Applications of Satellite

Communication

By: Rohit Gurjar

Anand Engineering College
 Contents
Applications :

1) Earth observation
2) Satellite Communication
3) Disaster management support Programme
4) Satellite Navigation Programme
5) Climate and Environment
 1. Earth Observation

• The Indian Remote sensing programme is driven by the

user needs. In fact, the first remote sensing based pilot
project was carried out to identify coconut root-wilt
disease in Kerala way back in 1970. This pilot project led
the development of Indian Remote Sensing (IRS)
satellites. 
• These IRS satellites observe the planet Earth from space
and provide us periodically synoptic and systematic
information pertaining to land, ocean and atmosphere
and several aspects of environment.
 Towards Ensuring Food Security
• India's population is bound to cross 1.6 billion by 2050, which
will demand doubling of our food grain production to ensure
food security to all our people. There is inevitable need of
increasing the food grain production and enhancing the
agricultural productivity without degrading the environment.
This necessitates focus on development of rain-fed areas,
degraded lands, analysis of cropping system, proper monitoring
and management of agricultural practices, assessing the impact
of droughts and floods and so on. Since past many years, remote
sensing technology is being effectively used in various aspects of
agriculture crop management and planning in support of timely
import/export decisions and enhancing food security
 Towards Ensuring Water Security
• Water is a crucial input required to enhance agricultural production,
as most of the small farmers living in arid and semi arid regions are
deprived of irrigation facilities. With the anticipated global warming
and climate change, rainfall is expected to be erratic and the water
requirement for crops is likely to increase due to a significant increase
in evaporation and transpiration losses. Therefore, concrete efforts
are necessary towards - sustainable use of all the available water
sources, efficient harvesting and storage of rain water, improving the
irrigation use efficiency, restoration of reservoir storage capacity etc. 
Over the years, spatial analysis of temporal satellite data has been
facilitating the performance evaluation of irrigation commands,
reservoir capacity surveys, assessing gaps in potential irrigation and
utilization etc.
 Towards Sustaining Environment and
Ecosystem
• Ecosystem is a unit of ecological community, comprised of biological,
physical, and chemical components. Tropical ecosystems undergo changes
caused by season, climate or multiple anthropogenic impacts. The
increased population and associated increased demand of resources has
led to significant impact on forest cover and is negatively impacting forest
produce as well as various ecosystem services i.e., hydrology, soil
conservation, wildlife support, biodiversity and environmental protection
etc. The loss of biological diversity reduces our ability to adapt to the
change compounded. by the loss of knowledge of biodiversity especially
among people with close relationship with the natural ecosystem.
The focus now is on preserving the overall balance and redefining the
short, medium and long term considerations to reflect benefits of
consumption and conservation.
•  
 Natural Resources Census
• The Natural Resources Census project aims at generation
of a set of thematic maps through systematic inventory
and mapping from space-based images and creation of a
geospatial database for the whole country. The project
uses satellite data at different spatial resolutions to
prepare natural resources information layers, namely,
land use/land cover, land degradation, wetlands,
vegetation, snow and glaciers and geomorphology at
1:50,000 scale. Also, land use/land cover at 1:250,000
scales is periodically monitored as part of natural
resources census on an annual basis.
 Towards Infrastructure Development
• The scheme is envisaged to meet the requirements for preparation of Master Plan /
Development Plan, Transportation Plan, Urban Site Suitability Analysis and Urban
Environmental Planning etc. High resolution satellite data and aerial data have been
used to generate urban maps containing information such as landuse, geology, soil,
settlement locations for 152 cities/ towns in the country. 
ISRO/DOS participated with Survey of India in realising National Urban Information
System (NUIS) of the Ministry of Urban Development. NUIS enables the creation of an
Urban Spatial Information System to meet the preparation of Development of Master
Plans, Transportation Plans, Urban Site Suitability Analysis and Urban Environmental
Planning. Phase-I of the project covered 152 cities/towns across the country and NRSC/
ISRO generated thematic geo-database for 142 towns on 1:10,000 scale besides
acquiring aerial data for mapping at 1:2,000 scale for all 132 towns. The project is being
executed in association with 25 Partner Institutions. Database for the remaining towns
would be ready by the 2013. NRSC organised a one-day National Workshop on “NUIS
Scheme with Special emphasis on Bhuvan” for all the Stakeholders at Hyderabad on July
31, 2012 with a focus on utilisation of NUIS databases for Master Plan preparation.
