Mapping Brazil with Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)

G. Gelli, L.P.S. Fortes, M.J.C. Augusto, L.B. Gomes, A.L. Coelho, L.F. Oliveira, N. La Belle-Hamer, J. Nicoll, S. Arko, D. Atwood

Abstract:	The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) was successfully launched on January 24, 2006 from the Tanegashima Space Center. It has been developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to contribute to the fields of cartography, precise regional land coverage observation, natural disaster monitoring, and resources surveying. It has three sensors: 1) the Panchromatic Remote-Sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM), with 2.5-m spatial resolution, which is comprised of three sets of optical systems to measure precise land elevation; 2) the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2), with 10-m spatial resolution, which observes land coverage; and 3) the Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), with 10- to 100-m resolutions, which enables day-and-night and all-weather land observation. This equipment can collect data for mapping on scales up to 1:25,000 without relying on control points on the ground. This can be possible due to an advanced attitude and orbit control subsystem based on an on-board, dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, among other devices. It is estimated that the ALOS positioning can be determined within one-m accuracy or even better. Considering these features and the mission focus on noncommercial applications, it is expected that this satellite is going to play an important role in mapping activities carried out by National Mapping Organizations around the world, like the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). As most large developing countries, Brazil is not entirely covered by maps and the majority of the existing ones have been produced 20-30 years ago or more. This paper presents the characteristics of the ALOS mission, as well as the proposal of processing, use and distribution of its products in Brazil by IBGE, as a subnode linked to the Americas ALOS Data Node (AADN), located at the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Published in:	Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2006) September 26 - 29, 2006 Fort Worth Convention Center Fort Worth, TX
Pages:	611 - 619
Cite this article:	Gelli, G., Fortes, L.P.S., Augusto, M.J.C., Gomes, L.B., Coelho, A.L., Oliveira, L.F., La Belle-Hamer, N., Nicoll, J., Arko, S., Atwood, D., "Mapping Brazil with Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS)," Proceedings of the 19th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2006), Fort Worth, TX, September 2006, pp. 611-619.
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