Bhuvan, our answer to Google Earth soon

Isro facility to provide high resolution maps of every district

GANDHINAGAR: After the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1, India’s science community is all set to make its mark on the World Wide Web. In an exciting new development, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is developing a web-based information system, specifically for India, an indigenous take on Google Earth.

Named Bhuvan — Sanskrit for Earth — the application system will give very high resolution images of India and details of every destination. Like Google Earth, it will be user-friendly, wherein every surfer will be able to upload information available to him for free use by others.

Making the announcement at the inaugural address of the three-day 28th International Congress on Collaborative Mapping and Space Technology in Gandhinagar on Tuesday, Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair said, “To meet the present day requirement of different levels of details, dynamically and with specific analysis, we need to go for web-based information system. Towards this, Isro is well on its way to put in place an Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) called Bhuvan and an information portal called Bhu-Sampada. These will not be mere image or information browsers, but the mechanism for providing the user community satellite images and thematic maps for developmental planning.”

The data gathered through Bhuvan will be provided to different government agencies for urban planning, traffic management, crop planning, education and forest planning. The data will be available free to users, but very high resolution and customised precision data will be given to agencies at a cost, Madhavan added. “Integrated with application-specific Spatial Decision Support tools, the application will open up a new era of collaborative mapping in the country,” he said.

The prototype of the application will be ready by November-end and the application should be uploaded by March. The project has been undertaken in association with National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.

Dr Shashikant Sharma said, “Bhuvan will be updated as regularly as once a year. Google is four years old now. High resolution images will be available at distances ranging from 2 to 56m. Moreover, data of different dates will also be available.”

Technical Transfer Industrial Department head YP Rana said, “In scientific lingo, this is an oven-fresh concept, we are working on the details. The focus will be on information, so the maps will not be to scale. Focused groups will be roped in by state government and/or voluntary agencies to update information about each region.”
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