HJ-1C Satellite for Environmental and Disaster Monitoring Launched into Orbit

A LM-2C launch vehicle was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center on November 19, 2012, carrying HJ-1C, a technology demonstration satellite and the Fengniao satellite. The three satellites were placed to the preset orbits respectively. Developed by DFH Satellite Co., Ltd., HJ-1C is a SAR Earth observation satellite for civilian use, which

Spatial prediction and analysis of Himalayan marmot plague natural epidemic foci in China based on HJ-1 satellite data

Plague,caused by the gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis,is a serious and rapidly progressing illness in humans that can be fatal if not treated effectively.The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the largest area of natural Himalayan marmot(Marmota himalayana) plague foci in China and covers more than 630000 km2.Akesai County in Gansu Province is a part of this natural focus of plague and was chosen as a study area.Our study used an ecological niche modeling(ENM) approach to predict the potential distribution of the Himalayan marmot.Environment and Disaster Monitor Satellite(HJ-1) data was used to investigate environment factors that affect plague host animal activity.Host animal point data from active surveillance was combined with environmental variables from the HJ-1 satellite and other databases,and the models of the potential distribution of Himalayan marmot were produced with the Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Production(GARP).The probability of marmot presence was divided into 0-5%,5%-20%,20%-40%,40%-80%,and 80%-100% subgroups.Areas with 80%-100% probability exhibited the greatest potential for the presence of Himalayan marmot.According to the predicted potential distribution of Himalayan marmot in the study area,active surveillance of plague hosts and plague control and prevention could be more efficient.

Photosynthetically active radiation retrieval based on HJ-1A/B satellite data

Photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) is essential for plant photosynthesis and carbon cycle,and is also important for meteorological and environmental monitoring.To advance China's disaster and environmental monitoring capabilities,the HJ-1A/B satellites have been placed in Earth orbit.One of their environmental monitoring objectives is the study of PAR.We simulated direct solar,scattered and environment radiation between 400 and 700 nm under different atmospheric parameters(solar zenith angle,atmospheric water vapor,atmospheric ozone,aerosol optical thickness,surface elevation and surface albedo),and then established a look-up table between these input parameters and PAR.Based on the look-up table,we used HJ-1A/B aerosol and surface albedo outputs to derive the corresponding PAR.Validation of inversed instantaneous and observed PAR values using HJ-1 Heihe experimental data had a root mean square error of 25.2 W m-2,with a relative error of 5.9%.The root mean square error for accumulated daily PAR and observed values was 0.49 MJ m-2,with a relative error of 3.5%.Our approach improved significantly the computational efficiency,compared with using directly radiation transfer equations.We also studied the sensitivity of various input parameters to photosynthetically active radiation,and found that solar zenith angle and atmospheric aerosols were sensitive PAR parameters.Surface albedo had some effect on PAR,but water vapor and ozone had minimal impact on PAR.

Retrieval of Aerosol Optical Depth for Chongqing Using the HJ-1 Satellite Data

Aerosol optical depth （AOD） is a common indicator applied in monitoring aerosols in the atmosphere. The hilly landscape and rapid economic growth of the megacity Chongqing have facilitated increased aerosol concentration, and it is meaningful to accurately retrieve AOD over Chongqing. The HJ-1A/B satellite of China carries a sensor/camera called the Charge Coupled Device （CCD）, the spatial resolution of which meets the requirement for re- trieving high resolution AOD. In this paper, analysis of the AOD retrievals from different methods using the H J-1 satellite data revealed the most suitable algorithm. Through comparison with the AOD product of Moderate Resolu- tion Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS）, the AOD retrieval results using enhanced vegetation index （EVI） to estim- ate dark pixels showed the highest correlation. The continental aerosol model was used to build a lookup table that was able to facilitate a good AOD retrieval for both city and rural areas. Finally, the algorithm that combined dark pixels, buffer areas, and the deep blue algorithm was found to be most suitable for AOD retrieval. The AOD retrieval results based on the HJ-1 data were consistent with MODIS products, and our algorithm yields reasonable results in most cases. The results were also compared with ground-based PMl0 measurements synchronized with the overpass time of the HJ-1 satellite, and high correlation was found. The findings are relevant to other Chinese satellite data used for retrieving AOD on the same channels.

Technical system design and construction of China’s HJ-1 satellites

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to applications of satellite remote sensing in environmental monitoring.On 6 September 2008,the first two satellites of the Environment and Disaster Monitoring and Prediction Satellite Constellation(HJ),HJ-1A and HJ-1B,were successfully launched,which started a new era of satellite applications for environmental monitoring in China.An introduction to the satellite,instrument,and ground systems of HJ-1A and HJ-1B is presented in this article,and an analysis of their technical performance and characteristics is also given.Focusing on the operational needs of environmental monitoring in China,the general design,functional construction,and operational mode of the application system of HJ-1A and HJ-1B are detailed,and the operations and applications of the two satellites are also discussed.

Estimation of suspended sediment concentration based on bio-optical mechanism and HJ-1 image in Chaohu Lake

Synchronization experiment was conducted in June,2009 to get Inherent Optical Properties(IOP) of water component in Chaohu Lake.Water bio-optical mechanism was studied combined with multispectral data of Environmental Satellite 1(CCD),and then inversion models of total suspended matter(TSM),inorganic suspended matter(ISM) and organic suspended matter(OSM) concentration were built.The data indicated that:the absorption ratio of suspended particulate matter and CDOM to total were almost no change from band 1 to band 2 with about 85% and 9%,respectively.The ratio of pure water to total increased from 0.4% to 5.6%.Water reflectance in these two bands were influenced by absorption of three kinds of components:algae particles absorption surpassed non-algal particles in band 3,and so played an important role in total absorption with about 35.7%;the proportion of pure water absorption and particles matter backscattering both were 99% in band 4,so these two components decided the main inherent optical properties in band 4.The models of TSM and ISM concentration inversion based on band combination(band 3 + band 4)/(band 1 + band 2) were built,while OSM concentration was estimated by band 4/(band 1 + band 2) index.Inversed by image data,RE of TSM concentration between modeled and measured was 33.4%,and RMSE was 18.68 mg/L.RE of ISM and OSM concentration were 39.9% and 35.2% respectively.The inversion was more accurate when satellite-ground data were just in the same day.At this situation,RE of ISM concentration dropped to 25.4%,and that of TSM and OSM reduced to 26.5% and 26.8% as well.

Phenological metrics-based crop classification using HJ-1 CCD images and Landsat 8 imagery

Crop type data are an important piece of information for many applications in agriculture.Extracting crop type using remote sensing is not easy because multiple crops are usually planted into small parcels with limited availability of satellite images due to weather conditions.In this research,we aim at producing crop maps for areas with abundant rainfall and small-sized parcels by making full use of Landsat 8 and HJ-1 charge-coupled device(CCD)data.We masked out non-vegetation areas by using Landsat 8 images and then extracted a crop map from a longterm time-series of HJ-1 CCD satellite images acquired at 30-m spatial resolution and two-day temporal resolution.To increase accuracy,four key phenological metrics of crops were extracted from time-series Normalized Difference Vegetation Index curves plotted from the HJ-1 CCD images.These phenological metrics were used to further identify each of the crop types with less,but easier to access,ancillary field survey data.We used crop area data from the Jingzhou statistical yearbook and 5.8-m spatial resolution ZY-3 satellite images to perform an accuracy assessment.The results show that our classification accuracy was 92%when compared with the highly accurate but limited ZY-3 images and matched up to 80%to the statistical crop areas.