 Towards Support to Smart Governance
• Reliable information on land & water resources and their optimal management is vital for
developmental planning. State level data repository comprising of natural resource database at
1:10000 scale coupled with field level information will help in strengthening decentralized
planning and decision making at grass root level. In this regard, the project ‘Space based
Information Support for Decentralized Planning’ would play an important role in empowering
the local bodies to prepare the action plans for development of their locality.
•  
•
This is a unique project, initiated at the behest of Planning Commission in 2009, to prepare
district resource atlases using remote sensing and GIS techniques to strengthen various aspects
of decentralised planning at district level through a coordinated approach. The salient aspects
of the project include generation of natural resources database at 1:10,000 scale village map
overlay; link state line-department datasets; develop ICT enabled geospatial solution; and
providing space inputs for planning and development at panchayat level. The States of Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana, West Bengal and Assam have been selected for initial phase of
implementation. However, the thematic map preparation has been taken up for all the
remaining states. 2.5 m spatial resolution images are already prepared for the entire country.
 Weather Forecasting
• The prediction of weather in the tropical regions, like India, is a major challenge
due to the complex and dynamic nature weather system. The day to day changes
of weather elements such as rainfall, temperature, wind speed and humidity are
the important meteorological parameters to be monitored on a continuous basis.
The meteorological satellites provide a synoptic measurement of weather
parameters at frequent intervals. The satellite images on cloud cover and various
parameters such as winds, rainfall, sea surface temperature etc., have become an
integral part of weather forecasting. 
• Oceansat-2, launched on September 23, 2009, carries Ocean Color Monitor
(OCM), Ku-band Scatterometer and a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric
studies (ROSA). The OCM has eight narrow spectral bands operating in visible and
near infrared bands; and facilitates the study of ocean productivity, detection of
algal blooms, sustainable fisheries management, etc. The satellite also provides
data for forecasting of sea state, sea surface wind vector, coastal climate and
weather.
 Meteorology
• India Meteorological Department (IMD) is the primary user of
meteorological payload on INSAT satellites. The meteorological
data from the satellites is processed and disseminated by INSAT
Meteorological Data Processing System (IMDPS) operational at
IMD, New Delhi. At present, KALPANA-1 and INSAT-3A satellites
are supporting the meteorological imaging and data collections.
• KALPANA-1 is located at 74 degree East and carries a Very High
Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) capable of imaging the Earth in
the visible, thermal infrared and water vapor bands. It is the
main operational satellite and 48 scans of this satellite with a
frequency of half an hour, are taken daily.
 2. Satellite Communication

Satellite Communication utilisation has become wide spread and ubiquitous throughout
the country for such diverse applications like Television, DTH Broadcasting, DSNG and VSAT
to exploit the unique capabilities in terms of coverage and outreach. The technology has
matured substantially over past three decades and is being used on commercial basis for
a large number of applications. Most of us are touched by satellite communication in
more ways than we realise.
 Telecommunication
• 988 Satellite Earth Stations of different sizes are operating in Satellite
Network and are being utilised for Telecommunication/Broadcasting
applications. 1,72,201 VSAT Telecommunication Terminals (Closed
User Group including Govt users – 7532 and Commercial Users –
1,64,669) of various sizes and capabilities, working in Star / Mesh
connectivity (excluding NICNET and VSAT Micro Terminals), are
operating in Satellite Network.
• 10,350 circuits are providing transmission backhaul point to point
connectivity by BSNL. 25 Single Channel per Carrier (SCPC) VSATs and
33 Multiple Channel per Carrier (MCPC) VSATs as well as 5696 Ku
Band VSATs under DSPT are working with BSNL which started services
through IPSTAR Gateways working on Ka / Ku Band. A total of 11,890
VSAT connections have been provided across the country.
