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The fourth Research Announcement on the Earth Observations

The fourth Research Announcement on the Earth Observations

Last Update: 2024.8.28

Important Notice

The fourth Research Announcement on the Earth Observations (EO-RA4) was closed on August 28th, 2024 as scheduled. “EO-RA4 Late Proposal” is scheduled to be carried out in JFY2025. Details will be announced after May 2025.
The late proposal will be basically accepted only as a non-funded research one, however, there is a possibility that the proposal is accepted as a funded research one.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) / Earth Observation Research Center (EORC) now conducts the fourth Research Announcement on the Earth Observations (EO-RA4) 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-RA4, 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, Standard Product Calibration/Validation.

· For the “Earth Observation Research Program”, EORC calls for various research that contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the Earth system and to solving problems faced in the process of social implementation, mainly using satellite data provided by JAXA. Research proposals that use multiple satellite data and are not tied to a specific satellite project will be considered for “Multi-satellite utilization”.

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-RA4 are AMSR3/GOSAT-GW & GCOM-W, GCOM-C, GPM & PMM, ALOS-2 & 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-RA4 will be set aligned with the data policy of each satellite mission.

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）
If the main use is ALOS-2/ALOS-4 data, the research proposal will be non-funded research.　In addition, if your research proposal uses ALOS-2/ALOS-4 data and does not use data from other JAXA satellites, please submit it as ALOS-2/ALOS-4 Project Research.

The research proposals for algorithm development and calibration and validation using only 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-RA4, 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. Proposals for applied research that combined the TANSO series and other data can be applied to the Earth Observation Research Program category.

The research proposals targeted only for the “Himawari” data, the Geostationary Meteorological Satellites of Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), will be also excluded from the scope of this EO-RA4, even though “Himawari” data can be used together with the JAXA satellites data above.The research categories for this EO-RA4 applied to each satellite mission are shown below.

Satellite Missions	Algorithm Development	Standard Product Calibration/validation	Earth Observation Research Program (Applied Research)
AMSR3 & GCOM-W	✔	✔	✔
GCOM-C	✔	✔	✔
GPM & PMM	✔	✔	✔
ALOS-2/ALOS-4	✔	✔	✔
MOLI	✔	✔	–
EarthCARE	✔	✔	✔
Multi-satellite utilization	–	–	✔

✔:Applicable
-：Not Applicable

The research categories applied to Earth Observation Research Program are shown below.

	Research categories
1	Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and National Resilience
2	Contribution to Climate Change Solutions (a. Atmosphere)
	Contribution to Climate Change Solutions (b. Land)
	Contribution to Climate Change Solutions (c. Ocean)
3	Contribution to socio-economic issues

Research Proposals

Please download the following documents for the details on this EO-RA4, 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 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-RA4 details and forms for proposals can be downloaded from the following link:

Application guidelines
4th_EO-RA_guide_J.pdf
4th_EO-RA_guide_E.pdf
Appendix A,B,C (Instructions of the document Form C and the details of the Research Agreements)
EORA4_Appendix_A_Inst. of Form C-1_EJ.pdf
EORA4_Appendix_B_Inst. of Form C-2_EJ.pdf
EORA4_Appendix_C_Research_Agreements_J.pdf
EORA4_Appendix_C_Research_Agreements_E.pdf
Appendix 1~7 (Overview of the JAXA satellite missions)
EORA4_APPENDIX1_GCOM.pdf
EORA4_APPENDIX2_GPM.pdf
EORA4_APPENDIX3_EarthCARE.pdf
EORA4_APPENDIX4-5_ALOS-2/ALOS-4.pdf
EORA4_APPENDIX6_MOLI.pdf
EORA4_APPENDIX7_AMSR3.pdf
Proposal submission Forms
EORA4_FormA_EJ.docx
EORA4_FormB_EJ.docx
EORA4_FormC-1_Funded_EJ.docx
EORA4_FormC-2_NoFund_EJ.docx

Proposal submission Forms are renewed in this EO-RA4, 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.

Important dates for selection of proposals

■EO-RA4

Date of Issue	July 1st, 2024
Proposal Due Date	August 21st, 2024 12:00(JST), 03:00(UTC)
Notification of Selection Results	Late December 2024 or later
Start of Selected Research	From April or later 2025 (after conclusion of Research Agreement)

Proposal ID Registration Web Site

Those who consider applying for this EO-RA4 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.　 Please read the RA details and other related documents carefully before applying.

【https://eo-ra.earth.jaxa.jp/4th_eo_ra_entry_step1_e.html】

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.