ISSUE # 27
APRIL 2013

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#27 APR. 2013

CONTENTSREPORTGOSAT Workshop 2013

01

REPORT

EGU 2013 

02

GOSAT PEOPLE
     A Series: Supporting GOSAT Project (3)03        -  Big Stagehands having given birth to GOSAT IBUKI

いぶき
IBUKI

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER
Independent Administrative Institution
National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES)
A newsletter on the Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite(GOSAT, “IBUKI” ) project from the NIES GOSAT Project Oﬃce.

http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/

ANNOUNCEMENT
6th Research Proposals (RA) now being invited
PUBLISHED PAPERS

04
04

GREETINGS
Greetings from GOSAT Project Office
DATA PRODUCT UPDATE

05
06

Group photo of participants in front of Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

REPORTGOSAT Workshop 2013

Akihiko Kuze, Associate Senior Engineer, Satellite Applications and Promotion Center (SAPC), JAXAGOSAT Workshop 2013 was held at Tokyo Metropolitan Art

Museum from March 5 to 7, 2013 with 96 participants gatheringfrom around the world (photo above). We were blessed to be

first by those who were deeply involved and then discussed by allparticipants for one hour.

We shared the message through 3 days’ discussion: “GOSAT

allowed to use the brand-new auditorium (just reopened), because

should establish the status of flying TCCON (Total Carbon Column

This time, we concentrated on three topics required for thegases observation plans are not competing each other but“GOSAT Spectrum is an Art.”

determination of GOSAT-2 sensor specification: (1) flux estimate

and assimilation by modeling, (2) error sources for CO2 retrieval,(3) new targets (CO and NO2), each of which was presented at

Observing Network)”, because the existing 10 or more greenhousecollaborating to prove the effectiveness of satellite observation,
especially in the case of GOSAT family, which are equipped with

Fourier Transform Spectrometer to ensure, in principle, high1­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#27 APR. 2013

As for additional CO observation planned by GOSAT-2,

experienced fellow from MOPITT*1 proposed to standardize thesatellite-based CO observation data. Easier-to-use data sure help
expand the GOSAT community including university people andatmospheric researchers. 10 years ago when GOSAT Project started,
it seemed reckless to many people to observe CO2 from space on

the basis of experience of satellite-based stratospheric ozone (O3)observation, because CO2 is less variable than stratospheric O3.

However, it really is successful as the community steadily grown
during 4 years’ GOSAT operation proves, which can be recognizedPhoto 1spectral resolution with wide spectral range for CO2 and otherin earnest discussion (photo 2) and wide smiles (photo 3) here.

components, enabling themselves to be standards for othersatellites’ observation. Target observation by GOSAT is effective
for modeling, and improved single-point accuracy of CO 2 mole

fraction can go directly to more accurate flux estimate; for which

purpose, hardware improvement such as linearity of FTS Band 1(O2 A band) and enhancement of the pointing function and state-of-the-art data processing will be required, e.g., retrieval at low
reflectance area, handling of multiple scattering at high reflectancePhoto 3
It is also made clear that we have plenty of issues yet to be solved

area, consideration of ground bidirectional reflectance distribution

with present GOSAT such as more effective pointing to get morefunction (BRDF), etc..

cloud-free data over Amazon and Southeast Asia, combined use of

SWIR and TIR data for retrieval analysis, multi-angle observation to
reduce aerosol-associated error, etc. The workshop reminded us of
those issues found in 4 years’ operation, both in hardware and dataprocessing, to be dealt with one by one, which leads to the next.
*1

sensor mounted on Terra (refer *2 on page 5) to monitor pollution

Photo 2REPORT

Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT) is a TIR

patterns and its effect in the lower atmosphere of the Earth.

