Recently, following the release of a special issue “Tianhui I Satellite”, the Journal of Remote Sensing has worked with the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences to plan another special issue titled “Tiangong I Satellite” and publish it as a supplement for 2014, with a view to vigorously promoting a series of achievements China has made in domestically-produced satellites.

Tiangong I Hyperspectral Imager boasts the highest spatial and spectral resolution among its Chinese counterparts. Tiangong I greatly outperforms the world’s running hyperspectral satellite sensors in terms of spatial resolution, range and number of bands, and other imaging parameters, marking an important milestone in the development history of China’s hyperspectral imager technology. The special issue includes a total of 21 papers which are divided into such columns as Overview, Spectral Imaging Technology, Ground Surface Processing Technology, and Remote Sensing Application. These papers mainly introduces the Tiangong I Satellite from the perspectives of hyperspectral imaging technology, calibration of ultraspectral laboratory, ground surface processing technology, remote sensing application, etc. It systematically discusses the leading technology and the applied achievements of the Tiangong I Satellite and analyzes the satellite’s prospects in Earth observations. 

The release of the special issue is aimed to facilitate the full application of the high-resolution remote sensing data China's independently produced satellites have acquired into such fields as marine monitoring, forestry, land resources, environment monitoring, hydrological monitoring. The Journal of Remote Sensing will closely follow the progress of the six series of satellites (namely weather, resources, ocean, environment, navigation and Earth observation satellites) and promptly release more findings of high-level researches on frontier and hot-spot issues.