14 DAY TRIAL // The Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) space system is a network of five satellites in sun-synchronous orbits around the Earth, which provide reliable photos in various light wavelengths of the same location once or twice per day. They are used for a variety of tasks, from monitoring drug production, deforestation and soil quality, to supervising hurricanes, floods and tsunamis. Now, two new satellites are to be launched later this year, and will join DMC in the sky, making Constellation even stronger and more efficient than it is now.
DMC is a partnership between Algeria, Nigeria, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and China, and has thus far deployed five satellites in orbit – AlSat-1, NigeriaSat-1, Beijing-1, UK-DMC, and BilSat-1. In 2009, Spain's Deimos-1 and the United Kingdom's UK-DMC2 will join the others, and will boost the system's capacity to complete its tasks. There are numerous devices on board each satellite, including high-res photo cameras, spectrometers, and other sophisticated sensors that can detect ice movements, wildfires, and even something as small as daily changes in vegetation over an area.
The latter segment is very useful in the fight against drugs, that's why DMC constantly has its eyes on poppy fields in Afghanistan. Warnings coming from the system can advise authorities on immediate dangers, and helps the UK monitor the opium trade in the area. In Brazil, the Constellation is used to monitor the progress or regress of the Amazonian rain forest, and helps authorities determine which areas are most affected, and what's the best course of action.
The two new satellites will also help the scientific community. A special contest is now being organized amid science groups, universities and NGOs, and the winners will have a chance to get access to some of the most advanced features of the satellites, and use them for their own projects, such as monitoring crops, clouds, ocean currents, and the likes. Ten winners will be granted this privilege, and the competition is expected to be stiff.