Use of Space Technology for Surface Transport

Management
S Pal* & K.V. Venkatachary**

In the last quarter of 20th century space technology took its roots and by the end, it was applied to the
various spheres of the life of mankind. The largest impact, of the space technology, experienced was in the
field of communication and remote sensing. Communication satellites were used for fixed terminal
communications. The end of the century saw the emergence of satellite mobile communication. In the
area of remote sensing the resolutions improved to one meter. The global satellite positioning systems
which were earlier giving stand alone 100 meters position accuracy improved to 20 meters by the U.S
DoD decisions of removal of the SA from the GPS system. The mobile satellite services became very
popular in monitoring the movement of vehicles and man. The integration of all the above services can be
(being) utilized for the surface transport management. The use of Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) along
with GPS can be used for railways/railway wagons, trucks/buses fleet management. The GPS along with
high resolution pictures can be used for roads/railway lines laying planning, alignment and also to find
the shortest routes. GPS along with the images can also be used for traffic management. GPS can also be
used as an anticollision device in railways. GEO SATCOM coupled with GSM, GPS and Internet can
become a Transport Telematics Backbone.

The paper deals with the above various applications of space technology and their relevance to India for
the overall management of surface transportation.

*Group Director, Communication Systems Group, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore

**Director, DMS, ISRO Headquarters, Antariksh Bhavan, Bangalore
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The invention of wheel is still considered to be the most significant technological development.
The wheel coupled with the animal power increased the efficiency of the transportation almost
from zero to infinity. The advent of the steam engine, petrol and diesel engine, a part of the
industrial revolution changed the total scenario of the transportation industry which influences
country’s economy to a great extent. For any upcoming economy the three basic infrastructures
needed are:

1. Energy or Electricity
2. Communication
3. Surface Transportation

All the three sectors are of great importance. One can go on discussing the same. For the
present we are restricting ourselves only to Surface Transportation.

After the 2nd world war there has been a tremendous growth and improvements in the area of
surface transportation. To start with the emphasis was more on making the transportation
system comfortable and luxurious rather than fuel efficient. Safety and planning, although
always talked about, was never taken seriously particularly in the developing countries like
India. The transport industry that includes: (1) road transport-cars, trucks, buses, two wheelers
etc., (2) railways – goods trains, passenger trains and (3) waterways – ocean liners etc., in the
last decade of the 20th century had experienced almost an exponential growth in India. Many
manufacturers came to the country. This has happened without proper planning of roads,
towns, highways & traffic law enforcement segment. It has given rise to congestion of traffic,
increase in accidents thereby loss of valuable life and property, intentional avoidance of taxes,
increase in pollution resulting in a considerable delay in delivering the goods. Until unless the
total transportation section is properly planned and managed, all the above factors will act as
stumbling blocks in the booming economy.

The Management of Surface Transportation has got the following main components:

1. Planning of roads & routing

2. Smooth movement of cargo & passengers with least unwanted stoppages.
3. Automobile & Rail machinery improvement
4. Safety and accident avoidance
5. Emergency assistance
6. Revenue collection

There are various age old ways & methodologies by which all the above are being presently
managed in the country. Space technology coupled with mobile communication and with the
emergence of internet can lead to a better Surface Transport Management in the country.
2.0 USE OF SPACE TECHNOLOGY, MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS & INTERNET FOR
SURFACE TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT.

The advancement in space technology, mobile communication & growth of internet can help to
a large extent in planning & managing the evergrowing transportation system in the country. In
present paper more emphasis is given on the space technology segment.

Space Technology: Space Technology in the present context is referred only to spacecraft
technology & its applications. The spacecrafts for this purpose can be categorized under the
following headings:

 Spacecrafts used for remote sensing applications

 Spacecrafts used for Meteorological application (Meteosat, GOES, INSAT, NOAA etc.)
 Communication Satellites (GEO STATIONARY) with bent pipe transponders used for
VSAT – applications.
 Communication Satellites (LEO, GEO or MEO) used for mobile communications.
 Spacecrafts used for Navigational Applications (GPS, GLONASS etc.)
 Spacecrafts for Search & Rescue Operations (Eg. SARSAT & COSPAR & INSAT).

