Operational deforestation detection for forest early warning systems (EWS) is a hot topic in Earth observation today. Due to the persistent cloud cover in tropical regions, active microwave is regarded as one promising technology for EWS. Despite significant progress in the last decade, a reliable, genuine deforestation EWS is still lacking, because the development of powerful algorithms demand a near perfect understanding of the forest backscatter nature. Building upon 9-years of ALOS-2 long-term pantropical forest observations with various breakthrough findings, we introduce the next-generation algorithm for L-band SAR deforestation detection which realize the first real EWS in the tropics with unmatched accuracy and speed.
Monitoring of land vegetation is one of the prime objectives for Earth Observation satellite missions. Due to the penetration capabilities of low-frequency radar signals through vegetation canopies, L-band SAR is widely considered as a valuable tool for advanced vegetation monitoring. Based on the physical backscattering properties of the above-ground vegetation strata, polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) imaging can provide detailed information on crucial plant parameters such as amounts of biomass, growth heights, water contents, crop types, etc. 9 years in orbit, ALOS-2 has pioneered as a veritable long-term L-band SAR land observation mission. ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 has acquired unprecedented L-band time-series data with seamless coverage of the entire vegetated land area. Based on the achievements of its predecessor, we discuss the potential of ALOS-4/PALSAR-3 for further breakthroughs in both agriculture and forest monitoring from meter scale to continental scale. Particularly, the cutting-edge capability to observe 200-km swaths in high-resolution Stripmap (SM) mode, achieved by Digital Beam Forming (DBF), will allow overcoming the limitations of ALOS-2’s widely used 50-m resolution ScanSAR modes. Better spatial resolution and image quality paired with higher revisit frequency is expected to improve the reliability of numerous applications ranging from land cover classifications to biomass and yield estimations.
The tremendous potential of ALOS-4/PALSAR-3 for further advancements in forest monitoring from local to global scales are discussed on the basis of the groundbreaking achievements made by its predecessor ALOS-2/PALSAR-2, the first long-term L-band SAR forest observation mission in history. The unprecedented seamless and frequent dual-polarization observation of the entire tropical forest belt between 2016 and 2022 has revolutionized the idea of global forest monitoring. In the upcoming ALOS-4 era, wide-area imaging with greatly improved spatial resolution and image quality at shorter revisit times will further boost the reliability for all kinds of forest remote sensing applications including forest classification, biomass estimation and deforestation detection.
Increasing human and economic losses from urban disasters demand synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which has allweather, day-and-night observation capability. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has been operating the Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2), carrying PALSAR-2, an L-band SAR, for monitoring disasters and environmental changes. We developed the first fully automated algorithms for detecting flood extents and earthquakeinduced building damage from ALOS-2 data. The algorithms rapidly process ALOS-2 and ancillary data (flood simulation, hazard map, and other geographical information) and provide damage information less than an hour after the input data are entered. The validation results showed that the accuracy of the estimated flood extent was 60 to 94%, depending on the observation conditions, especially the incidence angle of ALOS-2 observation. The accuracy of the damaged building detection was 72% for buildings with a footprint larger than 200 m2 in the area. We implemented these algorithms in an operational disaster response system. We launched a one-stop operation that automatically processes ALOS-2 data after emergency observation and provides the damage maps rapidly via email for disaster response workers.
JAXA has continued to develop the Advanced Optical Satellite (called “ALOS-3”) since FY 2016, as a successor of the optical mission of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) “DAICHI” (2006-2011). The wide-swath and highresolution optical imager (WISH) is a main sensor of ALOS-3. It has capabilities to collect high-resolution (0.8m Pan / 3.2m MS at nadir) and wide-swath (70 km) images with a high geo-location accuracy to meet the mission objectives of ALOS-3. WISH has a Pan band and 6 MS bands. The MS equips the basic four bands (R, G, B and NIR) and 2 additional bands of "coastal" and "RedEdge" expected to use for the various applications. The development of WISH is in the final stage of the critical design phase. We have finished the test of engineering model of the primary mirror assembly with no critical problem. In addition, the mechanical environmental tests using the structure model was completed, and the demonstration for high accuracy assembling of the large off-axis telescope is undergoing. For the detector system, the evaluation of the engineering model of the CCDs was completed in early phase, and assembly of the flight CCDs has been started in advance. In the current schedule, PFM manufacturing and subsequent proto-flight tests would be conducted within about a year and WISH would be delivered to the satellite system by the middle of FY 2019. ALOS-3 equipped with WISH would be launched by H-IIA rocket in FY 2020.
