This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 8528, including the Title Page, Copyright Information, Table of Contents, and the Conference Committee listing.

The paper provides an overview of the GMES Sentinel-1 system characteristics including the SAR imaging modes and their key performance parameters, the SAR interferometry capabilities, and the specifics of related attitude and orbit control modes (i.e., roll steering mode and zero-Doppler steering mode). Furthermore, the paper outlines the planned Sentinel-1 System Commissioning Phase activities related to the in-orbit SAR system end-to-end performance verification and calibration.

EarthCARE is the Earth Clouds Aerosols and Radiation Explorer mission. The project is the result of a collaboration between ESA and JAXA. The satellite will carry four instruments: an atmospheric lidar (ATLID), a cloud profiling radar (CPR) provided by JAXA, a multi spectral imager (MSI) and a broadband radiometer (BBR). The payload elements will operate in synergy to provide a better understanding of clouds and aerosols and their impact on the Earth’s climate. An important aspect of the mission is that, for the first time, the suite of instruments will make near simultaneous observations of the same cloud/aerosol scene, The presentation will describe the satellite and its mission and will make particular reference to the design and current development status of the payload.

Three CMOS sensors were developed for remote sensing instrument (RSI) applications. First device is linear CMOS Sensor for Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC). This device has 4000 elements, 7 μm x 7 μm of pixel size. Second device is area CMOS Sensor for Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI). The device has 512 x 256 elements and 50 μm x 50 μm of pixel size. Third device is multi band sensor for Remote Sensing Instrument (RSI). This device integrates five linear CMOS sensor into a single monolithic chip to form a Multiple System On Chip (MSOC) IC. The multi band sensor consists of one panchromatic (PAN) and four multi - spectral (MS) bands. The PAN is 12000 elements, 10 μm x 10 μm with integration time of 297 μs ± 5%. Each MS band is 6000 elements, 20 μm x 20 μm with integration time of 594 us μs ± 5%. Both linear and area CMOS sensor were designed and developed for Chandrayaan-1 project. The Chandrayaan-1 satellite was launched to the moon on October 22, 2008. The moon orbit height is 100 km and 20 km of swath size. The multi band sensor was designed for earth orbit. The earth orbit height is about 720 km and 24 km of swath. The low weight, low power consumption and high radiation tolerance camera requirement only can be done by CMOS Sensor technology. The detail device structure and performance of three CMOS sensors will present.

Following the successful launch of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) spacecraft, the NASA OMPS Limb team began an evaluation of sensor and data product performance in relation to the original goals for this instrument. Does the sensor design work as well as expected, and can limb scatter measurements by NPP OMPS and successor instruments form the basis for accurate long-term monitoring of ozone vertical profiles? While this paper does not address the latter question, the answer to the former is a qualified Yes given this early stage of the mission.

OMPS is the latest advanced hyperspectral sensor suite flying onboard the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) spacecraft. It measures ozone depletion in total column and vertical profile ozone abundances. OMPS on-orbit calibration is conducted through dark, lamp and solar measurements. Launched on October 28, 2011, OMPS Nadir has successfully undergone a thorough early orbit check (EOC) and is currently in the intensive calibration and validation (ICV) phase. The calibration data gathered during the on-orbit calibration and validation activities allows us to evaluate the sensor’s early orbit performance and establish on-orbit calibration baseline. In this paper, we provide details of the sensor major on-orbit calibrations activities and present sensor level performance and calibration results from OMPS early orbit image data. These results have demonstrated that the OMPS has made a smooth transition from ground to orbit, and its early on-orbit performance meets or exceeds sensor level requirements and agrees with the predicted values determined during the prelaunch calibration and characterization. Examples of Nadir CCD orbital performance monitoring are provided.

Medium Resolution Spectral Imager (MERSI) is a keystone instrument onboard Fengyun-3 (FY-3), the second generation of polar-orbiting meteorological satellites in China. This paper summarizes the knowledge of MERSI instrument in terms of sensor design, calibration algorithm, and long term calibration monitoring. The calibration monitoring of its reflective solar bands (RSBs) is conducted using China Radiometric Calibration Sites (CRCS) vicarious calibration (VC), global multi-site calibration tracking, visible onboard calibrator (VOC) monitoring and deep convective cloud (DCC) monitoring. All these methods provide results with good consistency . It is found that there is significant degradation over 10% in the shorter RSB bands (<500 nm), with the largest in band 8 (412 nm) of approximately 35% during the past four years. The performance in the red and near-infrared (600 to 900 nm) is relatively stable. The overall uncertainty of the MERSI top-of-the-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance is less than 5% verified through several methods.