All the above can play a definite role for the overall planning & Management of Surface
Transportation. When we talk about surface transportation we do take into account the ROAD,
RAILWAYS & WATER TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

2.1 Use of Space Technology for Surface Transport Planning

2.1.1 Use of Satellite-based Remote Sensing

To start with it is essential that while laying down the road or railway line followings are taken
into consideration:

 Geological & Geodetic survey

 Proper identification of the shortest routes with minimal geographical obstacles and also
alignments.
 Identification of potential geological weak points like: flood & landslide prone areas etc.
 Proper location of the river bridges taking into account the changes in river course, land
intrusions, bank erosions and their long term impacts.

Before planning the roads and railway lines, it is advisable to collect the data based on local
geological studies, soil conditions besides collecting the satellite remote sensing data. Satellites
like IRS, SPOT, IKONOS can give multispectral pictures for the study of vegetations, forest &
geological signatures. The wide & narrow swath pictures with 1 to 2.5 meter resolution
(including panchromatic pictures obtained from IRS-1C/1D) can help in the proper routing of
the roads and railway lines. The satellite imageries an also help in aligning the roads & railway
lines. The imageries can be used for identifying and studying the geological features of the
region. The 1 to 2.5 meter resolution pictures can also be used in preparing the city road maps,
planning by pass roads, super highways, overbridges, under bridges & ring roads. These can
also be used for planning of ERLTs and Metros. Town planning can be done using these
imageries. Rouen city image is shown in Fig.1. Fig.2 shows some typical geological imageries.

Fig.3 shows the road map of a part of Bangalore city prepared using IRS imageries. Bangalore
and Hyderabad have used Irs imageries extensively for RING ROAD routing and alignment.

Geodetic information can be obtained using GPS receivers or satellites having 1.00 meter or
better resolutions with stereoscopic imageFig.
generation capabilities.
3. PAN image of Jayanagar, Bangalore and road network
map..
In case there are rivers or the area is flood prone and the river course changes also occur, the
satellite imagery comes as a boon in planning of the roads, bridges and rail lines. Satellite
imagery study for couple of years can reveal and give data about bank erosion, river shifts. Not
only these can help in estimating the damages caused but also in future planning for avoiding
such damages. Figs.4 to 7 show the impact of floods, damage caused by the bank erosions of
Brahmaputra river and river migrations. These type of imageries can help in planning of roads
and in taking advance measures to minimise the losses.

Fig. 2. Geological features of parts of

Fig. 1. PAN image showing parts of ROUEN, France. Cuddapah basin, A.P.
 Fig. 4. Impact assessment of erosion and deposition in the river bed.

Fig. 5. IRS 1C image showing damage to roads and villages

 Fig.6 Pre and post flood PAN data merge

Fig. 7 PAN data Pre flood and during the flood conditions
2.2 Use of GPS for Surface Transport

During the initial road or railway planning or even for the existing networks accurate
Geographical Information Service (GIS) database provide sufficient details and accuracy for
distance computations in the total network analysis. However, while travel distances depend
only on the route, travel times depend on speed limits, traffic signals, congestion, road
conditions & time of the day. Collecting data on actual travel times has been quite expensive.
However the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) consisting of GPS-Rx and a simple recorder can
provide location & time data, they can serve as automated travel time data recorder. A typical
application could be where a GPS unit is mounted on a truck collects information which is
loaded with the route GIS and used to study a road network for truck routing applications. The
procedure is advantageous because no additional efforts are needed and data is collected
during normal working schedules. An added benefit is that the data can be used to verify the
spatial accuracy of the road network, identifying omitted or misaligned road segments. This
process gives realistic travel time & results in reliable network analysis. The data collected
on various type of vehicles at different times of the day particularly vehicles having round
trips would reflect local traffic conditions, time of day and any alternate route chosen. By
compiling and analyzing data from several days of multiple round trips a realistic sample of
travel times and speed can be obtained. GPS position data can be collected say at every
second with a 10,000 point storage capacity where data can be stored for nearly 14 hours and
with the S/A removed the data can be fairly accurate. However for a better accuracy
differential correction can be applied. GPS software also allows recording & uploading of
actual velocity data. However a small programme can calculate speed for each point,
distance, time and velocity data can be corrected by judicious approach for wild GPS data
points and brought to the actual road points. This data can then be reliably used for:

