Toshiaki Hashimoto

Calibration and instrument status of ADEOS-II Global Imager

The Global Imager (GLI) on Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) launched on 14 December 2002 is an optical sensor to observe reflected solar radiation and infrared radiation. GLI has 36 channels from ultraviolet region (380nm) to thermal infrared (12micron). GLI data is used for understanding the global circulation of carbon, monitoring cloud, snow, ice, and sea surface temperature. NASDA carried out initial checkout to confirm GLI basic function until April 2003. Currently GLI calibration team that consists of sensor development division, ground system integration division, and science application group analyses calibration and validation to release L1 data at the end of this year. This report describes calibration and instrument status of GLI.

DEM generation from stereo AVNIR images

Abstract This paper describes the methodology of a digital elevation model(DEM) generation from stereo AVNIR images and the results of experiments for accuracy evaluation of generated DEM. The accuracy of the satellite position and attitude of the product is not sufficient and they are adjusted by the collinearity condition in photogrammetry using some ground control points(GCPs). Stereo points are acquired by the feature based matching utilizing both square correlation matching and least square matching. The experiments proved that stereo matching can not be performed precisely in some regions because of the remaining striping noises and the low contrast of the AVNIR image.

Preliminary study on data sets of ADEOS-II and ALOS dedicated to terrestrial carbon observation

Abstract Global carbon observations is a fundamental requirement in the context of the Terrestrial Carbon Observation (TCO) theme within the Integrated Global Carbon Observation (IGCO) theme of Integrated Global Observation Strategy Partners (IGOS-P), for quantitative estimation of key biophysical parameters such as net primary productivity (NPP), carbon stocks and their changes in time. In support to this major international effort, NASDA, through its Earth Observation Research Center (EORC), is planning global systematic data observations using the Phased-Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) from 2004. Like its predecessor - the JERS-1 SAR - the PALSAR instrument will operate in the longer L-band wavelength range (23.5 cm), with added polarimetric features making it attractive for assessment of regenerating and lower-density above-ground biomass, and changes therein. In addition to ALOS, the Global Imager (GLI) instrument onboard the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II), launched successfully in December 2002, will be used to estimate annual change of global NPP at 1 km and 250 m spatial resolutions. Notable is that the six terrestrial channels on GLI operate with the same wavelength as Landsat ETM+ and MODIS, but all with a spatial resolution of 250 m. This paper describes the preliminary study on the applicability and improvement of data sets from PALSAR on ALOS and GLI on ADEOS-11 for terrestrial carbon observation.

Evaluation of GLI reflectance and vegetation indices with MODIS products

Abstract : Vegetation over land plays an important role to the carbon cycle, which influences global warming. It is necessary to measure vegetation amount accurately on global scale to understand the carbon cycle mechanism. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA; former NASDA) has successfully launched a new Advanced Earth Orbiting Satellite (ADEOS-II) aboard an H-2A booster on December 14, 2002. The ADEOS-II satellite is focused on monitoring of global climate change on the Earth. Unfortunately, the operation of ADEOS-II satellite has stopped on October 24 of 2003, but very important VNIR/SWIR/MTIR data have been obtained in northern hemisphere for vegetation dynamics by GLI sensor. These data have enough capability to monitor the density and vigor of green vegetation. GLI data has high potential for vegetation monitoring, and it will contribute to the future satellite sensor. 23 channels are dedicated for land observations in the two spatial resolutions ( 1km/250m ). MODIS sensor has also 1km/250m resolution and various land products, which include VIs. This paper shows the preliminary evaluation of GLI land products for vegetation monitoring using MODIS VIs product.

Status of level-2 products of ADEOS-II validation plan

The mission objectives of ADEOS-II (Midori-II) are to improve satellite-based global earth observation system, and to obtain earth observation data for the contribution to better understanding and elucidation of global change mechanism relevant to earth environmental issues. To implement the objectives, five onboard earth observation sensors are selected based on the science requirement primarily focused on the quantitative estimation of geophysical parameters to describe important processes of the earth system such as water and energy cycle, carbon cycle, and changes in polar stratospheric ozone. This paper describes the present status of level-2 products derived from AMSR and GLI observation data after the launch, in the middle of operational observation / calibration and validation phase, as of the beginning of August, 2003 after four months from the beginning of calibration and validation phase on April 15, 2003.

Traffic flow measurement by video image processing

A traffic flow control system is necessary for preventing accidents and lighting congestion in the motorization era. The system should be provided with the functions to measure the 2-dimensional movement of each vehicle on a comparably wide area. This paper describes a study on a new traffic flow measurement system by processing periodically acquired video images. The system can decide the size of each vehicle and measure its 2-dimensional movement.