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2. DEVELOPMENT OF REMOTE 
SENSING 
2.1 Trend of research 
Global change studies have become one of the 
main fields of remote sensing research. Many 
individual researchers and research institutes 
have been and are trying to develop global 
datasets of key environmental variables using 
remote sensing technique. Many natural 
scientists have joined in the field of remote 
sensing. On the other hand, practical use of 
remote sensing data in local area is also 
encouraged to increase the benefit of remote 
sensing. 
2.2 Remote Sensing Satellite Programs 
Three major programs are now going on in 
Japan. These are ADEOS, TRMM and ASTER 
programs. 
ADvanced Earth Observing Satellite(ADEOS) is 
a joint program of National Space Development 
Agency(NASDA), Environmet Agency(EA) and 
Ministry of International Trade and 
Industry(MITI) of Japan with NASA of USA 
and CNES of France. The mission is to provide 
global observation of environmental change and 
to contribute to international community in the 
earth observation field. ADEOS carries two core 
sensors, OCTS and AVNIR, and six AO 
sensors, NSCAT, TOMS, POLDER, IMG, 
ILAS and RIS. The satelliteis to be launched in 
August, 1996. ADEOS Science Program was 
also established to develop algorithms for 
processing and utilizing ADEOS data with AO to 
domestic and international communities. 
As a successor of ADEOS, ADEOS-II program 
has started. The planed sensor systems are 
AMSR, GLI (a successor of OCTS), SeaWinds, 
POLDER and ILAS-II. The satellite is planned 
to be launched in 1999. 
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) is 
a joint program of NASDA, Communication 
Research Laboratory(CRL) and NASA. The 
  
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main mission is to measure tropical and 
subtropical rainfall, which is one of the most 
important but least-known parameters affecting 
to the global climate system. Five sensors, PR 
from Japan, TMI, VIRS,CERES and LIS from 
USA will be boarded. The satellite will be 
launched in 1997. TRMM Science Program has 
been activated both in Japan and USA. 
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and 
Reflection Radiometer(ASTER) is a program by 
MITI with the join to NASA EOS Program. The 
objective is to understand the local and regional 
scale processes occurring on or near the Earth's 
surface and lower atmosphere. ASTER sensor 
systems consists of visible/near IR, shortwave 
IR and thermal IR. They will be boarded on 
EOS AM- 1, which will be launched in 1998. 
The history and plan of the earth observation 
satellites by Japan are as follows. 
  
  
Year Satellite Sensor 
1977 GMS-1 
1981 GMS-2 
1984 GMS-3 VISSR 
1987 MOS-1 MESSR/VTIR/MSR 
1989 GMS-4 ' digital VISSR 
1990 MOS-1b MESSR/VTIR/MSR 
1992 JERS-1 SAR/OPS 
1995 GMS-5 digital VISSR 
1996 ADEOS OCTS/AVNIR/IMG/ 
ILAS/NSCAT/RIS/ 
TOMS/POLDER 
1997 TRMM PR/TMI/CERES/VIRS/ 
LIS 
1999 ADEOS-I GLI/AMSR/ILAS-2/ 
Sea-Winds/POLDER-2 
2002 ALOS AVNIR-2, V-SAR 
2003 ADEOS-III GLIZ2 
ADEOS: Advanced Earth Observing Satellite 
ALOS : Advanced Land Observing Satellite 
GMS :Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 
JERS : Japanese Earth Resources Satellite 
MOS : Marine Observation Satellite 
TRMM: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission