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About JERS-1
JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite) was an environmental Japanese satellite, also known as 'Fuyo-1', which launched on 11 February 1992 and ceased operations in October 1998. JERS-1 was a radar/optical mission and was developed by NASDA, the National Space Development Agency of Japan.
| Orbit Height | 568km |
| Orbit Type | Sun Synchronous |
| Repeat Cycle | 44 days |
JERS-1 Objectives
The overall objectives of JERS-1 were the generation of global data sets with SAR and OPS sensors aimed at surveying resources, establishing an integrated Earth observation system, verifying instrument/system performances. The mission applications focused on survey of geological phenomena, land usage, observation of coastal regions, geologic maps, environment, disaster monitoring and demonstration of two-pass SAR interferometry for change detection.
JERS-1 Instruments
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
JERS-1 carried an early example of a SAR instrument. It was an L-band (HH polarisation) synthetic aperture radar.
| Center Frequency | 1.275 GHz (L-band, 23.5 cm wavelength) |
| Bandwidth | 15 MHz |
| Spatial Resolution | 18 m (range) x 18 m (azimuth, 3 looks) |
| Swath Width | 175 km |
| Transmitting Power | 35 µs |
| PRF (Pulse Repetition Frequency) | 1505.8 - 1606.0 Hz |
| Antenna Polarization Look angle Antenna gain Signal to ambiguity ratio | Array of 1024 microstrip radiation elements HH 35.21° >33.5 dB >14 dB |
| Data Quantization | 3 bits |
| Data Rate | 3 Mbit/s |
Optical Sensor (OPS)
This was a nadir-pointing multi-spectral imager.
| Band No | Spectral Range | General Application |
| 1 | 0.52 - 0.60 µm VIS (green) | Vegetation surveys, land use, water monitoring |
| 2 | 0.63 - 0.69 µm VIS (red) | Chlorophyll absorption for vegetation differentiation |
| 3 | 0.76 - 0.86 µm NIR | Biomass surveys (nadir viewing) |
| 4 | 0.76 - 0.86 µm NIR | Biomass surveys (forward looking, at 15.3º to give stereo coverage with band 3) |
| 5 | 1.60 - 1.71 µm (SWIR) | Vegetation moisture |
| 6 | 2.01 - 2.12 µm (SWIR) | Hydrothermal mapping (eg. soils; geology) |
| 7 | 2.13 - 2.25 µm (SWIR) | Hydrothermal mapping (eg. soils; geology) |
| 8 | 2.27 - 2.40 µm (SWIR) | Hydrothermal mapping (eg. soils; geology) |
Non-scientific measuring instrument
AVNIR: Side-looking optical camera.
JERS-1 Data
DATA COLLECTIONS
ESA offers to registered user the access through the Online Dissemination server to the following data collections:
DATA QUALITY
The SAR Precision Image product is a multi-look (speckle-reduced), ground range, system corrected image. The product is calibrated and corrected for the SAR antenna pattern and range-spreading loss: radar backscatter can be derived from the product for geophysical modelling, but no correction is applied for terrain-induced radiometric effects. The image is not geocoded and terrain distortion (foreshortening and layover) has not been removed.