Modern trends in development of monitoring systems

with application of space means

V.I.Lukyaschenko, A.A.Peshkin

Russian Astronautics Academy of K.E.Tsiolkovsky name

International Academy of Astronautics

Some aspects are presented of scientific research and experimental design works (SREDW) conducted under the aegis of Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and aimed at scientific and technical support of the monitoring. Some critical and potentially dangerous industries and processes, environment condition, and development of emergency natural phenomena are considered as monitoring objects. The following principal works are described: establishment of a branch monitoring system for the ground infrastructure and transportation of hazardous cargos, development of basic elements and implementation of regional navigating and informational systems in the regions of Russian Federation, design of aerospace system for monitoring of the global geophysical phenomena.

Nowadays in a number of industrial sectors and agencies of Russian Federation the monitoring systems successfully operate for their objects and resources which also control the environmental conditions. Such systems operate in Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Nature, Russian Meteorology Centre, Agency of Fishery and other branches. In the nearest future (till 2015) a branch monitoring system for Roskosmos (Russian Space Agency) is planned to be established (BMSR). Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) "Russian Scientific Research Institute for Space Instrument Engineering" acts as a directing design agency. BMSR should provide continuous observation of critical and (or) potentially dangerous ground objects and hazardous cargos being under the authority of Roskosmos; carry out centralized automated monitoring of the technical state of survival and safety facilities for the enterprises and industrial agencies, objects of Bayconur space launching site (Vostochniy space launching site in prospect); control the transportation of dangerous and valuable cargos of Roskosmos (components ofљ rocket fuel, space vehicles, carrier rockets, boosters, equipment sets). The main objective of the system should be not enunciation about the events that had already happened but advance prediction with possible prevention of these events.

Observation of different ground objects, prediction of emergency situations (earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc.), their development and possible consequences are nowadays especially pressing problems of monitoring aimed at ensuring the dynamic and stable social development of the country, promotion of the population safety, prevention (decrease) of economic losses.

Space systems of different purposes (Earth remote sensing, communication, navigation, hydrometeorological works, searching and rescue of emergency objects) constitute an essential part of the specified monitoring systems. These space systems ensure acquisition and transition of the required monitoring information. In the future the existing branch (and regional) monitoring systems and the ones being developed are planned to be merged into an Integrated Federal System for Monitoring of objects and resources of Russian Federation (FSMOR).

SREDW on development and implementation of the monitoring systems for objects and resources started in Roskosmos in 2002 in the framework of Federal Target Program "Electronic Russia (2002-2010)". The Program stipulates development and implementation of a test (pilot) project of FSMOR. The scientific and research institute (SRI) of space systems - branch of M.F.Khrunichev State Space Scientific Production Centre - acts as a directing design agency.

The project was implemented in 2004 and experimental monitoring system was established merging the following regions into a single information network: Northwest Federal District with regional informational and analytical centre (RIAC) in St.-Petersburg, Southern Federal District (RIAC in Rostov-na-Donu), Far Eastern Federal District (Vladivostok), and Central Federal District (Belgorod). Monitoring information from these RIACs was efficiently transmitted to the experimental demonstration federal Centre deployed in the city of Yubileyniy (Moscow region) (on the basis of FSUE SRI of space systems). A wide range of monitoring problems were solved including observation of ships (in the Pacific Ocean) and municipal transportation, control of urban air pollution, territory monitoring, etc. For this purpose the following means were used: satellite means of ERS (Earth Remote Sensing) and meteorological observations (space vehicles "Meteor-3M", "Terra"), navigation ("Gonets", "Inmarsat"), searching and rescue of emergency objects (KASPAS-SARSAT).

