What’s new 2010

HOME 

2010 

 

************************************************

Air pollution in big cities verging to calamity

For more than a month air pollution in big Iranian cities and particularly Tehran is the number one concern of the residents. The steadiness and harmfulness of the air pollution this year in comparison to the previous years is due to the wide consumption of domestically produced fuel in the combustion engines of the vehicles used extensively and inevitably in the urban areas. The different poisonous and harmful pollutants produced by the use of inappropriate and ill-refined fuels could potentially lead to a dangerous disaster with extended, high, far-reaching/long-lasting and more or less unseen casualty of the citizens and living residents/creatures of the populated areas.

 

Air pollution in Tehran; December 2010

 

Air pollution in Karaj, Mehrshahr; Mid-December 2010

************************************************

New president, new promises

By the approval of the Iranian Administrational Supreme Council on 29 September 2010 the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) is annexed to Iran’s Presidency Institution, and consequently the activity of ISA under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was concluded after about 7 years. Dr. Hamid Fazeli is appointed as the in-charge of the presidency for ISA who will work as the I.R. Iran President’s Deputy at the same time. This new administrational promotion is the indication of the significance of Iran’s space endeavor for the government.

Mr. Fazeli is the fifth president of ISA who is appointed since its establishment on 1 February 2004. Having a study background in Mechanics, before appointment as the in-charge of the presidency of ISA he worked as the president of the Aerospace Research Institute (ARI) of Iran from February 2009 to late September 2010. ISA’s first president, Mr. Hassan Shafti, conducted the Agency from its establishment in February 2004 to 18 October 20052 while the second president, Mr. Ahmad Talebzadeh, headed it by 29 July 2008. Mr. Reza Taghipour (currently the Minister of Communications and Information Technology) was the successor of the second president who presided the agency by 22 September 2009. He was replaced by Mr. Muhammad Ali Forghani whose presidency lasted by 29 September 2010.

On Tuesday, November 23 the newly appointed president of the space agency and his deputies visited the Mahdasht Receiving Station. During the visit the president and his two deputies came to my office for short time. It was for the first time that I visited the new president of the agency. He expressed his respect to me too much, and added that he already knew me. He insisted on his appreciation to the scientists and was honored for my work and study on such important topics. Repeating it few times he assured me that he would honestly support me and my work. He even furthered that I have to be relieved on his promises and he was fully different of the recent presidents of the agency. When leaving my office the president said that he has watched the video record of my presentation that I made in the session of the international workshop held in the Mahdasht site three weeks ago. He expressed his gratitude for my presentation. On Tuesday, October 26 I indeed attend the third day sessions of the REGIONAL EXPERT MEETING/TRAINING WORKSHOP on “Monitoring Global Environmental Changes through the Application of Remote Sensing for OIC and IOR-ARC Region Countries” that was held at the site of Mahdasht Receiving Station. I gave two presentations in the afternoon session with the titles “Use of new microwave satellite technologies in the environmental monitoring” and “The United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER)- Regional Support Office in IRAN, Introduction, Report of 2009 and Plan for 2010.” Some distinguished experts and scientists from different countries participated in this meeting at the Mahdasht site.

After a group meeting with the personnel of the Mahdasht Receiving Station in the afternoon, which lasted long and some important issues were discussed, the president left the site. However after the meeting with the president and his very respectful treatment before me it is still a bit unbelievable for me how he would comply his promises. Presence of his current deputies and entourage that all are appointed by the three recent presidents of the agency, and the unfavorable organizational arrangements and relations that all are the inheritance from them does not allow one to feel relieved that the new president would be successful while the official behavior and intension of his current deputies and entourage are in contradiction with what he plans to realize. For complying his promises the president needs a basic staff house-cleaning in the managerial level at the agency and adjusting the visions in conformity with the realities. I believe that I have to wait patiently to see how he would act for realizing his promises.

 

************************************************

Presentation at the Mahdasht site

On Tuesday, 26 October 2010 I attend the third day sessions of the REGIONAL EXPERT MEETING/TRAINING WORKSHOP on “Monitoring Global Environmental Changes through the Application of Remote Sensing for OIC and IOR-ARC Region Countries” that is held in Mahdasht Station. The meeting is being held from 24 to 27 October in Tehran and its third day holds in Mahdasht Satellite Receiving Station site. OIC stands for the Organization of Islamic Conference and IOR-ARC stands for the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation. I give two presentations in the afternoon session with the titles “Use of new microwave satellite technologies in the environmental monitoring” and “The United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER)- Regional Support Office in IRAN, Introduction, Report of 2009 and Plan for 2010.”  The meeting lasts by late in the evening.  The Emeritus Professor of  the University Twente of the Netherlands, Enschede,  Nanno Johannes Mulder and  Dr. C.S. Jha, the scientist of the Forestry and Ecology Division of the National Remote Sensing Centre of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) of  India based in Hyderabad are amongst 16 international participants of the meeting at Mahdash site. Professor Mulder and  Dr. Jha also each give a presentation to the meeting in the morning session.