EGU2013 (European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2013)
Tatsuya Yokota, Project Leader, GOSAT Project, NIESEGU General Assembly held in Vienna every April was on

Sensing of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Methane) had oral

huge place for presentation by researchers, mainly from European

Japan, Yokota, Maksyutov, and Takagi from NIES, and Ohyama (asApril 7 to 12 this year at the Austria Center (photo 1). This is a very

from 10 to 11, and poster on 10 evening. GOSAT members fromcountries, and attracting more people year after year: 11,167

proxy for Nakajima and Suto) from JAXA made presentations atparticipants from 95 countries, 228 from Japan. According to athis session. Other sessions which included GOSAT were AS3.12

Chinese friend of mine, China is making a strong effort to this field,

Satellite observations of tropospheric composition and pollution,

sending a total of 240 researchers and students, greater number

analyses with models and applications, BG2.6 Earth observation

ever, related to meteorology and climate model. This year, a new

for monitoring the global energy, water and carbon cycles overpresentation style named PICO (Presenting Interactive COntent)

land, BG2.11 Greenhouse gas fluxes in managed ecosystems andwas introduced in addition to the traditional oral and poster

regions, etc.

presentation. PICO uses the Internet for the initial brief presentationmaterials, from which the audience selects presentation numbers
to add their own related materials, animations, and PDF files as
their questions or comments, creating elaborative hyper discussion.
It looks like discussion papers posted on the WEB. The discussion

place is open to participants during the Assembly period to deepen
discussions, accelerate researches, and shorten the time to share

the research results. There were 452 PICOs against 4,684 oral / 8,207
poster presentations.

The main session related to GOSAT IBUKI (AS3.13 Remote-Photo1

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#27 APR. 2013

GOSAT PEOPLE

A Series: Supporting GOSAT Project (3)Photo 1  (Jun. 2009)

Photo 2 (Jan. 2009)TANSO Team in NEC, who are now in relief after months of desperate work, withsuccessful launch and world’s first ever data offering.

A MEISEI Electric camera caught the moment of thebirth of IBUKI. Photo shows leaving H-IIA rocket.

Big Stagehands having given birth to GOSAT IBUKI
Hiroshi Suto, Engineer, Earth Observation Research Center, JAXA
4 year-old IBUKI

4 years have passed since the launch of IBUKI on January 23, 2013.

IBUKI ’s housekeeping data were sometimes abnormal just after thebirth, making daily emergency calls for staffs, regardless of holidays

scene.

IBUKI ’s bodyThat is the satellite looking at the Earth from space. Its design life

is 5 years. It may sound very short compared to cars with 10 or moreor nights. Now it's all in the past. IBUKI is observing silently 365 days years of design life, however, the stress a satellite receives goinga year and offering valuable data for us, which makes us forget the around the Earth is beyond our imagination. IBUKI goes throughpast birth pangs. Let me tell you just a little bit about the birth story higher temperature than the baking heat of desert and lowerof IBUKI .

temperature than the coldest polar zone in only 100 minutes’ circuit,

IBUKI ’s eye

whose harsh physical circumstances may cause various troubles.
A car can be repaired when broken but a satellite, never, once it’sThat is the sensor to measure atmospheric mole fractions of launched. That’s why “how to make it live a long time” is the mostCO2 and CH4 from space. IBUKI measures the scattered solar light important thing. The answer is redundancy and adoption of matured
absorbed by earth atmosphere to identify the amount of CO2 andtechnologies. Engineers like trying new technologies, however, thatthe eye is called TANSO named after the acronym of Thermal And

in IBUKI making. And also the sensor needs to be kept healthy to

CH 4 existing on the path the light came through. As you know, should be controlled to ensure reliability as the most important value

Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation. IBUKI challenged thecontinue observation by avoiding degradation factors, one of which iswavelength infrared light (1.56 - 2.08 µm) including information of

in a clean room to control the dirt and dust where there is no suchworld’s first ever high resolution observation from space with shortmole fractions near earth’s surface, which is important because theinformation reflects prominently the influence of human activities.

the dirt and dust from the satellite itself. The satellite is manufactured

visible thing. On the other hand, workers have much dirt and dust on
themselves and spit scatters in their conversation, which necessitate

