Earthdata receiver sought

Press, 26 April 1989, Page 54

Earthdata receiver sought

By

NIGEL MALTHUS

New Zealand is missing its chances to build an Earth resources satellite receiving station, and losing talented people as a result, according to Professor Richard Bates, of the University of Canterbury’s electrical engineering department. A receiving station costing $lO to $l5 million would gather data from existing or planned civilian satellites and enable detailed monitoring of land use and resources. While not replacing frigates, such a system could also carry out surveillance of the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, at a fraction of the frigates’ cost, Professor Bates said. Because of its ability to assess the damage from disasters such as Cyclone Bola, the system could probably have paid for itself through that alone, he said. The proposal had been aired for several years. Its chief proponent is the D.S.I.R.’s division of information technology, whose skills in data pro-

cessing would be the key to the system.

Professor Bates said a receiving station had twice been approved in principle by the Cabinet, but stopped by the Treasury. "The problem is M.A.F., D.5.1.R., Forestry, and so on won’t get together and say we support the satellite receiving station.” The lack of commitment had “totally disillusioned” the head of the division of information technology, Dr Peter Ellis, who had left for a job in Australia late last year, Professor Bates said. His replacement, Dr Mike McDonnell, has since followed him across the Tasman. Professor Bates had advocated satellite surveillance in a submission to the 1986 Defence Committee of Inquiry. Although not intended for military surveillance and prone to blocking by cloud cover since they work at or near the visible spectrum, Earth resource satellites “unavoid-

ably” detect vessels at sea, he said.

New generation sidelooking radar (S.L.R.) satellites would be able to detect a rowboat in any weather.

Professor Bates said that technical problems in manipulating the vast amount of data generated by S.L.R. satellites were "far from trivial.” New Zealand had the talent, if properly marshalled, to develop a practical system.

His 1986 submission had named suitable personnel, describing Dr McDonnell, for example, as “an information - technological superstar.” Professor Bates found it incredible that the proposed system was not being integrated with the Waihopai “spy” station. Although Waihopai was a different type of facility designed to eavesdrop on communications satellites, they would have much in common.

The military insisted they should not be mixed up with civilian projects, however.

“People won’t take an overview,” Professor Bates said.

His comments were backed by Dr David Pairman, the present head of the division of information technology’s image processing group, who said the division had been trying for years to convince the Government of its benefits.

“A fair bit of basic research is needed to build up a working system. It would not be a turnkey system from day one. But it’s more than justified, just on the surveillance aspect,” he said. It would not replace Orions, but help direct them to the right area in search operations, he said.

A private company, Resource Satellite Communications Services, has cooperated with the division in planning a system as a commercial enterprise. The company worked on the proposal for two years, had finance available and Cabinet ap-

proval, the managing director, Mr Brian Hight, said.

But the project was put on hold because the company could not get commitments from the various Government departments which would be its main customers.

They were interested, but came up against a departmental funding squeeze. “Until we get guaranteed support — I’m not talking charity, but commercial prices — we can’t proceed,” Mr Hight said. The company’s proposed system would interrogate the American L.A.N.D.S.A.T. and French S.P.O.T. satellites, access to which would cost about $1 million a year.

It would be expandable to take data from S.L.R. satellites when they became available.

Mr Hight said New Zealand was one of the few countries not to have a receiving station, which were common even in the Third World.