This paper describes the updated results of calibration and validation to assess the accuracies for optical instruments onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS, nicknamed “Daichi”), which was successfully launched on January 24th, 2006 and it is continuously operating very well. ALOS has an L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar called PALSAR and two optical instruments i.e. the Panchromatic Remotesensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) and the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2). PRISM consists of three radiometers and is used to derive a digital surface model (DSM) with high spatial resolution that is an objective of the ALOS mission. Therefore, geometric calibration is important in generating a precise DSM with stereo pair images of PRISM. AVNIR-2 has four radiometric bands from blue to near infrared and uses for regional environment and disaster monitoring etc. The radiometric calibration and image quality evaluation are also important for AVNIR-2 as well as PRISM.
This paper describes updated results of geometric calibration including geolocation determination accuracy evaluations of PRISM and AVNIR-2, image quality evaluation of PRISM, and validation of generated PRISM DSM. These works will be done during the ALOS mission life as an operational calibration to keep absolute accuracies of the standard products.
The Japanese Advanced Optical Satellite (called “ALOS-3”) is a successor of the optical mission of the Advanced Land
Observing Satellite (ALOS) “DAICHI” (2006-2011). The main objectives of the ALOS-3 project are to take images of
the global land area with high GSD (<1 m) and wide swath (>70 km), and build a large image database to prepare for
disasters, etc. By extracting the difference before and after the disaster, the situation of the damage would be grasped
quickly. ALOS-3 also contribute to maintenance and update of the geospatial information of all over the world. The
satellite has capabilities to take stereo images, thus the Digital Surface Model (DSM) of the interested area would also be
provided. The data which will be acquired by ALOS-3 is expected to be useful in various social needs. ALOS-3 is
scheduled to be launch in FY2020.
Validating the accuracy of land cover products using a reliable reference dataset is an important task. Recently, the amount of ground truth data provided by volunteers has increased. Although ground truth data can provide information that can produce reliable reference data, the information is only correct within the observable landscape. It is necessary to scale up reference data derived from ground truth data to match the spatial resolution of the global land cover product. We propose a scale-up method that confirms expanding land cover characteristics for a target position using the occurrence ratio of pixels that meet the criteria for the target position to the total pixels for the target scale. The results of applying the scale-up method to test sites showed that the occurrence ratio method was a better judge of expanding target land cover types than the average method.
KEYWORDS: Space telescopes, Telescopes, Satellites, Earth observing sensors, Data modeling, Data storage, Space operations, Mirrors, Prototyping, Sensors
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning a satellite system including Advanced Land Observing Satellites 2 and 3 (ALOS-2 and ALOS-3) for the ALOS follow-on program. ALOS-3 will carry the optical sensor named “PRISM-2” and extend the capabilities of earlier ALOS missions. PRISM-2 will be able to collect high-resolution (0.8m) and wide-swath (50 km) imagery with high geo-location accuracy, as well as provide precise digital surface models (DSMs) using stereo pair images acquired by two telescopes. These capabilities are ideal for obtaining large-scale geographical information such as elevation and land cover-maps for use in many research areas and practical applications, including disaster management support.
JAXA has conducted a phase A study of the ALOS-3 spacecraft and PRISM-2, and is now working on prototype models of key components of PRISM-2’s telescope, focal plane, and data compressor.
This paper introduces a conceptual design for PRISM-2 and the ALOS-3 system.
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.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning a satellite system for the Advanced Land Observing
Satellite (ALOS) "Daichi" follow-on program. ALOS-3 will succeed the ALOS missions with enhanced capabilities.
ALOS-3 will carry optical sensors and be capable of collecting images with high-resolution (0.8 m) and wide-swath (50
km). ALOS-3 will also acquire stereoscopic imageries by two telescopes. These are ideally capable for collecting the
large-scale geographical information that is used in many practical applications, including disaster management support.
JAXA has been conducting the conceptual design for the ALOS-3 and its mission instruments. This paper introduces
outline of the spacecraft and the instruments.
This paper describes the generation of precise digital surface model (DSM) and its validation using the Panchromatic
Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS,
nicknamed "Daichi"), which was successfully launched on January 24, 2006, and has worked very well more than 3.5
years. PRISM performs along-track triplet stereo observations with a forward-, nadir-, and backward-looking radiometer
with 2.5 m ground resolution at nadir in a 35 km-wide swath. It is used to derive a precise DSM or digital elevation
model (DEM) with high spatial resolution. The sensor calibration is very important in achieving the precise DSM
generation using PRISM stereo pair images.
