Abstract
Abstract. One of the prime activities of Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Space Program is providing satellite communication services, viz., television broadcasting, mobile communication, cyclone disaster warning and rescue operations etc. so as to improve their economic conditions, disseminate technical / scientific knowledge to improve the agriculture production and education for rural people of India. ISRO, along with National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) conducted experimental satellite communication project i.e. Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) using NASA’s Advanced Telecommunication Satellite (i.e. ATS 6) with an objective to educate poor people of India via satellite broadcasting in 1975 and 1976, covering more than 2600 villages in six states of India and territories. Over the years India built communication satellites indigenously to meet the communication requirements of India. This has further lead to launch of an exclusive satellite from ISRO for educational purposes i.e. EDUSAT in 2004 through which rich audio-video content is transmitted / received, recreating virtual classes through interactivity. Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) established in 1966, a premier institute in south East Asia in disseminating Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS), mainly focusing on contact based programs. But expanded the scope with satellite based Distance Learning Programs for Universities, utilizing the dedicated communication satellite i.e. EDUSAT in 2007. IIRS conducted successfully eight Distance Learning Programs in the last five years and training more than 6000 students mainly at postgraduate level from more than 60 universities /Institutions spread across India. IIRS obtained feedback and improved the programs on the continuous basis. Expanded the scope of IIRS outreach program to train user departments tailor made in any of the applications of Remote Sensing and Geoinformation, capacity building for ISRO’s operational projects / new satellite missions, developing e-learning contents and launching e-learning courses under twelfth five year (i.e. 2012–17) plan period of Government of India, in addition to continuing of existing distance learning programs for universities.
Highlights
1.1 BackgroundGeoinformatics deals with remote sensing and geographic information for natural resource management, infrastructure development, disaster management, facility management and utility services etc
Distance education (DE), or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the technology and instructional systems design that are effectively incorporated in delivering education to students who are not physically "on site" to receive their education
Satellite Interactive Terminals (SITs) are established spread across India at Universities under CEC-UGC setup, Technical institutions under AICTE and State Science and Technology Centres as part of Vigyan Prasar set up. All these infrastructure facilities are utilized for live and interactive Distance Learning Programs benefitting the students to learn remote sensing and geoinformation studying at undergraduate level and postgraduate level
Summary
Geoinformatics deals with remote sensing and geographic information for natural resource management, infrastructure development, disaster management, facility management and utility services etc. The mission of IIRS is “transfer technology through capacity building and research in the field of Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics for sustainable development.”. It is a leading institute with the primary aim to build capacity in remote sensing and Geoinformatics and their applications through training and education at postgraduate level It is a constituent unit of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Department of Space, Government of India. To widen the scope of capacity building, IIRS has initiated satellite based distance learning programmes since 2007 and trained about 6323 people through the outreach training mode It is first of its kind in India and it has become very popular among universities / institutions spread across India
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