IRS-1C - Earth Online

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A summary of ESA Third Party Mission collections

A new summary is available, showcasing the ESA archives for Third Party Mission collections.

IRS-1C/1D European coverages dataset available to users

Three European coverages (including Turkey) made by the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite IRS-1C and IRS-1D from the PAN sensor are now available.

ESA and GAF AG continue to offer free-of-charge access to Third Party Mission data

In January 2021, ESA and GAF AG extended their agreement under ESA’s Third Party Missions programme regarding the provision of IRS data and DSMs until the end of 2021.

A stroll through Heritage Missions

At ESA's Earth Observation centre—ESRIN—in Frascati, Italy, there is a place where one can walk back in time, to better understand the history and importance of Heritage Missions and their data.

ESA's new DataCube service is now available

ESA is pleased to announce the deployment of a new service, called ESA PDGS-DataCube, enabling multi-temporal and pixel-based access to a subset of the data available in the European Space Agency dissemination services.

About IRS-1C

IRS-1C was an Earth-imaging satellite from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which launched on 28 December 1995 and ceased operations in 2007.

The IRS (Indian Remote Sensing) satellites form a large family of Earth observation satellites operated by ISRO.

IRS-1C and IRS-1D were identical satellites launched two years apart.

*IRS-1C Mission Specifications*
Payload	Three solid state Push Broom Cameras: PAN (<6 metre solution ) LlSS-3(23.6 metre resolution) and WiFS (189 metre resolution)
Orbit Height	817 km
Orbit Type	Sun-synchronous near-polar
Inclination	98.69°
Repeat Cycle	24 days
Mission completed on	21 September 2007

IRS-1C Objectives

The primary objective of IRS-1C was to provide systematic and repetitive acquisition of data of Earth’s surface under nearly constant illumination conditions.

IRS-1C Instruments

Panchromatic Camera (PAN)

Data in the panchromatic region is useful in geological studies for mapping geological and geomorphological features. Higher spatial resolution is useful for urban planning studies and detecting urban fringe growth.

*PAN Instrument Specifications*
Spectral range	0.5 - 0.75 µm
Spatial resolution	≤ 10 m (5.6 m at nadir)
Swath width	70 km nadir view (91 km swath for the most inclined cross-track view)
Off-nadir viewing capability	± 26º swath steering range (with this a revisit cycle of 5 days is achieved)
Repetition cycle	24 days
SNR at saturation radiance	>64
Data quantization	6 bit
Integration time	0.8836 ms
Image data rate	84.9 Mbit/s
Instrument mass, power	230 kg, 55-65 W

Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor-III (LISS-III)

LISS is used for monitoring vegetation.

*LISS-III Instrument Specifications*
Spectral bands (4)	B2 : 0.52 - 0.59 µm (Green) B3 : 0.62 - 0.68 µm (Red) B4 : 0.77 - 0.86 µm (NIR) B5: 1.55 - 1.75 µm (SWIR)
Spatial resolution	23.5 m (VNIR) and 70.5 m (SWIR)
Swath width	142 km (VNIR) and 148 km (SWIR), FOV=±5º
Repetition cycle	24 days
SNR at saturation radiance	> 128
Focal length of optics system	346 mm for each VNIR band, 300 mm for SWIR band
Data quantization	7 bit (resolution of 128 grey levels)
Integration time	3.55 ms for VNIR, 10.65 ms for SWIR
Data rate	35.79 Mbit/s for VNIR, 1.39 Mbit/s for SWIR data
Instrument mass, power	171 kg, 74-78 W

Wide Field Sensor (WiFS)

The WiFS camera is used for vegetation index mapping.

*WiFS Instrument Specifications*
Spectral bands	0.62 - 0.68 µm (Red), 0.77 - 0.86 µm (NIR)
Spatial resolution	188 m
Swath width	810 km
Repetition cycle	5 days
SNR at saturation radiance	>128
Detector array	2 x 2048 pixels
Data quantization	7 bit (radiometric resolution of 128 grey levels)
Integration time	28.42 ms
Data rate	2.06 Mbit/s

IRS-1C Data

DATA DESCRIPTION

ESA is offering, for scientific research and application development, access to the full archive of IRS-1C upon submission and acceptance of project proposals. These products are available as part of the GAF Indian Satellite Imagery products.

ESA will support as many high-quality and innovative projects as possible within the quota limit available, therefore only a limited amount of products can be made available to each project.

IRS-1C INSTRUMENTS

IRS-1C DATA