satellite applications

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‫لرحيم‬‫ا‬‫لرمحن‬‫ا‬‫اهلل‬‫بسم‬
SATELLITE APPLICATIONS
SUB: SATELLITE COMUNICATIONS
5TH
YEAR 9TH
SEMESTER
UNIVERSITY OF BAHRI
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING(COMM.)
SUBMITTED BY: NADER BABO DUKHUN
SUPERVISOR: DR. ZOHAIR MOHAMMED
DATE: 13TH
OF DEC- 2016

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Contents:
 Introduction
 Satellite Applications
 Communications Satellites
 Earth Observation Satellites
 Reconnaissance Satellites
 Astronomical Satellites
 Weather Satellites
 Navigation Satellites
 Summary
 References

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Introduction
A satellite is an artificial object which has been intentionally placed into
orbit. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them
from natural satellites such as Earth's Moon.
The world's first artificial satellite, the Sputnik 1, was launched by the Soviet
Union in 1957. Since then, thousands of satellites have been launched into
orbit around the Earth. A few large satellites have been launched in parts and
assembled in orbit. Artificial satellites from more than 40 countries have been
launched by ten nations. About a thousand satellites are currently operational,
and thousands of unused satellites and other space debris are in orbit. Over a
dozen space probes have been placed into orbit around other bodies and
become artificial satellites to the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
a few asteroids, and the Sun.
Satellites are used for a large number of purposes. Common types include
military and civilian Earth observation satellites, communications satellites,
navigation satellites, weather satellites, and research satellites. Space stations
and human spacecraft in orbit are also satellites. Satellite orbits vary greatly,
depending on the purpose of the satellite, and are classified in a number of
ways. Well-known (overlapping) classes include low Earth orbit, polar orbit,
and geostationary orbit.
About 6,600 satellites have been launched. The latest estimates are that 3,600
remain in orbit. Of those, about 1,000 are operational; the rest have lived out
their useful lives and are part of the space debris. Approximately 500
operational satellites are in Low-Earth orbit, 50 are in Medium-Earth orbit (at
20,000 km), and the rest are in geostationary orbit (at 36,000 km).
Satellites are usually semi-independent computer-controlled systems. Satellite
subsystems attend many tasks, such as power generation, thermal control,
telemetry, attitude control and orbit control.

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Satellite Applications
There are many applications for satellites in today's world. Ever since the first
satellite, Sputnik 1, was launched in 1957, large numbers of satellites have
been launched into space to meet a variety of needs. As satellite technology,
has developed over the years, so as the number of applications to which they
can be put. Whatever the type of satellite it is necessary to be able to
communicate with them, and in view of the large distances, the only feasible
technology is radio. As such radio communication is an integral part of any
satellite system, whatever its application as discussed below
Communications Satellites –
Broadband Digital Communications
Broadband satellites transmit high-speed data and video directly to consumers
and businesses. Markets for broadband services also include interactive TV,
wholesale telecommunications, telephony, and point-of-sale communications,
such as credit card transactions and inventory control.
Direct-Broadcast Services
Direct-broadcast satellites (DBS) transmit signals for direct reception by the
general public, such as satellite television and radio. Satellite signals are sent
directly to users through their own receiving antennas or satellite dishes, in
contrast to satellite/cable systems in which signals are received by a ground
station, and re-broadcast to users by cable.
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental monitoring satellites carry highly sensitive imagers and
sounders to monitor the Earth's environment, including the vertical thermal
structure of the atmosphere; the movement and formation of clouds; ocean
temperatures; snow levels; glacial movement; and volcanic activity. Large-scale
computers use this data to model the entire earth's atmosphere and create
weather forecasts such as those provided by national weather services in the
U.S. and abroad.
These satellites are typically self-contained systems that carry their own
communications systems for distributing the data they gather in the form

