Various type of the Earth observation satellites (Japan and overseas)

  • There are many kinds of Earth observation satellites. They are distinguished by their equipped sensors. For example, sensors with specifications of a swath width of 185km and a spatial resolution of 30m recognize objects more than 30mx30m in size in an 185km-wide area.
    Some Earth observation satellites are listed below.

1. Japan’s Earth observation satellites

  • Momo-1 (Marine observing satellite, MOS-1/1b) : Optical sensor, passive microwave sensor
  • Fuyo-1 (Japanese earth resources satellite, JERS-1) : Optical sensor, active microwave sensor
  • Midori-1 (Advanced earth observing satellite, ADEOS) : Optical sensor, Passive microwave sensor
  • Midori-2 (Advanced earth observing satellite, ADEOSII) : Optical sensor, passive microwave sensor
  • Daichi (Advanced land observing satellite, ALOS) : Optical sensor, active microwave sensor

2. International satellites equipped with Japanese sensors

  • Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission, TRMM) : Active microwave sensor
  • Aqua : Passive microwave sensor

3. International satellites

  • Landsat (USA) : Optical sensor
  • SPOT (France) : Optical sensor
  • IRS (India) : Optical sensor, etc
  • Envisat (ESA) : Active microwave sensor
  • RADARSAT (Canada) : Active microwave sensor, etc
  • IKONOS : Optical sensor
  • Quickbird : Optical sensor
  • OrbView 3 : Optical sensor