Foreword
The Fourth Assessment Report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in2007 states that most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very
likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic Green House Gas (GHG) concentrations. The drastic
increase in the concentration of GHGs, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2), caused directly and indirectly by humanactivities, is attributed to the fact that the emission of CO 2 into the atmosphere in the process of the massconsumption of fossil fuel, deforestation, etc., significantly surpasses the absorption by the land ecosystem and theoceans. Thus, it is imperative to balance the emission due to human activities and the absorption by the nature,in order to stabilize the climate for the future.

In the meantime, however, we, humans, have not grasped, to a

sufficient level, the mechanisms of the absorption by land ecosystem and ocean, and the climatological feedbackin the carbon cycle involving atmosphere, land ecosystem and ocean. This lack of understanding comprises a
substantial part of the uncertainty in predicting future climate change.

The clarification of these problems involves not only an ascertainment of the spatial and temporalvariations in the CO2 emission from human activities but also a calculation of the spatial distribution and temporalvariation of CO2 and also methane (CH4), which is the second largest contributor to global warming after CO 2,
and the spatial distribution and temporal variation of the source and sink in land ecosystem and oceans, based onearth observation, and ultimately an attainment of adequate scientific knowledge on the underlying mechanisms.
These efforts to observe GHG concentrations and to analyze the causes of their variations at some locations are,though still limited, in progress. On top of these attempts, it is vital to observe the distributions of CO 2, CH4, andother GHG concentrations, which fluctuate both spatially and temporally, on the global scale, using satellite
platforms, in a continuous and systematic manner, and to elucidate the current issues, with a goal to elevate thereliability of prediction of future climate change and climate system models effective for assessing theconsequences of climate change.

Aiming for fulfilling the above requirements, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), theNational Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) and the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) (hereinafterreferred to as the “Three Parties” collectively) have started the GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite)
Project. The Three Parties shall make the third announcement on an opportunity for research using the dataacquired by the Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation (TANSO) sensor onboard GOSAT on
August 20, 2010.

This third research announcement (hereinafter referred to as RA) is initiated for soliciting proposals on
advanced research using actual data acquired for a year and a half by GOSAT, which was successfully launched
on January 23, 2009. The details of the RA are provided in the following RA documents. Note that the RA
Office is set up inside NIES.

RA Document

GOSAT Research Announcement (main text)
Appendix A

Outlines of GOSAT and TANSO Sensor

Appendix B

GOSAT/TANSO Calibration and Validation Plan and Overview of Processing
Algorithms

Appendix C

Operation Policies of GOSAT and Basic Observation Plan of the TANSO Sensor

Appendix D

Contents of Research Proposal and Application Forms

Appendix E

General Contractual Conditions for the Joint Research on the GOSAT data

Appendix F

User Category, Glossary and Abbreviation List

Schedule for the 3rd RA (Current RA)

Launch of GOSAT
rdJanuary 23, 2009

Release of the 3 RA

August 20, 2010

Deadline for submission of proposals

October 29, 2010

Notification of the selection results

January 31, 2011

Sign up of the agreement

February 1, 2011 or laterrd

3 PI meeting/workshop

Scheduled sometime between May andAugust, 2011 (TBD)

Submission of interim reports

January 31, 2012

For more information, please contact:

GOSAT Project OfficeCenter for Global Environmental Research
National Institute for Environmental Studies
16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki
305-8506 JapanWeb page: http://www.gosat.nies.go.jp/eng/proposal/proposal.htm
TEL: +81-29-850-2035 FAX: +81-29-850-2219
E-mail: gosat-prj1@nies.go.jp
Acceptance time: Weekday (excluding Japanese national holidays) 10:00-17:00

August, 2010
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
National Institute for Environment Studies (NIES)
Ministry of the Environment (MOE)