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reports and other products for analyzing the condition of the environment.
Satellites are particularly useful in this case because they can provide
continuous coverage of very large geographic regions.
Fixed-Satellite Services
Satellites providing Fixed-Satellite Services (FSS) transmit radio
communications between ground Earth stations at fixed locations. Satellite-
transmitted information is carried in the form of radio-frequency signals. Any
number of satellites may be used to link these stations. Earth stations that are
part of fixed-satellite services networks also use satellite news gathering
vehicles to broadcast from media events, such as sporting events or news
conferences. In addition, FSS satellites provide a wide variety of services
including paging networks and point-of-sale support, such as credit card
transactions and inventory control.
Government
Providing X-band satellite communications services to governments is a new
commercial application with substantial growth potential. SSL has designed
and built two X-band satellites, which will be available for lease to government
users in the United States and Spain, as well as other friendly and allied nations
within the satellites' extensive coverage areas. Government communications
use specially allocated frequency bands and waveforms.
Beyond environmental applications, government sensors gather intelligence in
various forms, including radar, infrared imaging, and optical sensing.
Mobile Satellite Services
Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) use a constellation of satellites that provide
communications services to mobile and portable wireless devices, such as
cellular phones and global positioning systems. The satellite constellation is
interconnected with land-based cellular networks or ancillary terrestrial
components that allow for interactive mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-fixed
voice, data, and multimedia communications worldwide. With repeaters
located on orbit, the interference of traditional fixed-ground terminals can be
eliminated.

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Earth Observation Satellites –
these satellites are used for observing the earth's surface and as a result they
are often termed geographical satellites. Understand and analyzing global
environmental conditions is an essential element of guaranteeing our safety
and quality of life. Among other things, we need to be able to spot
environmental disasters in a timely manner, and to monitor and manage the
Earth’s natural resources. For this purpose, a number of Earth Observation
satellites are in orbit for Earth observations. Data collected by these satellites
allow us to understand the processes and interactions among land masses,
oceans, and atmosphere. The utility of different data sets for different
applications are agriculture, forestry, geology, risk management, cartography,
environment, and defense.
Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the most important application fields using Earth
Observation data from all missions, where other data sources are often too
expensive, or too restricted in scope.Typical applications include crop
inventory, yield prediction, soil/crop condition monitoring and subsidy control.
The scale of products varies, but typical applications are based on the
recognition of individual agricultural parcels.
Forestry
EO data has assumed great importance in forest mapping and management,
fire damage monitoring and the increasingly important problem of illegal
logging in many countries. Typical applications include inventory & updating,
Mapping, Change detection, Forest Health Analyses, Fragmentation Analyses,
Forest road maps, Digital Elevation Model.
Geology
Geology and related oil, mineral and gas exploration activities make up an
application segment that takes full advantage of satellite capabilities. The
large-scale satellite view allows the generation of Rock Unit Maps and Tectonic

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Structure Maps. Interferometry allows the generation of Digital Elevation
Models (DEMs) and the monitoring of mining subsidence, while radar data are
a powerful tool for off-shore oil seep detection and monitoring. Alternative
methodologies, such as the use of existing published maps, ground survey
mapping or aerial photography, when available, need be used only when very
local and detailed information is required.
Risk management
Risk management is one of the fields where EO data may play a primary role.
Three different risk situations may be considered:
Pre-crisis-During crisis- Post-crisis
Products needed in the first situation are mainly related to the collection of
land cover, geological and hydrological information, while near-real time
mapping and tracking of events is required in crisis and post crisis situations.
Currently satellite data are commonly used for the management of risk
situations, but very demanding user requirements (particularly for better revisit
times), prevent fully operational use. There are unexploited opportunities in
this field.
In the three possible risk management situations, crisis prevention is currently
seen as the main opportunity, much more than crisis monitoring and damage
assessment. This is mainly due to the fact that the coverage needs of crisis
monitoring and damage assessment are less than those required for
prevention or for monitoring of an on-going crisis. In addition, the number of
crises occurring around the world in one year remains rather small. The
importance of post-crisis analysis could be improved if the insurance sector
should start operational use of satellite data for the assessment of damage
due to natural disasters.
Cartography
Earth Observation data make an excellent basis for medium to large scale
cartography. Consequently, this segment makes extensive use of satellite data,

