Brazil’s Remote Sensing Program

Brian Shiro
Department of Space Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA

October 17, 2008

Introduction
Despite facing challenges as a developing country, Brazil has managed to grow an
effective remote sensing capability through both unilateral and cooperative programs. It also
possesses a competitive domestic launch capability, which gives Brazil both a measure of
autonomy and leverage to cooperate with other partners. This report focuses primarily on
Brazil’s civil land remote sensing and related space activities.
With a land area of 8.5 million km2 and a population of 187 million and Brazil is the
largest and most populous country in South America and fifth largest and fifth most populous in
the world. Brazil is home to more than 60% of the Amazon Rainforest, which comprises 40% of
the world’s remaining tropical rain forests. This makes Brazil the most biodiverse country on the
planet. The Amazon is estimated to hold around 90-140 billions tons of carbon, but when forests
are cut down some of this storage capacity is lost, resulting in millions of tons of emissions
annually (Butler 2006). Taking this into account, Brazil is the fourth largest emitter of
greenhouse gases after China, the United States, and Indonesia.
Brazil is South America’s leading economic power with vast natural resources and labor
pool. However, Brazil comes second only to Bangladesh in unevenness of wealth distribution,
leading to great disparities between rich and the poor. Annual per capita GDP is only $8,402
(compare to $41,890 in US). 60% of the people live in poverty with 12% earning less than $1
per day (UNDP 2007). An estimated 32 million people go hungry and 25,000 work under
conditions of slavery. Government-subsidized agriculture and colonization programs encourage
the destruction of the Amazon rainforest by both commercial interests (~70%) and subsistence
farmers (~30%).
The Brazilian government is faced with the challenging task of balancing the demands of
economic development with environmental protection. Brazil wants to resolve environmental
issues while enhancing agricultural production and development of natural resources (Barbosa

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and Ceballos 1995). The region’s geopolitical position, size and low population density have
meant that it has long been seen as ‘strategically vulnerable and economically underutilized’ by
Brazil’s federal planners (Kirby et al. 2006). In recent years, deforestation in the Brazilian
Amazon has increasingly moved in step with soy and cattle prices (Butler 2008). The rate in
2008 was nearly triple that in 2007, and the Brazilian government has pledged to reduce
deforestation to zero by 2015 (Butler 2008). Remote Sensing is a vital tool Brazil needs to
resolve environmental issues, enhance agricultural production, and develop natural resources.

History of Brazil’s Space Program

Brazil’s government has made space development a priority despite episodic political and
economic turmoil. After nearly 50 years of investment in space, Brazil now boasts one of the
most successful space programs of any developing country. Just a few days after Yuri Gagarin
visited Brazil in 1961, the country established the its first space commission called GOCNAE
(Group for the Organization of the National Space Activities Commission), which was later
renamed CNAE (National Commission of Space Activities) in 1963 and COBAE (Brazilian
Commission of Space Activities) in 1971 (Filho 1995). During this early phase of Brazil’s space
development, it focused on intense recruiting and training of talented professionals to carry out
theoretical and experimental investigations, mainly in the fields of space and atmospheric
sciences (Ceballos 1995). By the mid- to late-1960s, Brazil had begun its first remote sensing
and meteorology programs using data provided from other countries, mostly the United States.
The National Institute of Space Research (INPE) was created in 1971 with a mission to
promote and perform scientific research and technological development in the fields of space
sciences, atmosphere sciences, space applications, meteorology, and space engineering. Brazil
started its remote sensing program in earnest after installing a Landsat ground station at Cuiabá
in 1972. The station was only the third Landsat ground station in existence at the time after US
and Canada and was the first on in Latin America (Filho 1995).
In 1979, Brazil began its first major space program to achieve independent satellite
development, construction, and launch abilities through the MECB program (Brazilian Complete
Space Mission). The program has been an overall success despite economic downturns and three
rocket failures (Durão 2004; Fonseca and Bainum 2006). Brazil developed the highly successful
SCD series of satellites, the VLS launch vehicle, and the Alcântara Launch Center, which has

