Japan
GEO Week 2022

Japan

Group on Earth Observations – GEO Week 2022

Statement of Japan

As a long-time supporter of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and its vision, Japan has played a leading role in GEO governance, working groups and multiple Work Programme activities through our advanced science-based initiatives that make use of Japan’s strengths in long-term and continuous Earth observation. Japan works collaboratively with multiple partners to bring about a socio-political impact from these activities and contribute to community, regional, national, and global actions for resilience and sustainable development.

The GEO now looks beyond 2025. The world has changed significantly since the GEO was established, and we should recognize the GEO’s achievements and the opportunities it has created. Japan understands that multilateral cooperation in Earth observations through the GEO provides a basis for solutions to global challenges and is even more important in the post-pandemic world. Japan continues to invest in the GEO to strengthen its work in each area. Japan is deeply committed to the GEO and is pleased to continue our leadership in it.

Japan highlights the following achievements:

Sustaining critical Earth observations (EO) and utilizing EO data and information for addressing global challenges:

  1. Release of open and free ALOS-2/PALSAR-2 ScanSAR standard products. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has begun providing free and open access to 100-meter resolution data observed by ALOS-2 from 2014 to July 2022. As of October 2022 (at the time of the GEO Plenary), ALOS-2 ScanSAR data of tropical regions in Asia and Africa have been available for download from the Japanese governmental cloud system, TELLUS, Google Earth Engine and AWS in addition to JAXA’s G-Portal. At the same time, global data at 100-meter resolution observed by ALOS PALSAR from 2006 to 2011 started to be made available open and free. From next year, JAXA will add more regions available for downloading and provide updates of new data every 2months.
  2. A New Database Visualizing Fish Biodiversity Opens to the Public. ANEMONE DB, a new public database of fish biodiversity based on environmental DNA (eDNA), was launched in June 2022. Unlike traditional biological surveys, where fish must be collected to be observed, eDNA surveys are straightforward, inexpensive and can detect rare or nearly extinct species. A simple sample of water taken from rivers, seas or oceans picks up DNA left behind by organisms and reveals crucial information, like population sizes and distribution. The world’s first open database for the environmental DNA (eDNA), ANEMONE DB has a great potential to provide essential biodiversity observation data and contribute to nature positive actions and local adaptation plan such as fishery resource management. A local government in Tohoku, Japan, has already utilized the DB to assess how climate change impacts to the local fishery industry. The observation data that the DB holds was collected by not only researchers, but also local governments, marine transportation companies and NPOs. This private-public collaboration mechanism provides sustainable and effective observation.
  3. Releasing the latest version of the global mangrove map to contribute to addressing SDGs. The Global Mangrove Watch (GMW) was initiated in 2011 under the JAXA’s Kyoto & Carbon Initiative. It is currently used by UNEP as official data for SDGs Indicator. In August of this year, the latest version (version 3.0) of the GMW dataset was released. This is the map summarizing the distribution of global mangrove forests intermittently over the 11-year periods from 1996, 2007-2010 and 2015-2020. Observations show that the mangrove extent on the planet decreased by 3.4 % (from 152,604 km2 to 147,359 km2) over the 24-year period from 1996 to 2020.
  4. Support to the UN Ocean Decade. The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) contributes to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. For example, the Biological Information System for Marine Life (BISMaL) has been developed by JAMSTEC to collect and publish marine biodiversity data in the north-western Pacific region. It has published 48 datasets (total of 2.3 million biological observations) from scientific research by JAMSTEC, universities, research institutes and citizen science. Integrated into the Ocean Biographic Information System (OBIS), it plays a key role as the primary information source for the Northwest Pacific region and has been used in the Asia Pacific Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (AP-MBON) and contributed to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biology and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
  5. International collaborative projects for climate change and hazard projection. Japan has been continuously creating original global climate models to provide climate change projection data that contributes to various climate change countermeasures to the world for open and free through the Data Integration and Analysis System (DIAS). Inviting 28 researchers from the Asia and Oceania region, we have been working together with other nations to create hazard projection data for the Southeast Asia region utilizing Japan’s original climate models.
  6. Polar observation. The National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) has developed the Arctic Data archive System (ADS) that stores polar observation data, such as real-time images of sea ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic through the Earth observation satellite "SHIZUKU" (GCOM-W). ADS also stores field observation data from the Arctic and Antarctic regions conducted by Japanese funds. ADS is connected to the GEOSS portal and contributed to the climate change monitoring.
  7. Nationwide observation network for earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes over land and sea. National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) has integrated observation network of 2,100 stations to provide comprehensive, accurate, and rapid observation and monitoring of earthquake, tsunami, and volcano activity throughout Japan and its offshore areas. The Monitoring of Waves on Land and Seafloor (MOWLAS) data is widely utilized for various purposes: long-term earthquake forecasting, real-time tsunami prediction, monitoring of current seismic activity, seismic and tsunami hazard assessments, and earthquake research. The application of real-time observations and processing of MOWLAS data has contributed to disaster mitigation through its earthquake early warning and tsunami warning. MOWLAS successfully observed abnormal tsunamis due to the 2022 huge eruption of Tonga that traveled much faster than the typical tsunamis.

