Tag: Remote Sensing
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China Launches Yaogan-50 03 Remote-Sensing Satellite on Long March 6A (Video)
China launched the Yaogan-50 03 remote-sensing satellite aboard a Long March 6A rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 6:15 p.m. Beijing Time on Oct. 23, 2026. The spacecraft entered its planned orbit, completing the 672nd launch of China’s Long March rocket family. Chinese authorities said Yaogan-50 03 will primarily support land surveys, crop…
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China Launches First Wuyang Satellite for Low-Latitude Earth Observation
China launched Xiguang-4 01, also known as Wuyang Constellation Pathfinder A, on October 21, beginning in-orbit validation of a remote-sensing network designed to provide more frequent observations of low- and middle-latitude regions. The satellite lifted off at 11:39 a.m. Beijing time aboard Galactic Energy’s Ceres-1S Y8 rocket from the Dongfang Hangtiangang launch vessel in waters…
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Can Satellite Imagery Detect Soil Salinity?
Satellite imagery can reveal exposed salt crusts, identify crop patterns consistent with salt stress, and support soil salinity estimates calibrated against ground measurements. These are three different results. A bright patch of soil or a low vegetation index alone cannot establish how saline the soil is, particularly below the surface. For agricultural monitoring, the useful…
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From Sending Data to Delivering Answers: How AI Lets Satellites Process Observations in Orbit
A wildfire breaks out, and a satellite hundreds of kilometers above Earth captures a clear view of the blaze. Under the conventional workflow, the imagery must wait for a ground-station contact window, be downloaded and processed at a data center, and finally reach the incident commander. That process can take days. By then, the fire…
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How Reliable Is Satellite Soil Moisture at Field Scale?
Satellite soil moisture can help identify drying trends, track surface wetting and prioritize agricultural inspections. Whether it can support decisions for an individual field depends on what the product estimates, the area each estimate represents and how it performs against local measurements. A map displayed at 30 metres does not necessarily contain independent 30-metre observations.…
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Can Satellite Imagery Measure Shallow-Water Depth?
Yes, satellite imagery can estimate shallow-water depth where enough light reaches the bottom and returns to the sensor. This approach, known as satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB), can help map coastal shallows, identify possible shoals and prioritize areas for detailed surveys. Its usefulness depends on water clarity, bottom conditions, image quality and validation against reliable depth measurements.…
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How to Measure Shoreline Change Without Mistaking Tides for Erosion
A shoreline can move landward between two satellite images even when the beach has lost no sediment. A higher tide, stronger wave run-up or a different position within the seasonal beach cycle can all change where water meets land. Measuring coastal change therefore requires more than extracting a clean boundary. The measurement must follow a…
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Can Satellites Measure Soil Organic Carbon?
Satellites can help estimate soil organic carbon and map its spatial variation, but they do not directly measure the carbon stored throughout a soil profile. Optical sensors observe the exposed surface or the vegetation above it. Turning those observations into a soil carbon estimate requires a model, representative soil samples and independent validation. For agricultural…
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How Reliable Is Satellite-Derived Water Turbidity?
Satellite-derived turbidity can support reliable monitoring of sediment plumes, seasonal patterns and unusual changes across rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Its reliability, however, depends on whether the imagery, processing method and retrieval algorithm have been validated for the conditions being monitored. A convincing map is not enough: users need to know how closely the estimates…
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How to Identify Crop Types with Limited Ground Truth
Satellite imagery can help identify what farmers are growing, even when field observations are limited. But a detailed crop map needs more than an image and a classification algorithm. It needs reference labels that match the location and growing season, observations that capture crop development, and independent checks of the results. When those ingredients are…