Launched in December 1999 and May 2002, Terra and Aqua MODIS have successfully operated for more than 12 and 10 years, respectively. MODIS reflective solar bands (RSB) are calibrated on-orbit by a solar diffuser (SD). Its on-orbit degradation, or the change in its bi-directional reflectance factor (BRF), is tracked by a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM). The MODIS SDSM makes alternate observations of direct sunlight through an attenuation screen (Sun view) and of sunlight reflected diffusely off the SD (SD view) during each SDSM calibration event. The MODIS SDSM has 9 detectors, covering wavelengths from 0.41 to 0.94 μm. Due to a design error in MODIS SDSM sub-system (identified post-launch), relatively large ripples were noticed in its Sun view responses. As a result, an alternative approach was developed by the MODIS calibration team to minimize the uncertainty in determining the SD on-orbit degradation. The first VIIRS, on-board the Suomi NPP spacecraft, was successfully launched in October 2011. It carries a MODIS-like SD and SDSM system for its RSB on-orbit calibration. Its design was improved based on lessons learned from MODIS. Operationally, the VIIRS SDSM is used more frequently than MODIS. VIIRS SDSM collects data using 8 individual detectors, covering a similar wavelength range as MODIS. This paper provides an overview of MODIS and VIIRS SDSM design features, their on-orbit operations, and calibration strategies. It illustrates their on-orbit performance in terms of on-orbit changes in SDSM detector on-orbit responses and on-orbit degradations of their SD. Results show that on-orbit changes of both MODIS and VIIRS SD BRF and SDSM response have similar wavelength dependency: the SD degradation is faster at shorter visible wavelengths while the decrease of SDSM detector responses (gains) is greater at longer near-infrared wavelengths.

The Ocean and Land Colour Imager (OLCI) is a high accuracy visible spectral imager selected as optical payload for the Sentinel 3 component of the GMES mission, to provide climatological data continuity with the previous ESA Envisat missions. OLCI is based on the very successful opto-mechanical and imaging design of MERIS. The instrument is a quasi-autonomous, self contained, visible-NIR push-broom imaging spectrometer and incorporates significant improvements when compared to MERIS. The paper highlights the technical and programmatic challenges of the project, first results from the EM test activities and a projected flight model performance summary.

The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is one of the key instruments on the Suomi NPP and future JPSS missions, succeeding the legacy NOAA/AVHRR, EOS/MODIS, SeaWiFS, and DMSP/OLS as the new generation of operational imaging radiometer. With 22 spectral bands covering wavelengths from 0.41 to 12.5um, VIIRS provides data for the production of 25 Environmental Data Records (EDRs) with its calibrated and geolocated Sensor Data Records (SDRs). This paper provides an overview of NPP VIIRS postlaunch instrument performance, onboard and vicarious calibration/validation, as well as unique capabilities of the VIIRS and potential new applications. Since launch, the VIIRS SDR cal/val has been progressing well. Following a series of spacecraft and sensor activation and checkouts, the first VIIRS image was acquired on November 21, 2011, and all 22 bands have been producing early images by January 20, 2012. The data maturity has reached beta status in early spring of 2012, and provisional status is expected to be achieved by November 2012. Major challenges thus far include the unexpected fast degradation in some near infrared channels, and the unprecedented data volume and complexity of the ground processing system. Our goal is to ensure the radiometric, spectral, and geospatial accuracy, and establish consistency with past and future sensors to support the weather, climate, ocean, and other environmental applications.

The Crosstrack Infrared Sounder (CrIS) is a Michelson type Fourier Transform Spectrometer flying on-board the SUOMI NPP satellite that was launched into orbit on October 28th 2011. CrIS measures the Top of Atmosphere (TOA) infrared radiance. Calibration and validation activities at NOAA-STAR includes: 1) The double difference of CrIS field of view (FOV) intercomparison using the Community Radiative Transform Model (CRTM) where the FOV are consistent to 0.05K or better, 2) Simultaneous nadir overpass (SNO) radiance comparison of CrIS with IASI with 0.2K agreement over the window channels,3) Top of atmosphere radiance comparison of the measured with the CRTM with an agreement of 0.4K or better over the window channels, 4) Double difference of CrIS vs IASI with an agreement of 0.3K over the window channels., 5) Long term monitoring and trending of 55 parameters, 6) Geolocation assessment using VIIRS where CrIS now has an estimated accuracy of 1 Km. Calibration and validation of the CrIS SDR is essential because its radiance product is assimilated by the NWP algorithm leading to weather forecasting.

Recent developments in electronics and nanosatellite technologies combined with modeling techniques developed over the past 20 years have enabled a new class of altimetry and wind remote sensing capabilities that offer markedly improved performance over existing observatories while opening avenues to new applications. Most existing spaceborne ocean altimetry and wind observatories are in polar low Earth orbits that maximize global coverage but result in either large gaps at the tropics or long time intervals between geolocation measurement revisits. This, combined with their use of radar systems operating in the C and Ku-bands, obscures key information about the ocean and the global climate. Using GNSS-based bi-static scatterometry performed by a constellation of nanosatellites in a non-polar low Earth orbit could provide ocean altimetry and wind data with unprecedented temporal resolution and spatial coverage across the full dynamic range of ocean wind speeds in all precipitating conditions – all with a system cost substantially less than existing and planned systems. This paper contrasts the performance of a GNSS nanosatellite constellation with the existing monolithic remote sensing observatories while identifying synergies of the systems that can be exploited to achieve a more complete understanding of both ocean current and wind phenomena. Two specific applications are reviewed; ocean winds and ocean wave altimetry. The recently awarded Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission will be used for the ocean wind comparison while a notional GNSS constellation will be used for comparison of the ocean wave altimetry application. Design requirements, applications, and system implementation are presented for the GNSS nanosatellite constellation.

