Issue of the 3rd Research Announcement on the Earth Observations

Last Update: 2021.12.23

About the third Research Announcement on the Earth Observations

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) / Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) now conducts the third Research Announcement on the Earth Observations (EO-RA3) for its Earth observation satellite projects to enhance the research, utilization, and social implementation of the data from JAXA Earth observation satellites. In this EO-RA3, we are soliciting research with combined utilization of data from multiple satellites for solving global issues and social issues, in addition to the project research for each satellite as shown below.

· For the individual JAXA Satellite Project Research, EORC calls for the research for algorithm development, Calibration/Validation, and application to enhance the mission objectives of the JAXA satellite missions.

· For the multidisciplinary application research, EORC calls for various research using data from multiple satellites, one combining satellite date with numerical model, artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Big-Data, Geospatial Information, and so on, for industrial promotion and expansion of satellite utilization fields and other social utilization fields such as education.

By announcing widely to researchers/engineers of various research areas from domestic and foreign organizations, EORC will effectively conduct research and product development on technologies and new insights required to achieve mission success criteria for JAXA satellite projects and maximize the outcome for the benefits of the human society.

The target JAXA satellite missions and data of the EO-RA3 are AMSR3/GOSAT-GW & GCOM-W, GCOM-C, GPM & Precipitation Radar Follow-on mission (PR-FO), ALOS-2, ALOS-3, ALOS-4, MOLI and EarthCARE.

Regarding the JAXA satellite missions that are planned to launch in the future, the launch dates and the planned dates for the data release are based on the current plans and may be changed in the future. And the rules of data provision in this EO-RA3 will be set aligned with the data policy of each satellite mission.

Note）

The research proposals for the TANSO series on the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and its successors GOSAT-2 and GOSAT-GW will be excluded from the scope of this EO-RA3, since the dedicated RAs for these satellites has been conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
The research proposals targeted only for the “Himawari”, the Geostationary Meteorological Satellites of Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), will be also excluded from the scope of this EO-RA3, even though “Himawari” data can be used together with the JAXA satellites data above.

The research categories for this EO-RA3 applied to each satellite mission are shown below.

Satellite Mission	Algorithm Development	Standard Algorithm Calibration/validation	Application Research
AMSR3 & GCOM-W	✔	✔	✔
GCOM-C	✔	✔	✔
GPM & PR-FO	✔	✔	✔
ALOS-3	–	✔	✔
ALOS-2/4	–	✔	✔
MOLI*1	✔	✔	–
EarthCARE	–	✔	✔

✔:Applicable
-：Not Applicable
*1) depends on the budget approval situation for JFY 2022.

The research categories applied to Multidisciplinary Application Research are shown below.

Research themes	Application Research
Application research for comprehensive understanding of the Earth system	✔
Application research to contribute to the solution of social issues	✔

✔:Applicable

Research Proposals

Please download the following documents for the details on this EO-RA3, and those who consider applying for any research category should access to the following web site for the ID registration, prior to the submission of a research proposal, and register your e-mail address for this RA Office to send farther information on the Proposal Submission Web Site. Please do NOT use any free-mail address such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and etc. to avoid any problems in the mutual communication.
In case of any problems on this site or downloading of the documents, please ask the Earth Observation RA Office for assistance via E-mail.

EO-RA3 details and forms for proposals can be downloaded from the following link:

1.  RA details
   3rd_EO-RA_guide_revA_J.pdf
   3rd_EO-RA_guide_E.pdf
2.  Appendix A,B,C (Instructions of the document Form C and the details of the Research Agreements)
   EORA3_Appendix_A_Inst. of Form C-1_EJ.pdf
   EORA3_Appendix_B_Inst. of Form C-2_EJ.pdf
   EORA3_Appendix_C_Research Agreements_J.pdf
   EORA3_Appendix_C_Research_Agreements_E_rev.pdf
   *Please be noted that some minor corrections of misprints which do not affect the terms and conditions were made in “EORA3_Appendix_C_Research_Agreements_E_rev.pdf” on December 23, 2021.
3.  Appendix 1 – 8 (Overview of the JAXA satellite missions)
   EORA3_APPENDIX1_GCOM.pdf
   EORA3_APPENDIX2_GPM.pdf
   EORA3_APPENDIX3_EarthCARE.pdf
   EORA3_APPENDIX4-7_ALOS-2/-3/-4 & MOLI.pdf
   EORA3_APPENDIX8_AMSR3.pdf
4.  Proposal submission Forms (FormA is revised. (rev.A))
   EORA3_FormA_EJ.docx
   EORA3_FormB_EJ.docx
   EORA3_FormC-1_Funded_EJ.docx
   EORA3_FormC-2_NoFund_EJ.docx
   
   Proposal submission Forms are renewed in this EO-RA3, and please be sure to use the Forms above on submission. In the FormA, please be sure to identify the responsible official or authorized representative at the belonging institution for the Research Agreement conclusion.
   The signature of the responsible official or authorized representative is not necessary on the submission of the research proposal, however, each proposal must be checked and endorsed as an appropriate proposal by such a responsible person before its submission.

Important dates for selection of proposals

Date of Issue	June 10th, 2021
Proposal Due Date	July 27th, 2021
Notification of Selection Results	Late December 2021 – Mid January 2022
Start of Selected Research	From April or later 2022 (after conclusion of Research Agreement)

The deadline for submitting research proposals is July 27th, 2021.

Proposal ID Registration Web Site

Those who consider applying for this EO-RA3 should access to the following Proposal ID Registration Web Site. By clicking the link, the page will be linked to the dedicated site outside of JAXA web site.
https://eo-ra.jp/3rd_eo_ra_entry_step1_e.html

Proposal ID Registration Web Site

●JAXA shall use application information provided with the Research Proposal for JAXA EO-RA3 for the following purposes:

(1)To evaluate and select the Research Proposal;

(2)To create statistical and analytical materials for future research announcement activities; and

(3)To conclude the research agreement after the selection and to manage and update the research agreement after the conclusion.

●JAXA shall not use application information for any purpose other than those above nor provide application information to any third party except under the following cases:

(1)Prior consent has been obtained by the Applicant;

(2)Disclosure is legally required under laws and regulations;

(3)The information will be used in the form of statistical data that cannot identify individuals; or

(4)The information will be provided to a subcontractor with whom JAXA has concluded an agreement prohibiting the subcontractor from using the information for any purpose other than the entrusted business.

●Researchers living or staying in the European Economic Area (EEA) and UK listed on the research proposal’s Form A must read and confirm the document “Consent for handling personal information based on GDPR” and the Applicant must check “Yes” of the check-box for the consent to transferring personal data on the proposal submission web site on submission of the research proposal.

Contact Information

Earth Observation RA Office
Earth Observation Research Center (EORC)
Tsukuba Space Center
Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8505, Japan
Fax: +81-29-868-2961
E-mail address:

E-mails using “Free Mail” domain such as Gmail may not reach the RA Office by the security of the mail server used. Please avoid using “Free Mail” address as much as possible to contact the Office.