作者序 蒼穹下，天際間，由太空鳥瞰我們居住的家園，湛藍的大海、翠綠的森林、褐黃的沙漠、靄白的冰原，大地像是上帝的畫布，勾勒出一幅幅美麗的圖畫，除蘊育著人類亙古的文化外，更觸動人類如何與地球永續共存的省思。1972年美國Landsat衛星開啟衛星遙測新紀元，也帶動地球觀測衛星技術的蓬勃發展。2004年臺灣首枚地球觀測衛星「福爾摩沙衛星二號」發射成功，十年來秉持「守護臺灣、觀照世界」的任務目標，為臺灣及全球留下無數珍貴的歷史影像紀錄。由於其每日再訪週期的特性，更成為全球救災的急先鋒，讓臺灣的人道救助精神揚名全世界。適值福衛二號運轉滿十週年之際，我們滿懷感恩，彙集福衛二號的精彩圖像成冊，值得分享與典藏。更祝福衛二號歷久彌新，繼續守護我們美麗的家園—— 臺灣。
The aqua blue sea, emerald green forest, golden brown desert, and glistening white ice fields, above the horizon and under the heavens, together make up the beautiful Earth, the canvas of God. The spectacular natures have been nurturing the human civilization since the ancient times, and that also triggered the deliberation of the harmonic sustainability between the mankind and the Earth. The LANDSAT-1, the first earth observation satellite, launched by the U.S. in 1972, opened up a new perspective for earth observations from space, and that also promoted the vigorous development of the remote sensing technology for the earth observation through satellites. Taiwan also launched in 2004 its first remote sensing satellite – FORMOSAT-2. “Sentineling Taiwan and the World”, FORMOSAT-2 has captured enormous historical imageries of Taiwan and the world in the past decade. Particularly for its daily re-visit orbital characteristics; FORMOSAT-2 also plays a significant role in supporting the disaster restorations and contributing to the Taiwan’s spirit in global humanitarian relief to the world. Taking the opportunity of celebrating the FORMOSAT-2 10th Anniversary, with gratitude and on behalf of NSPO, we would like to share with you this album gallery that contains numerous collectable imageries taken by the FORMOSAT-2 satellite. And we present our blessings to FORMOSAT-2 for an extended continuation beyond the first decade, in guarding our beautiful home – Taiwan.
National Space Organization, NARLabs