Monitoring of IR Clear-Sky Radiances over Oceans for SST nearreal time web-based system has been established in July 2008. It analyzes Model (Community Radiative Transfer Model, CRTM) minus Observation (M-O) biases in clear-sky ocean brightness temperatures (BT) in AVHRR bands 3.7 (IR37), 11 (IR11), and 12μm (IR12) onboard NOAA-16, -17, -18, -19 and Metop-A. In January 2012, AVHRR-like bands of VIIRS onboard the Suomi National Polar Partnership (S-NPP; launched in October 2012), and two MODIS instruments onboard Terra and Aqua, were included in MICROS. Double-differences are employed to check various sensors for radiometric consistency. The VIIRS and AVHRR have been in-family, and the consistency further improved after the VIIRS IR calibration was fine-tuned on 7 March 2012. However, MODIS M-O biases have been out of family (by -0.6K in IR 11, and -0.3K in IR12). Analyses have shown that these anomalies in MODIS M-O biases are caused by the "M" term, i.e., incorrect MODIS transmittance coefficients in CRTM v2.02. Based on feedback from NESDIS SST and U. Wisconsin Teams, CRTM Team updated transmittance coefficients in CRTM v2.10. As a result, MODIS M-O biases are now in agreement with AVHRR/VIIRS. However, cross-platform Terra/Aqua bias of ~0.3 K in Ch20 (3.9μm) remains, likely due to calibration uncertainties in MODIS L1b product. This paper documents the joint effort by the SST, MODIS Characterization Support and CRTM Teams towards identifying and resolving observed cross-platform inconsistencies.

The Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the newly-launched Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) is a Fourier transform spectrometer that provides soundings of the atmosphere with 1305 spectral channels, over 3 wavelength ranges: LWIR (9.14 - 15.38 μm); MWIR (5.71 - 8.26 μm); and SWIR (3.92 - 4.64 μm). An accurate spectral and radiometric calibration as well as geolocation is fundamental for CrIS radiance Sensor Data Records (SDRs). In this study, through inter- and intra-satellite calibration efforts, we focus on assessment of NPP/CrIS post-launch performance. First, we compare CrIS hyperspectral radiance measurements with the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on Metop-A to examine spectral and radiometric consistence and difference among three hyperspectral IR sounders. Secondly, an accurate collocation algorithm has been developed to collocate high spatial resolution measurements from the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) within each CrIS Field of View (FOV). We compare CrIS spectrally-averaged radiances with the spatially-averaged and collocated pixels from the VIIRS IR channels. Since CrIS and VIIRS are onboard on the same satellite platform, the intra-satellite comparison will allow examining the radiometric difference between CrIS and VIIRS with scene temperatures, scan angles, and orbital position. In addition, given a high spatial resolution of VIIRS channels, the VIIRS-CrIS comparison results can access geolocation accuracy of CrIS that have relatively large FOVs (14 km at ndair) using high resolution VIIRS pixel (375m or 750m at nadir).

The Resourcesat-2 (RS2), launched on April 20, 2011 is a follow-on mission to the successfully operational Resourcesat-1 (RS1). Similar to the RS1, RS2 carries 3 multispectral imagers in its platform: the Advanced Wide- Field Sensor (AWiFS), the Linear Imaging Self-Scanner (LISS 3) and the high-resolution multi-spectral scanner LISS-4. This study focuses on assessment of the radiometric calibration stability of RS2 AWiFS sensor by comparing near-simultaneous measurements of Terra MODIS acquired over CEOS reference standard targets. The AWiFS sensor operates four distinct spectral bands: B2 (0.52-0.59 μm), B3 (0.63-0.69 μm), B4 (0.77-0.86 μm) and B5 (1.55-1.7 μm) with a spatial resolution of 56 m. Only those bands of the Terra MODIS spectrally matching to AWiFS bands are compared after basic corrections for variations due to the sun and satellite angles with reference to scene center and the atmospheric transmittance on the given day of acquisition. Synchronous acquisitions of these sensors over the desert regions in Libya, Algeria and Egypt at CEOS recommended geographic coordinates were acquired and processed to compare the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance from both sensors. Preliminary results and future efforts are also discussed in this paper.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is an Earth-observing sensor currently operational on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua satellites. Each MODIS instrument has 36 spectral bands, with data acquired using 490 detectors in the reflective solar and thermal emissive spectrum. The 20 reflective solar bands (RSB), covering a wavelength range from 0.4 to 2.2 μm, are calibrated on-orbit using a solar diffuser (SD), solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM) and regularly scheduled lunar measurements. The instrument gain (1/m1) derived from SD measurements and the response versus scan-angle (RVS) derived using the SD and lunar measurements are the primary look-up-tables (LUT) that are updated on a regular basis. The short wavelength bands of both MODIS instruments have experienced a gain change of up to 50% as observed from the SD calibration. Given the longevity of both MODIS sensors, the detectors have aged, and the sensor’s radiometric characteristics have changed since launch. A strong dependence of the RVS on mirror side, detector, wavelength and time is also observed in visible (VIS) channels. The MODIS Characterization Support Team (MCST) is responsible for deriving and updating the on-orbit calibration coefficients. An accurate and timely update of the LUT is vital for maintaining the quality of the calibrated Level 1B (L1B) product. This paper provides an overview of the MODIS RSB calibration along with the major procedures used to regularly update the LUT. In addition, the various lessons learned and future improvements are also discussed.

Since launch, Terra and Aqua MODIS have performed more than 12 and 10 years of scientific measurements of the Earth’s surface. MODIS has 36 spectral bands, among which 20 are Reflective Solar Bands (RSB), covering a spectral range from 0.41 μm to 2.1 μm. MODIS was developed with stringent requirements for calibration and uncertainty and is equipped with a set of on-board calibrators (OBC) that facilitate a constant monitoring and update of its on-orbit calibration coefficients. The RSB are calibrated on-orbit using a Solar Diffuser (SD) and a Solar Diffuser Stability Monitor (SDSM), with help from the lunar observations via a Space View (SV) port and an onboard Spectroradiometric Calibration Assembly (SRCA). The algorithms to accurately characterize the sensor’s gain change and the on-orbit change in the response versus scan-angle (RVS) have been applied to improve the quality of the Earth-view measurements. Various improvements to the calibration algorithms have been incorporated since launch and the following paper will discuss the calibration algorithms and enhancements developed for MODIS Collection 6 (C6) processing. In addition, to supplement the measurements from the on-board calibrators, pseudo-invariant desert targets are also used to track the on-orbit response change for selective RSB. Discussions of the on-orbit calibration uncertainty and the Level 1B (L1B) Uncertainty index (UI) product are also included. A comprehensive assessment of the impact on the L1B product in comparison to Collection 5 (C5) is also discussed. Significant improvements are observed in the case of VIS bands wherein the long-term bias observed in C5 products is eliminated to provide a more accurate radiometric product.

Early assessment of the VIIRS thermal emissive bands (TEBs) show that all VIIRS TEBs except M13 are stable and exceed the specifications. M13 is a dual gain band, and is used for determining the surface temperature at low radiance (high gain) and fire detection at high radiance (low gain). At a low gain stage, the onboard blackbody temperature at an operational temperature of 292 Kelvin is far below the lowest temperature at the low gain, which prevents from any attempt to radiometric calibration. This study found that the VIIRS calibration data during the blackbody temperature warm up and cool down (WUCD) may be useful to check the gain stability and to estimate noise equivalent deviation of temperatures (NEdT). During the VIIRS blackbody temperature warm up and cool down, the blackbody temperature was cooled down to 267 K and warmed up to 315 K. The contrast at the low gain for M13 band between blackbody and space views may be useful, although the highest blackbody temperature is still below the low boundary for the low gain. Moon surface temperature can be as hot as 400 Kelvin, high enough for M13 band radiometric calibration at a low gain. The advantages using the observation data of Moon are that it is very stable and there is no gaseous absorption. However, Moon surface emissivity for infrared spectrum needs to be known. This study found that Moon may be used to check measurement range of the VIIRS M13 band at a low gain. We have developed a calibration algorithm to determine the moon temperature and generated the first VIIRS image about moon temperature. There are some other sources such gas flares that may also be used to estimate the radiometric accuracy at low gain.

A Space-based Calibration Transfer Spectroradiometer (SCATS) is combined with a ground calibration spectral albedo radiometric standard which consists of an opaque quartz glass Mie scattering diffuser (MSD) which has very good Lambertian scattering properties in both reflectance and transmittance modes. This system provides the capability for determining long term changes in the spectral albedo calibrations which operate in the solar reflective wavelength region. The spectral albedo calibration would be traceable to the SIRCUS and STARR NIST calibration facilities. The on-orbit radiometric standard is the Sun. The NIST traceable ground spectral albedo calibration is invariant between the ground and on-orbit over the instrument lifetime due to the use of a field of view defining mechanical baffle to differentiate between radiance and irradiance.

Recently, climate change and human activities accelerate hazards, such as deforestations, land slides, draughts, floods in Asian-Pacific countries are increased. To mitigate the hazards due to climate change and human activities, environmental monitoring has become important. Environment change monitoring by using space based technology are very important. Asian Pacific regional forum (APRSAF) agreed to host SAFE (Space Applications For Environment) initiatives. Under APRSAF, there are on-going several SAFE prototyping for water management, agriculture, fishery and coastal monitoring This paper describes SAFE overview and current situation of SAFE prototyping.

Change detection is a fundamental approach in utilization of satellite remote sensing image, especially in multi-temporal analysis that involves for example extracting damaged areas by a natural disaster. Recently, the amount of data obtained by Earth observation satellites has increased significantly owing to the increasing number and types of observing sensors, the enhancement of their spatial resolution, and improvements in their data processing systems. In applications for disaster monitoring, in particular, fast and accurate analysis of broad geographical areas is required to facilitate efficient rescue efforts. It is expected that robust automatic image interpretation is necessary. Several algorithms have been proposed in the field of automatic change detection in past, however they are still lack of robustness for multi purposes, an instrument independency, and accuracy better than a manual interpretation. We are trying to develop a framework for automatic image interpretation using ontology-based knowledge representation. This framework permits the description, accumulation, and use of knowledge drawn from image interpretation. Local relationships among certain concepts defined in the ontology are described as knowledge modules and are collected in the knowledge base. The knowledge representation uses a Bayesian network as a tool to describe various types of knowledge in a uniform manner. Knowledge modules are synthesized and used for target-specified inference. The results applied to two types of disasters by the framework without any modification and tuning are shown in this paper.

Accurate Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) is one of the essential information for natural disaster prevention. Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has been operating a Meso-scale model (MSM). The target of the MSM is to provide guidance for issuing warnings or making very short-range forecasts of precipitation to cover Japan and its surrounding areas. In order to produce accurate precipitation forecasts by MSM, realistic moisture fields as initial conditions are necessary. The initial fields are produced in analyses with a four dimensional variational data assimilation method. The initial fields are updated eight times per day to capture rapid change of mesoscale weather conditions. Because Japan is a country surrounded by ocean, moisture information over the ocean is a key for the accurate humidity analysis and the precipitation forecasting. Observations of microwave imagers in space contain the moisture information over the ocean. The microwave imager data are available in wide coverage under all weather conditions and play an important role in the analysis. Microwave brightness temperature in clear sky condition and retrieved precipitation in rainy condition from various microwave imagers are assimilated in the analysis. In this study, Global Change Observation Mission 1st Water (GCOM-W1) / Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2) data were newly incorporated in the analysis. From the preliminary AMSR2 data assimilation experiment, improvements of the humidity analysis and the precipitation forecasting were found. The results suggest the use of multiple satellite data is necessary to produce realistic moisture fields as the initial condition for the operational NWP.

The ASTER Instrument is one of the five sensors on the NASA’s Terra satellite on orbit since December 1999. ASTER consists of three radiometers, VNIR, SWIR and TIR whose spatial resolutions are 15 m, 30 m and 90 m, respectively. Unfortunately SWIR stopped taking images since May 2008 due to the offset rise caused by the detector temperature rise, but VNIR and TIR are taking Earth images of good quality. VNIR and TIR experienced responsivity degradation while SWIR showed little change. Band 1 (0.56 μm) decreased most among three VNIR bands and 30 % in twelve years. Band 12 (9.1 μm) decreased 40 % and most among five TIR bands. There are some discussions of the causes of the responsivity degradation of VNIR and TIR. Possible causes are contamination accretion by silicone outgas, thruster plume and plasma interaction. We marked hydrazine which comes out unburned in the thruster plume during the inclination adjust maneuver (IAM). Hydrazine has the absorption spectra corresponding to the TIR responsivity degradation in the infrared region. We studied the IAM effect on the ASTER by allocating the additional onboard calibration activities just before and after the IAM while the normal onboard calibration activity is operated once in 49 days. This experiment was carried out three times in fiscal year 2011.

During the 3.5-year operation of GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite), NIES GOSAT DHF (GOSAT Data Handling Facility of National Institute for Environmental Studies) has been producing some standard products from the data of TANSO-CAI (TANSO: Thermal And Near-infrared Sensor for carbon Observation; CAI: Cloud and Aerosol Imager) and TANSO-FTS (Fourier Transform Spectrometer). The standard data products of CAI Level 1B/1B+, FTS Level 2 SWIR (column amount of CO₂ and CH₄), FTS Level 2 TIR (profiles of CO₂ and CH₄ concentration), CAI Level 2 (cloud flag), FTS Level 3 (global map of XCO₂, XCH₄), and CAI Level 3 (global radiance and global reflectance) have been provided to general users. In addition, CAI Level 3 NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Indices) and FTS Level 4A (flux of CO2) are released to GOSAT RA (Research Announcement) researchers and Model Group RA users, respectively. Since the FTS Level 2 SWIR data have been accumulated more than three years, global distribution and the timely changes of greenhouse gases are observed. In 2012, the version up of FTS Level 1B and FTS Level 2 SWIR has been carried out and the data quality of the new version has been significantly improved.

The Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT) monitors carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) globally from space. The Thermal and Near infrared Sensor for Carbon Observation Fourier-Transform Spectrometer (TANSO-FTS) installed on GOSAT measures spectra absorbed by atmospheric minor components including greenhouse gases in infrared wavelength regions. This paper describes the characterization and validation of the CO2 and CH4 profiles retrieved from the thermal infrared (TIR) spectra observed by GOSAT. The retrieved CO2 and CH4 profiles were compared with the corresponding aircraft data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL)/Global Monitoring Division (GMD)/Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases(CCGG) group. This group has conducted an aircraft program since 1992 to collect air samples mainly in North America. Each insitu aircraft profile was compared with those retrieved from TIR spectra without considering the effect of its averaging kernel. The root mean square (RMS) and bias errors of the retrieved CO2 and CH4 profiles were evaluated seasonally and with respect to atmospheric pressure. This comparison with aircraft data provides significant information for further improvement of the TIR retrieval algorithm.

ALOS-2 and ALOS-3 will succeed to radar and optical mission of Advanced Land Observing Satellite “Daichi” which had contributed to cartography, regional observation, disaster monitoring, and resources surveys for more than 5 years until its termination of operation in May 2011. ALOS-2 carries the state-of-the-art L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) called PALSAR-2 which succeeds to the ALOS/PALSAR with enhanced performance in both high resolution (1m * 3m at finest in the Spotlight mode) and wide swath (up to 490km in the ScanSAR wide mode). Wider bandwidth and shorter revisit time will give better conference for INSAR data analysis such as crustal deformation and deforestation. The Proto Flight Model of ALOS-2 including PALSAR-2 is under integration and testing at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center. ALOS-3 carries the optical sensor called PRISM-2 which succeeds to the ALOS/PRISM mission with enhanced performance in high resolution (0.8 m), wide swath (50 km) and high geo-location accuracy. PRISM-2 will acquire stereo pair images with two telescopes for stereo mapping and precise Digital Surface Models. It is also considered to carry Hyper-spectral Imager Suite (HISUI), which is developed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. JAXA has conducted the phase-A study on ALOS-3 spacecraft and mission instruments, with prototype testing of key components. This paper describes an overview of ALOS-2 and ALOS-3.

Advanced Land Observation Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) will be launched in Nov. 2013 carrying the L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-2) to the low polar orbit of 628km height with 14-day revisit time. To the four mission objectives, i.e., disaster mitigation, environmental monitoring represented by the forest monitoring and cryospheric monitoring, land monitoring, and technology development, PALSAR-2 and ALOS-2 will provide the 1~3m high resolution Spotlight and Strip with multi polarization with an imaging swath of 50km, ScanSAR imaging with 350~490km swath with dual polarizations, shorter temporal baseline of 14 days and spatial baseline of within 1km, shorter time delay of less than 72 hours (74 hours in worst case) for emergency observation request to the disaster area, and almost all of global beam synchronization for ScanSAR Interferometry. ALOS-2 science program initiates the JAXA’s Calibration, Validation, Application researches of the PALSAR-2/ALOS-2 and Pi-SAR-L2. As the application research, the disaster mitigation and the urban area monitoring using the high resolution data should contribute significantly to the human society since the disasters occur frequently and globally. High resolution and multi polarimetric SAR with the shorter revisit time reserves the quicker detection of the land changes. In this presentation, we will summarize the contents of the ALOS-2 science program, its expected outcomes, and comparative study results with PALSAR. Some application examples of the disaster mitigation using the recent high resolution SARs, i.e., Pi-SAR-L2 and PALSAR will be also introduced.

The hyper-multi spectral mission named HISUI (Hyper-spectral Imager SUIte) is the next Japanese earth observation project. This project is the follow up mission of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Advanced Land Imager (ALDS). HISUI is composed of hyperspectral radiometer with higher spectral resolution and multi-spectral radiometer with higher spatial resolution. The development of functional evaluation model was carried out to confirm the spectral and radiometric performance prior to the flight model manufacture phase. This model contains the VNIR and SWIR spectrograph, the VNIR and SWIR detector assemblies with a mechanical cooler for SWIR, signal processing circuit and on-board calibration source.

On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake occurred on the eastern coast of Japan. The magnitude 9.0 quake was the most powerful ever recorded in Japan. The height of the tsunami that followed the earthquake was estimated to be more than 10 m. The water reached a few kilometers inland and resulted in thousands of casualties as well as serious damage to buildings and agricultural areas along the coastline. Several PiSAR-L2 observations were carried out in these tsunamiaffected areas from April to September in 2012, and field experiments were performed in agricultural areas that had been damaged by seawater. The complex dielectric constant and the electrical conductivity of the soil were measured to estimate the soil’s salinity. The imaginary part of the dielectric constant for a tsunami-damaged area 0.7 km from the coastline was shown to be 37.1 at 1 GHz, and the electric conductivity was shown to be 7.8 mS/cm. These values exceeded those from non-damaged inland areas. One of the full polarimetric parameters, co-polarization backscattering ratio (σ⁰_HH/σ0_VV) derived from PiSAR-L2 data, were examined and compared for damaged/non-damaged areas. The analysis indicates that the higher-salinity area was well detected by σ⁰_HH/σ0_VV. However, water areas and flat surfaces covered by gravel exhibit similar characteristics, and this may result in the false detection of salt-affected agricultural areas.

The Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) consists of two polar orbiting satellite observing systems, GCOM-W (Water) and GCOM-C (Climate), and three generations to achieve global and long-term monitoring of the Earth. GCOM-W1, the first satellite of the GCOM-W series, was successfully launched on May 18, 2012 (Japan Standard Time). The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2), which is a successor of AMSR on the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) and AMSR for EOS (AMSR-E) on NASA’s Aqua satellite, is a single mission instrument on GCOM-W1. Basic characteristics of AMSR2 is similar to that of AMSR-E to continue the AMSR-E observations, with several enhancements including larger main reflector (2.0 m), additional channels at the C-band frequency band, and improved calibration system. AMSR-E halted its observation on October 4, 2011 due to the increase of antenna rotation torque, which is considered as the typical aging effect. Although all the efforts are being made to resume the AMSR-E observation, early initiation of the AMSR2 observation has been highly desired. After the completion of the orbit injection into the A-Train constellation, AMSR2 started rotating and initiated global observation. During the initial calibration and validation phase, brightness temperatures will be evaluated and characterized through methodologies such as the inter-calibration among similar microwave radiometers including the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) and WindSat on Coriolis mission.

