Dubai to launch satellite for environment monitoring
DMSAT 1 to be completed by end of 2018 and launched in second quarter of next year, municipality says
The environment-monitoring satellite of Dubai Municipality, DMSAT1, will be completed by the end of this year and will be launched in the second quarter of 2019, the civic body announced yesterday.
Aliah Abdul Rahim Al Harmoudi, director of the Environment Department at the municipality, said the manufacturing of the satellite, which commenced in July 2017, is continuing as per the schedule.
Al Harmoudi revealed this during her presentation on the latest environmentmonitoring systems of the municipality such as DMSAT1 and the Mobile Environment Monitoring Station during the Dubai International Exhibition for Government Achievements held this week.
The Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre and the municipality had signed an agreement to design and build the region’s first environmentmonitoring nanosatellite in December 2016.
Al Harmoudi said it is also one of the latest generations in the global satellite systems.
“It represents an important step towards the future in the field of environment monitoring. The municipality has employed the latest techniques to monitor the air pollutants and greenhouse gases causing the phenomenon,” said Al Harmoudi.
The nanometric environmental satellite has features covering large areas of land and sea, especially as it orbits the earth 14 times per day and re-observes the same monitoring site within five days. The satellite has the ability to provide space data for the monitoring process, even during sandstorms.
“One of the most important uses of the environmental satellite is the monitoring and measurement of aerosols in the atmosphere,” she said. This type of data is important in monitoring pollutants.