International Cooperation and Contribution in Earth Observation of FORMOSAT-2
- Paper number
IAC-08.B1.1.8
- Author
Prof. Rock Jeng-Shingi Chern, China Institute of Technology, Taiwan, China
- Coauthor
Prof. Jiun-Jih Miau, National Space Organization (NSPO), Taiwan, Taiwan, China
- Coauthor
Mr. Kuo-Ping Cheng, National Space Organization (NSPO), Taiwan, Taiwan, China
- Coauthor
Mr. Sam Wang, Taiwan, China
- Year
2008
- Abstract
FORMOSAT-2 (was called ROCSAT-2 formerly) of Taiwan’s National Space Organization (NSPO) is a small satellite of 746 kg mass for two remote sensing missions: Earth observation and upward lightning (transient luminous event, TLE) observation. Its mission orbit is sun-synchronous of 888 km altitude for exactly 14 revolutions per day. For Earth observation, the payload is an advanced high resolution remote sensing instrument (RSI) with ground sampling distance (GSD) 2 m in panchromatic (PAN) band and 8 m in four multi-spectral (MS) bands. NSPO cooperates internationally to perform the Earth observation. For upward lightning observation, the payload is an imager of sprites and upper atmospheric lightning (ISUAL). Also, NSPO cooperates with UC Berkeley of USA and Tohoku University of Japan to perform the observation and to do the research. Launch date of FORMOSAT-2 was on 20 May 2004. After nearly 4 years of mission operations in orbit, i.e., about 80% of the mission life of 5 years, it is a long enough time to assess and evaluate its global contribution in both Earth and TLE observations. To evaluate the contribution and effectiveness of developing a satellite, especially in a developing country or a near-developed country with very limited resources such as Republic of China (Taiwan), we need to include all aspects. This paper gives the international contribution and global effectiveness of FORMOSAT-2 a rather detailed assessment from the following areas: public education in Taiwan, Earth science and ecological niche, global environmental protection, International Charter and humanity rescue, and scientific observation of atmospheric transient luminous events (TLEs). It can be concluded that FORMOSAT-2’s global effectiveness is just pronounced and definitely promised. The development of FORMOSAT-2 is very valuable, not only to Taiwan but also to the whole world. In the student activities before FORMOSAT-2 launch, there are four categories: call for “Names”, “Paintings”, “Articles” and “Plans”. A total of 333 submissions had been received with the following distribution: call for names 122, call for paintings 133, call for articles 42 and call for plans 36. The winning name is “Formosa Satellite #2”. In the Alert area of Canada, FORMOSAT-2 observed an ice crack in three consecutive days from 24 to 26 March 2006 in exact the same time everyday by using its daily revisit characteristics. It is so strange that the width of the ice crack varies during the three days. NSPO provides the information to interested scientists for further analysis. FORMOSAT-2 captured the image of a coral reef called the Dongsha Atoll. Dongsha Islands are to the southeast but not too far away from Taiwan Island. The complete coral reef and abundant ecological environment have made Dongsha Atoll a fascinating place for researchers worldwide. The Ayers rock and its surrounding area had been imaged by FORMOSAT-2. These two examples mean that NSPO also provides images related to ecological environment for the research and analysis of the ecological resources, and for the participation and promotion of the global ecological preservation and research activities. In the preservation and protection of the world heritages, FORMOSAT-2 took the image of a castle named Jiayuguan of the Great Wall, which had been enlisted in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. NSPO joined the International Charter in 2006. Since then NSPO has provided images captured by FORMOSAT-2 in more than 20 events. The ISUAL of FORMOSAT-2 has captured more than 6000 TLEs. Other observations include the suspected nuclear facilities of North Korea and Iran, etc.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.B1.1.8.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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