Rapids remote sensing receiving station: key of agricultural production machine

摘要

The Netherlands based National Aerospace Laboratory NLR and the co-located Geomatics Business Park use the output of RAPIDS, a small 2.7m dish satellite data receiver system, on a daily basis. The satellite earth observation data are real time downlinked from the three Spot satellites and the ERS-2 radar satellite and subsequently processed into images. After georeferencing and cutting into mapsheets, the data are sent to a value adding company, which is an expert in image interpretation and classification for e.g. agricultural purposes. The so extracted agricultural inforamtion is collected in a database that can be accessed by the subscribers day after day. A semi-automatic georeferencing system has been integrated so the output data of the RAPIDS station can be implemented in, for example, a GIS directly. The database / GIS is a valuable tool for decision making with respect to land use, crop monitoring, flood monitoring etc. Although mainly based in the Netherlands and the U.K., the RAPIDS system is a mobile station: it is built on a trailer and can be transported very easily behind a car or in a normal aircraft for long distance transportation. In co-operation with satellite operators like Spot Image, ESA and possibly others, one is capable to receive and process mid resolution satellite data in near real time everywhere in the world! The direct access to satellite data provides a high level of autonomy, allowing operation in areas without appropriate infrastructure / communications to the conventional fixed receiving stations. The near-real-time availability of data makes the RAPIDS system suitable for near-real-time applications, which depend on prompt data delivery. At this moment the station is being upgraded for the receipt of Envisat data which can be done for other satelites like IRS and EROS etc. No other station has even managed to come close the cost price of RAPIDS. For reasons of pricing the footprint is limited: a diameter of approximately 1100-km. RAPIDS has already delivered data for a preliminary fllod monitoring system in Bangladesh and a bathymetry system in Indonesia. Currently it is a mobile test system for Defense and acts in a commercial agricultural project within the Netherlands. The paper describes the data acquisition, -processing and distribution infrastructure used by NLR and the Geomatics Business Park, the projects / applications using this infrastructure and a future outlook to commercial remote sensing in the Netherlands.