Space-based Technology Research Articles

Drought risk assessment and prediction using artificial intelligence over the southern Maharashtra state of India

Drought is a multidisciplinary concept that can have major impacts on ecological, agricultural, and socio-economic spheres. The accurate monitoring and information of spatio-temporal distribution of agricultural drought are effective means of reducing the farmers’ losses. The space-based technology is proven to provide the detail of land information, which helps to quantify different natural resources and even severity of climate extremes. The biophysical parameters such as precipitation, temperature, soil, and vegetation significantly influence drought monitoring in the regions. An artificial Neural Network (ANN) model based on the integration of Precipitation Condition Index (PCI), Vegetation Condition Index (VCI), Temperature Condition Index (TCI) and Soil Condition Index (SCI) derived from multi-source remote sensing satellite imagery was applied for assessment and prediction of drought. The study was implemented in Sangli, Maharashtra, India from the period 2003–2016 to assess the efficiency of the ANN model for near real-time drought monitoring. In our research, the investigation results for 2006, 2011, and 2016 (a typical dry year) were accurately explored using the ANN model. The multiyear ANN model results were also checked with the actual drought intensity of government records and observation. The proposed system demonstrated 92% accuracy and matched the trend with the ground base stations, hence the ANN model demonstrates the potential of using as drought monitoring indicator capturing both meteorological and agricultural drought information. The output of the study can be utilized for contingency planning by state and local governments.

Multi-disciplinary ore deposit exploration in Sonqor, northwest Iran

Multi-disciplinary exploration methods are used to explore for possible ore deposits in the Sonqor area, Iran, which lies within the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, and contains significant iron, copper and gold mineralisation. Hydrothermal alteration was mapped using field, remotely sensed, geophysical and geochemical data as well as Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager, Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus, and two Advanced Space Borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer images. Image processing techniques, viz band ratio, principal component analysis (PCA), and various spectral analysis methods were applied to map the distribution of hydrothermally altered rocks (geochemical halos) associated with porphyry (e.g. Cu–Au) mineralisation. The geochemical halos enabled vectoring to mineralised zones with mapping of advance argillic, argillic, carbonates, Fe-oxides, phyllic, propylitic and silicification using minerals such as alunite (K/Na), muscovite, kaolinite, illite, chlorite, goethite, hematite, jarosite, calcite and silica/quartz. The band ratio combination of sensors for mapping altered areas show promising results, similar to other more advanced methods. PCA exposed variations in the spatial distribution of more hydroxyl-based minerals like alunite/jarosite, whereas the geophysical magnetic survey identified the main lineaments, possible faults and magmatic intrusion boundaries. While geochemical methods show the potential occurrence of elements like Fe, Au and Fe-bearing Ti in the southeast and southern parts, and skarn-type anomalies in the northern part of Sonqor, leaking of specific geochemical elements (such as Fe, Au and Fe-bearing Ti) produce false anomalies. Copper, Pb and Zn anomalies in the central part show the possibility of sulfide-based mineralisation. KEY POINTS Space-based satellite technologies were used to identify mineral prospects in the Sonqor area, within the iron, copper and gold-rich Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, Iran. The Sonqor area, part of the Zagros Orogen, is within the extensive Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt formed by collision of the Arabian continent with the Iranian microcontinent in the Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic. The western part of the Sonqor area has first rank Hg, Au, Ag, Ta and Sb anomalies with abundant detachment faults. Dacite domes with surrounding alteration have potential for Au epithermal mineralisation (Dashkasan type); the central part may yield Cu, Zn and Pb sulfide mineralisation. The Sonqor geological map suggests good potential for Au, Fe and Fe–Ti mineralisation at the contact between limestones in the eastern and southeastern parts, but greenschist and amphibolite facies metamorphism necessitates caution in interpretation of geochemical anomalies.

