Objectives

The Asia and Oceania regions are frequently affected by severe natural phenomena such as tropical cyclones, torrential monsoons, volcanic eruptions, yellow sand storms, floods, sea ice and wildfires. The importance of monitoring the climate and the environment is also increasing, which has prompted enhanced global interest in the field. In this area, meteorological and earth observation satellites provide frequent and extensive observational information for use in disaster prevention and climate monitoring/diagnostics, and are indispensable in today's world.

The history of meteorological satellites over Asia and Oceania began with Japan's launch of the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) in 1977. Now, China, Europe, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the United States all operate meteorological and climate monitoring satellites over Asia and Oceania as part of the Global Observing System (GOS) promoted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which contributes to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) coordinated by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

As a pioneer in the field of next-generation geostationary meteorological satellites, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) successfully launched its Himawari-8 satellite on 7 October 2014. Himawari-8 is located at 140.7 degrees east, and will observe the East Asia and Western Pacific regions as a successor to the MTSAT-2 satellite from the middle of 2015. The unit features the new Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) with significantly improved specifications including 16 bands and higher temporal/spatial resolutions than ever before. Observation data from Himawari-8 are expected to bring unprecedented levels of performance for severe weather observation and for climate monitoring in the Asia and Oceania regions.

The year 2015 marks the start of a new era in the history of meteorological satellites with the launch of Himawari-8. Against such a background, the sixth Asia/Oceania Meteorological Satellite Users' Conference will be held in Tokyo, Japan to further enhance exchanges on application techniques among satellite data users, to advance satellite observation technologies, and to promote synergetic development related to meteorological satellites. The event follows on from the successful first round of conferences hosted by China, Japan, Korea and Australia and the beginning of the second round in China last year.