ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite)

The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), also known as Daichi, was JAXA flagship Earth observation platform launched in January 2006. ALOS carried three instruments: the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) for high-resolution 2.5-metre optical imagery, the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) for land coverage classification, and the Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) capable of all-weather, day-and-night imaging. Together these sensors supported cartography, regional observation, disaster monitoring, resource surveying, and the development and management of geographic information. The ALOS mission operated for five years until 2011 and has been succeeded by ALOS-2 (Daichi-2) featuring enhanced SAR capabilities, and ALOS-4 (Daichi-4) currently in operation with improved L-band SAR for forest monitoring, disaster response, and maritime surveillance.