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Advanced Land Observing Satellite developed by NEC is monitoring the Earth's environment.
Daichi, developed by NEC, watches over the forests
Daichi can take photographs even at night or through cloud cover
Daichi is equipped with a sensor developed by NEC that can take photographs of the Earth using a microwave radar. In this way, it can take photographs of the Earth's surface even at night or through cloud cover, so it can monitor changes in forests and landforms in real time. When measuring forests, thickly wooded areas appear bright, and areas where trees have fallen or been cut appear dark, so the condition of forests can be confirmed in detail.
Contributing to monitoring of tropical rain forests along the Amazon
Daichi's sensors, which are not influenced by the weather, are now being used to monitor tropical rain forests in Indonesia and along the Amazon River. In Brazil, illegal logging along the Amazon has become a problem, and satellite images have been used to monitor this situation since the latter half of the 1980s. Because some regions are covered by clouds for much of the year, however, the forests in those regions could not be photographed effectively. Daichi, however, can photograph the forests even through clouds, so is expected to contribute dramatically to strengthen monitoring activities. Already, images from the Amazon basin have been provided to government agencies in Brazil since September 2007.
Research in technologies for measuring CO2 absorption volumes
The Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in 1997, stipulates targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emission volumes. Daichi is being used for research on methods of investigating the volumes of CO2 absorbed by forests, oceans, and the atmosphere as a means of calculating whether or not those goals have been met. This research, referred to as the Kyoto & Carbon Initiative, is being conducted through collaboration by research institutes in 21 countries. As part of this research, Daichi's sensors are used to calculate the number and height of trees in a certain areas, in order to measure the volumes of CO2 absorbed by forests. Other research is focusing on methods of measuring the volumes of methane gas generated.
