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THE EMERGING NEED FOR A ROBUST GPS
NAVIGATION, SURVEILLANCE AND
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING IN LATIN
AMERICA AND SAGANS , THE OVERALL HUB OF
TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
Sashikanth Rapeti, Ansuman Babu
To cite this version:
Sashikanth Rapeti, Ansuman Babu. THE EMERGING NEED FOR A ROBUST GPS NAVIGATION, SURVEILLANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING IN LATIN AMERICA AND SAGANS , THE OVERALL HUB OF TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS. 2019. �hal-02045359�
THE EMERGING NEED FOR A ROBUST GPS NAVIGATION, SURVEILLANCE
AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING IN LATIN AMERICA AND SAGANS ,
THE OVERALL HUB OF TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS
Sashikanth Rapeti, Ansuman Babu
Space Weather Research and Dynamics Institute, Bhubaneswar, odisha, India
spaceweather066@gmail.com
, spaceweather@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACTThis specific paper is all about the fundamental overview of a revolutionary idea of many sincere Latin American engineers, scientists, scholars etc who have been working towards a common space agency for the entire continent of Latin America and the most important requirement of the entire continent in terms of safety and integrity of the nations in the continent. This specific paper is also the foremost of a crucial series of papers towards the development of a common GPS technology and the various space weather application oriented space and aerospace technologies in the Latin American continent. The continent faced its own struggles to come out of its colonial past. In this regard, GPS and environment modeling has become a dire necessity for every country in the continent and this paper will definitely trigger the enthusiasm and will channelize the ideas of the sincere researchers in the continent towards a robust space and aerospace innovative technologies in the near future. A common GPS system – SOUTH AMERICAN GPS AUGMENTED NAVIGATION SYSTEM is proposed to have a strict surveillance ‘ Eagle-eye’ on the continent to avoid future security threats and thereby providing technological support to militaries, governments, users of every country in the continent , and hence creating a win-win situation in terms of Space satellite communication and navigation technologies. Moreover, SIT (satellite integrated technology) classrooms can be a reality in every country in the continent from school level to university level with the help of SAGANS, thereby creating a revolution in the education system in the world. Since, this is the foremost of papers on SAGANS, it only covers the fundamentals regarding the various features of SAGANS in an outline. The exciting technical details of SAGANS will begin from the next paper and will be discussed in the consecutive papers soon. Keywords: GPS, SAGANS, UNSAAC SAT, PeruSAT-1, CHASQUI 1, Green satellite, UAPSAT-1, Galileo Positioning system, SIT( Satellite Integrated Technology), space and aircraft propulsion.
INTRODUCTION
A direct leap into the technical details into SAGANS can be exciting, but will be incomplete without a meager flavor of geographical analysis of the continent in terms of its topography. This geographical analysis will provide the enthusiastic readers of scientific and non-scientific backgrounds the necessary information as to why SAGANS is much required for the continent. Moreover, SAGANS will be acting like a shield to the natural resources of the continent by keeping an “Eagle-eye” surveillance monitoring over entire latin america. SAGANS accommodates many additional features compared to conventional GPS systems, going beyond the phase differential approach, which certainly includes and integrates the space weather effects to the navigation and other diversified technological applications in the
continent. SAGANS is not just another advanced technological show-off of any particular nation for political benefits, but a much awaited and promising advanced technological hub of solutions to various problems faced by the people in the continent , be it technological , agricultural, safety and integrity of countries, navigation, mining, natural resources, medical research, monitoring and advanced warning systems concerning the natural calamities etc.
I. A BRIEF GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS
Latin America is a special continent in terms of natural resources, pleasant atmospheric and climatic conditions, with very less land, air and water pollution. Every country in the continent is gifted with ample natural resources and people with crystal clear mindset. It is interesting to note that some countries enjoy the calm and deep blue Pacific waters, while bigger countries relish the jumping and turbulent green waters of the Atlantic. Countries like Bolivia and Paraguay are fully landlocked, but Uruguay enjoys the Atlantic waters, while bordering with Brazil and Argentina. Most of the continent is covered with the most beautiful Amazon rain forests and the exciting Andes mountain ranges along Chile to Peru. Every country has its own vibrant cultural features as well. Although every country has its own set of laws, still intra-continental travel is very exciting in terms of the various UNESCO heritage sites like Machupichu in Peru and the old colonial architecture buildings in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia etc. Brazil being the largest country occupying more than 50 % of the land mass of the continent is rich in natural resources with the Amazon rain forests which is home for diversified wildlife and aquatic species found nowhere else on the planet. The Andes leaves a huge vertical footprint on the continent by extending from Venezuela in the north, passing through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and finally Chile. These mountain ranges, running along the western direction of the continent, is certainly among the world's longest mountain ranges. The Andes has a varied terrain encompassing glaciers, volcanoes, grassland, desert, lakes and forests. The Andes mountain ranges shelter the pre-Columbian archaeological sites and wildlife including chinchillas and condors. Obviously, the entire continent itself tops the list of the various tourism destinations of many people in the world. The natural resources connect each country in a harmonious way that is quite obvious. It is worth-noting that Brazil is the only nation that speaks Portuguese language and the other countries mostly speak Spanish.
