Thursday, January 20, 2005

Nigerian satellite gave images of pre-tsunami zone, says minister
From Segun Ayeoyenikan, Abuja

BEFORE the December 26 tidal waves disaster which swept through the regions of the South East Asia, The Nigeria Sat:1 took pictures of the region, according to Prof. Turner T. Isoun.

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Isoun, who is the Minister of Science and Technology, told journalists yesterday in Abuja that the Nigeria satellite had been assisting the European Space Agency (ESA) in producing data and maps of the region, two sets daily, to aid agencies manage the disaster.

Explaining further the level of involvement of the Nigeria satellite so far since the world woke up to the news of the tsunami disaster, the minister disclosed: "The Nigeria Sat:1 singularly acquired over 20 images (300km x 150km each) of the affected areas which it downloaded to the central archives of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) for onward transmission to the European Space Agency which was in charge of managing response to the disaster.

Also, the minister said that The Nigeria Sat:1 would continue to get the images of the area for several weeks to build up a good data base on the situation in the disaster zone.

As at last count, over 175,000 persons had been killed, resulting from the tidal waves disaster while several others were forced to leave their homes.

The details of some maps and data which The Nigeria Sat:1 in conjunction with other satellites have produced from the South East Asia disaster zone include: Creation of drainage map of the Nicobar Island, India and sporadic mappings in Sri Lanka. The Nigeria:1 produced the OXFAM, the United Kingdom request of data for the region of disaster, damaged detection in Sri Lanka and KeyOBs, Belgium's request of data for Sumatra and banda Aceh in the disaster region among others.

While the minister praised the Nigeria Space Research and Development Agency (NSRDA), the parastatal in charge of The Nigeria Sat:1, he disclosed that a definite date for the launch of the Nigeria Communication Satellite had been given. "It is now to be launched in November, 2006," he said.

The Nigeria Sat:1 is the first national low orbit remote sensing satellite built by a Sub-Saharan African nation.