 

************************************************        

SAR Interferometry of water bodies

On January 12, 2010, Tuesday a huge quake measuring 7.0 rocked the Caribbean Haiti. It destroyed mainly the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic. Using the radar data provided by the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) affiliated to the European Space Agency (ESA) I have carried out since early March 2010 investigation and research work on the available data which includes 47 single look complex images (SLCI) of the C-band Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image mode system of Envisat satellite in addition to other type of data.

The results sound good and the detailed study report is planned to be prepared as soon as the data investigation, and product generation work is wholly completed. However, the results achieved by combining the available SAR image pairs of the area that are acquired successively with maximum 16 seconds of temporal baseline looks interesting and considerable for the water bodies. Although it is usually assumed that the application of SAR Interferometry technique is not worthy for water bodies, for the Haiti study area the results of combination of 4 image pairs focusing on the water bodies are given below. The detail of the combination is shown as inset at the bottom of each product collection image. The parallel baseline component that plays the key role in producing interferograms is highlighted by red color. In each case the direction of the movement of the sea water is distinguishable and the displacement in the direction of the line of sight is assessable. Knowing the direction of the motion of sea water surface and its long term trends could be useful for coastal zone management and the interaction of sea water and coastal areas. There could be other potential benefits that need to be further investigated and studied. By increasing the coverage area of the successive SAR images access to the information about the behavior of the sea water movement in larger areas would be possible. This idea needs to be examined and tested for various cases and different locations.

  

 

 

 

 

October 2010

 

click here for details.

************************************************ 

Travel homeland

From September 9 to September 18, 2010 I accompanied by my wife and our sons to travel to a Tabriz and Maragheh in north-west. Shahryar, the elder son drives most of the route while we have few stops in the route. We stay in parents’ home in Tabriz. The second day of stay in Tabriz coincides with Fitr Fest and end of Ramadan. We meet the relatives in parents’ home. It is windy and cool at night.

 My father at home in Tabriz; September 10, 2010      

At the sixth day of our travel we leave Tabriz to Maragheh. In the last day of our stay in Maragheh we join our relatives to go to picnic in a site at the north-east of Maragheh. It is nice place with beautiful nature. We leave the picnic site after lunch and drive to home in Karaj.

     The view of the village ‘Ashan’ in north-west of Maragheh; September 17, 2010      

The view of the beautiful nature in north-west of Maragheh; September 17, 2010      

See also Iran: Homeland at Gallery

************************************************ 

A DEM with a temporal baseline of 8 seconds

      InSAR products of Haiti area in North America (Image credit: Parviz Tarikhi) 

Above image shows a sample of the data products in the framework of the research and study work on Haiti earthquake. On January 12, 2010, Tuesday a huge quake measuring 7.0 rocked the Caribbean Haiti. It destroyed mainly the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic. Using the radar data provided by the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) affiliated to the European Space Agency (ESA) since early March 2010 an investigation and research work on the available data was carried out. The data included 47 single look complex images (SLCI) of the C-band Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image mode system of Envisat satellite in addition to other type of data. The results sound good and the above image is a DEM generated for the area of study, Nord-Ouest Department (North-West Province). The cities of Cap du Mole Saint-Nicolas and Bale-de-Honne are situated in north-west and south respectively. The products are generated by combining the Envisat ASAR images taken at the same day of 4 March 2010 with only 8 seconds of time interval and the virtual baseline of 13.23m while the parallel baseline amounts only 2.1cm that is too close and comparable to the radar wavelength of 56mm for Envisat. 

For more information see ‘New research and study work on Haiti earthquake‘ down this page.

 ********************************************

More SAR Interferometry technique and data work out

The 2009 L’Aquila earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. The main shock occurred at 3:32 local time on April 6, 2009, and was rated 5.8 on the Richter scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale. Its epicenter was near L’Aquila, the capital of Abruzzo, which together with surrounding villages suffered most damage. There have been several thousand foreshocks and aftershocks since December 2008, more than thirty of which had a Richter magnitude greater than 3.5. The earthquake was felt throughout central Italy; 308 people are known to have died.