NEC TANSO Team was the contractor to make the sensor (photo 1), them to wear special clothes and medical masks. They assembled
who worked day and night for design, manufacture, and test. I canand tested IBUKI steadily and tidily under those various constraints.

of 2007 – 2008. Literally they worked ceaselessly on the test when

performance executed in common with many satellite developments,

clearly remember their hard work in year-end and New Year holidays

In addition to normal set of tests to confirm function andyou were enjoying a long vacation. One day TANSO was confronted IBUKI underwent many other tests: for example, “how does the realwith an accident which might have made TANSO into Tanso (Carbon sunlight look like to IBUKI,” which was readily accepted by Mitsubishiin Japanese). There was a fire on another floor and it could affect theElectric GOSAT Team (photo 3), though not included in the initial testa small one and on a different floor, TANSO and its test equipmentof numbers on a very tight schedule. They could have rejected the

manufacturing process of TANSO, however, fortunately the fire waswere saved undamaged.

plan, “if you think it’s necessary,” and it was executed by sheer force
test in the hard situation but they didn’t, and helped us find evenThis is how TANSO was given birth to with the effort and hard work subtle “tendencies” of TANSO.

of people involved, and maybe with a bit of good luck. Now we can

The moment of the birth of IBUKI

get data with just one click on the Internet, free of charge, but weshould not forget extraordinary effort of many people behind the

We were really cliff-hanged at the moment. A camera made by3­­

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#27 APR. 2013

MEISEI Electric caught the moment of IBUKI jumping into the spaceresearchers around the world. That is the greatest pleasure for us,

just separated from H-IIA rocket. Leaving H-IIA rocket (photo 2), the birth parents, to know the data is used by so many people anddeploying and rotating of solar battery paddles, and the Earth seen help generate new findings. Brilliant it may seem, the world of
from IBUKI – these steps of IBUKI ’s activation were recorded andsent to us. We were excited with those images to know “IBUKI issatellite development is nothing but patience: patience to find anduse matured technologies to add new values, from which IBUKI wasstanding up!” though its heartbeat was not heard yet. Eight cameras born. There are many things left to be done to accomplish its mission.

are attached to IBUKI to take photos of major part of itself, and one Please keep your eyes on ever-growing IBUKI. Sometimes it mayof which is set in TANSO enabling to look at the same place and take catch cold. But don’t worry. We are also a team of family doctors andits photo as TANSO views (that means the camera helps to correct always ready to cure IBUKI for its lasting mission.
TANSO’s viewing direction). Todaycompact digital cameras flood themarket and no one will find anything

special in mounting one on a satellite.
Nothing special? Really? Well,

imagine how difficult it is to make acamera which can take clear photos
anywhere, be it ever hot or cold inspace.

Many thanks to IBUKI

IBUKI has successfully continued

its observation since launched

on January 23, 2009 and started
distribution of CO 2 and CH 4 mole

fraction data to the world since

February 18, 2010. The observation
result was compared with otherground or airplane based observation

to find there was no large discrepancy
among those data, which validated

the quality of observation by

IBUKI . IBUKI data is used by many

Photo 3 (Nov. 2008)
Mitsubishi Electric GOSAT Team and JAXA people now in relief in front of completed IBUKI

ANNOUNCEMENT

6th Research Proposals (RA) now being invited
PUBLISHED PAPERS
Field of Research: data processing a lgorithm, validation
Name of Journal: 	Journal of Geophysical Research		(Volume 118, pages 1493–1512, 2013)
Title: 	Ef fects of atmospheric light scattering on spectroscopic
observations of greenhouse gases from space. Part 2: Algorithm
intercomparison in the GOSAT data processing for CO2 retrievals
over TCCON sites
Authors: 	S . Oshchepkov, A. Bril, T. Yokota, P. O. Wennberg, N. M.
Deutscher, D. Wunch, G. C. Toon, Y. Yoshida, C. W. O’Dell, D.
Crisp, C. E. Miller, C. Frankenberg, A. Butz, I. Aben, S. Guerlet,
O. Hasekamp, H. Boesch, A. Cogan, R. Parker, D. Griffith, R.
Macatangay, J. Notholt, R. Sussmann, M. Rettinger, V. Sherlock,
J. Robinson, E. Kyrö, P. Heikkinen, D. G. Feist, I. Morino, N.
Kadygrov, D. Belikov, S. Maksyutov, T. Matsunaga, O. Uchino, H.
Watanabe

