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OCEANSAT

IRS-P4 (OCEANSAT) is the first satellite primarily built for Ocean applications, weighing 1050 kg placed in a Polar Sun Synchronous orbit of 720 km, launched by PSLV-C2 from SHAR Centre, Sriharikota on May 26, 1999. This satellite carries Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Multi - frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR) for oceanographic studies. IRS-P4 thus vastly augment the IRS satellite system of ISRO comprising four satellites, IRS-1B, IRS-1C, IRS-P3 and IRS-1D and extend remote sensing applications to several newer areas.

The Primary mission objectives of IRS-P4 (Oceansat-1) are together systematic data for oceanographic, coastal and atmospherric applications. IRS-P4 placed in near circular sunsynchronous orbit carries two payloads: Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Multi frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR) to study both the biological and physical parameters of oceans. The OCM offers the advantage of fine resolution combined with a wide swath of about 1400 Km.

Access to OCM payload of Oceansat-1 is made available free to the international ground stations capable of receiving P4 downlink for scientific use. However, a small annual fee is charged to cover the operational expenses. Ground stations requesting upgrade to their receiving stations to enable Oceansat-1 reception can approach ANTRIX for further help. SeaSpace Corporation, USA www.seaspace.com has been marketing a small X-band receiving station for Oceansat-1 reception under the licence from ANTRIX. The combined scheduling of Oceansat-1 reception for the SeaSpace X band stations is organized by SeaSpace Corporation.

Mission completed on August 8, 2010 after serving for 11 years and 2 months.

Oceansat-2

The Oceansat-2 mission is envisages as the continuity mission to the Oceansat-1 data users. The Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) is an 8-band multi-spectral camera operating in the visible-Near IR spectral range. This camera provides an instantaneous Geometric Field of View of 360 m covering a swath of 1420 Km. This wide swath enables the OCM to provide a repetivity of two days for any given area. To avoid sun glint due to specular reflection from ocean surface, there is provision to tilt the OCM camera by +20 deg in the along the track direction.