UTILISING THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO SUPPORT THE REGIONAL VISUALISATION AND MONITORING SYSTEM

摘要

Primarily supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Agency forInternational Development (USAID), the Regional Visualization and Monitoring System (SERVIR) uses data fromEarth observing satellites to monitor, understand, and forecast environmental changes worldwide. SERVIR isheadquartered at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, USA and currently hasregional hubs located in East Africa and the Himalayan region and a network affiliate located in Mesoamerica.SERVIR aids governments and decision makers in these areas and others by providing information that is crucial fornatural disaster detection and response as well as data enabling efficient management of ecological resources andresponse to harmful ecological trends. Currently, SERVIR relies heavily on data collected by satellites, such as theLandsat 7 and Terra satellites, that have exceeded their design life and, in some cases, are no longer fully functional.Relying on such satellites introduces risk and uncertainty into the SERVIR mission. To mitigate this risk and learnhow to operate in a new environment, the SERVIR team at NASA MSFC has begun the design of a new Earthobserving sensor that will be placed on the International Space Station (ISS). The presence of this sensor in spacewill create a more secure and dependable source of environmental data. This paper explores and further emphasizesthe need for new Earth observing technology in space and projects the impact of the new sensor being developed atMSFC.