 Tele-Medicine
• Telemedicine is one of the unique
applications of Space Technology for
societal benefit. ISRO Telemedicine
programme started in 2001 has been
connecting remote/rural/medical college
hospitals and Mobile Units through the
Indian satellites to major specialty hospitals
in cities and towns. ISRO Telemedicine
network covers various states/regions
including Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh,
Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep
Islands, North Eastern States and other
Extension of healthcare through
mainland states. Many tribal districts of
telemedicine mobile van during Koshi
Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Punjab,
river floods in Bihar.
West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are
covered under Telemedicine Programme.
Tele-Education
• ‘EDUSAT’, India’s first thematic satellite
dedicated exclusively for educational services,
was used extensively to cater to a wide range of
interactive educational delivery modes like one-
way TV broadcast, video conferencing,
computer conferencing, web-based
instructions, etc. EDUSAT had manifold
objectives - to supplement the curriculum-
based teaching, imparting effective teacher
training, providing access to quality resource
persons and new technologies, thus finally
resulting in taking education to every nook and
corner of India. EDUSAT provided connectivity
to schools, colleges and higher levels of
education and also supported non-formal
education including development
communication.
 Mobile Satellite Services
• An S-band Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) was added to INSAT system with
the launch of INSAT-3C in 2002 and GSAT-2 in 2003. The following two
classes of services were identified for MSS:
•  A small portable satellite terminal that works with INSAT for voice/data
communication has been developed with the participation of Indian
industries. The terminal is useful for voice communication especially
during disasters when other means of communication break down. It can
be used from any location in India for emergency communication.
Transmit and receive frequencies of the terminal are in S-Band.
• The portable terminal is connected to the EPABX at central hub station
through satellite channel and hence could be considered as an extension
of EPABX and call could be made between any satellite terminals and local
phones on EPABX. Central hub station is located at SAC, Ahmedabad.
 Radio Networking
• Radio Networking (RN) through INSAT provides a reliable high-
fidelity programme channels for National as well as Regional
Networking. At present, 326 All India Radio (AIR) stations have been
equipped with receive terminals.
• A total of 85 RN channels are being up-linked at present. For this,
AIR is utilising one C-band transponder (C-11) of INSAT-3C. A total of
90 carriers in CxC band are being envisaged for up-linking by utilising
a full transponder of INSAT-3C by the end of 12th five year plan.
• In AIR network, a total of 32 earth stations are equipped with the
facility to uplink in CxC band. The Central earth station at
Broadcasting House, New Delhi, has been augmented to up-link 26
RN carriers in CxC band
 Satellite Aided Search and Rescue
• India is a member of the international COSPAS-SARSAT programme for providing
distress alert and position location service through LEOSAR (Low Earth Orbit
Search And Rescue) satellite system. Under this programme, India has established
two Local User Terminals (LUTs), one at Lucknow and the other at Bengaluru. The
Indian Mission Control Centre (INMCC) is located at ISTRAC, Bengaluru. The
system is operational from the past 23 years.
• INSAT-3A, located at 93.5 deg East and INSAT-3D located at 82 deg East, are
equipped with a 406 MHz Search and Rescue payload that picks up and relays
alert signals originating from the distress beacons of maritime, aviation and land
users.
• Indian LUTs provide coverage to a large part of the Indian Ocean region rendering
distress alert services to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Seychelles, Sri
Lanka and Tanzania. The operations of INMCC/LUT are funded by the participating
agencies, namely, Coast Guard, Airports Authority of India (AAI), and Directorate
General of Shipping and Services.
Satellite Navigation Programme
• GAGAN Stability tests were successfully completed
in June 2013. The overall performance of the
systems was reviewed by the review committee. As
part of certification activity, DGCA personnel
visited GAGAN complex, Kundalahalli in Bengaluru
and carried out final inspection activities on Indian
Land Uplink Station (INLUS), Indian Master Control
Centre (INMCC), Indian Reference Earth Station
(INRES) and other facilities.
• The implementation of GAGAN has numerous
benefits to the aviation sector in terms of fuel
saving, saving in equipment cost, flight safety,
increased air space capacity, efficiency,
enhancement of reliability, reduction in work load
for operators, coverage of oceanic area for air
traffic control, high position accuracy, etc. The
quantum of benefits in the aviation sector would
depend on the level of utilisation of such benefits. 