This paper introduces updated calibration results of ALOS optical instruments, focusing on PRISM, and including time
trends of accuracy improvements. We have achieved 7.8 m (RMSE) of absolute geometric accuracy of the PRISM nadirlooking
radiometer. The validation of generated PRISM DSM is shown using reference DSM acquired by airborne Lidar.
The height accuracy of the PRISM DSM has achieved 5.2 m (RMSE). Based on these calibration and validation results,
we also investigate the validation of the global DEM (GDEM) produced by ASTER onboard the TERRA satellite that
was released on June 29, 2009 using generated DSMs by PRISM in terms of global evaluations.
ALOS has been on orbit for two years and a half after its launch on January 24 2006. After its initial calibration for the
first six months, ALOS was thrown into the operational phase after Oct. 23 2006. In operation phase, PALSAR has
been activated based on the basic mission operation plan that summarizes the requests for imaging from JAXA
calibration team, the power users, Principal Investigator (PIs) of the ALOS Research announcement, and the Kyoto and
Carbon initiatives for monitoring the forest deforestation and degradation. By now, ALOS collected the PALSAR data
more than 700,000 scenes, which correspond to 8 times global, land coverage. The calibration results using the one year
data set shows that PALSAR has an excellent performance of the radiometric accuracy of 0.6 dB using all the corner
reflectors associated with the calibration experiments and 0.17 dB using the Swedish 5m sized corner reflectors, the
geometric accuracy with 9.3 m (RSS). The polarimetric performance is that the amplitude variation of the VV/HH
channels is 0.3 dB and phase is 0.3 degrees. In this paper, we will introduce the stability of the PALSAR calibration
results for after operation phase. This covers the stability of the sensor its self and the update of the antenna pattern
measurements, SCANSAR processing update, and the suppression of the ground radar interference. We also introduce
the generation of the 50 meter spaced ortho-rectified PALSAR mosaic datasets for the Kyoto and Carbon Initiatives.
Using the corner reflectors, we have monitored the temporal variation of the accuracies. We have also conducted the
antenna pattern variation and the stabilities using the Amazon rain forest data.
This paper describes the updated results of calibration and validation for optical instruments onboard the Advanced Land
Observing Satellite (ALOS, nicknamed "Daichi"), which was successfully launched on January 24th, 2006 and it is
continuously operating very well. ALOS has an L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar called PALSAR and two optical
instruments i.e. the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) and the Advanced Visible
and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2). PRISM consists of three panchromatic radiometers, and is used to
derive a digital surface model (DSM) with high spatial resolution that is an objective of the ALOS mission. Therefore,
geometric calibration is important in generating a precise DSM by stereo pair image of PRISM. AVNIR-2 has four
radiometric bands from blue to near infrared and uses for regional environment and disaster monitoring etc. The
radiometric calibration and image quality evaluation are also important for AVNIR-2 as well as PRISM. This paper
describes updated results of geometric calibration including geolocation determination accuracy evaluation of PRISM
and AVNIR-2, image quality evaluation of PRISM, and validation of generated PRISM DSM. These works will be done
during the ALOS mission life as an operational calibration to keep absolute accuracies of the standard products.
This paper describes the updated results of calibration and validation for optical instruments onboard the Advanced Land
Observing Satellite (ALOS, nicknamed "Daichi"), which was successfully launched on January 24th, 2006 and
continuously works very well. ALOS has an L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar called PALSAR and two optical
instruments i.e., the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) and the Advanced Visible
and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2). PRISM consists of three panchromatic radiometers, and is used to
derive a digital surface model (DSM) with high spatial resolution that is an objective of the ALOS mission. The
geometric calibration is important in generating a precise DSM by stereo pair image of PRISM. AVNIR-2 has four
radiometric bands from blue to near infrared and uses for regional environment and disaster monitoring etc. The
radiometric calibration is also important for AVNIR-2 as well as PRISM. This paper describes updated results of the
radiometric calibration of AVNIR-2, and geolocation determination accuracy evaluation as a part of geometric
calibration, and validation of generated DSM by PRISM. These works will be done during the ALOS mission life as
operational calibration to keep absolute accuracies of the standard products.
This paper summarizes the initial PALSAR calibration and validation results, which were being carried out after the first
activation of the PALSAR image on Feb. 15 2006. The PALSAR calibration and validation consists of the sensor
characterization, SAR processor tuning, and image quality evaluation. During the three month initial calibration phase and
two month initial calibration phase, sensor characterization through the raw data evaluation for most of the sensor modes
were conducted for interpretation of the performance. In this paper, we focus on the results that were gained during first 7
months after the ALOS launch. Although three months remained by the ALOS operation start, the report may cover almost
of the PALSAR CAL/VAL.