I started the investigation and study work on this event since early July 2010. Thanks to the availability of the radar data provided by the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) affiliated to the European Space Agency (ESA), using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry technique I have carried out investigation and research work on the data which includes the single look complex images (SLCI) of the C-band Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image mode system of Envisat satellite in addition to other type of data.

The two image sets below are the samples of the products generated by combining the Envisat ASAR images pair of March 11 and June 24, 2009 (27 days before and 78 days after the trembling) with 239.54 meters virtual baseline, and the images pair of January 28, 2007 and May 17, 2009 (798 days before and 41 days after the quake) with 580.82 meters virtual baseline.

 Image products generated by combining the Envisat ASAR images pair of March 11 and June 24, 2009 (27 days before and 78 days after the trembling) with 239.54 meters virtual baseline and 61.45 meters parallel baseline

Image products generated by combining the Envisat ASAR images pair January 28, 2007 and May 17, 2009 (798 days before and 41 days after the quake) with 580.82 meters virtual baseline and 216.10 meters parallel baseline

 ********************************************

Dreamy Caspian Sea shore

I accompanying my family and a relative couple pass the five hot days of summer 2010 at the Caspian Sea shore. From 3^rd to 7^th July we travel to a leisure site called Rostamroud belonging to the Telecommunications Company of Iran at the southern Caspian seashore near Nur. We head to Rostamroud through Chalus Road. We stay in villa number 3 which is a two-bedroom duplex suite. Late in the evening we visit the sport fields and later go the beachside that is private for Rostamroud Leisure Complex consists of villas, sport field and private beachside. It is really a nice a dreamy place. During our stay we benefited the good opportunity of relaxing, sporting, swimming and visiting the sightseeing inside the complex and around the city of Nur and Rooyan.

 

Heads on clouds near a site famous to Ab-Pari Waterfall in Rooyan at the Caspian Sea shore- My wife and I

The view of beautiful Rostamroud Leisure site near Nur in southern shore of Caspian Sea where we stay there for five days

 

The view of Caspian Sea in Rostamroud near Nur; it is really wonderful   

 

At the sport field in the Rostamroud Leisure site near Nur in southern shore of Caspian Sea

 

See also Iran: Rostamroud at Gallery

**************************************************

Starting another investigation and study work on Chile earthquake

Following the successful and fruitful travel to Tunisia to contribute to the international training course on the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery; processing, interpretation and applications as the trainer I started the new investigation and study work on Chile earthquake that devastated the Maule Region in central western Chile on February 27, 2010.  Using the radar data provided by the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) affiliated to the European Space Agency (ESA) I have carried out investigation and research work on the available data which includes the single look complex images (SLCI) of the C-band Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image mode system of Envisat satellite in addition to other type of data.

The results sound good and below can be seen samples of the early products that are generated by combining the Envisat ASAR  image pairs of 26 March 2010 and 30 April 2010 with 251.05 m of virtual baseline.

coherence image

phase-flat image

amplitude-phase image

********************************************

The narrative of my first travel to Africa

I always have had the dream in mind to visit Africa. Finally this dream realized and I benefited the opportunity to travel there. My main mission was to contribute to the international training course on the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery; processing, interpretation and applications as a trainer. The course was held from 3^rd to 14^th May 2010 at the AL Hana International Hotel, 49, Avenue Habib Bourghiba, in Tunis, Tunisia. I was the tutor of the SAR Interferometry part of the course from 11^th to 14^th May and therefore I traveled there from 10 to 17 May 2010. The program was organized and conducted jointly by the Centre Regional de Télédétection des Etats d’Adrique du Nord- CRTEAN (Regional Center for Remote Sensing of North African Countries) and the Inter-Islamic Network on Space Sciences and Technology- ISNET. I began my journey early in the morning on 10 May. My pre-scheduled itinerary was to go from Tehran to Doha of Qatar and then fly to Tunis but my first flight from Tehran to Doha was delayed one and half an hour and I missed my pre-scheduled second flight from Doha to Tunis. The delay is almost common for the flights that begin from Iran and none of the authorities of the country cares about it. It does not matter if your flight is delayed and you miss time and also the next flight. They easily postpone the flight by when they wish announcing that they do it for the security purposes. Since I was flying with Qatar Airways, then they promptly arranged for my travel from Doha to Tunis via Algiers of Algeria. In Algiers the airport authorities was very cooperative and received me kindly arranging with no delay for my flight to Tunis. Finally I reached Tunis in the evening about five and half an hour later than the pre-scheduled arrival time there. I went to the AL Hana International Hotel by Taxi and lodged in the room unmber 410. In the evening I attended the dinner banquet hold by ISNET and I get familiar with the majority of the trainees from different countries. I also met Dr. Yousif Ali Hussein from ITC, The Netherlands who was the trainer of the course’s first part from 3^rd to 10^th May. He is a reputable scientist working on the applications of radar technology.