Satellite News Gathering and Dissemination
• Satellite News Gathering using INSAT system enables on-the-spot real-
time news coverage and important events at different locations for
transmission to a Central Station at Delhi or to State Capitals for
rebroadcast over respective DD channels. Prasar Bharati has 14 C-band
and 18 Ku-band Digital Outdoor-Broadcast Digital Satellite News
Gathering (DSNG) terminals operating through INSAT. 9 more DSNGs in
C-Band are proposed to be introduced in the network.
 Television
• INSAT has been a major catalyst for the expansion of television coverage in India. Satellite television now covers
100% area and 100% population. The terrestrial coverage is over 81 percent of the Indian land mass and over 92
percent of the population. Doordarshan is a major user of INSAT satellites for providing television services over
the country. At present, 33 Doordarshan TV channels are operating through C-band transponders of INSAT-3A,
INSAT-3C, and INSAT-4B. All of the Satellite TV channels are digitalised.
• The following satellite television services are being operated by Doordarshan:
• National networking service (DD-1), DD News (DD-2), DD-Sports, DD-Urdu, DD-India, DD-Bharati and DD-HD
Regional services in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, UP, Assam, Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tripura, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,
Uttarakhand (Uttaranchal), Haryana, Mizoram, Jharkhand, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andaman &
Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands
• Around 1415 transmitters of Doordarshan are working through INSAT system to cater to DD-1 network, DD-News
network and Regional services. 59 Doordarshan and Private TV channels are operational through DTH service
(“DD Direct+”). 10 channel DTH planned in C-Band for Andaman & Nicobar Islands is operational since September
17, 2009. DD HD Service has been started on October 03, 2010 with the start of Commonwealth Games 2010.
3. Disaster Management Support Programme
• India has been traditionally vulnerable to natural disasters on account of its geo-climatic conditions.
Floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes and landslides have been recurrent phenomena. About 60%
of the landmass is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares is prone to
floods; close to 5,700 km long coastline out of the 7,516 km, is prone to cyclones; about 68% of the
cultivable area is susceptible to drought. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the East and part of West
coast are vulnerable to Tsunami. The deciduous/ dry-deciduous forests in different parts of the
country experience forest fires. The Himalayan region and the Western Ghats are prone to landslides.
• Under the DMS programme, the services emanating from aerospace infrastructure, set up by ISRO,
are optimally synthesized to provide data and information required for efficient management of
natural disasters in the country. The Geostationary satellites (Communication and Meteorological),
Low Earth Orbiting Earth Observation satellites, aerial survey systems together with ground
infrastructure form the core element of the observation Systems for disaster management.
 Flood
• India is one of the most flood prone countries in the world. Floods occur in almost
all rivers basins in India. Twenty-three of the 35 states and union territories in the
country are subject to floods and 40 million hectares of land, roughly one-eighth
of the country’s geographical area, is prone to floods. Assessment of the extent of
flood affected areas and the damage to the infrastructure will enable the decision
makers to plan for relief operations. Satellite based imageries due to their synoptic
coverage are the best tool to assess the extent of flood affected areas. As soon as
the information of a flood event is obtained, the earliest available satellite is
programmed to collect the required data for the delineation of flooded areas.
Both optical and microwave satellites data is being used. The inundation maps
with flooded and non-flooded areas marked in different colours along with the
affected villages and the transport network are disseminated to the concerned
Central / State agencies. Using the historical data of floods affecting different areas
flood hazard zonation is being carried out. Such district level hazard atlases have
been prepared for Assam and Bihar States. Further, integrating the information on
the river morphology generated from aerial surveys, weather forecast and the in-
situ data from CWC, flood forecasting methodologies have been generated and
being operationalised.
Cyclone
• The major natural disaster that affects the coastal regions of
India is cyclone. India has a coastline of about 7516 kms and
it is exposed to nearly 10% of the world’s tropical cyclones.
About 71% of this area falls in ten states (Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,
Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal). The
islands of Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep are also
prone to cyclones. On an average, about five or six tropical
cyclones form in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea and hit
the coast every year. When a cyclone approaches to coast, a
risk of serious loss or damage arises from severe winds,
heavy rainfall, storm surges and river floods. Using
appropriate models and satellite data, ISRO is supporting the
efforts of India Meteorological Department to predict the
tropical cyclone track, intensity and landfall. After the
formation of cyclone, its future tracks are regularly
monitored and predicted on an experimental basis using a
mathematical model, developed at Space Application Centre,
ISRO.