1. Classification of highways & roads

2. Speed limit fixing with respect to time of the day
3. Alternate routings
4. Improvement & alligning of roads
5. Turn around time calculations of goods, passenger & cars. Minimum & Maximum
travel time calculations can also be done.
6. The total exercise can help in time motion study, traffic analysis, efficiency studies &
route planning.

2.1 Use of GPS, GSM, Mobile Satellite Communication and Internet for Surface
Transportation

The amalgamation of GPS, GSM or Mobile Satellite Communications & Internet has been
termed as Global Transport Telematics:

GPS + GSM + MOBILE SATCOM + INTERNET = GTTS

The Transport Telematics means the large scale integration & implementation of
telecommunication & informatics technology in the transport industry in a way which
penetrates all areas of modes of transport, the vehicle, the infrastructure, the organization &
management of transport & the interfaces between all the above mentioned elements as well as
between these elements & the transport users & society on the whole. This will integrate man,
cars, trucks, buses and roads to achieve increased travel safety, a better environment, a more
efficient and reliable transport system and a higher exploitation of existing infrastructure. This
will help all over the world in the immitent increased inter-regional trade as a result of the
globalization of the economy, the lowering of traffic barriers and the restructuring of the
manufacturing industry. This can help in addressing & managing the congestion &
environmental problem which are of great concern with regard to economic development in
general.

In an European study, economic losses, through traffic delays are estimated to be 150 billion
ECU annually. In India no such study is done. Some politician or a bureaucrate will belch out
some number of several crores depending upon the numeric figure which comes to his mind
and that instant. Besides the delay roads are considered as death machines. The accidents
causes losses to life and property.

Transport Telematics can be seen as an important contributor to solve these problems and
even considered as a potential low cost solution to transport problems.

The implementation of the Transport Telematics will ask for:

 GTTS compatible vehicle construction & design

 Improved telecom infrastructure which will have WILL, GSM & Space as a part of it.
 Effective transport organization & management technologies

The various technologies which need to be developed or adapted for the GTTS are:

 Radio channels
 Telephones
 Computers
 Screen displays & printers
 Digital road maps
 GPS receivers
 VSAT & GSM systems
 Vehicle based interrogating Transponders
 Smart cards
 Bar code readers
 Electronic & RF Tags
 Various sensors to monitor the vehicle performance
 A small databus to integrate various components of the vehicle to the interrogating
transponders.

3.0 INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT

Equipments to monitor road and traffic conditions, receive & send information to vehicle as
well as traffic information centre and control vehicle safety and weight. A communication
cable along the road, beacon by the side of the road, variable message signs and sensors in the
road surface are the main instruments. Long distance communication is transmitted by the
cable, short distance communication – to passing vehicles is transmitted by wireless.

A beacon is an information communication device which enables the instantaneous

transmission of the exact location and a large volume of data to vehicle passing by. Beacons and
sensors are used for road condition monitoring (traffic density, pollution, weather, accidents)
and issuing of warnings, others for automatic toll collection, it checks whether a vehicle has
passed between interchanging, calculate the toll & automatically deduct the amount from the
driver’s smart card. Weigh-in-motion & speed checks can also be done with drivers knowledge.

4.0 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

While the information interaction between all infrastructure subsystems can be by cable but
with the vehicles it will be by both short-range vehicle to roadside & wide area wireless. Long
distance communication with moving vehicles can take place by (1) satellites (2) vehicle-
roadside information exchange (3) Mobile Telephone (GSM).

