Overview of Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2)

Abstract

Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) is a Japanese earth observation satellite operated over two years after the launch on May 24, 2014. The mission objective of ALOS-2 are disaster monitoring, environmental monitoring, land monitoring, and technology development. To achieve these missions, ALOS-2 carries the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2 (PALSAR-2) that has many improved performances compared to previous L-band SAR satellite in Japan. This paper introduces the ALOS-2 missions, specifications of the satellite and PALSAR-2, current operation status such as data acuisition and emergency observation, and examples of PALSAR-2 applications.