Agricultural Drought
• With more than 70 percent of India’s population
relying directly or indirectly on agriculture, the impact
of agricultural drought on human life and other living
beings is critical. In India, around 68% of the country is
prone to drought in varying degrees. Of the entire
area, 35% receives rainfall between 750 mm and 1125
mm, which is considered as drought prone and 33%,
receives rainfall less than 750 mm, which is considered
to be chronically drought prone. Coarse resolution
satellite data, which covers larger areas, is used to
monitor the prevalence, severity level and persistence
of agricultural drought at state/ district/ sub district
level during kharif season (June to November). The
operational methodology developed by ISRO over the
years is now institutionalized by setting up
Mahalanobis National Crop Forecasting Centre
(MNCFC) under the Ministry of Agriculture.
Forest Fire
• Nearly 55% of the total forest cover in India
is prone to fires every year. An estimated
annual economic loss of Rs.440 crores is
reported on account of forest fires over the
country. Forest fires in India have
environmental significance in terms of
tropical biomass burning, which produces
large amounts of trace gases, aerosol
particles, and play a pivotal role in
tropospheric chemistry and climate. Active
forest fires are detected from the satellite
images and the information is uploaded
daily to the Indian Forest Fire Response and
Assessment System (INFFRAS) website
during the forest fire season – February to
June (www.inffras.gov.in).
Landslide
• Remote sensing data have been proved to be
useful for landslide inventory mapping both at
local and regional level. It is also used for
generating maps such as lithology, geological
structure, geomorphology, land use / land
cover, drainage, landslide scarp, etc. These
maps can be combined with other terrain maps
like slope, slope aspect, slope morphology, rock
weathering and slope-bedding dip relationship
in GIS environment to map the vulnerable areas
for landslides. Department of Space has
prepared Landslide Hazard Zonation maps (LHZ)
along tourist and pilgrim routes of Uttaranchal
and Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas and in
Shillong-Silchar-Aizwal sector. As a part of the
DSC activity all the major Landslides are being
monitored for damage estimation.
Earthquakes
• Remote Sensing and GIS provide a
database from which the evidences left
behind by disaster can be combined
with other geological and topographical
database to arrive at hazard map. The
area affected by earthquakes are
generally large, but they are restricted to
well known regions (Plate contacts).
Satellite data gives synoptic overview of
the area affected by the disaster. These
data can be made use to create a very
large scale base information of the
terrain for carrying out the disaster
assessment and for relief measures.
 4. Satellite Navigation Programme
• Satellite Navigation service is an emerging satellite based system
with commercial and strategic applications. ISRO is committed to
provide the satellite based Navigation services to meet the
emerging demands of the Civil Aviation requirements and to meet
the user requirements of the positioning, navigation and timing
based on the independent satellite navigation system. To meet the
Civil Aviation requirements, ISRO is working jointly with Airport
Authority of India (AAI) in establishing the GPS Aided Geo
Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system. To meet the user
requirements of the positioning, navigation and timing services
based on the indigenous system, ISRO is establishing a regional
satellite navigation system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite
System (IRNSS).
 5. Climate & Environment
• The fourth Assessment Report (2007) of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
has projected an alarming picture of the earth’s future. The report estimated an increase of
0.74oC in global mean temperatures from 1906 to 2005. Studies have also indicated that there is
steady increase in the concentration of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) in Earth’s atmosphere. In
summary, some of the facts and figures related to climate change are:
•  surface air temperature for the period 1901 - 2000 indicates a significant warming of 0.4oC for
100 years;
• it is projected that by the end of the 21st century, rainfall will increase by 15 - 31% and the mean
annual temperature by 3oC to 6oC;
• accelerated melting of glaciers with intensification of monsoon can lead to flood disasters in the
Himalayan catchments;
• a trend of sea level rise of 1 cm per decade has been recorded along the Indian coast;
• deltas will be threatened by flooding, erosion and salt intrusion;
• loss of coastal mangroves will have impact on fisheries; and
• increased temperatures will impact the agricultural production.