Terahertz remote sensing

 Remote Sensing is a way to acquire information from a distance (which could be as far away as the end of universe) by using electromagnetic waves. At present, infrared radiation and radiowaves are the primary kinds of radiation used in remote sensing.Terahertz wave remote sensing, which uses “undeveloped frequency” terahertz electromagnetic waves (with frequencies bordering between infrared radiation and radio waves), is an emerging field that is gaining increasing attention and opening up new possibilities of high resolution transmitted sensing.

 Terahertz wave remote sensing uses high frequency terahertz waves, which can measure water and oxygen more accurately than other types of waves. With this characteristic of water and equipment being smaller and lighter, we are attempting to develop a cheaper “micro terahertz wave probe” using consumer products. We have finally been able to begin our work owing to recently developed techniques.  

 We expect that this development of ours will pave a new path for Japanese science and industries. For example, using this technique, we are able to perform habitability investigations on Ganymede using a submillimeter wave instrument (SWI); an SWI is also used by the European Space Agency in its Jupiter area mission, JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer), and its water resources investigation on Mars. This investigation is going to be a source of energy for the New Space industry.