26 June 2000

NASA beams down to Dundee

The University of Dundee is to play host to over sixty international engineers and scientists, including experts from NASA, when the latest in technology for receiving data from satellites will be discussed during a four day conference on "Direct Broadcasting of Earth Observation Data" (Tuesday 27th - Friday 30th June).

University of Dundee satellite engineers will be providing delegates with new information on the recently launched NASA satellite, Terra, whose data is received by the University's satellite receiving station and processed by environmental scientists at Plymouth's Marine Laboratory.

Earth observation data is information about the Earth of importance to environmental scientists and direct broadcasting of this data means that the information is transmitted directly back to Earth as events are occurring in real time, without a delay - for example the impact of a volcanic eruption can be monitored as the eruption is actually happening. The satellite receiving station at Dundee receives information from Iceland to the Mediterranean and from mid Atlantic to the Eastern end of the Baltic.

The launch of the new satellite, Terra, has enabled scientists to monitor the environmental impact of man on sea and land with far greater accuracy and in much more detail. Data gathered from Earth observation satellites is used to help scientists understand the interaction of the land and ocean surfaces with the atmosphere; the formation of clouds and aerosols and their interaction with radiation from the Sun; the shaping of the land surface by volcanoes, earthquakes, and the melting of glaciers and sea ice and the factors contributing to climatic variability including global warming.

Steve Parkes, director of the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station: "This international conference is being held at Dundee in recognition of the outstanding work that the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station has done in the fascinating and technically challenging field of satellite data reception. Peter Baylis, the former station director, and John Brush set up the receiving station 25 years ago with funding from the Natural Environment Research Council. It has been receiving and archiving data ever since, providing a valuable service to UK environmental science."

Michael Davies, head of the school of engineering at the University of Dundee, said "The satellite receiving station is one of the most important research centres within the newly formed school of engineering at the University of Dundee. Hosting this international conference is a reflection of the exciting technological research going on in the school of engineering."

Professor Arthur Cracknell of the department of electronic engineering and physics, also the editor of the International Journal of Remote Sensing, added: "Direct broadcasting facilitates a whole new range of environmental applications of satellite data because it means that data can be made available to scientists locally and in real time. Rapidly changing environmental situations and catastrophes can then be monitored in great detail as they are actually developing."

The Dundee Satellite Receiving Station is part of the School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Dundee and is funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council. It operates in close collaboration with the Remote Sensing Data Analysis Service at Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

The Fourth International Conference on Direct Broadcasting of Earth Observation Data is being held on 27-30 June at the University of Dundee West Park Conference Centre. The conference is organised by the University of Dundee, NASA and the University of Hawaii. It is supported by Scottish Enterprise Tayside and the Royal Society of Edinburgh./ends

For further information please contact:
Steve Parkes, Director, Dundee Satellite Receiving Station
01382 345194
sparkes@computing.dundee.ac.uk

Neil Lonie, Manager, Dundee Satellite Receiving Station
01382 344409
ntl@sat.dundee.ac.uk

Peter Baylis, Dundee Satellite Receiving Station
01382 344406
peb@sat.dundee.ac.uk

Prof. Arthur Cracknell, Department of Electronic Engineering and Physics
01382 344549
a.p.cracknell@dundee.ac.uk

For information about the conference: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/crsem/dbconference.htm For general information and images from the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station: http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk For more information on the Terra Satellite: http://terra.nasa.gov

Photograph of: SEASTAR Image - an image of the UK taken by the SeaWiFS instrument on board the SEASTAR satellite received at the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station.