Randomness in Sunspot Number: A Clue to Predict Solar Cycle 25

Forecasting of solar activity is extremely important, due to its impact on our space-based technology. In recent years, we have observed a continuous decline in the peak sunspot number for Solar Cycles (SCs) 21 to 24. We are more curious about peak activity of SC 25 because if the solar activity weakens further, then it may be an indication of new extended minima. So far, the daily sunspot-number data make up the longest observational series of the solar activity available, and recently this has been replaced with the corrected new Version 2.0 sunspot-number series. In general, different prediction models are available to forecast the peak smoothed sunspot number (SSN) of the upcoming SC but they are based on the older Version 1.0 sunspot data. Therefore, it is necessary to check the applicability of earlier proposed models to predict the peak SSN using the Version 2.0 sunspot-number series. Here, we re-evaluate one such earlier proposed prediction model, which is based on the estimates of the Shannon entropy, a measure of randomness, for Version 2.0 sunspot data. We find that this prediction model is applicable to the Version 2.0 sunspot-number series. To verify the robustness of the prediction model, we used the histogram and additionally the kernel density estimator (KDE) method to calculate the probability distribution function (PDF). The estimate of the PDF is a prerequisite to compute the Shannon entropy. We found that the prediction model is robust and the correlation coefficients between model parameters are 0.93 and 0.92, respectively, for these two approaches. This exercise provides a new prediction model for the peak SSN based on the Version 2.0 sunspot-number series. The model forecasts the peak smoothed sunspot number of $136.9\pm 24$ using a histogram-derived PDF and $150.7\pm 25$ using a KDE-derived PDF for the upcoming SC 25. These predictions for SC 25 are more reliable as up to date (December 2020) sunspot-number data have been utilized to get the entropy in the end phase of SC 24. It suggests that SC 25 would be similar or slightly stronger than SC 24.

Development and Trend of Space-based Information Network

With the development of space-based technology, the construction of the space-based network has been into a period of major change, countries are putting forward their own space-based network and getting them off the ground. This paper analyzes the space-based network development situation, introducing the SCaN network in the United States, Europe ISICOM plan and the development of China’s SGIN, discussing the trend of the development of the space-based information network. At present, the construction of space-based network is still based on the foundation network as the core, the space-based system as the expansion, based on the communication interruption satellite, gradually evolves into the space-based network, in the future it will integrate the space-based navigation, space-based information acquisition to form a space-based integrated information network.

The status of Earth Observation (EO) & Geo-Information Sciences in Africa – trends and challenges

ABSTRACTOver the last 20 years, Africa has witnessed a slow but steady advancement in space-based technologies as they are increasingly recognized as an essential tool for decision-making that can leapfrog African development. A critical review on the outcome of a survey questionnaire focused on African private sector industries and universities, services and education/training in EO and Geo-Information Sciences, combined with literature review, and personal contacts reveal optimism for success in four sectors. These include the public sector (Government ministries and departments); Academic institutions (universities/colleges/national or regional centers); and space agencies and private sector companies. These sectors are intertwined and fundamental for creating an enabling environment for solutions to a broad spectrum of pressing priorities: job creation, poverty alleviation, and sustainable resource management. The result shows that there is an uptake in the number of institutions and market segments created. To date, there are more than 90 academic institutions and over 53 national space agencies in 28 countries. Within the 53 national space agencies, 11 African countries have already launched a total of 36 satellites into orbit, and additional five are expected by the first quarter of 2021; another five by 2025; thus, amounting to 46 satellites not foreseen ten years ago. In addition, there are now ten receiving and tracking stations in six African countries and 17 scientific National Associations or Societies with specialized expertise in Geo-Information technologies. The updated survey on the private sector in 2019 ascertained that around 4110 people are working in 130 of the 229 EO and Geo-Information Science companies identified in Africa. Ongoing investigations reiterate that companies dealing with space-based datasets and Geo-Information Sciences together with the private spin-off companies today absorb more than 15,000 people and the assumption is that this number is going to exceed 100,000 by the year 2025.

空间激光测高技术发展及展望

空间激光测高技术发展及展望

How Has Malaysia Benefited from the High-Resolution Satellite Rainfall? Trends, Gaps and Further Research Opportunities

This paper presents a scientific review on how Malaysia has benefited from the high-resolution satellite rainfall since its first launch in 1998. As a tropical country in which the environment is highly characterised by rainfall dynamics, public domain access of high-resolution satellite rainfall data could be very useful to support the hydrologic and related environmental studies. The scope of this paper includes achievements, the trend of studies, as well as gaps and future opportunities for scientific research. Examining this element is crucial in determining the present information on the status quo of the applications of space-based technology to Malaysian hydrologic research. Furthermore, this information is critical to charter the future action for the policymakers and revision of respective disciplines, including climate change, environmental sustainability, disaster resilience, food security, and education. Based on the search throughout the largest scientific databases of Web of Science and Scopus, five major trends have been identified. Those trends were ranked based on the number of research, 1) Satellite rainfall data performance and quality evaluation (40%), 2) Satellite rainfall data as input to environmental modelling (27%), 3) Rain fade & telecommunication (16%), 4) Satellite rainfall data quality improvement (7%), and 5) Rainfall studies. These trends were identified about 11 years after the satellite rainfall project started in 1998. The major achievement till now is validating the accuracy of the satellite rainfall and also downscaling it for local application.