Empowering the people toward quality-oriented societies:

  1. Empowering local professionals to address water hazards. Japan engages in capacity development programs with the online platform the Online Synthesis System for Sustainability and Resilience (OSS-SR) on the DIAS. A series of e-learning courses are provided through the OSS-SR-empowered local stakeholders to address water hazards. For example, e-training in the Philippines is provided for more than 60 professionals. They are now capable of utilizing the data system to send out official water-related early warning/alerts, analyze risk, and create hazard maps, and are assigned to city districts or communities to facilitate discussions, and implement urban planning and design. Those experts take on the role of “facilitator”, bridging the science community and the larger society to support policymaking and public investment by utilizing Earth observation data and scientific knowledge from the OSS-SR to accelerate local climate-adaptation actions.

Strengthening multilateral partnership:

  1. Enhancement of “Earth Observing Dashboard” for addressing global environmental change. JAXA, in cooperation with National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA), has released collaborative analysis results of Earth observation data on the “Earth Observing Dashboard” to provide information on socioeconomic activities and environmental changes since June 2020.  Initially, this initiative was begun to contribute to the evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on socioeconomic activities. In this May, “Earth Observing Dashboard” was renewed and its scope was expanded to cover the area of global environmental change, in order to contribute to planning and decision-making more broadly on the impact of global issues including climate change on society's activities. Aiming to make the website accessible to scientists and policy makers as well as users unfamiliar with satellite and Earth observation data, “Earth Observing Dashboard” provides up-to-date information about the changing Earth in an accessible and convenient manner as well as narratives that explain changes in the global environment and the effects of environmental changes on social activities.
  2. The 4th Asia-Pacific Water Forum Summit. This April, the 4th Asia-Pacific Water Forum Summit was held in Kumamoto, Japan, where leaders and ministers from 30 countries participated in discussing water issues. At the summit, Prime Minister of Japan, Kishida announced the “Kumamoto Initiative for Water” that contribute to both the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change through the advanced operation of quality infrastructures and the visualization of local water-related disaster risks by utilizing satellite observation and forecast data, as well as contribute to research support and human resource development using the DIAS and strengthening the global observation network through GEO. Based on these policies, Japan continues to commit to and accelerate water-related management efforts and actively contributes to sustainable development and growth in the region.
  3. AOGEO symposium. One of Japan’s key contributions to the GEO is hosting the AOGEO Symposium. Organized by MEXT with the GEO Secretariat support, the 15th AOGEO Symposium was held from September 28 to 30, 2022. With the theme of “New horizons for Earth observation in Asia Oceania Region: Seeking engagement”, the participants reaffirmed the importance of AOGEO as a regional collaborative platform and encouraged continued efforts to strengthen the engagement with diverse stakeholders along the EO value chain, through innovative partnership including countries, civil society, youth, local communities, private and finance sector.
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