The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) was successfully launched on January 24th, 2006. This paper introduces the preliminary results of calibration and validation for two optical sensors of ALOS i.e., the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) and the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2). PRISM consists of three independent panchromatic radiometers, and is used to derive a digital surface model (DSM) with high spatial resolution, which is also an objective of the ALOS mission. So, the geometric calibration is important in generating a highly accurate DSM by stereo pair image of PRISM. The radiometric calibration is also important for AVNIR-2 as well as PRISM. The relative radiometric calibration is carrying out using acquired images over homogeneous targets such as ocean, deserts, ice and snow areas and the nighttime observation. The absolute radiometric calibration is applied the cross calibration method using calibrated satellite images i.e., MODIS onboard Terra/Aqua satellites, ASTER, SPOT-5 etc. In this paper, results of the first images acquisition and preliminary analysis for calibration and validation are described.
This paper presents an overview of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and its research activities, which are carried out at the Earth Observation Research and Application Center (EORC) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission objectives of ALOS include cartography, regional observation, and disaster monitoring etc. ALOS has three mission instruments, the PRISM, AVNIR-2, and PALSAR, to achieve these objectives.
Our research activities can be categorized into two main parts of the ALOS mission: calibration and validation, and application and science. We are presently developing calibration and validation tools for each sensor, evaluating the pre-flight test data acquired on the ground, establishing test sites and reference facilities, and considering mission operation plans to observe the test sites effectively. The application and scientific results will demonstrate the ALOS data utilization capability. We define the digital elevation model (DEM), ortho-rectified images for each sensor, and the surface deformation map as high-level and research products. We describe here our research and scientific activities, particularly calibration and validation, to improve the absolute accuracy and image quality of the products and we provide some examples of data utilization.
The goal of this study is to develop an algorithm for estimating the surface soil moisture and surface roughness using polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data. In this study, an algorithm was applied to polarimetric airborne SAR data to estimate distributions of surface soil moisture and roughness. To validate the estimated soil moisture, we simultaneously conducted an experiment in October 1999 in Tsukuba Science City, Ibaragi Prefecture of Japan. Surface soil moisture was obtained by the Time- Domain Reflectometry (TDR) method, and the horizontal profiles of the land surface height were measured by a comb- style instrument for calculating the surface roughness parameters in test sites. Because the problem is site- specific and depends upon the measurement accuracy of both the ground truth data, the SAR system including speckle noise, and the effects of vegetation and artificial constructions, such as buildings, houses, roads, and roadside trees, the comparison results did not agree well with measured and inferred soil moisture.
We have conducted a feasibility study on measuring the tree height distribution by using polarimetric SAR interferometry datasets acquired by the NASDA-CRL's L-band Polarimetric Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PI-SAR). Test site is the Tottori Dune and its surrounding area, where pine trees were planted. Coherence and the phase differences obtained by the interferometric analysis were evaluated. As a result, we could estimate the tree height distribution if the polarimetric SAR images (co-pol and cross-pol) are acquired with larger baselines and smaller slant ranges. Quantitative evaluation is required to relate the phase center differences and the tree types and the polarization combinations.
In recent years, the application of radar polarimetry for remote sensing of land cover types has attracted extensive interest. Numerous microwave scattering models have been developed and used to interpret the polarimetric SAR data. In this paper, existing L-band backscatter models were used to model land-cover types, such as smooth and slightly rough surfaces (single scattering), urban area and tree trunks (double-bounce scattering) and forested area (diffuse scattering). Using these models, it is possible to construct the amplitude scattering matrix, Mueller matrix, Stokes parameter, etc. for each target. However, a state- vector was created using the Stokes parameters, degree of unpolarization and the phase difference between the HH and VV polarizations. The angle between two state-vectors (the theoretical state-vector derived from the calculation using the existing models and the state-vector derived from the observation or image data) was calculated for each land cover-type. We found that there is a strong correlation between the model predicted and the observed state-vectors for the same land cover types. The angle between the calculated and observed state-vectors is very useful for contrast enhancement and classifying the polarimetric radar data. For this purpose, polarimetric L-band airborne SAR data acquired over a variety of geographic targets are analyzed with the support of field investigations of forest, bare land and smooth surface (or ground and water), urban and rough surfaces. The classification results were presented.
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