Field of Research: 	data processing algorithm, validation
Name of Journal: Atmospheric Measurement Techniques		(Volume 6, pages 599–612, 2013)
Title: 	HDO/H2O ratio retrievals from GOSAT
Authors:	H. Boesch, N. M. Deutscher, T. Warneke, K. Byckling, A. J.
Cogan, D. W. T. Griffith, J. Notholt, R. J. Parker, Z. Wang
Field of Research: 	carbon balance estimation, atmospheric transportmodelsName of Journal: Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere		(Volume 9, pages 45–50, 2013)
Title: 	Inverse modeling of CO 2 fluxes using GOSAT data and multiyear ground-based observations
Authors: 	T. Saeki, S. Maksyutov, M. Saito, V. Valsala, T. Oda, R. J. Andres,
D. Belikov, P. Tans, E. Dlugokencky, Y. Yoshida, I. Morino, O.
Uchino, T. Yokota

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#27 APR. 2013

GREETINGS

Greetings from GOSAT Project Office
Greetings

Hiroshi Watanabe

I left my office this March. I was GOSAT Project Office Manager

for 6 years and 7 months since I took the post in September 2006.
These years saw the launch of GOSAT on January 23, 2009, releaseof various high-level products, and other big events on GOSAT,
which I look back now with happy feeling. I regret leaving now

a little when GOSAT is still operated well and new outcomes arecoming, however, “to everything there is a season under heaven,”
and I made up my mind at this Japan’s fiscal year end.

I had worked as Project Manager of the ground system for

ASTER* 1, the sensor mounted on Terra* 2 launched by NASA* 3,

Ex-manager, Dr. Watanabe (left) and Manager, Mr. Ajiro (right)

ground surface, atmospheric absorption had been something to

Greetings

until I was involved in GOSAT Project. As ASTER observed the
be corrected, and then, to my embarrassment, that became thetarget of observation, which I gradually accustomed to and now I

thank as a valuable experience. I was a bit close with some NASA

researchers in both projects and some of whom left me indelible
memory of deep NASA, for example, when I found Dr. Abrams,

ASTER’s science team leader, and Dr. Crisp of ACOS*4 team which

GOSAT collaborated with, lived next door to each other in JPL*5.

GOSAT Project helped me know not only many RA researchers

but wide variety of general users through GOSAT data, which isalso a good experience for me.

I have not decided my next way to go yet, but it would be nice if

I can contribute something in the field of remote sensing. I reallyappreciate your support over the years and I ask you the same
support for Mr. Masataka Ajiro and ever prosperous GOSAT Project.
Thank you.

Masataka Ajiro

I was assigned to take over the position of the Project Office

Manager on April 1st in succession to Dr. Watanabe. I am glad to beable to return to the space development field for the first time in 7
years.

Since last September, I have worked as a sub-manager and as aproxy last December, but there is much left to be covered in thepassionate relationship with GOSAT users established by the ex-manager, on which I will do my best considering and responding
to users’ voices for the better later-stage operation GOSAT has now
entered breaking longevity record.

I had been involved for more than 25 years in data processing

and equipment development of ground systems for earth

observing satellites from MOS-1* 6 to ALOS* 7 before I joined

Microsoft as a manager to sell aerial digital cameras or support online business such as map services for consumers (Virtual Earth/
Bing Maps).

I will do my best utilizing my experience in Microsoft on customer

creed, corporate social responsibility, customer loyalty assessment,
and business development methods to help researchers and otherusers in GOSAT community achieve results in science field by
delivering products and services.
Thank you.

organized around OCO (Orbiting Carbon Observatory) science team
involving researchers of JPL*5, Caltech, and Colorado State University.