Fig (1) : The Lat-Long of South America ( Courtesy : Google images)
II. THE URGENT NEED FOR A COMMON SPACE
PROGRAM, COMMON SPACE AGENCY, SURVEILLANCE, WEATHER AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING, NAVIGATION AND GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM In SOUTH AMERICA
Broadly speaking, when every continent has its own GPS ( mostly individual countries like USA, china, Russia etc have their own GPS, with the exception of Europe trying to have a common GPS for entire continent , GALILEO POSITIONING SYSTEM), the need of the hour is to have a common space agency ( integrating all space agencies in the continent) , working towards common goals in the space and aerospace sector, and a common GPS system for the entire Latin American continent, which will have its own varied applications like Environmental monitoring, GPS, land mapping, sea floor mapping and much more. In addition, Space and aerospace technologies are ruling a nation’s economy in every aspect in the 21st century. This is
the most common and strong opinion by a large scientific and technological community of South American continent comprising of engineers, scientists, research scholars, professors, and even students. A common space program naturally provides a robust platform for the creation of a common space agency in the continent. This in turn requires a much more robust set of goals regarding the various space satellite missions which actually form the integral core part of the common space program which must cater to the various technological needs of citizens, students, farmers and agriculturists, academicians, educationists, scientists, engineers, militaries, governmental agencies etc in a much effective manner with precision and accuracy.
III. DOES SOUTH AMERICA REALLY IN NEED OF SAGANS and GPS ?
Latin America needs an integrated GPS system absolutely at this crucial juncture, specially when it comes to a nation’s and broadly speaking, the entire continent’s safety, security and integrity which is undeniable under any circumstances. A positive inter-continental GPS is much ahead of us in the distant future, when space and interplanetary travel becomes a common and affordable reality for the residents of the earth. Since, SAGANS features much additional aspects in addition to navigation, it is more of a desperate prerequisite to have surveillance monitoring of the rich natural resources of the continent.
IV. THE NATURAL DISASTERS AND THE EMERGING NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING IN LATIN AMERICA
Natural disasters are a frightening nightmare to any country and any continent. The 2010 earthquake of Chile is one such example. If the technology which had been developed is of no use at the crucial moment, then that definitely means we had developed a poor technology and our technology needs to be modified to save the lives of at least fellow humans. Human society is important for all the other living entities and we need to make sure whether we are living with other species and nature in harmony or not. Moreover, Natural disasters is the result of the collective aspects of Newton’s third law. Other species like animals, birds etc generally do not go against the laws of nature for which Newton’s third law is an integral part. The humans being a little more intelligent than other species had made it a habit to go against the natural laws, specially the newton’s third law, only to invite more natural disasters which in fact counter balance the disturbance caused in nature. These natural disasters can be the result of an ecological imbalance caused by humans, as the disasters caused by other species like animals, birds, insects etc is never heard of. The ecological imbalance caused by humans can be like illegal mining, dumping of much chemical waste and toxic substances into rivers, small
water bodies etc resulting in water pollution, soil poisoning , increase in toxicity in air, water and land etc. Hence, there is an emergent need to conserve nature in every aspect and space technology can be utilized at its best to fulfill this purpose. Therefore, environmental monitoring is of utmost importance to South America. The world had witnessed in the recent past and is witnessing the severe impact of heavy industrialization, land, air and water pollution in many countries.
V. DIVERSIFIED PURPOSES SERVED BY MEANS OF A ROBUST SPACE SATELLITE AND GPS TECHNOLOGY
Most of the problems in agriculture, water resources, conservation of plants and trees, soil fertility etc are all interlinked with each other for which the satellite technology can offer good solutions in terms of monitoring and processing the data, providing the users with the required information etc. Also, some critical aspects of vehicle navigation, transit systems can be utilized for military purposes to put the miscreants who disturb the peacefulness of the society, under control. On an overall basis, this technology will generate revenue for the government, governmental agencies, universities, users in terms of business, retail industry, agriculture etc. The main motive of SAGANS is a win-win situation to the governments as well as its citizens ( technologists and users as well).
