Analysis of Payload Technical Specifications for Efficient Agriculture and Forestry Satellite Observation

Abstract

: Over the past half century, satellites have continuously expanded their roles in remote sensing applications. As the number of satellites to be launched are expected to continuously increase in coming years, the research on satellite payloads will be in high demands. Earth Observation (EO) satellites are nowadays widely utilized for various purposes. Especially, Agriculture and forestry applications are considered as their major application areas. Since about 85% of domestic land cover is classified as forest or cropland areas, it would be reasonable to suggest that the demand for these satellites should be of high priority. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis is performed on the technical specifications of satellite payloads that may be applicable to agricultural applications. We attempted to build a solid database on payload specifications by collecting relevant information available from various related institutes and academic research works. A number of experts involved in national agricultural research and satellite development programs have been invited to investigate required payload design. Based on the current technology development status and future plan, multiple options for future satellite payload designs have been suggested bearing in mind that the results may be applicable to the future agriculture and forestry satellite payload design. The proposed payload specifications are analyzed in depth through satellite operation simulations under the mission of observing the national agriculture areas. The proposed design scheme and simulation results may be used as technical references to satellite payload design for future space missions.