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especially in those situations where the requirements for accuracy can be met,
and alternative data sources are too expensive or even unavailable. Satellite
data, with different processing levels, are used for the generation of
cartography and digital elevation models.
Environment
Earth Observation data offer powerful solutions for environmental monitoring.
The data can be used mainly - Land Use / Land Cover maps, Hydrological /
Watershed map, Wildlife Habitat Maps, Land Unit Maps Soil Contamination
Map, Surface Water Condition Maps, Wetland Analyses, Quarries and Waste
Identification, Desertification analysis.
Defense & Security
For the defense and security, EO information is a key information source, and it
is handled with more and more sophisticated Geological Information System
instruments. The main applications are the generation of maps, target
monitoring and detection, and digital elevation model generation.
Reconnaissance Satellites
these satellites, are able to see objects on the ground and are accordingly
used for military purposes. As such their performance and operation is kept
secret and not publicized.
Astronomical Satellites:
these satellites are used for the observation of distant stars and other objects
in space. Placing an observation point in space removes the unwanted effects
of the atmosphere and enables far greater levels of detail to be seen than
would be possible on earth where many observatories are placed on mountain
tops that experience low levels of cloud. The most famous astronomical
satellite is the Hubble Telescope. Although now reaching the end of its life it
has enabled scientists to see many things that would otherwise not have been
possible. Nevertheless, it did suffer some major design setbacks that were only
discovered once it was in orbit.

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Weather Satellites:
as the name implies these satellites are used to monitor the weather. They
have helped considerably in the forecasting of the weather and have helped
provide a much better understanding not only of the underlying phenomena,
but also in enabling predictions to be made. A variety of these satellites are in
use and include the NOAA series.
Weather forecast use a variety of observations from which to analyses the
current state of the atmosphere. Since the launch of the first weather satellite
in 1960 global observations have been possible, even in the remotest areas.
Observation as obtained from satellite used in Numerical Weather Prediction
(NWP) model.
During the 1970s and 1980s a wide range of satellite missions have been
launched from which many different meteorological observations could be
estimated. Some satellite instruments allowed improved estimation of
moisture, cloud and rainfall. Others allowed estimation of wind velocity by
tracking features (e.g. clouds) visible in the imagery or surface wind vectors
from microwave backscatter.
Satellite imagery (visible, infrared and microwave)
The most basic form of satellite imagery provides pictures of the current cloud
conditions. This is a familiar sight on TV weather forecasts. However, satellite
imagery can also undergo various types of quantitative processing to obtain
information on important meteorological variables such as wind speed and
direction, cloud height, surface temperature, sea ice cover, vegetation cover,
precipitation, etc.
The first meteorological satellite was launched in 1960 by the USA and
provided cloud cover photography. Originally, satellite images were treated
purely as qualitative pictures, which were manually viewed and interpreted by
meteorologists. Nowadays though, satellite imagery undergoes a great deal of
mathematical manipulation and can yield quantitative analyses of atmospheric

