Tag: satellite

Tracking all radios

A cluster sweeps a band of territory 2000km wide so, circling the planet every 90 minutes or so, it can revisit many areas several times a day. Moreover, unlike spy satellites fitted with optical cameras, rf satellites can see through clouds. Their receivers are not sensitive enough to detect standard mobile phones. But they can pick up satellite phones, walkie-talkies and all manner of radar. And, while vessels can and do illicitly disable their ais, switching off their communications gear and the radar they use for navigation and collision-avoidance is another matter entirely. “Even pirates don’t turn those things off”. Horizon also plans to compile a library of unique radar-pulse “fingerprints” of the world’s vessels, for the tiny differences in componentry that exist even between examples of the same make and model of equipment mean that signals can often be linked to a specific device. It will thus be able to determine not merely that a vessel of some sort is in a certain place, but which vessel it is, and where else it has been.

Space Radar

Capella’s high revisit x-band constellation with InSAR capability will capture millimeter-scale change’s on the Earth’s surface. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar is a radar technique used in geodesy and remote sensing. This geodetic method uses 2 or more synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to generate maps of surface deformation or digital elevation, using differences in the phase of the waves returning to the satellite or aircraft. The technique can potentially measure millimeter-scale changes in deformation over spans of days to years. It has applications for geophysical monitoring of natural hazards, for example earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides, and in structural engineering, in particular monitoring of subsidence and structural stability.

Internal Use Only

Adventures in acquiring satellite imagery

The longest amount of time any area in the continental United States has gone without an update on Google Earth has been 8 years. From 2008 to 2016, a series of dry lake beds in Southwestern Nevada located in the Tonopah Test Range was a blind spot from the all-seeing corporate monolith continuously mapping the Earth. So we bought a satellite image ourselves. We would like to invite you to view image #103001000EBC3C00 yourself. Or — since the image is for internal use only — you can look at a painting of the image online.

High altitude balloon-drone

The unique GNSS “StarLight” LTA system is predicted to persist on station against prevailing winds at very high altitudes for 4 months for a fraction of the cost of a satellite. Solar electric energy provides the necessary power for all systems including both motors for station keeping and customer surveillance payloads.

Artificial meteors

a satellite capable of generating artificial meteor showers will be in orbit sometime in the next 2 years. From 500 kilometers above Earth’s surface, the orbiter will shoot metal spheres the size of blueberries into the upper atmosphere. As these particles move across the sky at 28k kilometers an hour, the spheres will burn into brilliant crisps—painting the night with colorful streaks on demand.

Methane Reduction

we can now detect cow farts from space.

For the first time, an instrument onboard an orbiting spacecraft has measured the methane emissions from a single, specific leaking facility on Earth’s surface. The observation — by the Hyperion spectrometer on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) — is an important breakthrough in our ability to eventually measure and monitor emissions of this potent greenhouse gas from space.

2017-06-10: Methane-free cows

Scientists are also tweaking the cows themselves. The Genome Canada project identifies cows that produce fewer greenhouse gases, with the ultimate goal of distributing the responsible genes—conveniently transported in the form of bull semen—to areas that don’t have the resources to develop their own greener cows.

2020-04-02: Rice paddies produce a LOT of methane from the bacteria in the muck. Adding fish to the rice paddies could cut it by 90%
2023-09-08: Methanotrophs

A strain of bacteria called methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C can remove methane efficiently even when it is present in lower amounts. If it became widespread, the technology has the potential to help slow global warming.

Typically, this group of bacteria thrive in environments with high levels of methane (5k – 10k ppm). The normal concentrations in our atmosphere have much lower levels of 2 ppm. But certain areas such as landfills, rice fields and oilwells emit higher concentrations of 500 ppm. To implement methane-eating bacteria on a mass scale, 1000s of high-functioning reactors will be needed.

Fishing Watch

see also: Overview Effect

For now, Global Fishing Watch only displays ship activity from the previous 2 years, but Oceana aims to eventually incorporate more recent data that will allow authorities to act quickly.

“The plan is that we will build out a public release version that will have near-real-time data, Then you’ll actually be able to see someone out there fishing within hours to days.”

Oceana has already used the system to monitor boats that have already been tagged for illegal fishing, though it still doesn’t pick up boats that haven’t registered with the automatic identification system, as well as vessels that go dark before reaching restricted waters. But the hope is that over time, Global Fishing Watch will serve as an important check to encourage fishers to stay within the law.