The Hindu : National : Satellite photographs give them a view from space

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Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
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Satellite photographs give them a view from space

Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Do you know how the Statue junction here looks like when viewed from space? Not many would know.

But the students of the SMV Higher Secondary School saw this and more, thanks to an exhibition on remote sensing and GIS organised there by the Department of Geology, University of Kerala.

As eager students gathered around satellite photos of Padmanabhaswamy temple, Technopark campus, PMG junction and the city’s airport complex, researchers explained to them the scope of remote sensing and the technology that brought to them those photographs.

Faculty members of the department also explained to them that different satellite cameras had different resolutions and thus produce pictures with differing quality.

The satellite photograph of Trinity Circle in London is so sharp that the medians on the road can be seen clearly.

But, such details cannot be seen in a satellite shot of the south-eastern tip of the Indian sub-continent or Sri Lanka as the camera’s resolution is very low, the students were told.

Charts explaining the remote imaging capabilities of the country were also on display.

“Though remote sensing and map-making are an integral part of the syllabus most schoolchildren have never seen a satellite photo or viewed a map through a stereoscope. Similarly, though Geographic Information System is included in the syllabus even teachers don’t know much about it,” head of the department of Geology V. Prasanna Kumar said.

ISRO funding

This is what prompted the department to organise such exhibitions — with financial assistance from the ISRO — in schools. Lectures on remote sensing and GIS are also held as part of the exhibitions, he said.

GIS maps on land use in Attappady and on the Mamam river basin were also displayed at the exhibition.

Such maps prepared by integrating data from various sources could help planners draw up development plans for various areas, the students were told.

On one side of the exhibition venue were displayed samples of rocks and minerals, including a chunk of a petrified tree, a coral and a piece of graphite.

Samples

According to Rajesh Raghunath, a faculty member, some samples were about 65 millions old. The ISRO will support such exhibitions in ten schools this year.

Exhibitions have already been held in six selected schools.

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