TOP > Report & Column > The Forefront of Space Science > 2013 > Geospace Exploration Satellite - ERG Project
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ERG project team: satellite Eground - simulation In-situ observation by a satellite provides us with detailed data unobtainable from the ground, but it is limited to a single point in the vast Geospace. Without knowing what happens elsewhere in Geospace, we cannot understand the fluctuation in the radiation belt and Geospace storm events. To this end, the ERG project comprises several teams as shown in Fig.3, and incorporates many observation and research techniques from the solar-terrestrial physics community. One such technique is network ground observation. Solar-terrestrial physics today is advanced by international cooperation, including the deployment of Aurora observation cameras across the world and plasma-flow observation in the ionosphere by radars. Furthermore, to understand the variety of data collected, an integrated-analytic approach combining data and simulations is vital. The ERG project incorporates a simulation group to develop simulation technology that can compare directly with observational data. To effectively promote the satellites integrated analysis, network-ground observation and simulation group, the ERG science center has been set up as a collaboration site for ISAS and the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University. The center will compile a wide range of ERG-project data into standard format in the space-science archive and release it to the world. We are also developing various software and tools to allow researchers to access the data via the Internet for analysis. (ERG science center:  http://ergsc.stelab.nagoya-u.ac.jp/)
The ERG satellite launch is two years away. Satellite development is proceeding apace by researchers from universities and research institutes across Japan, JAXA, and a group of international partners in Taiwan. The entire team joins together toward the elucidation of the mysteries of the Geospace storm and the birth of high-energy electrons in the radiation belt. (Takeshi TAKASHIMA, Yoshizumi MIYOSHI)
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