Remote-sensing technologies enable us to observe the conditions of the Earth's environment from satellites. In order to establish and develop these technologies, which play a significant role today, the Earth Observation Center (EOC) was founded in Hatoyama Town, Hiki County, Saitama Prefecture.
The EOC, located in an area richly endowed with nature, is equipped with two gigantic parabolic antennas to receive data from satellites. The data is treated through instruments to change it into a form that can be easily handled by computers, then stored and managed at the EOC.
The data is turned into simple images that can be “easily perceived by the general public” by a computer according to the request of research institutions, universities, and domestic and international users. The images are then provided to them to be utilized for a broad range of fields including elucidation of environmental issues, monitoring disasters, and surveys of natural resources.