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been unpopular with local residents who were forced off their land so it could be built (Moffett 9
October 2008).
After 21 years under a military regime, Brazil ushered in a civil government in 1985.
One of the first acts of the new government’s Science and Technology Minister was to consider a
Chinese proposal for cooperation in a remote sensing program. Sensing an uncertain future for
Landsat and MODIS, Brazil signed its first agreement with China in 1988 (Filho 1997). The
CBERS program has persisted for two decades and now has three satellites in orbit. The
partnership is widely regarded as one of the best examples of an enduring international
cooperation leading to the successful development, launch, and operation of a land remote
sensing satellite system (Bailey et al. 2001). In 1994, Brazil created its first fully civil space
institution the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), which united Brazil’s various space activities
including INPE under one umbrella (Filho 1995). Since then, Brazil has opened up its
cooperation with many more countries.
Brazil’s launch capabilities can be traced back to its Sonda sounding rocket program,
which boasts more than 60 successful launches from 1965 to the present (Astronautica 2008).
Additionally, Brazil has flown over 100 scientific balloon flights since 1969 (Corrêa et al. 2002).
Brazil’s four-stage Satellite Launch Vehicle (VLS-1) can carry 100-350 kg payloads to 250-1000
km orbits (Durão 2004). The VLS-1 suffered launch failures in 1997, 1999, and 2003 (AP
2003). The 2003 accident killed 21 people and destroyed most of the Alcântara launch facility
(Johnson and Almeida 2008).
Alcântara’s location just 2.3 degrees south of the equator allows for a payload advantage
of 13% compared to Cape Canaveral and 31% relative to Baikonur for equatorial orbits, and its
proximity to the ocean makes it ideal for launchings to polar orbit with great fuel savings (Durão
2004). This has led to a great deal of interest in the location as a prime launch site. With the
help of Russia and Germany, Brazil scaled back its rocket design to two stages with a maximum
of 250 km orbit as the Brazilian Exploration Vehicle (VSB) and in 2004 finally achieved its first
successful orbital launch of the VSB-30 (AP 2004). Brazil reportedly has plans to sell fifteen of
the VSB rockets to Europe as part of its plan to commercialize its launch program (AP 2004).
Brazil and Ukraine signed agreement in 2002 to develop a commercial Cyclone-4 launch vehicle,
and work began in 2007 (Filho 2005). Brazil and Russia signed agreement in 2008 to jointly
develop launch vehicle based on Russia’s Angara liquid fuel engine (RIA_Novosti 2008).

