Earth observation in transition: An international overview

Abstract

The evolution of the international earth observation field from 1980–2007 is summarized in this paper, with emphasis on the rapid changes that are taking place in 1997 which will shape the future of the field. The field is evolving from one that contains purely governmental and military standalone systems of high complexity and expense to one that includes an increasing number of commercial systems, focused missions using small satellites, and systems of lower complexity and cost. As of three years ago, seven countries had built and flown free-flying earth observation satellite systems. Projections are for the number of countries owning such systems to approximately double by three years from now. Several commercial high-resolution systems will be launched over the next three years. Commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems became a reality with the launch of Radarsat in 1995. Only a handful of small satellite remote sensing missions have been launched to date, while a large number will be launched over the next few years, including minisats from Brazil, Israel, Italy, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the USA. Systems with far greater spectral resolution will also become a reality as hyperspectral instruments are launched, beginning in 1997. Figures which graphically summarize the future directions for the burgeoning earth observation field will be shown in the presentation.