Earth observation satellite systems of Turkey and their availability for forestry applications

• Main Author: Hüseyin ÇOBAN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Isparta University of Applied Sciences Faculty of Forestry 2016-03-01
• Series: Turkish Journal of Forestry
• Subjects: -; bilsat; rasat; göktürk-2; yer gözlem uydusu; ormancılıkta uzaktan algılama
• Online Access: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/tjf/issue/20906/224583?publisher=iubu

The start of space age was a milestone in the development of remote sensing. Sputnik 1, Russian satellite and Explorer 1, USA satellite which were considered as the ancestors of earth observation satellites used today were launched into space in 1957 and 1958, respectively. The space race that starter in those years led to the rapid development of remote sensing science and technology. ERTS-1 (Landsat-1) which was referred to as the first civilian earth observation satellite was launched into space in 1972. These developments including communication and global positioning systems have resulted in the launch of more than 1000 experimental or commercial satellites into space by over 50 countries. Turkey took a successful step in the earth observation satellite technology through Bilsat project in 2003. Based on the experience gained from the Bilsat project, Rasat that was the first earth observation satellite designed and manufactured in Turkey was launched in 2011. About a year later, Göktürk-2 satellite with high spatial resolution was launched into orbit by the end of 2012. Rasat has one panchromatic band with a spatial resolution of 7.5 m and three multispectral bands (blue, green and red bands) with a spatial resolution of 15 m. Göktürk-2 has a spatial resolution of 2.5 m and 5 m in panchromatic band and multispectral bands (blue, green, red and near-infrared band) respectively. In this paper, the characteristics of the earth observation systems of Turkey are presented. Moreover, the availability of the satellite images acquired from these systems for the studies related to forest ecosystem are evaluated. The success of new satellite systems that Turkey plans to launch into space in the future depends on the contributions of the universities, public and private sector organizations and the innovative impacts of the resulting experience and the observations.