Remote Sensing Activities Of Nasda In Southeast Asia

Eiichi Muto
Director, NASDA Bangkok Office
RM.1312, B.B.BLDG., 54 Asoke RD., Sukhumvit 21, Bangkok 10110
Tel: (66)-2-260-7026 Fax: (66)-2-260-7027
THAILAND
E-mail:nasdatha@ksc15.th.com

Key Words: Remote Sensing, Southeast Asia, NASDA, Development, Earth Observation Abstract:
National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was established 31 years ago to act as the nucleus for the development of space and to promote the peaceful use of space. NASDA is responsible for the following tasks:

Development of satellites (including space experiments and the space station) and launch vehicles, launching and tracking the craft.

Development of methods, facilities and equipment required for the above.

NASDA is developing earth observation satellites, such as ADEOS-II and ALOS. ADEOS-II is being developed to help answer question on the global environment; a theme of common concern to all humanity. ALOS is a satellite following JERS-1 and ADEOS, which will utilize advanced land observing technology. ALOS will be used for cartography, regional observation, disaster monitoring and resource surveying. ALOS has three remote-sensing instruments: the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) for digital elevation mapping, the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) for precise land coverage observation, and the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) for day-and-night and all-weather land observation.

NASDA is conducting the pilot projects for public use in cooperation with related governmental agencies in Thailand and Indonesia. Purpose of the pilot projects is to promote operational data use for governmental and administrative purposes through data analysis technologies development. In the pilot projects, we are developing and researching particular application for each participating agency, and we are expecting that the results should be useful in the governmental activities. The results from the pilot projects could be reflected to the design of future earth observation satellite program in Japan.

NASDA organizes some seminars and training programs in cooperation with related organizations.

1. Introduction
National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) was established 31 years ago, under the National Space Development Agency Law, to act as the nucleus for the development of space and to promote the peaceful use of space. NASDA is responsible for the following tasks, based on the Japanese Space Development Program enacted by the Prime Minister:

Development of satellites (including space experiments and the space station) and launch vehicles, launching and tracking the craft.

Development of methods, facilities and equipment required for the above.

This paper presents the outline of the remote sensing activities of NASDA in the Southeast Asia.

2. Development Of Earth Observation Satellites
NASDA is developing earth observation satellites, such as ADEOS-II and ALOS. ADEOS-II is being developed to help answer question on the global environment; a theme of common concern to all humanity. ALOS is a satellite following JERS-1 and ADEOS, which will utilize advanced land observing technology. ALOS will be used for cartography, regional observation, disaster monitoring and resource surveying. ALOS has three remote-sensing instruments: the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) for digital elevation mapping, the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) for precise land coverage observation, and the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) for day-and-night and all-weather land observation.

2.1 ADEOS-II
The Advanced Earth Observing Satellite II (ADEOS-II) is the satellite which will take over ADEOS's observation mission of monitoring frequent climate changes occurring in the world, expansion of the ozone holes, and global environmental changes, as well as investigating the causes of these phenomena.

ADEOS-II is equipped with two core sensors; AMSR for the observation of various physical content concerning water cycling regardless of day and night, and GLI for the observation of many field such as ocean, land and cloud with high precision, with the combination of other instruments developed by domestic and overseas organization. They include a scattering meter (Sea Winds, NASA/JPL ), ILAS-II an improved spectrometer for measuring infrared radiation at the edge of the atmosphere (Environmental Agency), and POLDER, an earth surface reflection measuring device from CNES.

ADEOS-II is expected to acquire the data necessary to understand the circulation of water and energy, and the circulation of carbon in order to contribute to study the global environmental changes including seizing the mechanism of global environmental changes.

Main Characteristics of ADEOS-II are as follows.

Dimension
Main body Approx. 5 × 4 × 4m (X-axis × Y-axis × Z-axis)
Solar Array Paddle Approx. 3 × 24m


Weight Total Weight Approx. 3500kg
Mission Instrument Weight Approx. 1200kg