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Satellite Status NSSDC ID Launch Date Mass Orbit (perigee, apogee, Sensor Spectral Bands Spatial Swath Revisit
(vehicle; location) (kg) inclination, period) (µm) Res. (m) (km) (days)
SCD-1 F 1993-009B 1993-02-09 115 723.4 km, 785.1 km ground DCP data relay
Pegasus; KSC, USA 25.0º, 99.8 min
SCD-2 A 1998-060A 1998-10-23 115 742.7 km, 768.1 km ground DCP data relay
Pegasus; KSC, USA 25.0º, 99.8 min
SACI-1 F 1999-057B 1999-10-14 60 726.5 km, 739.4 km ORCAS
LM4B; Taiyuan, China 98.7º, 99.3 min FOTSAT 0.5577
or PHOTOEX 0.6300
0.7150
0.7240
PLASMEX
MAGNEX
CBERS-1 F 1999-057A 1999-10-14 1540 779.6 km, 788.6 km CCD 0.45–0.52 (B) 20 113 26 (3)
(Zi Yuan 1) LM4B; Taiyuan, China 98.2º, 100.4 min (steerable ±32º off nadir) 0.52–0.59( G)
0.63–0.69 (R)
0.77–0.89 (NIR)
0.51–0.73 (PAN)
IRMSS 0.50–1.10 (PAN) 80 120 26
1.55–1.75 (SWIR) 80
2.08–2.35 (SWIR) 80
10.4–12.5 (TIR) 160
WFI 0.63–0.69 (R) 260 885 3-5
0.76–0.90 (NIR)
Aqua F 2002-022A 2002-05-04 3117 709.0 km, 710.4 km HSB 150.000 GHz 13500 1650
(EOS-PM1) Delta II; Vandenberg, USA 98.2º, 98.8 min 183.310 GHz
183.310 GHz
183.310 GHz
CBERS-2 A 2003-049A 2003-10-21 1600 779.9 km, 782.2 km CCD 0.45–0.52 (B) 20 113 26 (3)
(Zi Yuan 2) LM4B; Taiyuan, China 98.3º, 100.3 min (steerable ±32º off nadir) 0.52–0.59( G)
0.63–0.69 (R)
0.77–0.89 (NIR)
0.51–0.73 (PAN)
IRMSS 0.50–1.10 (PAN) 80 120 26
1.55–1.75 (SWIR) 80
2.08–2.35 (SWIR) 80
10.4–12.5 (TIR) 160
WFI 0.63–0.69 (R) 260 885 3-5
0.76–0.90 (NIR)
CBERS-2B A 2007-042A 2007-09-19 1500 780.0 km, 781.5 km CCD B 20 113
(Zi Yuan 2B) LM4B; Taiyuan, China 98.5º, 100.3 min G
R
NIR
PAN
HRC PAN 2.5 27
WFI R 260 890
NIR
Table 1: Brazil’s Active (A) and Former (F) Remote Sensing Satellites and Sensors (Lambrigtsen and Calheiros 2003; N2YO 2008; NASA 2008)
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Satellites and Sensors
Brazil has launched six remote sensing satellites and has had a sensor flown on a NASA
satellite. Two are in equatorial orbits, and four are in polar orbits. Three of the satellites are
active today (SCD-2, CBERS-2, CBERS-2B). Table 1 summarizes the main aspects of Brazil’s
current and former satellites and sensors.
The SCD (Satélite de Coleta de Dado) satellites are data-collecting satellites, meaning
they only receive and relay data. There have no active cameras or sensors. Instead, they collect
meteorological and environmental data from over 600 remote data collection platforms (PCD)
located throughout the country (Fonseca and Bainum 2006). The data is used for many
environmental monitoring applications such as weather forecasting, flood monitoring, and
air/water quality control. SCD-1 and SCD-2 launched in 1993 and 1998 from US Pegasus
rockets since the Brazilian-made VLS rockets were not yet ready (Filho 1995). The SCD
satellites were only meant to last one year, but SCD-1 operated for 13 years, and SCD-2 is still
working after a decade of operation. The SCD satellites were originally developed as part of the
MECB program to demonstrate technology, but they have become indispensable to Brazil. The
newer CBERS satellites also relay PCD data, so when SCD-2 dies, Brazil will not lose its
important ground data. Brazil may launch additional SCD satellites in the future.
INPE also developed a series of small, low-cost microsatellites through the SACI series
of satellites. Small satellites are a particularly good investment for a developing country since
they can provide great benefit with relatively little cost (Molette and Alarcon 1996). The
modular bus of SACI gave it flexibility to host different payloads, which consisted of upper
atmosphere and magnetosphere monitoring experiments (Neri et al. 1996; Takahashi et al. 2000).
SACI-1 was launched in 1999 along with CBERS-1, but it failed soon after achieving orbit.
After SACI-2 was lost in the 1999 VLS rocket failure (Reuters 1999), Brazil abandoned the
SACI program (Khalip 1999).
Two other past remote sensing projects in Brazil included HSB and SATEC. The
Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB) was a 4-channel microwave sounder contributed by Brazil to
the NASA Aqua satellite. It measured atmospheric humidity profiles, even through clouds.
Aqua launched in May 2002, and HSB was successful until it failed in February 2003
(Lambrigtsen and Calheiros 2003). Like SACI, SATEC was a low-cost microsatellite, but it was
destroyed along with UNOSAT 1 in the 2003 VLS-1 launch failure (Almeida et al. 2006).