The Variation of Geomagnetic Storm Duration with Intensity

Variability in the near-Earth solar wind conditions can adversely affect a number of ground- and space-based technologies. Such space-weather impacts on ground infrastructure are expected to increase primarily with geomagnetic storm intensity, but also storm duration, through time-integrated effects. Forecasting storm duration is also necessary for scheduling the resumption of safe operating of affected infrastructure. It is therefore important to understand the degree to which storm intensity and duration are correlated. The long-running, global geomagnetic disturbance index, mathit{aa}, has recently been recalibrated to account for the geographic distribution of the component stations. We use this mathit{aa}_{H} index to analyse the relationship between geomagnetic storm intensity and storm duration over the past 150 years, further adding to our understanding of the climatology of geomagnetic activity. Defining storms using a peak-above-threshold approach, we find that more intense storms have longer durations, as expected, though the relationship is nonlinear. The distribution of durations for a given intensity is found to be approximately log-normal. On this basis, we provide a method to probabilistically predict storm duration given peak intensity, and test this against the mathit{aa}_{H} dataset. By considering the average profile of storms with a superposed-epoch analysis, we show that activity becomes less recurrent on the 27-day timescale with increasing intensity. This change in the dominant physical driver, and hence average profile, of geomagnetic activity with increasing threshold is likely the reason for the nonlinear behaviour of storm duration.

Managing Non-Traditional Threats by Using Space Technology: A Case of Pakistan


 
 
 
 
 Since 1957, the progression in space-based technology has opened more avenues for the peaceful application of space. Non-traditional threats originate from multiple sources of natural causes and affect a State’s population and its relevant institutions. In this realm, satellites play a vital role in dealing with such threats. The South Asian region is also victim to traditional as well as non-traditional security threats. Similarly, Pakistan is facing numerous non-traditional threats which primarily threaten its socio- economic security. Such challenges are diverse including their spiral nature from one state to another specially with environmental hazards, water and food security and aggravating population growth with increasing social disparity over distribution of resources. Pakistan has signed many agreements in the field of peaceful uses of space technology. Pakistan’s space program highlights the use of space technology in different domains including agriculture, health, education, disaster management, environment, climate change, land planning, coastal and marine resources, geology and mineral prospection. With the peaceful application of space technology, Pakistan is determined to enhance its national infrastructure and is ready to meet and curb the emerging non-traditional threats to its national security. With regards to the peaceful use of space and threat management, this paper discusses the areas wherein Pakistan is using space technology to deal with these threats and analysis the issue of space militarization.
 
 
 
 

Space Technology, an Essential Infrastructure for Rural Area Development

Over the past five decades, space technology has been regarded as either the dream and future of mankind or an endeavor of the Cold War space race. Neither of these views is relevant today. The essential role space serves today is that it is a critical infrastructure for the world. Space is no longer the “big boys club”. Today, about 60 countries own and operate at least one satellite, and almost everyone benefits from the services these satellites provide. Space technology has become an indispensable infrastructure on which everyone relies. Space technology has the capabilities to provide information vital for the environment, education, food security, public health, water resource management, human rights, disaster relief and nuclear security. Services derived from this technology not only improve the efficiency and effectiveness of many terrestrial activities but also provide much of the information and understanding needed to prevent and mitigate a variety of risks. Space-based technologies are embraced in developing countries and some of the applications are rooted in education. This was not so in the past, as the technologies were considered ancillary tools for only wealthy nations. Space technology includes the spacecraft otherwise known as satellite, space stations, other supporting infrastructure, equipment, and procedures. The development of space technology can play significant roles in the development of rural areas in Nigeria. The areas of application include, education, telemedicine, agriculture, and communication. This paper focuses on the use of space technology in the development of rural areas.

