Eight Groundstations for India!

ES&S is currently involved in two major projects to install a total of eight SATRAX satellite groundstations in India. These two projects were won by ES&S against strong competition from international suppliers.

Three X/L band SATRAX systems are destined for the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), and a total of five X/L/S band SATRAX systems are being built for the Indian Air Force (IAF). Each network of groundstations includes a multi-band groundstation and extensive software for high level product generation and interactive image analysis.

The Indian Meteorological Department's project comprises a network of groundstations in New Delhi, Chennai and Guwahati, providing satellite coverage for the entire sub-continent. These groundstations will be used to provide public weather forecasting and a range of research applications. The systems are currently being installed and commissioned. ES&S are also providing a full suite of image processing software, including the METEOR image display and analysis package.

The Indian Airforce systems are the first SATRAX installations using the new tri-band feed, expanding the capability of the SATRAX system to permit reception of S-band satellites, as well as X and L band satellites. A single composite feed integrates all three bands. These IAF systems will be located at five locations across the country.

Both satellite systems are due for completion by the end of the year, with several of the stations ready for the Commonwealth Games.

The software capability of these Indian systems has been greatly expanded to incorporate the generation of additional remote sensing products. In addition to the wide range of existing products, both the IMD and IAF systems will be able to process raw data from MetOp, and output sophisticated water and temperature profiles, as well as perform gas analysis of the atmosphere to determine carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and ozone concentrations.

These new Indian systems expand the global coverage of the ES&S SATRAX groundstation, which has now been installed in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Korea, China, Taiwan and New Zealand and includes three stations in Antarctica.