Near real time EO satellite data for civil engineering applications : a conceptual design of the data receiving facility in Sri Lanka

Abstract

One of the oldest engineering disciplines, civil engineering, has many branches such as construction, geotechnical, water resources and transportation engineering; that significantly impact the environment. Sri Lanka, being a biodiversity hot-spot, needs to play a vital role in protecting the ecology. To achieve sustainable development, civil engineers are committed to innovate and they have been carrying out research studies to find out suitability of alternative sites, materials and methods to reduce the environmental impacts. Satellite Earth observation is a non-destructive technology that has been spreading in many fields, including civil engineering domain for investigations, planning, monitoring, damage assessment etc. Satellite data has become an essential input to support civil engineering decisions making, but effective decision making depends on the data availability and access and also, immediate access is necessary to detect rapid environmental changes such as landslides and forest fires. However, technical limitations hinder the provision of useful data in real time. The aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual design of the data receiving facility including civil engineering design aspects, to address the limitations in providing near real time satellite data in Sri Lanka.