Near real time ionospheric monitoring system over Malaysia using GPS Data: My-Iono Service

Recently, real time information on the local ionospheric condition is becoming an important need for space and ground based technological systems which are prone to be affected by the local ionospheric state. Knowledge on the impact from the sun activity to the equatorial and low latitude ionosphere is crucial for research and development purpose in all developing nations which are relying on space-based technology systems such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). As the first action step to achieve deeper understanding and hands on experience on real time ionospheric monitoring, the National Space Agency of Malaysia (ANGKASA) in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has developed the first near real time ionospheric and space weather monitoring system for Malaysia (My-Iono) in year 2015. This web-based platform operates based on the National R&D GPS Continuously operating reference station network (NRC-net). The system runs based on a locally derived algorithm called Equatorial Ionosphere Index (EIX). The EIX was formulated based on 10 years (2004 to 2013) GPS derived empirical Total Electron Content (TEC) data obtained frpm 78 My-RTKnet stations around Malaysia. The fundamental of My-Iono Service consists of vertical TEC maps with a latency of ∼ 2 mins over Malaysia and information on the current ionospheric status; Normal, Medium and Severe, time series of Mean VTEC for station specific, time series of RAte of Change of tEc (RACE) for station specific and time series of Ionospheric Zenith (Iz) Delay for station specific estimated in near real time using GPS observations. This paper presents on the development of My-Iono Service in terms of system design and architecture.

China’s National Space Program and the “China Dream”

ABSTRACTThe article investigates how the “China Dream,” set as a national Chinese goal through 2049, is underpinned with achievements in outer space. Deriving from the Carl von Clausewitz hypothesis on “the continuation of political objectives by other means” and referring to Xi Jinping’s official statements that link space achievements to these “other means,” the Chinese national space program (focusing on substantial technical details to elicit evidence of progress and how concrete achievements lead to economic and geopolitical advantages) is examined. This article shows that the increasing number of space assets China possesses, including space-based technologies developed either independently or in mutually beneficial partnerships, are crucial for advancing socialism in the Chinese context and in altering the current global balance of power in a more favorable way to China.

Potentialities of Space-Based Systems for Monitoring Climate Policies and Mitigation of Climate Process Drivers

ABSTRACTThe services of space-based technology have advanced for monitoring strategies, especially for studying and predicting the physical events in ecosystems. This article investigates the viability of space technology use for monitoring implementations of climate policies and, potentialities for mitigation of climate process drivers. Qualitative data were sourced through Delphi experts’ method and quantitatively analyzed. The key findings show that experts allude to the high (3.33/4) anticipatory contributions of deploying space-based systems with dedicated sensors for monitoring implementation of international climate treaties. However, while there is a very strong yes (84.44 percent) rate on the potentiality of space-based solar power for direct climate change mitigation, the feasibility of deploying such systems in the near-future (2020 to 2025) is low (1.77/4). The statistics further show that the further away the possible start-time (2040 and a 50-year horizon of 2065) for deployment of space-based solar power, the more likely it will be deployed. The article concludes that deploying satellites for monitoring and mitigating global climate change contributes significantly to climate change management efforts. Specifically, the development of space-based solar power if fast-tracked. The article also provides a conceptual framework for climate change management using space technology, which facilitates constructive discussion informing policy direction on the subject.

A Brief History of Outer Space Cooperation Between Latin America and China

Scholarship on Latin America-China relations has focused predominantly on trade agreements, commodity exports, investment, migration, and, to a lesser extent, geopolitical implications for the post-Cold War world order. Entirely absent from research on Latin America-China relations is the question of outer space cooperation, despite the centrality of outer space-based technologies to the very sectors and relations that have proven so generative for Latin America-China scholarship and policy engagement since the turn of the millennium. Bilateral outer space cooperation between China and Latin American countries dates back to 1984, while multilateral engagements by all parties shaped the dawn of the space age in the 1960s. As such, this collaboration is an important antecedent to what is generally considered the "new" or "contemporary" geography of Latin America-China relations. Drawing on archival research, legal documents, and interviews, this article presents a brief historical geography of Latin America-China cooperation in outer space research, development, and policy.

Application of space-based processing technologies to estimating environmental conditions of mining landscape objects in Korshunov iron ore field

Application of space-based processing technologies to estimating environmental conditions of mining landscape objects in Korshunov iron ore field

Assembling π-Conjugated Molecules with Negative Gaussian Curvature for Efficient Carbon-Based Metal-Free Thermoelectric Material

The development of efficient, lightweight, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly thermoelectric materials is critical for energy conversion devices. However, none of the existing thermoelectric materials satisfy these requirements. Herein, we predict a novel carbon-based metal-free thermoelectric material denoted as bct-C80S16 that is composed of a π-conjugated saddle-shaped molecular unit with a negative Gaussian curvature, leading to a low lattice thermal conductivity while maintaining a high charge mobility. The resulting peak figure of merit (ZT) of 2.41 at 1000 K is much larger than those of conventional Bi- and Pb-based thermoelectric materials. Additionally, bct-C80S16 is highly porous and light, with a mass density of 1.11 g/cm3. Such a high thermoelectric performance and low mass density would make this metal-free semiconducting material promising for practical applications in space-based technologies.

