ALOS sends its first image (Forwarded)

ESA News
http://www.esa.int

16 February 2006

ALOS sends its first image

This image of Mt. Fuji is the first data to be acquired by Japan's
recently launched Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) on 24 January
2006. ESA is supporting ALOS as a 'Third Party Mission', which means the
Agency will utilise its multi-mission ground systems of existing national
and industrial facilities and expertise to acquire, process and distribute
data from the satellite to users.

Mt. Fuji -- Japan's highest mountain (3 776 metres) -- is a volcano that
has been dormant since its last eruption in 1707. It is located near the
Pacific coast and straddles the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka
about 100 kilometres west of Tokyo.

Detailed streets and rivers in the Kofu Basin are visible in the front of
the image, and Motosu Lake, one of five lakes making up the Fuji Five Lake
region, is in the centre right. The Fuji-Subaru road, which leads to the
top of the mountain from Motosu Lake, can also be seen.

Motosu Lake, featured on the 5000 Yen note, is the westernmost of the five
lakes, all of which were formed by lava flows, and has a circumference of
13 kilometres. The other four lakes are: Kawaguchi Lake, Yamanaka Lake ,
Sai Lake and Shoji Lake.

Thousands of people ascend Mt. Fuji every year, usually during July and
August (the official climbing season) when there is no snow. The mountain
hike is divided into ten stations, with paved roads going to the fifth
station (around 1400 to 2400 metres above sea level).

The image data was acquired as part of the initial functional verification
test since the satellite's launch. One of ALOS' three onboard instruments,
the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM),
observed the mountain at 02:00 CET (10:30 Japan time [0130 UTC]) on 14
February 2006.

The PRISM is an optical sensor which has three independent optical systems
for acquiring terrain and altitude data simultaneously, allowing for
three-dimensional images with a high accuracy and frequency.

The other two instruments onboard ALOS are the Phased Array type L-band
Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), a microwave radar instrument that can
acquire observations through any weather conditions, and the Advanced
Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type-2 (AVNIR-2), designed to chart
land cover and vegetation in visible and near-infrared spectral bands.

Archive

* Previous images
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM9UELY17E_index_0.html
* Earth images
http://www.esa.int/earthimages

Related articles

* Japan's ALOS in orbit: ESA will deliver its data to European researchers
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM0SXMZCIE_index_0.html

Related Missions

* Third Party Missions overview
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMP5R2VQUD_index_0_m.html

In depth

* Third Party Missions: ALOS
http://earth.esa.int/missions/thirdpartymission/ALOS.html
* ALOS Data European Node (ADEN)
http://eopi.esa.int/Aden

Related links

* ALOS launch website
http://h2a.jaxa.jp/index_e.html
* ALOS mission website
http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/index.htm
* JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)
http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html

IMAGE CAPTIONS:

[Image 1:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3J3MVGJE_index_1.html]
This image of Mt. Fuji in Japan is the first data acquired by Japan's ALOS
on 14 February 2006. ALOS is supported by ESA as a 'Third Party Mission',
which means that data and imagery are distributed under a cooperative
agreement between the Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
(JAXA).

Credits: JAXA

[Image 2:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM3J3MVGJE_index_1.html#subhead1]
Artist's impression of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS),
launched 24 January 2006.

Credits: JAXA


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