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 Brazil's most successful remote sensing endeavor to date is the joint China-Brazil Earth
Resources Satellite (CBERS) program. The joint China-Brazil program began in the mid-1980s
when Landsat commercialization left the future of that data source in doubt. The two countries
decided to pool their resources and produce a series of remote sensing satellites. Their first
intergovernmental protocol in 1988 laid the ground rules for the partnership. It specified that the
CBERS-1 and 2 development, spending, and operations would be split 70/30 between China and
Brazil with both both satellites launched from China’s Taiyuan Satellite Launching Center (Filho
1997; Lino et al. 2000). The subsequent 2002 agreement similarly set up the rules for the next
generation CBERS-3 and 4 satellites, in which China and Brazil will split everything equally,
including the launches with one launch from Brazil and one from China. (Zhao 2005). These
and other agreements define the cooperation between Brazil’s INPE and China’s CAST (Chinese
Academy of Space Technology).
Three CBERS satellites have launched so far. CBERS-1 launched in 1999 and died in
2004. CBERS-2 launched in 2003 and is nearing the end of its life now due to power problems.
Its onboard data recorder and multispectral sensor (MSS) are no longer operational due to power
limitations (USGS_and_NASA 2007). CBERS-2B launched in 2007 to replace the ailing
CBERS-2 while the next generation satellites are being designed and constructed. Future
satellites are planned starting with CBERS-3 in 2009. CBERS-4 will launch from Brazil in
2012. China and Brazil are also exploring the feasibility of a joint geostationary meteorological
satellite and a telecommunications satellite based on the CBERS satellite bus.
The current generation CBERS satellites have three types of sensors: a wide field imager
(WFI) with 260 m resolution and 890 km swath width, a high-resolution 4-band CCD imager
with 20 m resolution and 120 km swath width (also is steerable off nadir), and a multispectral
sensor (MSS). The revisit time is 26 days for the CCD and 3 days for the WFI. Figure 1
illustrates the spectral bands of each sensor on the CBERS satellites. The capabilities of CBERS
are very similar to the Landsat satellites, and with the looming failure of Landsats 5 and 7 there
will be a gap in the 30+ year record of continuous global coverage by that program (Goetz 2007).
A joint USGS-NASA team recently reviewed the alternatives to Landsat and concluded that
CBERS, while not perfect, is one of the best suited alternatives to fill the gap in Landsat
coverage (USGS_and_NASA 2007). In fact, there is now a test CBERS-2B data downlink
undergoing evaluation at the USGS EROS Datacenter.

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 CBERS-1,2

CBERS-2B

CBERS-3,4

Figure 1: CBERS sensors comparison (red=developed by China, green=developed by Brazil)

Ground Facilities & Product Dissemination

CBERS satellite operations are shared by Brazil and China according to a schedule
depending on the geographic location of the satellites. Brazil handles the tracking, telemetry,
and control (TT&C) of its remote sensing satellites through the main Satellite Control Center at
CPTEC (Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos) in São Paulo and two ground
stations at Cuiabá and Alcântara (Orlando and Kuga 2001). China independently performs
CBERS TT&C from its CRESDA (China Centre for Resources Satellite Data and Application)
and three RSGS (Remote Sensing Satellite Ground Receiving Station) ground stations (Huadong

7
and Changlin 2005; Tominaga and Ferreira 2008). Additional ground stations are currently
located in the United States (EROS), Spain, and South Africa, and other sites are under
consideration (Figure 2).

.Figure 2: Current (solid) and planned (dashed) CBERS ground stations

CBERS is fast becoming the most easily accessible Landsat alternative. Since June 2004,
INPE has freely distributed fully resolution CBERS images to registered users via its website at
http://www.dgi.inpe.br/CDSR/. INPE delivers an average of 650 downloads of CBERS data
every day and served 15 thousand users from June 2004 to September 2008 (INPE 2008). This
makes Brazil the largest distributor of satellite images in the world. Internet downloads of
images are cost free, and products shipped on CD have a nominal cost to cover the media and
shipping. Latin American countries get data from the Cuiabá ground station, and African users
get data from ground stations in Spain and South Africa.