Industry Participation in India’s Space Program: Current Trends and Perspectives for the Future

ABSTRACTOver the past five decades, India has progressed to create one of the largest national space programs in the world, delivering space-based technology to solve the problems of man and society. The present work provides an overview of current trends regarding industry participation in the national space program of India. While insight into industry participation and upstream activity is provided in the space transportation and development of satellite systems, commercial aspects of satellite communication services, use of geospatial data, and navigation and timing services are addressed as a part of the downstream applications. Specific recommendations to expand the footprint of the participation of Indian industry in the utilization of space technology nationally with possible expansion internationally are provided herein for space program managers and policymakers for both the upstream and downstream activities.

Is There a Space-Based Technology Solution to Problems with Preclinical Drug Toxicity Testing?

Even the finest state-of-the art preclinical drug testing, usually in primary hepatocytes, remains an imperfect science. Drugs continue to be withdrawn from the market due to unforeseen toxicity, side effects, and drug interactions. The space program may be able to provide a lifeline. Best known for rockets, space shuttles, astronauts and engineering, the space program has also delivered some serious medical science. Optimized suspension culture in NASA’s specialized suspension culture devices, known as rotating wall vessels, uniquely maintains Phase I and Phase II drug metabolizing pathways in hepatocytes for weeks in cell culture. Previously prohibitively expensive, new materials and 3D printing techniques have the potential to make the NASA rotating wall vessel available inexpensively on an industrial scale. Here we address the tradeoffs inherent in the rotating wall vessel, limitations of alternative approaches for drug metabolism studies, and the market to be addressed. Better pre-clinical drug testing has the potential to significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality of one of the most common problems in modern medicine: adverse events related to pharmaceuticals.

Latitudinal and Seasonal Investigations of Storm-Time TEC Variation

The ionosphere responds markedly and unpredictably to varying magnetospheric energy inputs caused by solar disturbances on the geospace. Knowledge of the impact of the space weather events on the ionosphere is important to assess the environmental effect on the operations of ground- and space-based technologies. Thus, global positioning system (GPS) measurements from the international GNSS service (IGS) database were used to investigate the ionospheric response to 56 geomagnetic storm events at six different latitudes comprising the northern and southern hemispheres in the Afro-European sector. Statistical distributions of total electron content (TEC) response show that during the main phase of the storms, enhancement of TEC is more pronounced in most of the seasons, regardless of the latitude and hemisphere. However, a strong seasonal dependence appears in the TEC response during the recovery phase. Depletion of TEC is majorly observed at the high latitude stations, and its appearance at lower latitudes is seasonally dependent. In summer hemisphere, the depletion of TEC is more pronounced in nearly all the latitudinal bands. In winter hemisphere, enhancement as well as depletion of TEC is observed over the high latitude, while enhancement is majorly observed over the mid and low latitudes. In equinoxes, the storm-time TEC distribution shows a fairly consistent characteristic with the summer distribution, particularly in the northern hemisphere.

Information Management Supporting Deployment of a Light Fieldable Laboratory: A Case for Ebola Crisis

Improved information collection, interpretation and processing are vitally important for optimized crisis response. A comprehensive information management (IM) system using ontology-based approach is aimed to handle heterogeneous information and to model the operational domain knowledge associated with the deployment of a light fieldable laboratory (LFL) during the recent Ebola crisis in Guinea. This LFL mission was part of the B-LiFE (Biological Light Fieldable Laboratory for Emergencies) project which integrates analytical and space-based technologies. LFL can be considered as a toolbox where all operational functions and related tools are incorporated into a single information space. Ontology can therefore be applied to facilitate the preparation and management of next LFL missions. The aim is to provide technical compatibility of information shared between tools and to align terminology and definitions while complying with guidelines, best practices and procedures. Accordingly, the LFL domain becomes a formalized and structured modeling of LFL concepts, procedures and functions which, in turn, helps distinguishing functions which are necessary for the mission from those which are incompatible according to a given mission or scenario. Such consistent logical modelling allows then to efficiently plan and configure any LFL mission by selecting and activating in due time, among all available functions and tools, those which are strictly mandatory.