Includes copy of AGSO Record 1997/20

No abstract available

Includes copy of AGSO Record 1997/20

Supplied by the Australian Hydrographic Service for LOSAMBA. Use is restricted. Contact Grant Boyes for details.

The JERS-1 satellite was developed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). JERS-1 was launched in February 1992 and operated until 11 October 1998. The satellite traveled at an altitude of 568 kilometres and provided coverage of the entire globe every 44 days. The L-band, Synthetic Appeture Radar (SAR) sensor was the primary Earth-observing instrument. The SAR is an active microwave sensor capable of imaging earth resource targets regardless of time of day, cloud, haze or smoke cover of an area. The instrument is classified "active" as it emits the energy necessary to image the earth's surface. In contrast, "passive" or "optical" sensors rely on the sun's reflected energy to image the earth. The SAR ground swath is 75 kilometres wide, with a nominal 18 metre pixel resolution. The sensor has HH polarisation. ACRES JERS SAR acquisition commenced in September 1993 and ended in October 1998.

Earth Observation -1 (EO-1) satellite was launched in November 2000 to demonstrate new technologies such as Hyperion (hyperspectral data containing 220 bands) and Advanced Land Imager (ALI) sensor. ACRES downlinks EO-1 data for USGS through an informal arrangement with NASA but there is no local archive or catalogue. However, ACRES distributes EO-1 products imported from US through a special arrangement with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). This special arrangement permits ACRES customers to receive unlimited acquisitions over their area of interest until it is successfully acquired with <25% cloud cover.

Two ERS satellites have been developed by the European Space Agency (ESA). ERS-1 was launched on 17 July 1991 and ERS-2 on 20 April 1995. Both ERS satellites travel at an altitude of 785 kilometres and provide coverage of the entire globe every 35 days. The C-band, Synthetic Appeture Radar (SAR) sensor has been the primary Earth-observing instrument. The SAR is an active microwave sensor capable of imaging earth resource targets regardless of time of day, cloud, haze or smoke cover of an area. The instrument is classified "active" as it emits the energy necessary to image the earth's surface. In contrast, "passive" or "optical" sensors rely on the sun's reflected energy to image the earth. The SAR ground swath is 102.5 kilometres wide, with a nominal 30 metre pixel resolution. The sensor has VV polarisation. ACRES ERS-1 archive includes data acquired from September 1991 to March 2000, while ACRES ERS-2 acquisitions started in November 1995 and continues to present.

The Landsat series of satellites commenced acquiring remotely sensed data with the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. The Landsat satellites travel at an altitude of 705 kilometres and provide coverage of the entire globe every 16 days. The Multispectral Scanner (MSS) sensor has been the primary Earth-observing instrument. MSS images in four spectral bands (called Bands 4-7 on LS1,2&3 and 1-4 on LS 4&5) covering the visible and near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The MSS ground swath is 185 kilometres wide, with a nominal 80 metre pixel resolution. The archive of ACRES MSS data dates from 1979 onwards. ACRES MSS archive contains data from the following Landsat satellites: Landsat 2 commenced November 1979, ceased Feb 1982 Landsat 3 commenced November 1979 ceased August 1982 Landsat 4 commenced August 1982, ceased May 1984 Landsat 5 commenced 9 April 1984, ceased November 1997 - Band 4 (original band 7) data poor quality from 29 April 1994 - Band 4 (original band 7)switched off permanently 20 August 1995 Note that MSS data from Landsat 3 & 4 is of poor quality and requirements for this data need to be discussed with ACRES prior to purchase.

Data for the collaborative project with the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR)

Report on the collaborative project with the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP)