JAXA ALOS-2 "DAICHI-2": Japan satellite to survey disasters, rain forests

Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 "DAICHI-2" (ALOS-2)

Japan is scheduled to launch a new mapping satellite on Saturday that will be used to survey damage from natural disasters and changes affecting rain forests.

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 "DAICHI-2" (ALOS-2) will be released by the nation's H-IIA rocket, which will lift off shortly after noon (0300 GMT) Saturday, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

ALOS-2 will be able to monitor scars left by natural disasters as well as progress made in reconstruction, JAXA said.

The service is important for Japan, which sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire and experiences 20 percent of all major earthquakes felt by humans every year.

"DAICHI-2"

Memories are still fresh of the deadly 9.0-magnitude earthquake in March 2011, which released a killer tsunami that destroyed the northern Pacific coast and triggered the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The volcanic island nation is routinely hit by earthquakes and typhoons, with scientists expecting Mount Fuji to erupt sometime soon.

The satellite is different from spy satellites that Japan already has to monitor risk states such as North Korea.

The new satellite, nicknamed "DAICHI-2", will "conduct a health check mainly of the Earth's land areas in detail," JAXA project manager Shinichi Suzuki said in a statement.

JAXA H-IIA rocket

DAICHI-2 will collect data related to deformation of the Earth's crust, but also the impact of floods and landslides, he said.

The satellite's predecessor was used to monitor damage caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Suzuki said.

The device uses a special radar to observe the planet's surface even at night, during bad weather and even through vegetation, JAXA said.

JAXA plans to use the new satellite to regularly study tropical rain forests, which are difficult to observe because of the thick clouds that frequently cover them. It will also be used to observe snow and ice conditions in the polar areas.

NASA MODIS: Agricultural fires across Sierra Leone

Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Marked in red, hundreds of land use fires burn in the fields across Sierra Leone.

Most fires in this region are deliberately set for a variety of reasons, including slash and burn agriculture.

When a plot of land becomes exhausted, farmers shift cultivation to another plot where they cut the trees and brush at the beginning of the dry season in January and February.

Once the dead plant material has dried, they set fire to it. Such fires peak in March and April right before farming season begins.

From space, MODIS detects thermal anomalies, including fires, flares, and volcanoes.

Each MODIS "fire pixel" or fire detection covers one square kilometer, which means that one or more fire is burning in the corresponding one-square kilometer area on the ground.

There are hundreds of fire pixels evident in this image, so there are at least that many distinct fires burning in this scene.

MODIS tends to undercount fires because it can't detect fires through smoke or clouds, nor does it see small cool fires, a fire type common to land use fires.

Where there is fire, there is also smoke, affecting air quality. Smoke contains soot and other particulates that pose a threat to human health and affect regional climate. Burning also releases greenhouse gases.

This natural-colour satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on March 24, 2014.

Japan to launch satellites to monitor oceans against piracy and encroachment

The Senkaku islands, known as Diaoyu by aggressive China.

Japan plans to launch Earth Observation (EO) satellites to monitor the world's oceans as the aggressive Chinese government ships sailed into waters around islands controlled by Tokyo.

The Japanese Cabinet office plans to launch nine EO satellites in the next five years to counter piracy and monitor the movements of foreign ships intruding into Japanese territorial waters.

They will also collect data for forecasting natural disasters such as tsunamis and tropical storms.

The report, which cabinet officials could not immediately confirm, came as Japan's coastguard said three Chinese government ships entered waters around the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea.

The maritime surveillance vessels entered the 12-nautical-mile zone around Uotsurijima, one of the Senkaku islands which oppressive China calls the Diaoyus, at about 9:30 am (0030 GMT), the Japanese coastguard reported.

The ships left the area shortly before 1:00 pm, according to an update by the coastguard.

Ships from the two countries have for months traded warnings over intrusions into what each regard as their territory, as Beijing and Tokyo jostle over political claims of ownership of the islands.

The territorial row that dates back four decades reignited last September when Tokyo nationalised three islands in the chain, in what it said was a mere administrative change of ownership.

Former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama came under fire in June after he said he understood China's aggressive claim to the islands.

USGS LandSat-8: LDCM Earth Observation satellite appears to be working flawlessly

A new satellite hovering nearly 450 miles (725 kilometers) above the Earth appears to working flawlessly as it embarks on a 10-year mission to document the planet's surface, scientists and engineers at the U.S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center said Monday.

LDCM Landsat 8 is sending more than 400 data-filled images per day back to the EROS center north of Sioux Falls, where they will be archived and made available for free download by scientists or anyone else who's interested.

Tom Loveland

The center's mission requires images to be publicly available within 48 hours of their capture, though most will be ready within 24 hours, said project scientist Tom Loveland.

The new orbiter has several advantages over its still-functioning predecessor Landsat 7, which captures just 250 images a day.

Landsat 8 also boasts two new spectral bands, one to see deeper into oceans, lakes and rivers and another to detect cirrus clouds and correct for atmospheric effects, Loveland said.

The new satellite's infrared band is split into two, allowing for more accurate surface temperature readings, he added.

"It should really make a difference in our ability to map and characterize changes going on in the surface of the Earth," Loveland said.

NASA launched Landsat 8 into space in February. Since then, teams have been running it through a barrage of tests before placing the satellite into orbit 438 miles (705 kilometers) above the planet's surface.

Jim Nelson

"The spacecraft has been extremely healthy," said Jim Nelson, ground systems manager. "The instruments have performed really well."

The EROS Center, the main federal repository for satellite images, will officially take over the mission May 30 from NASA.

Since 1972, Landsat satellites have been continuously snapping pictures across the globe as part of a 40-year mission to document the planet.

Landsat 8, which is about the size of parcel delivery truck with a 30-foot (9-meter)-long deployed sheet of solar panels, is stocked with a 10-year supply of fuel. It travels at a speed of 17,000 miles (27,360 kilometers) per hour.

Landsat 8 will work in tandem with Landsat 7, launched in 1999, to take pictures of each inch of the planet's surface every eight days. Landsat 7 continues to operate despite a faulty scan line corrector that leaves zigzag gaps in some images.

Landsat 5, which dates back to 1984, worked decades past its expected mission end but began failing in November. Landsat 6 never reached orbit after its 1993 launch because of a ruptured manifold.

Nelson said the EROS Center has been preparing for the wave of new data, upgrading its ground station near Sioux Falls as well as partner facilities in Alaska and Norway.

It also overhauled its data processing and storage systems, "so we can get as much data as possible online for the users to get direct access to," Nelson said.

Loveland said there's a huge demand for the images in the scientific community, giving an example of a recent Brazilian Remote Sensing Symposium that drew more than 800 people looking to tap into the data.

The center used to charge for the images, but for years now, they've been free.

"When you put all this free stuff in universities, innovation happens," Loveland said."