The NASA ERTS System and Potential Coverage of Canada

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The NASA ERTS System and Potential Coverage of Canada

R. O. Chipman

Plans to orbit an Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS) to provide high resolution images of the earth on a repetitive basis are discussed. The launching of the first satellite, ERTS-A, is scheduled for March of 1972, to be followed about one year later by an almost identical ERTS-B. The satellite will be placed in a circular, near polar sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 910 km and will carry four sensors, three return beam vidicon (RBV) cameras, identical except for spectral filters, and a four-channel multispectral scanner, all of which will cover the same 185 km wide swath along the ground track, the vidicons taking a series of snapshots and the scanner scanning continuously. The ground resolution is expected to be 80 to 150 m per line pair. The imagery can be recorded in the satellite for later transmission or transmitted directly to a ground receiving station where it will be recorded and sent to a central data handling center to be transformed into hard copy (photography). Corrections to make the imagery conform geometrically with existing maps will then be made and the images, in color or black and white, will be sent directly to users or to specialized data interpretation centres. The satellite will also have the capability of relaying data from remote automatic ground platforms, such as stream or tide gauges, etc., to the receiving station on a daily basis. (Author)