Mitsubishi Electric has been designated as the contractor of the Global Observing Satellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle (GOSAT-GW) by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
GOSAT-GW will observe greenhouse gases for Japan’s Ministry of the Environment and the National Institute for Environmental Studies and make water-cycle observations for JAXA.
By developing GOSAT-GW, the third in the GOSAT series, Mitsubishi Electric will contribute to measures for preventing global warming and climate change related disasters.
It will also advance scientific and technological methods that enable more accurate climate change predictions.
GOSAT-SW will be equipped with a sensor named Total Anthropogenic and Natural emissions mapping SpectrOmeter-3 (TANSO-3) to observe concentrations of greenhouse gases.
The global observation mode of TANSO-3 will cover large areas of Earth’s surface, providing more observation points than previous models.
It will also be equipped with Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 3 (AMSR3), estimating the geophysical quantity of Earth’s water on land, sea-surface and in the atmosphere.
AMSR3 will use frequency bands for more accurate estimates of hydro-geophysical conditions such as precipitation, water vapor, sea ice and sea-surface temperatures.
Data will improve the accuracy of forecasting typhoons, torrential rains and other climate conditions.