MATSUNAGA Tsuneo
Director, Satellite Observation Center

My name is Tsuneo Matsunaga. I have served as Director of Satellite Observation Center since fiscal year 2016.

The Center is currently promoting GOSAT Project, GOSAT-2 Project, and GOSAT-GW Project. These projects are mainly conducting the development and operation of two ground systems, GOSAT DHF for operational processing of GOSAT data and G2DPS for GOSAT-2 data, as well as validation for the products of these two satellites and other various studies.

The Center takes charge of Science Team organized by related researchers in Japan and a secretariat for Research Announcement on Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite Series targeting researchers at home and abroad.In addition, we have commenced the development of GOSAT-GW, a successor to GOSAT-2, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Environment and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

We appreciate your continued support and cooperation.

About Satellite Observation Research Project

Since FY 2016, the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) has been conducting the "Satellite Observation Research Project" as one of research projects which are defined as "research activities which require systematic and programmatic approaches". It includes three satellite projects jointly promoted with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), namely GOSAT (Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite, or Ibuki), GOSAT-2 and GOSAT-GW (Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle).

The objectives of the "Satellite Observation Research Project" are

1. to continue the global observation of greenhouse gases and other atmospheric components using satellites,
2. to contribute to enhancing the scientific understanding of the global carbon cycle and spatial distribution of related materials and to improving the projections of future climate change,
3. to develop methodologies regarding verification of country-level emission inventories for greenhouse gases and particulate matters, and
4. to contribute to climate change related policies of MOE.

About Satellite Observation Center (SOC)

In April 2016, the Satellite Observation Center (SOC) was established in the Center for Global Environmental Research (CGER), NIES, as an organization which is responsible for the "Satellite Observation Research Project".

The organizational structure of SOC as of March 2021 is as follows: