ALOS stands for Advanced Land Observing Satellite, which was launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in January 2006. Its Japanese name is "DAICHI".
The size of DAICHI is 3.5m wide x 4.5m long x 6.5m high, with its Solar Battery Paddle is 22m x 3m wide, gross weight is approximately 4 tons, which is one of the largest among Land Observing Satellites.
ALOS major specifications
Launch Date |
January 24, 2006 |
Launching Vehicle |
H - IIA |
Launch Site |
Tanegashima Space Center, Japan |
Spacecraft Mass |
Approx. 4 tons |
Generated Power (Solar paddle) |
Approx. 7kw (at End Of Life) |
Designed EOL |
3-5 years |
Orbit |
Sun Synchronous, Sub recurrent Repeat Cycle: 46 days Sub-Cycle : 2 days Altitude : 691.65km (Above the equator) Inclination : 98.16 deg. |
Attitude Determination Accuracy |
2.0 x 10-4 deg. (off-line, with GCP) |
Position Determination Accuracy |
1m (off-line) |
Data Rate |
240Mbps (Via Data Relay Test Satellite) 120Mbps (Direct Transmission) |
On-board Data Recorder |
Solid-state Data Recorder (90Gbytes) |
General Concepts of "Three Sensors"
ALOS has three remote-sensing instruments, PRISM is a panchromatic radiometer with spatial resolution in order to obtain terrain data including elevation. AVNIR-2 is a visible and near-infrared radiometer for observing land and coastal zones and provides better spatial resolution. PALSAR is a phased array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar, an active microwave sensor for cloud free and day and night land observation.
Sensor |
Spatial Resolution / Swath Width |
Characteristics |
Utilization |
 PRISM |
Spatial Resolution : 2.5m |
It has three independent optical systems for viewing nadir, forward and backward producing a stereoscopic image along the satellite's track. |
Cartography, making DSM for mapping, urban planning, agriculture, forest monitoring, coastal monitorig, monitoring illegal dumping, flood monitoring etc. |
 AVNIR-2 |
Spatial Resolution : 10m Swath Width : 70km |
The Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) is a visible and near infrared radiometer for observing land and coastal zones. |
It provides better spatial land-coverage maps, wide range of urban planning, agriculture(vegetation research), forest monitoring, coastal monitoring, pollution monitoring on ports and harbors, plants monitoring, flood monitoring etc. |
 PALSAR |
Spatial Resolution : 10m(fine resolution mode) Observation Swath : 70km(fine mode)
|
The Phased Array Type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) is an active microwave sensor using L-band frequency, which can observe with fine resolution in a conventional mode as well as wider swath with a SAR images. |
It enables to make DEM, extract topography data by interferometry, estimate biomass, forest monitoring, agriculture, monitoring oil spill, moisture of soil, shipping inspection etc. |
Major Mission Of ALOS
Cartography
ALOS can manage mapping as well as updating of maps of Japan and around other countries mainly in the Asia-Pacific region. Using ALOS PRISM enables to obtain many kinds of data, which range from artificial components such as roads and constructions, target area of rivers and to water regions, and to topographical DEM data. With ALOS data, more detailed mapping is achieved as PRISM can also present information on vegetation and soil by adding optical sensor and synthetic aperture radar to DEM data.
Regional Observation
ALOS practices essential regional observation to maintain "Sustainable Development" on a worldwide scale. Providing information on environment and resources by extracting data taken by the Satellite, ALOS supports preservation and maintenance of environment and resources, and encourages sustainable development and utilization on a regional level.
Disaster Monitoring
ALOS can conduct disaster monitoring over Japan and around the world. Collaborating with existing Satellites and disaster monitoring systems, ALOS collects and provides data regarding major disaster such as volcano eruption, flood, and earthquake.
Resource surveying
ALOS can survey natural resources through its PALSAR.
Others
ALOS contributes to technology development that is needed for future earth observation.