TEHRAN – The domestically produced "Khayyam" satellite is being used for dealing with land grabbing and clearing of forests, Abbas-Ali Nobakht, the head of Forests, Range, and Watershed Management Organization, has said.

“Today, we need to provide accurate and transparent statistics and information to the public,” IRIB quoted Nobakht as saying.

Data related to changes in vegetation, sources of dust storms, and soil erosion are very important information that can be provided by the satellite, he added.

The Iranian Space Agency launched "Khayyam" with a wide range of environmental functions in August 2022. It was put into orbit by a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space station in Kazakhstan.

Improving productivity in the agriculture sector, surveying water resources, managing natural disasters, confronting deforestation, monitoring border areas and mining explorations are among the main objectives of the satellite.

Reza Bayani, an official with the Organization, said last year that the "Khayyam" satellite is monitoring forest areas and can immediately track wildfires.

If a fire occurs in an area during the satellite's rotation, we can record its images at the same moment, and the positive and significant point of this satellite is that its images are periodic, he stated.

In many parts of the world, when some satellites record an image, a certain period of time passes until the next image is recorded, and in most parts of the world, images are sent with a time interval of 15 to 20 days, and during this interval, they use other satellites, but we can use Khayyam in different periods to monitor different areas of the country and have periodic information, he explained.

Extracting periodic information from the earth is the most widely used function of this satellite for systems such as natural resources, agriculture, and geology to use the earth's platform to be up-to-date at any moment, according to Bayani.

Having a satellite with this resolving power can monitor the borders of the country, changes in vegetation, changes in forests, changes in the boundaries of cities and mines, and how to harvest them, he said.

It can level the type of agricultural products and their quantity and quality in agricultural lands, in addition to monitoring the type of forest species using its data. During a fire, it shows the critical areas and how the vegetation will return to the burnt lands, he concluded.

President Ebrahim Raisi has highlighted the importance of environmental protection, emphasizing that the preservation of the environment is prior to every development.

Environmental protection will lead to power, security, investment, and production growth in the country, he said.

Both people and NGOs have an effective role to play in the protection of the environment, and they should be given a chance to play their role, he added.

The need to use new technologies and the ability of knowledge-based companies in the field of environment, solving issues and problems related to legal proceedings, attention to domestic and international diplomacy in the field of environment, attention to water transfer in the country from one region to another, attention to the dangers of trawling, attention to environmental water rights and also attention to land management were among the topics that were discussed in this specialized meeting.

MG