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July 11, 2011 Updated

GCOM-C1 structural model sinusoidal vibration test

JAXA conducted a sinusoidal vibration test for the GCOM-C1 using a structural model. This test using simulated vibrations verifies if the satellite’s structure and onboard equipment can bear sinusoidal vibrations, which are generated at the time of launch. The test was successful, and we confirmed that the satellite is strong enough. The structural model is a mechanically mocked satellite for verifying the tolerance of the satellite’s main body and onboard equipment not only against sinusoidal vibrations at the time of launch, but also against other factors including the acoustic environment, shock at the time of separation from the launch vehicle, and impact of the solar array paddle deployment.

Overview

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Forecasting future global climate

The purpose of the GCOM (Global Change Observation Mission) project is the global, long-term observation of Earth's environment. GCOM is expected to play an important role in monitoring both global water circulation and climate change, and examining the health of Earth from space. Global and long-term observations (10-15 years) by GCOM will contribute to an understanding of water circulation mechanisms and climate change.
GCOM consists of two satellite series, the GCOM-W and GCOM-C. The GCOM-C, carrying a SGLI (Second generation GLobal Imager), conducts surface and atmospheric measurements related to the carbon cycle and radiation budget, such as clouds, aerosols, ocean color, vegetation, and snow and ice.
GCOM-C1 is the first satellite is the GCOM-C series.

SGLI is an optical sensor for monitoring the long-term trends of aerosol-cloud interactions and for understanding the carbon cycle

The Second generation GLobal Imager (SGLI) on GCOM-C1 is an optical sensor capable of multi-channel observation at wavelengths from near-UV to thermal infrared wavelengths (380nm to 12µm.) SGLI also has polarimetry and forward / backward observation functions at red and near infrared wavelengths. SGLI obtains global observation data once every 2 or 3 days, with resolutions of 250m to 1km.
The SGLI observations will improve our understanding of climate change mechanisms through long-term monitoring of aerosols and clouds, as well as vegetation and temperatures, in the land and ocean regions. These observations will also contribute to enhancing the prediction accuracy of future environmental changes by improving sub-processes in numerical climate models. SGLI-derived phytoplankton and aerosol distributions are also used for mapping fisheries and for monitoring the transport of yellow dust and/or wildfire smoke.