Abstract
Himawari-8, the next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite, has launched successfully. Highly improved sensor AHI (Advanced Himawari Imager) loaded on the satellite has 16 observation bands (3 for visible, 3 for near-infrared and 10 for infrared), 2.5 minutes observation interval for the whole area of Japan and better spatial resolution than that of former sensor system. Some of observation bands are similar with the ones of Landsat/TM. Therefore, it is possible to compare the earth surface temperature and land-cover processed by Himawari-8 and Landsat.
This study deals with the quality of Himawari-8/AHI by comparing with the Landsat-7/ETM+ as an example of Tokyo metropolitan area and discussed the availability to apply for the urban thermal environmental monitoring. Focusing on the diurnal temperature variation, the authors confirmed that the heat effect is remarkable in the manufactured land surface can be classified by AHI visible and near infra-red data. As a result, it is found that the Himawari-8/AHI demonstrates the expected performance and possible to apply to the thermal environmental monitoring for the urban.