VI. LATIN AMERICA IS IN NEED OF HEALTHY TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS FOR THE PRESENT AND FUTURE EDUCATION SYSTEMS IN THE CONTINENT
ICFES of Colombia is a governmental body responsible for educational development from the school level to higher education in the country. Like Colombia, many nations in Latin America are interested in nature-friendly technologies that can be taught right from the school level to inculcate students the importance of nature and the proper utilization of natural resources, which bring prosperity and happiness in the human society. Hence, from a satellite based classroom in Ecuador etc, the applications of the SAGANS will play a major role in the futuristic education systems in the continent. When the continent shields the world with its supply of fresh oxygen, the continent can also be like an innovation hub in futuristic nature friendly and technological education systems. When students , with the help of professors can make a satellite orbit and operate in space, then they can also take part in the revolutionary development of sustainable and renewable technologies. They can even make a ‘ GREEN SATELLITE’ orbit in space with utmost efficiency in terms of lifetime and operational stability of the satellite in space.
VII. THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA OF SAGANS
The fundamental idea of SAGANS stems from the stark reality of the dire necessity of a great beginning of innovative, nature- harmonious technologies and their inclusion in the futuristic education systems in the Latin American continent. When Brazil can implement ethanol in the automobile industry as an alternative to the burning issue of petrol and diesel, then much more can be done in the form of GREEN TECHNOLOGIES, which can also be embedded in technologies like space craft and aircraft propulsion. Moreover, Space and aerospace are two inter-connected, highly effective technologies that are indeed running a country and its
economy these days. Misuse of these technologies will result in a society of chaos as is evident in some countries in the world.
VIII. SAGANS - THE NEXT TECHNOLOGICAL FRONTIER OF SOUTH AMERICA IN THE NEAR FUTURE
This is quite obvious because SAGANS is not just a single satellite to be launched by a single country just for its own prestige in the international technological arena, but a combined technological effort for the benefit of a continent at large. SAGANS is a hub of technological solutions that transform the lives of people in the continent in every aspect. But SAGANS should be implemented systematically and must be handled with utmost care. This will definitely lead to a shower of positive results in terms of technology, agriculture, economy boost of the country etc. Indeed, SAGANS will transform the technological arena in the continent , by offering more work for technologists, researchers, students for more than ten years and will also provide technological facilities to users, governments, military etc. The minimum operational stability should be 25 years in case of the satellites in SAGANS. More number of SIT (satellite integrated Technology) classrooms can be expanded in every country in the continent to revolutionize the education system in the entire continent. The Green Satellite idea and the fuel for the green satellites etc can be explored in the consecutive papers for which Super-fluid Helium – 3 and helium -4 can be considered as a propellant because of their low temperature existence and the refrigerant characteristic feature. In addition, the electromagnetic propulsion technology can be utilized for the green satellites used for SAGANS. Innovative technologies will play a major role in SAGANS in an indigenous manner.
IX. ROLE PLAYED BY PERU IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NANO-SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY, MILESTONES ACHIEVED AND HIGHLY RESPONSIBLE ROLE REGARDING SAGANS AWAITING
FOR PERU
From the very recent past to the present, Peru has always been playing a highly dynamic and active role(in the continent) in the development of the category of small satellites technically known as Nano satellites and Femto satellites, be it PeruSAT-1 , the high resolution Optical Earth observation satellite, whose success story as per the company AIRBUS is as follows, “This success was made possible by the creation of the “Projects Factory©”, a new and more integrated working organization in the Space System business unit in Airbus Defence and Space. This new way of working brings down development and construction lead times for satellites up to 500 kg and optimizes their costs and schedule delivery, without impacting quality in any way”.
Fig (2) : PeruSAT-1 ( Courtesy : Google images)
The various nano satellites launched by Peru viz the PUCP SAT-1 and Pocket- PUCP which were launched on 21st November 2014, through the Institute for Radio-Astronomy (INRAS –
Instituto de Radioastronomia), an active department of The Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru – PUCP.