The view of AL Hana International Hotel, in Tunis 

I presented four theoretical lectures and three practical workshops for four days. The trainees were twenty people from Tunisia, Senegal, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Bangladesh while the Egyptian trainees were missing. They were the experts and researchers of the relevant remote sensing and GIS authorities, organizations and academic sector of their own counties holding PhD and MSc degrees in remote sensing, image processing, electronics, computer and communications. The topics that I trained were on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry (InSAR), differential InSAR (DInSAR), SAR persistent scatterer interferometry (PSInSAR), SqueeSAR, SAR applications and case studies. In the closing ceremony His Excellency the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Tunisia and Mr. Neji Fekih, the General Director of CRTEAN awarded the certificate of the trainees and the Ambassador made remarks.

Giving lecture on the SAR Interferometry

  

The trainees of the international course on SAR technology

 

H. E. the Ambassador of Pakistan to Tunisia gives his remarks in the closing ceremony of the international course on SAR technology. Mr. Neji Fekih, the Director General of CRTEAN is sitting in the middle of the photo.

The composition of white and blue colours of the houses in Tunis makes a fascinating view that draws the attention of any viewer.

Visiting Tunis was a great opportunity for me to see a new part and dimension of the world, north Africa. The colour of all the houses were in white and azure giving the fascinating feeling to the viewer while I was enjoying very much of watching it. Tunis was built on the ruins of the ancient city of Carthage established by Phoenicians about a millennium BC. It was occupied byRomans a decade BC and in 698 it was aggressed and devastated by Muslims. The remarkable places of Carthage, as one of the historic sites of Africa and currently a pleasant place for the habitat of the rich people of Tunis, the streets full of European tourists, the variety of Roman-Arabic archaeological sites, the statue of Tunisian Arab polymath, Ibn Khaldun, and the beautiful landscapes of the southern shore of Mediterranean Sea were all the dream-like things that I will never forget and will always appeal me to try to travel to Africa again and again to see them. Although the people were talking in Arabic language but about 90% of the words they used were French and indeed they were talking Arabic with French accent. Tunisia was full of strange things and secrets for me, the things that persuade me to learn and explore more and more about them.

I in front of a house in Carthage; the composition of white and blue colours of the house is remarkable.

A ruin of Roman architecture in Carthage

The Cathedral of Saint Louis of Carthage seen far

The private harbour of the rich people residing in Carthage at the southern shore of Mediterranean Sea

The private harbour of the rich people residing in Carthage at the southern shore of Mediterranean Sea; an attractive sight for tourists

The Mosque of the President in Carthage

The statue of Ibn Khaldun, the famous Tunisian Arab polymath in the main square of the city of Tunis

Street walking in Carthage

The far view of the statue of Ibn Khaldun, the famous Tunisian Arab polymath in the main square of the city of Tunis

The façade of the city theater in the main square of the city of Tunis

 Street photo of the tutor and the trainees of the international course in Carthage  

 

Nice Mediterranean view in Carthage

Click here for more details about the international course on SAR technology in Tunis. 

Click here to read more at the ISNET web site.

Click here in facebook to know more about the SAR Community that was established following this training course.

**********************************************************

Travel in Nowruz Holidaies

I accompanying my family make a land travel to north-west of Iran by our car. Most of the time we stay in Maragheh and meet the relatives. Rain and snow fall are common everywhere.

In travel in north-west of Iran, Nowruz Holidaies 

 

**************************************************

Happy Nowruz 1389 (21 March 2010)!

************************************************

New research and study work on Haiti earthquake

On January 12, 2010, Tuesday a huge quake measuring 7.0 rocked the Caribbean Haiti. It destroyed mainly the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince toppling buildings and causing widespread damage and panic. Using the radar data provided by the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) affiliated to the European Space Agency (ESA) since early March 2010 I have carried out investigation and research work on the available data which includes the single look complex images (SLCI) of the C-band Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) image mode system of Envisat satellite in addition to other type of data.

The results sound good and below can be seen samples of the early products that are generated by combining the Envisat ASAR images of 26 January 2010 (two weeks after the quake) and 2 March of 2010 (49 days after the quake). Both of the images are collected after the advent of the quake. However in the third image (coherence DInSAR) below it can be seen that in the time interval of 35 days the area have had the movement that can be estimated through the interferometry method to be 35.89 cm in surface at the area of the Port-au-Prince.

A study report is planned to be prepared as soon as the data investigation, and product generation work is completed.

