Tropical Earth Resources Satellite: is the investment warranted?

All existing and planned Earth observation satellites have near-polar orbits (hence global coverage), but the Tropical Earth Resources Satellite (TERS) will have a true equatorial orbit at 1681 km. The TERS, conceived for the equatorial countries and Indonesia in particular, complements the existing and planned remote sensing satellites and will enable the monitoring of critical processes, such as food production, conservation of the national environment and land usage. The swath-width of the high resolution multispectral instrument can be pointed anywhere between latitude 10°N and 10°S, offering the tropical countries an opportunity to observe any part of their territory four times a day during daylight. A forward looking cloud sensor detects which areas are free of clouds and the pushbroom optical instrument will be pointed to specific clear areas. It is expected that the benefits of the monitoring capability warrant the investment in TERS.