It is understood that this satellite will provide remote sensing information services for Hainan and the South China Sea. It is expected that the on-orbit test will be completed and put into use by the end of March, which can realize marine ecological monitoring, ship monitoring and port monitoring. , widely used in agriculture, forestry, environment, land, transportation and other fields. So, what is a remote sensing satellite? What is the working principle of remote sensing satellite? What fields can remote sensing satellites be mainly used in? People's Daily Popular Science China interviewed Pang Zhihao, a researcher at China Academy of Space Technology, to unveil the "mystery" of remote sensing satellites.
What is a remote sensing satellite? Pang Zhihao explained that remote sensing satellites, also called Earth observation satellites, are different from other satellites in transmitting signals. Remote sensing satellites mainly observe the ground and are artificial satellites used for remote sensing platforms in outer space.
So, how do remote sensing satellites work? Pang Zhihao said that simply speaking, remote sensing satellites take pictures of the ground in the air. When the satellite flies over the ground receiving station, it sends the electric signal to the ground receiving station, and the ground receiving station processes the electric signal so that people can see the photos taken by the satellite. After that, planning and design will be carried out, such as finding some fault layers on the earth, which can be walked around when repairing the railway.
What are the uses of remote sensing satellites? According to different uses, remote sensing satellites can be divided into three categories: land satellites, ocean satellites and meteorological satellites. Landsat is mainly used to collect earth information, including investigating underground mineral deposits and groundwater resources, monitoring and assisting in the rational utilization of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and water resources, predicting and determining crop yields, and studying the growth and landforms of natural plants.
The common resource satellites in remote sensing satellites belong to terrestrial satellites. Pang Zhihao said: "In some deep mountains and desert areas, manual monitoring is very difficult, but it is very convenient to use resource satellites for monitoring. In addition, resource satellites can also monitor wheat grain output and natural disasters. " At present, China's resource satellites are developing towards high resolution. Pang Zhihao said that China's high-scoring series of resource satellites, such as "Gaojing-1", have a resolution of 0.5 meters.
Meteorological satellite is a kind of remote sensing satellite, whose main task is to collect meteorological data and provide a large number of real-time data for meteorological forecast, typhoon formation and movement monitoring, ice and snow coverage monitoring and atmospheric and space physics research. Ocean satellite is a kind of remote sensing satellite, whose main task is to collect marine resources and their environmental information. Pang Zhihao said: "70% of the earth is ocean, so it is difficult to survey by ship or other means. Standing high and looking far, marine satellites can understand the changes of global marine resources, marine climate and marine water color. In addition, it can also observe some islands in various countries, which is conducive to protecting resources and territories and has a wide range of uses. " At present, China has launched ocean satellites such as Haiyang No.1 and Haiyang No.2..