-DMCThe UK-DMC satellite is one of a number of satellites in the Disaster Monitoring Constellation . It was built by Surrey Satellite Technology, who operate it via DMC International Imaging on behalf of the UK Space Agency...
(United Kingdom), launched September 2003.
Second Generation
- Beijing-1 (China), launched October 2005.
- UK-DMC 2UK-DMC 2UK-DMC 2 is a British Earth imaging satellite which is operated by DMC International Imaging. It was constructed by Surrey Satellite Technology, based on the SSTL-100 satellite bus. It is part of Britain's contribution to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, which is coordinated by DMC...
(United Kingdom), launched July 2009. - Deimos-1Deimos-1Deimos-1 is a Spanish Earth imaging satellite which is operated by Deimos Imaging. It was constructed by Surrey Satellite Technology, based on the SSTL-100 satellite bus. Deimos Imaging commercializes its imagery directly but also has distribution agreements with other entities like Astrium GEO and...
(Spanish commercial), launched July 2009. - NigeriaSAT-2 and NigeriaSAT-X (NX), planned to launch in late 2010.
The sun-synchronous orbit
Sun-synchronous orbit
A Sun-synchronous orbit is a geocentric orbit which combines altitude and inclination in such a way that an object on that orbit ascends or descends over any given point of the Earth's surface at the same local mean solar time. The surface illumination angle will be nearly the same every time...
s of these satellites are coordinated so that the satellites follow each other around an orbital plane, ascending north over the Equator at 10:15 am local time (and 10:30 am local time for Beijing-1).
Some of these satellites also include other imaging payloads and experimental payloads: onboard hardware-based image compression (on BilSAT), a GPS reflectometry
GNSS reflectometry
GNSS reflectometry involves making measurements from the reflections from the Earth of navigation signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems such as GPS. It is also known as GPS reflectometry....
experiment and onboard Internet router (on the UK-DMC satellite). The DMC satellites are notable for communicating with their ground stations using the Internet Protocol
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
for payload data transfer and command and control, so extending the Internet into space, and allowing experiments with the Interplanetary Internet
Interplanetary Internet
The Interplanetary Internet is a conceived computer network in space, consisting of a set of network nodes which can communicate with each other. Communication would be greatly delayed by the great interplanetary distances, so the IPN needs a new set of protocols and technology that are tolerant...
to be carried out. Many of the technologies used in the design of the DMC satellites, including Internet Protocol use, were tested in space beforehand on SSTL's earlier UoSAT-12 satellite
UoSAT-12 satellite
UoSAT-12, the twelfth satellite in the University of Surrey series, was designed and built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd . It was launched to low Earth orbit on 21 April 1999....
.
SSTL is building more DMC satellites for Nigeria.