Applications
The joint China-Brazil CBERS program has many applications in China and Brazil
including agriculture, forestry, water conservation, land resources, desertification, city planning,
environment protection, natural hazard monitoring (Haijiang et al. ; Qiao et al. 2008). However,
INPE ingests remote sensing data from many earth observation satellites in addition to CBERS.
This includes its own PCD data from SCD satellites, Landsat, NOAA’s GOES and POES, ESA’s

8
Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), NASA’s Aqua and Terra, and some high resolution
imagery such as SPOT. This data is then used to generate products with a number of
applications related to weather, climate, health, agriculture, fires, and natural disasters. The
central internet portal for these products is INPE’s Satellite Division and Environmental Systems
(DSA) website at http://satelite.cptec.inpe.br/.
INPE has carried out annual Amazon deforestation monitoring via PRODES (Project
Brazilian Amazonian Forest Monitoring by Satellites) since 1988 using Landsat TM and CBERS
data (Kirby et al. 2006). More recently in 2008, INPE began a new near-real time deforestation
monitoring program called DETER (Real Time Deforestation Monitoring System) using MODIS
data to provide 15-day alerts of newly deforested areas. Additionally, INPE is considering
complementing MODIS data with SAR data in the future to remove the current limitations
imposed by cloud cover (Mesquita et al. 2008).

The Future
With three decades of autonomous and collaborative development of remote sensing
capabilities, Brazil has positioned itself well to innovate and lead with monitoring programs in
the future. Figure 3 shows a timeline of Brazil’s ambitious plans to launch satellites with
increasing higher resolution and shorter revisit times. The next decade should be exciting for
Brazil's remote sensing program.

Figure 3: Brazil’s planned remote sensing satellites over the next decade

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 Brazil has developed a generic earth observation satellite bus called the Multimission
Platform (MMP) that can carry up to 300 kg payloads in either polar or equatorial orbit
(Carvalho et al. 2004). Many of Brazil’s upcoming missions will use this platform. Amazônia
and MAPSAR grew out of the MECB program and are now collaborative projects with the UK
and Germany, respectively. The Amazônia satellites will provide high resolution images over a
large 780 km swath with a short revisit time of only 5 days (INPE 2008). The MAPSAR (Multi-
Application Purpose SAR) satellites will provide L-band synthetic aperture radar ability with a
host of applications to forestry, cartography, and disaster management (Schröder et al. 2005).
Brazil also plans to contribute a satellite built using the MMP bus to the Global Precipitation
Mission (GPM) constellation in order to provide global precipitation estimates at 3-hour intervals
with spatial resolution of 25 km (AEB 2005). The Lattes satellites will also use the MMP bus
and will monitor space weather.
In addition to Brazil’s two major remote sensing programs CBERS and MMP, it also has
a thriving scientific microsatellite development plan. Some of the satellites under development
include: MIRAX, an X-ray astronomy mission slated for a 2008 launch in collaboration with
USA, Germany, and the Netherlands (Braga et al. 2004); EQUARS, for monitoring dynamic
photochemical processes in the upper atmosphere slated for a 2009 launch in collaboration with
China, Japan, USA, and Canada; and MCE, which is a proposed 3-satellite constellation for
space weather monitoring in collaboration with Russia and Ukraine (Chamon and Carvalho
2006); and a university satellite called ITASAT {INPE 2007}. Another long-standing project
that has persisted since 1998 is the SABIA3 (Argentine-Brazilian Satellite providing Information
on Water, Agriculture, and Environment) satellite developed with Argentina (Romero 2004).

Conclusion
Brazil's space program has succeeded in developing its own satellites and all related
facilities required to design, build, launch, control, and maintain them. The CBERS program in
particular is a major international cooperation success story due to over 20 years of trust-building
between Brazil and China, despite cultural, language, time zone and other difficulties. Brazil has
a very open data-sharing policy that is revolutionizing the industry. Its ambitious plans to reduce
deforestation to zero by 2015 will depend upon improved remote sensing information gathered
by MMP satellites built with many international partners.

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