Washington, DC, April 24, 2008 — On April 17th 2008, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the World Bank signed an agreement for “DaichiI”, the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS) developed and operated by JAXA, to provide high resolution images of the regions of Latin America and Caribbean where severe impacts of climate change are expected.  These high-resolution images captured from space will contribute to better formulation of measures to adapt to climate change threats in the region.

What is ALOS?
ALOS, nicknamed “Daichi” meaning “mother earth” in Japanese, is a large satellite weighing some 4 tons.  Daichi is designed to  obtain global data useful for topography, land use, and information to produce 1:25000 maps.

Since its launch in January 24,2006, ALOS has been used for disaster monitoring, topography, regional observation and resource surveys.  Particularly in Latin America, ALOS is contributing to monitoring of the operational deforestation, and its information is utilized in tackling illegal logging.  The satellite has three remote sensing instruments:

1) Panchromatic Remote- sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM), comprises three optical systems to obtain three- dimensional data on ground surface with 2.5-meter spatial resolution.

2) Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2), is a visible and near infrared radiometer for obtaining data on land use and vegetation with 10-meter spatial resolution.

3) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), is the improved synthetic aperture radar and is ideally suited to detect changes in topography and geology from signals reflected on the Earth’s surface.

With those instruments, ALOS’ capacity to obtain high resolution images of land cover and natural resources unsurpassed by other alternative means in coverage and accuracy.  “This will allow countries in the region to monitor the evolution of land cover and landforms, including the extent of tropical glaciers, the evolution of mountain and coastal wetlands and even the status of coral reefs, as an input for decision making in adaptation,” comments Walter Vergara, World Bank Lead Chemical Engineer and Task Manager of a portfolio of adaptation projects in Latin America.

Images captured by ALOS of the tropical glaciers in the Andes are already being used for the assessment of glacier dynamics under an adaptation project in the region.   With the latest agreement between World Bank and JAXA, ALOS will start focusing and photographing the regions in Colombia, Mexico, the Andes region of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador and the West Indies, seven times per year.   Obtained ALOS images and data will be used in support of World Bank’ climate change adaptation projects.

Climate Change Adaptation
Latin America is a region that is very vulnerable to impacts of the climate change, and its effect is already taking place.   Laura Tuck, World Bank Regional Director for Sustainable Development says, “Climate change impacts will impose a heavy tax on the economies of the region, in particular on the poor. Adaptation to climate change is key given the severe and largely irreversible effects in the region.”

While various adaptation measures are being developed, ALOS’ images will be used as an effective tool to detect changes in vulnerable ecosystems region wide, thus contribute to the development of the adaptation programs by the World Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean, among them:

• Regional Adaptation to the Impact of Rapid Glacier Retreat in the Tropical Andes Project (Regional Andes Project) in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru, co-financed by the Global Environment Facility, with a focus on the mountain and glaciated areas;
• Integrated National Adaptation Program (INAP) in  Colombia, co-financed by the Global Environment Facility, with a focus on biomass density and land cover in high-mountain (Páramos and Glaciers) and coastal (wetlands and mangroves) ecosystems;
• Adaptation to Climate Impacts in the Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, co-financed by the Global Environmental Facility, forest and coastal wetland ecosystems; and, 
• Support to the Caribbean:  Implementation of Adaptation Measures in Coastal Zones (SPACC) project in Dominica, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, co-financed by the Global Environment Facility, with a focus on coastal ecosystems and mangroves.

As of April 15, 2008, total investment in adaptation in Latin America totaled, including World Bank Support reached US$90 million.

“Gaining access to this valuable data will help the World Bank in its efforts to support Latin American Countries better adapt to climate change,” says Walter Vergara.