The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT''), also known as , is an

Earth observation satellite An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, ...

and the world's first satellite dedicated to greenhouse gas monitoring. It measures the densities of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

and

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...

from 56,000 locations on the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...

. The GOSAT was developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (

JAXA The is the Japanese national air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satellites into o ...

) and launched on 23 January 2009, from the

Tanegashima Space Center The (TNSC) is the largest rocket-launch complex in Japan with a total area of about 9.7 square kilometers. It is located on the southeast coast of Tanegashima, an island approximately south of Kyushu. It was established in 1969 when the ...

. Japan's

Ministry of the Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

, and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) use the data to track gases causing the

greenhouse effect The greenhouse effect is a process that occurs when energy from a planet's host star goes through the planet's atmosphere and heats the planet's surface, but greenhouse gases in the atmosphere prevent some of the heat from returning directly ...

, and share the data with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

and other international scientific organizations.

Launch

GOSAT was launched along with seven other

piggyback Piggyback, piggy-back, or piggybacking may mean: Transport * Piggyback (transportation), something that is riding on the back of something else Art, entertainment, and media *Splash cymbal piggybacking, mounting a cymbal on top of an already ...

probes using the

H-IIA H-IIA (H-2A) is an active expendable launch system operated by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. These liquid fuel rockets have been used to launch satellites into geostationary orbit; lunar o ...

, Japan's primary large-scale

expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several multistage ...

, at 3:54 am on 23 January 2009 UTC on

Tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to Ne ...

, a small island in southern Japan, after a two-day delay due to unfavourable weather. At approximately 16 minutes after liftoff, the separation of Ibuki from the launch rocket was confirmed.

Instruments

According to JAXA, the Ibuki satellite is equipped with a greenhouse gas observation sensor (TANSO-FTS) and a cloud/aerosol sensor (TANSO-CAI) that supplements TANSO-FTS. The greenhouse gas observation sensor of Ibuki observes a wide range of wavelengths (near-

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...

region–thermal infrared region) within the infrared band to enhance observation accuracy. The satellite uses a

spectrometer A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the ...

to measure different elements and compounds based on their response to certain types of light. This technology allows the satellite to measure "the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a super-high resolution."

GOSAT-2

The Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite-2 or GOSAT-2, also known as IBUKI-2 (COSPAR 2018-084B) was launched from Tanegashima Space Center by a

rocket on October 29, 2018.

References

External links

GOSAT site
by

GOSAT site
by NIES
GOSAT-2 site
by NIES {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2016 Earth observation satellites of Japan JAXA * Spacecraft launched by H-II rockets Spacecraft launched in 2009

Launch

Instruments

GOSAT-2

See also

References

External links