Daqing, in western Heilongjiang on the Songliao Plain, is China's famous "Oil City" built on the Daqing Oilfield. Around 2008, the city was at a key stage of transformation: new districts expanded eastward, oil facilities grew together with lakes, wetlands and vast farmland, forming a unique landscape that looks striking from space.
These 2008 ALOS images faithfully record Daqing's urban pattern, oilfield infrastructure, lake-wetlands and surrounding cropland in the Olympic year. They are a valuable aerial time capsule for comparing urban change, land-use evolution, oilfield environment studies and geography education — a clear look back at Daqing eighteen years ago.
The following are high-resolution satellite images of Daqing captured by the ALOS satellite in 2008.
ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite, nicknamed "Daichi") was developed by Japan's JAXA as a high-performance Earth-observation mission. Carrying PRISM, AVNIR-2 and PALSAR sensors, it combined stereo mapping, optical multispectral and radar imaging for topographic mapping, disaster monitoring, resource survey and environmental protection — one of the most representative comprehensive missions of the 2000s.
| 🏆 ResolutionKey | PRISM panchromatic 2.5 m / AVNIR-2 multispectral 10 m / PALSAR radar ~10 m |
| 🚀 Launch dateKey | January 24, 2006 (Tanegashima, H-IIA rocket) |
| 🛰 Operator | JAXA Japan, Daichi; design life 3 years (operated until 2011) |
| 📷 Sensors | PRISM (stereo) + AVNIR-2 (VNIR) + PALSAR (L-band SAR) |
| 🌍 Swath / Revisit | PRISM 70 km / AVNIR-2 70 km, revisit about 46 days |
| 🗂 Strength | All-weather radar plus sharp optical data, ideal for long-term urban, oilfield and wetland comparison |