Ten-year transient luminous events and Earth observations of FORMOSAT-2

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the enormous contributions of FS2 (FORMOSAT-2 or Formosa satellite #2) in both Earth and transient luminous events (TLEs) observations in 10 years. As a small satellite operated for 10 years (20 May 2004 to 20 May 2014) in orbit, FS2 keeps its two unique characteristics: (1) to orbit 14 revolutions around the Earth per day with daily revisit capability, and (2) to provide the capabilities of Earth observation in sunlight time and TLEs observation in eclipsed time every day. It carries two payloads: the remote sensing instrument (RSI) for Earth imaging in satellite׳s day time and the imager of sprites and upper atmospheric lightning instrument (ISUAL) for scientific observations in satellite׳s night time, respectively. Daily revisit capability provides changes of events on Earth in either short time (several days) or long term (several years). Examples include: Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (December 2004), disintegration of Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica region (2006–2014, long term), Sichuan earthquake (May 2008), Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (March 2011), polar regions (2006–2014, long term), etc. In the TLEs observation, ISUAL had recorded more than 35,000 events in 10 years with 73.93% elves, 6.54% red sprites, 5.81% halos, 13.42% blue jets and 0.30% gigantic jets. Major contributions of FS2 in this specific scientific area are presented. In particular, current and future research topics on TLEs are discussed. Also, major contributions of FS2׳s RSI to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT) and Group of Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) are summarized. This paper also addresses briefly the health status of FS2 after working 10 years in orbit.