*5 Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and*1 *2 Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer(ASTER) is a high resolution optical sensor with 14 channels from visible
light to thermal infrared bands developed in a joint project by NASA*3,

METI, and ERSDAC, which was launched in 1999 mounted on the satellite
Terra.

*3 National Aeronautics and Space Administration*4 Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) team is a groupdevelopment center and operated by Caltech for NASA.
*6

Marine Observation Satellite-1 (1987~1995) is Japan's first marine

observation satellite, as a link in a global satellite observation system
for more effective natural resource utilization and for environmental
protection.
*7

Advanced Land Observing Satellite (2006~2011) has been developed

to contribute to the fields of mapping, precise regional land coverageobservation, disaster monitoring, and resource surveying.

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NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER ISSUE#27 APR. 2013

DATA PRODUCTS UPDATE

Data Processing Status Update from GOSAT Project Office
Fumie Kawazoe, Specialist, NIES GOSAT Project OfficeObservation Period and Versions of Publicly Released Data

As of April 19, 2013■

● 050050 143,700 scenes● 080080 80,200 scenes● 100100 210,500 scenes● 110110 125,700 scenes● 128128 196,900 scenes● 130130 316,100 scenes● 141141 355,100 scenes● 150150 302,200 scenes● 150151 1,234,600 scenes

FTS L1B data

FTS L2 CO2 column amount  (SWIR)■FTS L2 CH4 column amount (SWIR)■FTS L2 CO2 profile (TIR)FTS L2 CH4 profile (TIR)FTS L3 global CO2, CH4 distribution (SWIR)● 02.00● 02.10● 02.1185,000 scans
88,400 scans
158,100 scans● 02.00● 02.10● 02.11

85,100 scans
88,400 scans
158,100 scans● 00.01● 00.01

204,800 scans
206,400 scans● 01.10● 01.20● 01.30● 01.31● 01.40● 01.50

8 months
3 months
7 months
1 months
5 months
7 months

CAI L1B data■■

CAI L1B+ data■

CAI L2 cloud flag■

● 01.00

670,800 frames● 01.00

670,500 frames● 01.00

669,500 frames■

CAI L3 global radiance distribution

CAI L3 global reflectance distribution
CAI L3 NDVI
L4A global CO2 flux
L4B global CO2 distribution

2009/                                     2010/                                                    2011/                                                     2012/                                                  2013/4       6        8       10      12        2        4       6         8       10       12       2        4        6        8       10      12        2       4         6         8      10      12       2       4The chart above is as of April 19, 2013. The latest processed and● 00.50● 00.80● 00.90● 00.91● 00.92● 01.00

99 recurrence
36 recurrence
253 recurrence
144 recurrence
158 recurrence
484 recurrence● 00.91● 00.92● 01.00

49 months
77 months
474 months● 01.00

13,859 rectangles● 02.01● 02.01

1 year
1 year■← Observ. period

FTS L1B will be upgraded to V160.160 in May, which will also bringreleased on are: FTS L1B in V150.151; CAI L1B/L1B+/L2 cloud flag/

the change of minor version as V02.20 in FTS L2 CO 2/CH4 column

column amount (SWIR) in V02.11. We have released to general public

Format Descriptions, Product Description, Results of Validation” forL3 global reflectance distribution/NDVI in V01.00; FTS L2 CO2/CH4

the new V01.00 of CAI L3 global radiance distribution on April 9. CAI
L1B+ has been completed its reprocessing in V01.00.

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER

amount (SWIR). Please refer to coming GUIG pages “ATBD, Productmore detail.

The number of registered users is 1423 as of April 19, 2013.

ISSUE #27 APRIL 2013

Issued on : 2013/5/13

edited and published by : NIES GOSAT Project Oﬃce
You can download this newsletter here:
URL : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/top.htm

email : gosat_newsletter@nies.go.jp

いぶき
IBUKI

NIES GOSAT PROJECT NEWSLETTER

website : http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/newsletter/top.htm

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