The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2) has launched as a single mission instrument onboard on the first satellite of the Water Series of Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM-W1). AMSR2 is a multi-frequency, total-power microwave radiometer system with dual polarization channels for all frequency bands, and a successor of AMSR on the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) and AMSR for the Earth Observing System (AMSRE) on NASA’s Aqua satellite. Participation of GCOM-W1 in the A-Train constellation has been coordinated. GCOMW1 was launched on May 18th, 2012, and initial products will be introduced.

For monitoring of global environmental change, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has made a new plan of Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM). SGLI (Second Generation GLI) onboard GCOM-C (Climate) satellite, which is one of this mission, provides an optical sensor from Near-UV to TIR. Characteristic specifications of SGLI are as follows; 1) 250m resolutions over land and area along the shore, 2) Three directional polarization observation (red and NIR), and 3) 500m resolutions temperature over land and area along shore. These characteristics are useful in many fields of social benefits. In addition, 51 products will be made by mainly 35 principal investigators. We introduce the overview of GCOM-C1/SGLI science.

The Second-generation Global Imager (SGLI) on the Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) is a multi-band optical imaging radiometer in the wavelength range from near-UV to thermal infrared. SGLI will provide high accuracy measurements of Ocean, Atmosphere, Land and Cryosphere. SGLI project is in the last phase of Engineering Model (EM) test to verify the overall sensor system performances. This paper presents outline of SGLI and EM test results, especially about IRS.

The “Global Change Observation Mission-Climate” (GCOM-C) is a project of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the global and long-term observation of the Earth environment. The GCOM-C is a part of the JAXA’s GCOM mission which consists of two satellite series, GCOM-C and GCOM-W (Water), spanning three generations in order to perform uniform and stable global observations for 13 years. GCOM-C carries a multi-spectral optical radiometer named Second Generation Global Imager (SGLI), which will have special features of wide spectral coverage from 380nm to 12μm, a high spatial resolution of 250m, a field of view exceeding 1000km, two-direction simultaneous observation, and polarization observation. The GCOM-C mission aims to improve our knowledge on the global carbon cycle and radiation budget through high-accuracy observation of global vegetation, ocean color, temperature, cloud, aerosol, and snow and ice. As for the cryosphere products, not only snow and ice cover extent but also snow physical parameters are retrieved from SGLI data such as snow grain sizes at several surface levels (shallow layer, sub-surface layer, and the top surface), temperature, and mass fraction of impurity mixed in snow layer and so on. These snow physical parameters are important factors that determine spectral albedo and radiation budget at the snow surface. Thus it is essential to monitor those parameters from space in order to better understand snow metamorphosis and melting process and also to study the response of snow and sea-ice cover extent in the Polar Regions to a climate forcing such as global warming. This paper will summarize the SGLI cryospheric products and validation plans.

The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory is developed by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). GPM objective is to observe global precipitation more frequently and accurately. GPM contributes to climate and water cycle change studies, flood prediction and numerical weather forecast. GPM consists of GPM core observatory and constellation satellites carrying microwave radiometers (MWRs) and/or sounders (MWSs). The frequent measurement will be achieved by constellation satellites, and the accurate measurement will be achieved by DPR with high sensitivity and dual frequency capability. GPM core observatory is jointly developed by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and JAXA. NASA is developing the satellite bus and GPM microwave radiometer (GMI), and JAXA is developing DPR. GPM algorithms for data processing are developed jointly. The DPR consists of Ku-band (13.6 GHz) radar suitable for heavy rainfall in the tropical region, and Ka-band (35.55 GHz) radar suitable for light rainfall in higher latitude region. Drop size distribution information will be derived which contributes to the improvement of rainfall estimate accuracy. DPR will also play a key role to improve rainfall estimation accuracy of constellation satellites. DPR proto-flight test at JAXA Tsukuba space center is finished and it is delivered to NASA for integration to the GPM observatory. In this paper, DPR PFT test result at Tsukuba space center, DPR status in the GPM observatory environmental test, and DPR on-orbit calibration plan will be presented.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) is a successor to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) which has opened a new era for precipitation system measurement from space. The scope of GPM is much wider than that of TRMM. GPM will provide three hourly precipitation observation over the globe, that is, much higher temporal resolution with wider coverage than TRMM. Current precipitation measurement is far from enough for the water resources management which requires very high spatial and temporal resolution. The three hourly global precipitation observation with GPM which will be attained by international collaboration with microwave radiometers will greatly contribute not only to the precipitation sciences but also to real-world applications. GPM consists of a core satellite and constellation satellites (Fig. 1). The GPM core satellite will be equipped with a dual-wavelength radar (DPR) and a microwave radiometer, and will work to provide reference standard for the GPM constellation radiometers. Development of DPR, the key instrument, has already been completed and delivered to NASA by JAXA. Ground measurements of precipitation using newly developed Ka-radar system for DPR algorithm development are undergoing. The rain retrieval algorithms are being developed with close collaboration with NASA.

