After a couple of years of deliberation and ending a long period of ambiguity and confusion, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has finally announced its policy for remotely piloted aircraft or drones. Set to come into effect from December 1, 2018, the new policy defines what will be classified as remotely piloted aircraft, how […]
Landslides Can Cause More Landslides
One might think that if there was already a landslide in a particular location that there’d be nothing left to make another landslide in the future. Regrettably that is not always the case. Indeed, in some geologic settings evidence of a preexisting landslide plays a role in the mapping of future landslide hazards. The deadliest […]
Modeling Landslide Threats in Near Realtime
For the first time, scientists can look at landslide threats anywhere around the world in near real-time, thanks to satellite data and a new model developed by NASA. The model (Landslide Hazard Assessment for Situational Awareness (LHASA)), developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, estimates potential landslide activity triggered by rainfall. Rainfall […]
May the Forest Be With You: GEDI Moves Toward Launch to Space Station
A first-of-its-kind laser instrument designed to map the world’s forests in 3-D is moving toward an earlier launch to the International Space Station than previously expected. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation – or GEDI, pronounced like “Jedi,” of Star Wars fame – the instrument is undergoing final integration and testing this spring and summer at […]
The Saga of Indian Remote Sensing Satellite System
IRS-1A, the first of the series of indigenous state-of-art operating remote sensing satellites, was successfully launched into a polar sun-synchronous orbit on March 17, 1988, from the Soviet Cosmodrome at Baikonur. The successful launch of IRS-1A was one of the proudest moments for the entire country, which depicted the maturity of the satellite to address […]
Where do old satellites go when they die?
Like every other machine, satellites do not last forever. Whether their job is to observe weather, measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, or point away from Earth to study the stars, eventually all satellites grow old, wear out, and die, just like old washing machines and vacuum cleaners. So what happens when a trusty satellite’s […]
Laser Scans Reveal Maya “Megalopolis” Below Guatemalan Jungle
In what’s being hailed as a “major breakthrough” in Maya archaeology, researchers have identified the ruins of more than 60,000 houses, palaces, elevated highways, and other human-made features that have been hidden for centuries under the jungles of northern Guatemala. Using a revolutionary technology known as LiDAR (short for “Light Detection And Ranging”), scholars digitally […]
PSLV-C40 Succesfully Launches Cartosat-2 Series Satellite
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 42nd flight (PSLV-C40), has launched the 710 kg Cartosat-2 Series Satellite for earth observation and 30 co-passenger satellites together weighing about 613 kg at lift-off. PSLV-C40 was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. In its first mission of 2018, the […]
HERE + UNIFLY joining forces to map airspace
According to Engadget in March 2017, there are over 770,000 drone owners registered to fly in the US. That’s up from 670,000 at the beginning of 2017, meaning 100,000 users signed up in just three months alone. The FAA has also issued 37,000 Remote Pilot Certificates that let drone owners do the filming, inspection and other commercial […]
Digital Agriculture: Farmers in India are using AI to increase crop yields
New technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Machine Learning, Satellite Imagery and advanced analytics are empowering small-holder farmers in India to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control, Microsoft India said. (Photo Source: ICRISAT) In a few dozen villages in Telengana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, farmers are receiving automated voice calls […]
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