SECTION 3

3. SENSOR PLATFORMS
Remote sensing of the aquatic environment can be carried out from a variety of observation
platforms. Depending on the distance between the sensor and the target, four categories of
platforms can be identified: boats, balloons, aircraft and satellites.
3.1 Boats
Boats, buoys and submarines and other submersibles have been in use as remote sensing platforms
for fifty years, primarily in conjunction with echo sounders and sonar. Sonar was developed in
1918 and was first used for fishery applications in the 1930's. Most modern fishing boats are
equipped with echo sounders which utilize paper strip charts or cathode ray tubes (CRT) as
display units. Now, however, sonar with audio systems is becoming popular as it is a quick and
effective method of transmitting information.
The use of buoys and submarines for visual or echo detection of fish has been mainly
experimental. Echo sounders or sonar have been installed in submersibles towed at a distance
from the mother ship to minimize the noise interference of the ship's engine on the target species.
Submersibles such as RUFAS (Remote Underwater Fishery Assessment System), equipped with
underwater TV cameras, have been used successfully in assessing scallop resources.
3.2 Balloons
Free floating or anchored balloons have been used to a limited extent for the aerial photography of
water bodies such as bays and lakes to trace water circulation, sedimentation, etc.
Balloons are of limited use for the remote sensing of vast ocean surfaces due to their instability
and slow speed.
3.3 Aircraft
Aircraft have been used extensively as remote sensing platforms for land and coastal mapping,
oceanographic studies and the spotting of fish schools. This is one of the most efficient methods of
remote sensing the earth's surface at larger scales. Aircraft have the advantage of optimizing data
acquisition by providing operator access to the remote sensing instrumentation and by allowing a
wide choice of acquisition parameters. A remote sensing mission can be performed over a
particular area at a specified time (weather permitting) and may be repeated under controlled
conditions. A suitable altitude can be chosen to optimize resolution and coverage area.
Commercially available aircraft can reach an altitude of 15 km. Aircraft can be equipped with
black and white, colour or colour infrared (CIR) photographic equipment, multispectral scanners
or active sensors such as radar.
The main disadvantages of remote sensing from aircraft are the instability of the platform, the
limited geographic coverage (due to the relatively low altitude of the aircraft), the high cost and
the dependence on weather conditions. This method, therefore, is used mainly for time- critical
missions. When the mission requires repetitive imaging of the same area, the significantly lower
access cost of satellite data generally is preferred.
3.4 Satellites
With the use of satellites as remote sensing platforms it has been possible to overcome some of the
difficulties encountered in remote sensing with aircraft. Satellites can monitor the entire earth
surface on a periodic basis, covering a sizeable section on each revolution. Satellites designed for
remote sensing on an operational basis are generally unmanned. Nevertheless, some manned
satellites have provided valuable information despite the short duration of their mission, e.g.,
SKYLAB, SOYUZ and space shuttles.
3.4.1 Orbital parameters
The theoretical orbit of a satellite is an ellipse. In the case of environmental satellites, however,
this ellipse is generally considered as a circle having the earth as its centre. The orbits of satellites
are described as follows (refer to Figure 3.1):
i) equatorial - having an orbit within the plane of the equator;
ii) polar - having an orbit within the plane of the earth's axis;
iii) near-polar - having an orbit oblique to the axis of the earth.
Most of the communication satellites have equatorial orbits, while