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India offers space data to manage Asia-Pacific calamities
Calcutta News.Net
Thursday 22nd November, 2007 (IANS)
India is ready to offer data from its group of satellites to other countries in the Asia-Pacific region for disaster management.
'India will provide appropriate inputs and near real-time data for Asia-Pacific countries and share its expertise with them in setting up disaster management support systems to deal with floods, cyclones, earthquakes and droughts,' Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here Thursday at a space conference.
In his keynote address at the 14th session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, Nair said with the proposed launch of two more remote-sensing satellites - Cartostat 2A and Resourcesat 2 - Indian satellites would soon provide data on a daily basis instead of once in 40 hours as at present.
'We already have the largest constellation of satellites in polar and geo-stationary orbits in the region, providing a host of services ranging from earth observation, communication and meteorology to watershed development and disaster management,' Nair told about 150 delegates participating in the three-day session.
ISRO plans to launch Cartosat 2A early next year in polar orbit from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 100 km from Chennai. Resourcesat 2 will be launched mid-2008.
The space agency has also developed a unique portable search and rescue kit for fishermen and others living in coastal areas or stranded on high seas due to adverse weather conditions or natural disasters.
'The kit, which can be carried onboard like a lantern, has a small GPS (global positioning system) device and a transmitter. In case of an emergency, it can be activated to relay a signal to the disaster management cell through our Insat (satellite) system,' Nair said.
ISRO has transferred product know-how to Delhi-based VXL Technology and placed an order for 1,000 kits for fishermen and others living in the coastal areas. Each kit is estimated to cost about Rs.5,000.
The Asia-Pacific Space Agency Forum was set up in 1993 to enhance the development of space programmes of the countries in the region and exchange views on cooperation in future space activities.
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