Europe has chosen a separate Radio Data System – Traffic Message Channel (RDS-TMC) which
broadcasts coded traffic messages to in-vehicle receivers in the drivers’ chosen language. The
general telecommunication system EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is to a high degree used
for electronic transmission between customers and shippers/forwarders. Such a system will be
quite suitable for INDIA. All the information can be put on the Internet for the operators and
other users to see. Satellite communication plays a decisive role in transport telematics for two
way communication as well as in providing accurate position information for the individual
vehicle. The EUTELTRAC system of Europe consisting of two satellites, OmniTrack of USA &
INMARSAT-C Global Positioning System consisting of FOUR Satellites does this job. The
satellites communicate via terrestrial stations, linked together by the so-called X.25 network.
The same can be done by Internet.

With satellite communication a message can be sent from the home base to the vehicle or vice
versa. Dispatchers can also obtain the position of a vehicle using the INMARSAT system. By
sending a form of coded message the computer in the vehicle automatically reports the position
of the truck, without requiring any action by the driver. This position message make use of the
GPS. The EUTEL TRACK system provides a position accuracy within 80 meter in 95% of the
case. Smart card can be a low cost solution to recording information about trips & loads and
toll tax payments which are not needed in real time.

Near valleys, tunnels & shadow regions Roadside-to-Vehicle Communication Posts can be
used while these posts can directly communicate with satellites using VSATs and then to
the base stations.

5.0 TRAFFIC INFORMATION & MANAGEMENT

All the data collected from vehicles, the infrastructure and other source, (parking facilities,
public data base etc) are collected for traffic analysis and management at the traffic information
centre. After centralized processing, this information is transmitted to drivers in real time so as
to assist them in safe driving. The messages can include information as traffic congestion, road
maintenance work. Lane closures, accidents, route guidance, parking conditions and travelling
time.

The integration of all the above systems creates a comprehensive traffic management system.
For eg: when digital road maps in the vehicle are combined with traffic reports from Radio Data
System – Traffic Message channel (RDS-TMC) the information can be converted into route
recommendations. Given the location of truck, provided by GPS and a destination, the
computer selects the fastest route, considering preferences such as avoiding traffic facilities,
height/weight restrictions & restrictions on hazardous goods transportation.

Such an integrated system is shown in Figs. 8 & 9. The pictorial view shows an
amalgamation of all the above systems. The vehicles have an interrogating transponders
which can be interrogated by the RoadSide Beacons, the toll gate where toll tax is collected
automatically using the vehicle based transponder & smart card. Defaulters can be quickly
photographed using the video cameras. The system uses terrestrial cable, wireless as well as
space based mobile, VSAT & GPS systems. The system shown is a typical example of GTTS.
All the information, messages and data collected can be put on Internet for proper
dissemination.
6.0 USE OF GTTS FOR RAILWAYS

GPS can be used for collision avoidance and GPS based guiding can be utilized for railway track
laying and route planning. Typical concept of GPS based collision avoidance and Positive Train
Seperation (PTS) systems are shown in Figs. 10 & 11.

Such systems have been successfully tried in USA and Europe. A system similar to GTTS for
roads can be used even for railways in tracking the bogies, engines & trains in real time for a
proper utilization & resources management. Here each bogie and train can fitted with a GPS
Receiver, interrogating transponder and an RF Tag.

Fig. 10. PTS for prevention of collision for Railways

7.0 SPACE TECHNOLOGY FOR WATER TRANSPORT SYSTEM

GPS & Mobile Communication Terminals (like INMARSAT-C Terminal or MSS Terminal of
INSAT system) can play a major role for water transport management. Using satellite based
remote sensing one can find the deep river & sea routes and identify sedimentations or hidden
rocks. The position can be determined using GPS and INMARSAT-C terminal while search
and rescue can be attempted using SARSAT, COSPAR & INSAT Search & Rescue systems. The
GTTS can be modified to take care of water transport system.