This paper describes the planned level 2 algorithm that retrieves precipitation profiles from data to be obtained by the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) on the core satellite of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. The general idea behind the algorithms is to determine general characteristics of the precipitation, correct for attenuation and estimate profiles of the precipitation water content, rainfall rate and, when dual-wavelength data are available, information on the particle size distributions in rain and snow. It is particularly important that dual-wavelength data will provide better estimates of rainfall and snowfall rates than the TRMM PR data by using the particle size information and the capability of estimating the height at which the precipitation transitions from solid to liquid.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) has been providing reliable global precipitation data since its launch in 1997. It is expected that good handover to the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission at around early 2014 and GPM is expected to operate 5 years and to accumulate a reliable global long precipitation record. Currently, the dual frequency precipitation radar (DPR), one of the major instruments onboard GPM core satellite, has been developed. Although about twenty years global precipitation record will be obtained by the end of the GPM mission, there are still high expectation for the longer precipitation record from the viewpoints of climate change monitoring, evaluation of the numerical prediction models on global warming, and so on. Even the precipitation information becomes more important. For these reasons, future precipitation measurement mission is started to study targeting the successive observation to GPM. Mission requirements are gathered from GPM science community and are consolidated to the mission concept during this study also the potential users and their expected requirements are defined. The most important scientific target is the cloud-precipitation processes study, which is one of the uncovered topics in GPM mission. To fulfill this requirement and potential users requirements, cloud and precipitation observation capability is required for this mission. Considering the technology evolution, cloud radar (with current technology) or high sensitivity precipitation radar can achieve the requirements. Preliminary feasibility study (accommodativeness to spacecraft) was done with the help from JAXA’s space application program system engineering office.

Formosat-5 is the first self-reliant remote sensing satellite of Taiwan. Remote sensing imager (RSI) is the primary payload on it. RSI is a multispectral imager which contains one panchromatic band with 2-meter ground sampling distance (GSD) and four multispectral bands with 4 m GSD. Optical design of the RSI is performed to meet the requirements. Cassegrain type of optical design has been selected. Several designs have been studied to reduce the alignment sensitivity and the effect of the orbital deformation according to the size restriction. The truss configuration of structural design has been selected, and an M2 support ring is designed to support the secondary mirror. Following tolerance, finite-element, and thermal analyses are performed. The tolerance of radius of curvature is one thousandth of radius. The first mode of the telescope is 81.3 Hz when the total mass is 85.7 kg, First mode of vibration occurs along the lateral direction that is perpendicular to the launch axis. TRASYS and SINDA model of RSI have been established for thermal analysis. Both hot and cold cases have been studied. The result shows that 39.4W of heater power is required in cold case.

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imagers (EUVIs) were launched on 21st July 2012 as payloads to the Exposed Facility of the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EF) on the International Space Station. The EUVIs are parts of the IMAP (Ionosphere, Mesosphere, upper Atmosphere, and Plasmasphere mapping) mission to observe the Earth’s upper atmosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere and plasmasphere. The other part of IMAP is a visible and near-infrared spectral imager (VISI). In this mission, we install two independent and identical telescopes. One telescope detects the terrestrial EUV emission from O⁺ (at the wavelength of 83.4 nm), and the other one detects He⁺ (30.4 nm). At the altitude of approximately 400 km, the two telescopes direct towards the Earth’s limb to look at the ionosphere and plasmasphere from the inside-out. The maximum spatial resolution is 0.1° and time resolution is 1 minute. The optical instruments consist of multilayer coated mirrors which are optimized for 30.4 nm, metallic thin filters and 5-stage microchannel plates to pick up photon events efficiently. In our presentation, we report the mission overview, the instruments and the result of ground calibrations.

NOAA/NESDIS/STAR has designed, developed, and implemented the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R Series (GOES-R) Algorithm Working Group (AWG) Product Processing System Framework. The Framework enabled the development and testing of the Level 2 Advance Baseline Imager (ABI) and the GOES-R Lightning Mapper (GLM) products within a single system. Fifty-six GOES-R ABI algorithms and one GLM algorithm have been integrated and run within the framework with product precedence. The Framework has been modified to be a plug-and-play system with the scientific algorithms. To enable the plug-and-play capabilities, the fifty-seven ABI and GLM algorithms were adjusted such that any data required by the algorithm is brought into the algorithm through function calls. These modifications allowed an algorithm to be developed either within the Framework or within the scientist’s offline research system. This approach provided both the algorithm developers and algorithm integrators the ability to work on the same software since the algorithm may be “dropped” into both systems resulting in simple algorithm rollbacks. The design features and the current status of the framework will be discussed.

The increasing availability of time series satellite images and improving techniques have allowed mapping and detecting landscape change in densely populated and topographically complex urban areas. This research aims to trace land use patterns and spatiotemporal landscape change in Kathmandu metropolitan region for the last five decades. Incorporating with other ancillary data, the CORONA (1967), Landsat (1978, 1991, and 2000), and ALOS (2010) satellites images were processed applying hybrid image classification method. Twelve land use types were mapped. Dynamic spatial patterns of urban landscape are observed where the built-up areas gradually increased in the 1970s but had a speedy growth since the 1990s. Prime agricultural landscape in the valley floor has been converted to built-up areas. Forest and shrubs landscapes in rural areas are mostly changed to agricultural uses. Expansion of built-up area has progressively become uniform in recent decades. A refill type of development in the city core and adjacent areas has shown a decreasing trend of the neighborhood distances and an increasing trend of physical connectedness between the different land uses. This process indicates a higher probability of homogenous landscape development particularly built area in upcoming decades which may further degrade the urban ecosystem services and cause environmental problems in the metropolitan region.