Allowing for the results of the specified pilot project a Concept for federal monitoring system of critical and (or) dangerous objects and cargos of Russian Federation was developed, reconciled with the main interested Ministries and Agencies (including military and policing branches) and approved by the Government of Russian Federation (Order of the Government of Russian Federation #1314-r from 27 August 2005). The Concept stipulates establishment of geographically distributed hierarchy system including the systems for monitoring of infrastructure objects and particularly dangerous cargos of federal, regional, territorial, branch, municipal and object levels. The system should be created by telecommunication integration of different monitoring systems and provide an authorized remote access to the databases of these systems. General coordination of federal system application should be implemented by the National Centre for system monitoring and real-time control according to decision of the President of Russian Federation.

Roskosmos along with foundation of its own branch monitoring system and works on federal monitoring system started the experimental and design works on establishment and implementation of some basic elements, technologies and techniques of regional navigating and informational systems (RNIS) in the regions of Russian Federation. Establishment of RNIS in the regions (nowadays initiated in Kaluga and Tambov provinces) will enable to promote efficiency of social and economic activities and social safety of these regions due to wide-spread adoption of space and geographic information technologies. The mission of RNIS is to provide information support for activities of the governmental agencies and local authorities in the process of making managerial decisions, and to render information services for managing units and population. In the framework of RNIS it is planned to carry out the monitoring in different fields of industrial activities (nature and forest management, agricultural activities, road services, control of the bridges, dams, dangerous industries and cargo transportation).

RNIS establishment should be based on advanced hardware and software together with adoption of results of space activities, geographic information and some other advanced technologies including: satellite navigation, communication and data transmission; ERS, mapping, hydrometeorological, topographic and land-surveying support; acquisition, joint processing and distribution of satellite and other information.

The following structure of RNIS is submitted:

-         information and analytical centers (IAC) of regional and municipal levels of a region of Russian Federation, which include automated working places (AWP) with specific software, data banks and telecommunication facilities;

-         regional geographic informational systems with regional centre of geospatial data;

-         regional monitoring system for critical and potentially dangerous objects;

-         regional space monitoring centre;

-         regional system of high-precision satellite navigating system (geodesy) on the basis of GLONASS and (or) GLONASS/GPS systems;

-         monitoring system for stability (shifts) of buildings and engineering constructions;

-         system for control of precursors and earthquakes diagnostics (for seismic regions);

-         target monitoring systems for the most important kinds of activities of the regions of Russian Federation (agricultural, road and forest sectors, transportation, etc.).

Development of RNIS in the regions of Russian Federation will enable to significantly expand practical implementation of the results of space activities into the development of social and economic environment of a region and the country on the whole.

SRI of space systems also submitted a proposal and project on creation of an international aerospace monitoring system (IAMS) for global geophysical phenomena and associated emergency situations. The problems to be solved by the system are as follows: short-term (days, hours) prediction of earthquakes, monitoring of tsunamis and other natural and man-triggered disasters. To solve these problems a complex employment of information gained from space, aviation and ground means is planned.

The space segment of the system is supposed to be formed consisting of 6 geostationary space vehicles and 3-4 low-orbit (о_cr.=600÷800 km) space vehicles on solar-synchronous orbits. Additional information obtained from international systems for monitoring of natural disasters (such as GEOSS, GMESS, DMC, Charte Disaster, and Sentinel Asia) is supposed to be used.

The space segment of IAMS system should provide obtainment of background distributions and extraction of disturbances of thermal, magnetic and gravitational fields and plasma in ionosphere, detection of changes in ozone layer and atmosphere characteristics, in geodynamics of Earth crust and hydrodynamics of underground waters which may indicate possible natural and man-triggered disasters and catastrophes. Obtained data should be transmitted to the situational centers of global ground network that provide the consumers with monitoring information.

The following devices should be mounted on the space vehicles: highly sensitive radiometric equipment of visible and heat ranges, equipment on the basis of low and high frequency wave complex, plasma complex, monitoring complex for power particles, magnetometers, Fourier spectrometers and some other devices capable of registering the precursors of earthquakes, natural disasters and man-triggered catastrophes.

One should note that the problem of prediction and prevention of natural and man-triggered catastrophes is fully international and will require solution of a large number of scientific and applied problems associated with development, tests and application of special equipment for registration of the precursors of global phenomena.