The Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II), the successor to ADEOS, has been developed to advance Earth observation technologies. It acquires data to help researchers understand the mechanism of the global environmental changes such as global warming and to support meteorology and fishery activities.

It is equipped with two JAXA sensors:

Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) for quantitatively observing various geophysical data concerning the water cycle,
GLobal Imager (GLI) for observing oceans, land and clouds with high accuracy.

It also carries three sensors provided by international and domestic partners:

Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer - II (ILAS-II) to monitor the high-latitude stratospheric ozone,
SeaWinds Scatterometer for high accuracy wind speed and direction measurements,
Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER) to observe the polarization, directional and spectral characteristics of solar light reflected by aerosols, clouds, oceans and land surfaces.

ADEOS-II is expected to provide the data necessary for us to understand the circulation of water, energy, and carbon in order to contribute to studies on global environmental changes.

ADEOS-II has been launched in December 2002 by H-II launcher from Tanegashima Space Center and was lost on October 2003, the 24th.
 

ADEOS was the largest satellite Japan has ever developed, having dimensions of 4 x 4 x 5 m. When antenna and the solar array paddle (approx. 3 x 24 m) were deployed, it had a span of 11m in the flight direction and 29 m in the perpendicular direction.

It had a launch mass of approximatly 3500 kg and an in-orbit power generation capability of approximatly 4500W.

The spacecraft consisted of a mission module and a bus module.

The bus module was made of thermally, electrically and mechanically independent units, including the Communications and Data Handling Subsystem (C&DH), the Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS), the Attitude and Orbital Control Subsystem (AOCS) and the reaction Control Subsystem (RCS) for orbital maneuvers.

The mission module carried 8 instruments:

Two core sensor developped by JAXA:

The Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer (AVNIR), a high spatial resolution optical sensor for observing land and coastal zones.
The Ocean Color and Temperature Temperature Sensor (OCTS), an optical radiometer which will allow to evaluate the amount of chlorophyll and dissolved substances in the water, and temperature distribution.

Six Annoncement of Opportunity (AO) sensors:

The NASA SCATterometer (NSACT), which will measure wind speeds and directions over at least 90% of the ice-free global ocean every 2 days.
The Total Ozone Mapping Spectometer (TOMS), provided by NASA and which will map the spatial distribution of total ozone using high resolution.
The POlarization and Directionality of the Earth'Reflectance (POLDER) sensor, provided by CNES, which will observe the polarization, directional and spectral characteristics of the solar light reflected by aerosols, clouds, oceans and land surfaces.
The Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases (IMG), provided by the Ministry of International Trade and Industries. It is a sensor to monitor the density profile of a greenhouse gase, the earth's radiation balance, the temperature profile of the atmosphere, the temperature of the earth's surface and the physical properties of clouds.
The Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer (ILAS), provided by the environment Agency of Japan. It is a sensor to monitor the polar stratospheric ozone.
The Retroreflector In Space (RIS), provided by the Environement Agency of Japan. It is a retroreflector for an earth-satellite-earth laser used in long-path absorption experiments.

ADEOS-1 has been launched in August 1996 by H-II launcher from Tanegashima Space Center.

Ninety seconds after liftoff, the solid rocket boosters separated from the H-II vehicle and 6 minutes after liftoff, the first stage separated. Then 16 minutes after liftoff, ADEOS-1 separated from the second stage.

ADEOS-1 was lost on June 1997, the 30^th, due to a solar panel cable breaking.

The Japanese launch vehicule H2