8.0 INDIAN SCENARIO

As far as space technology is concerned India does have a operational spacecraft based
communication and remote sensing system which can fulfil all the space based
telecommunication & remote sensing requirements. IRS series of spacecraft can provide 1 to
2.5 Meter resolution imagery. CARTOSAT-2 spacecraft will give better than 1 meter
resolution imagery. All these can be used for:

 Geodetic Study
 Route planning
 Town planning
 River course change study
 Floods
 Glacier study
 Forestry study

These can also provide all the data needed for road, railway track planning, alignment and
shortest route identification

INSAT series of spacecraft can provide;

 VSAT communication links

 INSAT MSS - `A’ terminal can provide the short messaging service
 MSS terminal coupled with GPS receiver can give accurate velocity and location of
vehicles & railways and can provide services similar to INMARSAT-C or European
EUTELTRAC systems.
 The Meteorological component gives information about weather
 The broadcasting component can help in information broadcasting and providing
services similar to European RDS-TMC

9.0 WHAT THE TRANSPORT TELEMATICS CAN DO for India?

Transport Telematics with its ground and space components can provide:

a) An efficient transport system with

• Fewer entry driven kilometers
• Fewer detour kilometers
• More cost effective driving
• Lower communication cost
• Less planning & turnover time

b) Travel safety due to:

• Congestion management
• Traffic control
• Onboard sensors monitoring driver alertness & vehicle
• Functioning & shift in cargo
• Fewer accidents
• High degree of compliance with the speed limits

This will also help in reduced emissions and better environment

10.0 PROBLEMS ONE MAY FACE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH A SYSTEM

The main obstacles to a large scale deployment of Transport Management System in India may
come from:

 Economics
 Lack of Governmental & Political will
 Lack of institutional & regulatory frame work
 Lack of availability of cheap & standard equipment
 Corruption in public, government & commercial sectors.

The system in concept is doable and can be a significant addition to the country’s infrastructure.

11.0 SYSTEMS AVAILABLE ELSEWHERE

USA, Mexico & Canada depend on Omnitrack system along with the ground based systems
Europe’s Euteltrack, RDS-TMC, ERTRICO, Advance transport Telematics (ATT), DRIVE-I,
DRIVE-II & PROMETHEUS are the systems which are being put into service for a better Surface
Transportation Management. All of them working towards implementation of GTTS & its use
for safer, quicker & efficient transport management.

12.0 CONCLUSION

Space Technology can play very important role in surface transport management system of
India. India does have all the components available. Only there is a need to integrate all of
them to put in to use.
ABBREVIATIONS:
GPS Global Positioning System
INSAT Indian National Satellite System
GEO Geo Stationary Orbit
GSM Global System for Mobile Communication
DRIVE Dedicated Road Infrastructure for Vehicle Safety in Europe
S/A Selective Availability
VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminals
LEO Low Earth Orbit
MEO Middle Earth Orbit
IRS Indian Remote Sensing Satellite
MSS Mobile Satellite Service
Rx Receiver
Txp Transponder
GTTS Global Transport Telematics System
WILL Wireless in Local Loop
RDS-TMC Radio Data Systems – Traffic Message Channel

Sources:

1.Satellite Based Mobile Communications – A Perspective

S Pal, IETE Technical Review, Vol 16, No.3&4, May-Aug 1999 – pp 349-361
2. Impact Assessment of 1998
Brahmaputra Floods – Some case studies on Sand Intrusion, Bank Erosion & Damage to
Kaziranga National Park
K V Venkatachary, DMS-Office, ISRO-HQ, Bangalore – 94
3. Study of Brahmputra Bank Erosion (1990 – 1998)
(Based on Multi-temporal Satellite Data)
DMS Task Force Team
DMS Office, ISRO-HQ
Bangalore 560 094
4. IRS & INSAT Systems Reports
5. Towards an Intelligent Transport System. Proceedings of the First World Congress on
Application of Transport Telematics & Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems, Paris - 1994
6. Traffic Management on the Trans-European Road Network by the EC-Directorate General for
Transport, Brussels 1994
7. Report on EC-Integrated Inter-Urban Traffic Management