Fig (3) : PUCP-Sat-1 & Pocket-PUCP ((http://inras.pucp.edu.pe/)
UAPSAT-1 The Universidad Alas Peruanas – UAP also developed a nanosatellite called UAP-Sat. The UAP-Sat 1 was launched on January 2014, but the project started in 2010. The UAP-Sat 1 was developed using the standard CubeSat technology and has temperature sensors on board, and its principal mission is an educational platform.The UAP-Sat 1 was tested by NASA related to temperature, vacuum, and vibrations.The research team was led by Eng. Juan Carlos Marca and composed by other Peruvian professional and students.
Fig (4) : Detailed description of UAP-SAT1 (http://www.uap.edu.pe/uapsat/AcercaDe.aspx)
Fig (5) : UAPSAT-1
CHASQUI 1 The Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria – UNI developed the nanosatellite Chasqui 1. The Chasqui 1 also was developed for an educational mission. The Chasqui 1 has on board two cameras, one in the visible spectrum, and the another one in the infrared spectrum. The Chasqui 1 was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in February 2014 and was put in orbit in March 2014 by a Russian cosmonaut. The research team was led by Eng. Jose Oliden and composed by other Peruvian professional and students.
Fig (6): Chasqui 1satellite in space (http://www.chasqui.uni.edu.pe/)
UNSAAC-SAT The Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cusco – UNSAAC is developing his nanosatellite. The mission aims to identify areas with less cloud coverage looking ideal areas for the installation of solar panels. The research team is led by M.Sc. Eng. Vladimiro Canal Bravo, and composed by other Peruvian professional and students. The UNSAAC also has another project called “Study of the thermosphere: acquisition and data analysis of satellite missions (QB50 project)”. The main objective of this project is to support the QB50 mission for studying the atmospheric effects in the lower thermosphere of the earth.
All these nano-satellites consist primarily of the following required modules: - On-board computer
- Power module
- Thermal Control Module - Communication system
- Attitude control system - Structure
- Payload
Regarding the exploration of other planets, the country is very much active in the “SIMULATION
OF MARS EXPLORATION”. In this regard, Brazil, Argentina, have their own vibrant space
satellite missions covering various other aspects of environmental monitoring and surveillance. Chile and Colombia are gradually catching up the pace in the space technologies. Uruguay and Bolivia are gearing up for the future space technologies, while Ecuador has its own prestigious space program specially on micro-gravity research and much more. Paraguay is getting ready to team up with the rest of the nations in the continent. Venezuela’s situation is not conducive at present due to its internal politically turbulent situations. Regarding the three Guyanas, French Guyana already hosts launch facilities for rockets. Considering all these various developments, the time is ripe for a common space program getting initiated from Peru. Gradually , this program can be expanded to Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Also, With the acquisition of the Earth Observation technology, Peru becomes the first Latin American country to have a satellite capacity to detect objects smaller than one meter.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE TRENDS
Peru is one of the foremost countries to accept responsibilities specially regarding space and aerospace technologies as the country highly values and understand the core importance of these advanced technologies for a prosperous society. Since SAGANS offers more features regarding satellites regarding vehicle and way-point navigation, airborne and seafloor mapping, precision farming, monitoring of natural resources, illegal mining, illegal activities, terrorism, smuggling, drug trafficking, forest mapping, utilities and retail industry, monitoring and advanced warning systems of natural calamities like earthquakes, Tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, cadastral surveying, structural deformations and other civil engineering applications and much more etc, the various universities that participated in the preparation of nano-satellites can begin with any theme listed above like vehicle navigation, weather monitoring, precision farming , seafloor mapping etc and can prepare nano-satellites in collaboration with CONIDA and other space agencies in the continent. SAGANS can prove to be a triggering gigantic project comprising a collection of space satellite projects , the various instruments to be mounted on each satellite to be launched. Although SAGANS has much in common with the Earth observation technology acquired by Peru from France ( Pleiades ), still SAGANS will be much more indigenous in nature and offers much more in comparison with the Earth Observation technology. The technical details will gradually be described in the consecutive papers in a systematic manner.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author is highly indebted to Dr. Avid Roman Gonzalez and his team of engineers from INTI Labs, UCH, Lima, Peru for his highly valuable ideas and inputs towards a dedicated effort in trying to have a common space agency for the entire South American Continent, Space weather- GPS navigation and aerospace technologies being the common goals of the space
agency in the near future. The author also expresses his gratitude to all the dedicated scientists and researchers in Latin America who are working towards these high goals. The author is extremely grateful to Dr. Ajey Lele , Senior Fellow of IDSA, India for his high motivational inputs.
REFERENCES :
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