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temperature, humidity, motion and many more meteorological variables. The
major advantage of satellites is their ability to produce near-global coverage,
which becomes especially important over oceans and remote, unpopulated
land regions, where other methods of observation are impracticable. Over
large areas of the southern hemisphere, satellites are the only means of Earth
observation. As well as observing changes in surface features such as
vegetation and sea surface temperature, satellite imagery can also capture the
development of transient features such as clouds of water or ice and plumes of
ash or dust.
Two types of satellite having on board instruments used for earth
weather images:
Polar orbiters are positioned about 900 km above the surface of the Earth, in a
sun synchronous orbit, which means they see the same part of the Earth at the
same time each day. Polar orbiters make about 14 orbits a day and can view all
parts of the atmosphere at least twice a day. Although their temporal
resolution is limited, they have high spatial resolution (typically around 1 km
between pixels) since they are relatively close to the Earth's surface.
Geostationary satellites are positioned about 36,000 km above the equator in a
geostationary orbit, which means they are always fixed in position above one
part of the Earth. These satellites scan continuously (hence have high temporal
resolution 15-30 minutes), but have limited spatial resolution (typically 3-10
km between pixels).
Radiance is measured by the satellite instrumentation and stored as digital
values in two-dimensional arrays of pixels, which make up the image. Different
instruments scan at different wavelength bands, and provide different
information about the atmosphere:
Infrared radiation, particularly around 12.5 µm, tells us about the temperature
of emitting bodies, such as clouds or the surface in cloud-free regions. IR
images are particularly good for viewing clouds and images can be produced
at night.

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Water vapour radiation, centered around 6.7 µm, measures radiation in the
water-vapour absorption band. WV images are good for viewing water vapour
distributions in cloud-free areas, and for viewing clouds. Most of the radiation
sensed is from the 300-600 hPa layer.
Visible radiation, produced in a wavelength band ~ 0.5-0.9 µm, shows clouds
but only by reflected sunlight, so no images are produced at night
Navigation Satellites:
Navigation satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes
of navigation. Satellite navigation is a space-based radio positioning system
that includes one or more satellite constellations, augmented as necessary to
support the intended operation, and that provides 24-hour three-dimensional
position, velocity and time information to suitably equipped users anywhere
on, or near, the surface of Earth. A satellite navigation system provides users
with sufficient accuracy and integrity of information to be useable for critical
navigation applications. The GPS system is the first core element of the
satellite navigation system widely available to civilian users. The Russian
satellite navigation system, GLONASS, which is similar in operation, is another
satellite constellation element of GNSS.
The current constellation consists of 21 operational satellites and 3 active
spares. Satellites are in orbits with approximately 12-hour periods operating at
an altitude of 20,200 kilometres. The orbital constellation consists of six orbital
planes, each inclined with respect to the equatorial plane by about 55 degrees.
Such an arrangement ensures that at any time there are at least four (and up
to 12) satellites above the horizon available for simultaneous measurements.
GPS satellites transmit on two L-band frequencies: 1.57542 GHz (L1) and
1.22760 GHz (L2). The L1 signal has a sequence encoded on the carrier
frequency by a modulation technique which contains two codes, a precision (P)
code and a coarse/acquisition (C/A) code. The L2 carrier contains only P-code
that is encrypted for military and authorized civilian users. Most commercially
available GPS receivers utilize the L1 signal and the C/A code.

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P-code users determine their geocentric positions instantly to about 5 metres
with a single hand-held satellite receiver. The C/A codes repeat every
millisecond and are available to every user. These codes are also usable for
positioning but they provide only about 20- to 30-metre accuracy.
GPS-equipped balloons are monitoring holes in the ozone layer over the Polar
Regions, and air quality is being monitored using GNSS receivers. Buoys
tracking major oil spills transmit data using GNSS. Archaeologists and
explorers are using the system.
Summary:
There are now many thousands of satellites in orbit around the Earth. Many
are in operations, while some that have not yet fallen out of orbit are still
circling the Earth. The operational satellites provide many of the services on
which we rely today. Without them many of the services and applications in
our daily life which we have come to accept as normal would not be so nearly
to achieve by other means.
References:
 Wikipedia
 http://www.radio-
electronics.com/info/satellite/satellite_types/satellite_applications.php
 http://www.angkasa.gov.my/?q=en/node/264
 http://www.suparco.gov.pk/pages/applications-satellite.asp
 http://www.sslmda.com/html/products/applications.html
 Satellite Technology: Principles and Applications, 2nd Edition (*Anil K. Maini, Varsha
Agrawal)