BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN-Friday, October 23, 2009
A SATELLITE launched earlier this year that orbits the Earth near the equator may herald a huge array of benefits for Brunei, the Chief Technical Officer of Malaysian company Astronautic Technology Sdn Bhd (ATSD), said at a lecture at Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) yesterday.
Explaining the remote-sensing satellite called RazakSAT, launched by Malaysia on July 14 this year, ATSD Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Norhizam Hamzah said the satellite can be used for managing town expansion, coastal monitoring, providing information for decision making on scientific research, locate nuclear and radioactive materials, manage agriculture planning and even play a part in a Tsunami Early Warning System.
Speaking with The Brunei Times, Norhizam spoke of the usefulness of RazakSAT in managing agriculture, saying that the satellite can recognise right down to the different types of agriculture in an area, and that will be useful for planning the growth of plantations in the country.
He said the satellite would definitely be very useful when it comes to monitoring of a certain area, such as the Heart of Borneo project.
In his speech, Norhizam explained why RazakSAT, making "Near Equatorial Orbit" (NEqO, pronounced as "Nee-Ko") at 9 latitude is in a better position to serve countries near the equator than satellites that orbit by the longitude.
Satellites that orbit at longitude can only cover a specific location about three or four times a day, whereas the near-equatorial orbit used by RazakSAT can cover countries near the equator about 14 times a day.
Taking into consideration the often cloudy conditions experienced by equatorial countries, about 80 per cent of satellite pictures taken are often too cloudy to be of value to users, which further strengthen the need for a near equatorial orbit satellite.
The increased "visits" of the satellites will then increase the chances of taking clear and useful satellite pictures, which can in turn be used to monitor an area, assist in decision making and help provide early disaster warning.
Regarding national security, Norhizam said, "The security concern is a legitimate one, but one must recognise the fact that with all the satellites in space today, every country has an open sky that they cannot hide.
"By having a ground station, the initiative can then be on a sovereign nation like Brunei to have their control over what images of Brunei are to be taken, downloaded and distributed to the world."
ATSD are currently exploring the possibility of collaborating with UBD. They are currently already cooperating on projects with several universities in Malaysia, including Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UMP).
RazakSAT is Malaysia's second remote-sensing satellite, and is the world's first remote-sensing satellite to be launched into near-equatorial orbit.
Remote sensing refers to a system that collects information through the use of recording or sensing equipment that is not in direct contact with the subject being monitored.
Courtesy of The Brunei Times
Explaining the remote-sensing satellite called RazakSAT, launched by Malaysia on July 14 this year, ATSD Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Norhizam Hamzah said the satellite can be used for managing town expansion, coastal monitoring, providing information for decision making on scientific research, locate nuclear and radioactive materials, manage agriculture planning and even play a part in a Tsunami Early Warning System.
Speaking with The Brunei Times, Norhizam spoke of the usefulness of RazakSAT in managing agriculture, saying that the satellite can recognise right down to the different types of agriculture in an area, and that will be useful for planning the growth of plantations in the country.
He said the satellite would definitely be very useful when it comes to monitoring of a certain area, such as the Heart of Borneo project.
In his speech, Norhizam explained why RazakSAT, making "Near Equatorial Orbit" (NEqO, pronounced as "Nee-Ko") at 9 latitude is in a better position to serve countries near the equator than satellites that orbit by the longitude.
Satellites that orbit at longitude can only cover a specific location about three or four times a day, whereas the near-equatorial orbit used by RazakSAT can cover countries near the equator about 14 times a day.
Taking into consideration the often cloudy conditions experienced by equatorial countries, about 80 per cent of satellite pictures taken are often too cloudy to be of value to users, which further strengthen the need for a near equatorial orbit satellite.
The increased "visits" of the satellites will then increase the chances of taking clear and useful satellite pictures, which can in turn be used to monitor an area, assist in decision making and help provide early disaster warning.
Regarding national security, Norhizam said, "The security concern is a legitimate one, but one must recognise the fact that with all the satellites in space today, every country has an open sky that they cannot hide.
"By having a ground station, the initiative can then be on a sovereign nation like Brunei to have their control over what images of Brunei are to be taken, downloaded and distributed to the world."
ATSD are currently exploring the possibility of collaborating with UBD. They are currently already cooperating on projects with several universities in Malaysia, including Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UMP).
RazakSAT is Malaysia's second remote-sensing satellite, and is the world's first remote-sensing satellite to be launched into near-equatorial orbit.
Remote sensing refers to a system that collects information through the use of recording or sensing equipment that is not in direct contact with the subject being monitored.
Courtesy of The Brunei Times
