IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2014 - 53

Earth Observation Applications
in Brazil with Focus
on the CBERS Program
LeiLa M.G. Fonseca, José c.n. epiphanio, DaLton M. VaLeriano,
João V. soares, JuLio c.L. DaLGe, anD Márcia a. santos
Earth Observation Coordination, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José dos Campos, Brazil

Abstract-Brazil is a large and diverse country and
almost all remote sensing application fields can be developed there: oceanographic, agricultural, environmental,
urban, etc. Some applications are instrumental for environmental governance, some are very useful for business
and others are devoted
to research. As part of its
remote sensing development, Brazil counts on
the CBERS (China-Brazil
Earth Resources Satellite)
Program. Applications
and accomplishments of
the CBERS Program are
presented in this article.
I. INTRODUCTION
razil was the third
countr y, after U.S.
and Canada, to receive Landsat data in its
own ground station in
Cuiabá, more than 40
Special Section on
years ago. Almost at the
same time, a graduate
program in remote sensing was established at the
National Institute for Space Research (INPE). As a result,
Brazil became involved in remote sensing research and
applications development, thus providing universities,
governmental agencies, and business in general with remote sensing experts.
In the last 40 years, many satellites and sensors were
developed, and many new applications and techniques
arose. Environmental applications have evolved a lot
mainly because of remote sensing and geographical

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MGRS.2014.2320924
Date of publication: 24 June 2014

june 2014

ieee Geoscience and remote sensing magazine

information systems (GIS). One of the highlights on the
use of such techniques in Brazil is the continuous land
use and land change monitoring, including deforestation and agriculture. These two applications are briefly
presented in this article. The CBERS Program, which has
had an important role in
remote sensing development in Brazil, is also
described here.
II. CBERS PROGRAM
CBERS satellites are the
result of a long term and
successful cooperation
Program between Brazil
and China. The objectives of such cooperation
are the construction and
launch of remote sensing satellites and t he
e xchange of e xper tise
between the two countries. As a result of the
Space Agencies
first phase of the Program, CBERS-1, CBERSImage lIcensed by Ingram PublIshIng
2, and CBERS-2B became
operat iona l. CBER S -3
and CBERS-4 are part of the second phase of the Program. CBERS-1 was launched in 1999, CBERS-3 launching failed in 2013, and CBERS-4 is scheduled to go for
launch in one year from now.
In the CBERS Program all responsibilities, management, costs, and operations are shared between China
and Brazil. CBERS satellites are multi-payload missions.
CBERS-1 and CBERS-2 had the capability of imaging
from blue to thermal infrared spectral range, from 20 to
260 meters spatial resolution, and from 3 to 26 days temporal resolution, when considering all its three cameras.
In CBERS-2B, a high-resolution 2.7-meter panchromatic
2168-6831/14©2014IEEE

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