Amplitude Topography image product; Port-au-Prince is seen in the middle right between two water bodies.

Coherence image; the coherence degree in the Port-au-Prince area is high particularly at the lakeside. Brightness in the coherence image is the indication of high correlation of the corresponding pixels of the image pairs.

Coherence DInSAR image; five fringe cycles can be counted on the Port-au-Prince area, that estimates 14 cm displacement in the slant range, while its horizontal coordinate is calculated to be 35.89 cm (hypotenuse) and the vertical coordinate 15.22 cm. The estimated displacements after the main quake on January 12, implies that the land surface movements still continues in the aftermath of the main quake.

****************************************************

A new computer for us

We renew our home computer on 3rd March 2010. It is a laptop that its capabilities and privileges competes with the available desk top PCs. It is an Acer Aspire 5740G laptop. We get rid of our old PC after years of using it. We communicate with Shahryar who resides now in Tabriz at my parents’ house.

 

 *************************************************************

People seek their fate, but fate seeks people – such is the circle they call life.

The Kyrgyzian well known and reputable writer Chinghiz Aitmatov says, “People seek their fate, but fate seeks people – such is the circle they call life”.

Finally the book “Emerging Space Powers” published early this February. In this 624-page book I am referenced 16 times by the author that is the highest record of the reference that is made to the works of a person in the book. Early this February, the author of the book who is a reputable scientist and writer in the field of space science and technology traveled to Iran. He came to our home in Karaj accompanying his wife and we hosted them friendly and happily. Henk, the author of the book presented to me a copy of the first-hand just-published book of the “Emerging Space Powers” with some dedication words that he himself wrote for me on the inside cover of the book. 

….Special thanks I reserve for Parviz Tarikhi, a man of stature, who stood by me all the way. His insight into the Iranian space efforts enlightened the path I had to travel to write this book [Emerging Space Powers; the New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East, and South America]. … 

Henk H.F. Smid,  Author

Emerging Space Powers; the New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East, and South America

Words of dedication by Henk H.F. Smid, the author of the Brazil and Iran chapters of the book ‘Emerging Space Powers; the New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East, and South America’ on the inside cover of the copy of the book which he presented to me at our home on February 4, 2010.

Henk H.F. Smid (left), the author of the Brazil and Iran chapters of the book ‘Emerging Space Powers; the New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East, and South America’ and his wife Ria Smid (right) at our home on February 4, 2010. Henk gives a closed presentation about the  efficiencies of the space remote sensing to my family. My elder son boy    Shahryar sits beside Henk and I am in the middle photographed from rear.

 *************************************************************

It is now available all around the world!

Emerging Space Powers

The New Space Programs of Asia, the Middle East and South-America

This work introduces the important emerging space powers of the world:

• Introduces the origins and current status of the lesser known, yet still important, space programs of emerging countries such as Iran and Brazil
• Includes important developments of the space programs of Japan and India from 1999 to 2007
• Speculates on the future plans of emerging space powers and their impact on space leaders

Brian Harvey describes in chapter 1 the origins of the Japanese space program, from rocket designs based on WW II German U-boats to tiny solid fuel ‘pencil’ rockets, which led to the launch of the first Japanese satellite in 1970. The next two chapters relate how Japan expanded its space program, developing small satellites into astronomical observatories and sending missions to the Moon, Mars, comet Halley, and asteroids. Chapters 4-6 describe how India’s Vikram Sarabhai developed a sounding rocket program in the 1960s and how the Indian space program progressed. They also relate how the Indian space program is looking ahead.

Henk H.F. Smid describes in chapters 7 an 8 how, in Iran, communications and remote sensing drive space technology and how they, against all odds, develop an indigenous space program.  In chapter 9 he outlines Brazil’s road to space, begun in the mid-1960’s with the launch of the Sonda sounding rockets. The following two chapters describe Brazil’s satellites and space launch systems and plans for the future.

Theo Pirard studies in chapter 12 the Israel’s space industry. In the following two chapters he looks at the burgeoning space programs of North and South Korea.

The book ends by contrasting and comparing all the space programs and speculating how they may evolve in the future. An appendix lists all launches and launch attempts to date of the emerging space powers.

February 2010, 624 pages

Springer Praxis Books

ISBN 978-1-4419-0873-5

List price:  € 44.95

• In the chapters related to Iran it is referenced 16 times to my works and studies. Parviz Tarikhi 

 *************************************************************

Happy New Year 2010! 

 *************************************************************

 PREVIOUS                                           NEXT                                                HOME

———————————————————————

Dear visitor,

Thanks for visiting this page!

I would appreciate your comments and suggestions on the content and set-up.

Parviz Tarikhi