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IMAGE CAPTION                    PIA-02793 (MRPS 96969) 
                                 December 21, 2000 
                                 Perspective View with Radar   
                                 Image Overlaid, Color as Height 
                                 Mt. Fuji and Tokyo, Japan 

Japan's Mt. Fuji presents a beautiful backdrop for the city of 
Tokyo in this perspective view generated using data from the 
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.  Occupying most of the image 
foreground, Tokyo's metropolitan area, at about 13,388 square 
kilometers (5,169 square miles), is home to more than 32 million 
people, making it the most densely populated urban area in the 
world.  Tokyo residents live within striking distance of Japan's 
tallest volcano, which is also the country's highest point at 
3,776 meters (12,388 feet).  Mt. Fuji is still considered active, 
although the last major eruption of this perfectly symmetrical 
stratovolcano came in 1707.  Because of its height and 
spectacular scenery, Mt. Fuji is a favorite for touring, mountain 
climbing and hiking. In this image, elevations are represented by 
color; height increases from white to green to brown.  For 
visualization purposes, topographic heights are exaggerated two 
times.  Other SRTM views of Mt. Fuji and Tokyo can be seen in 
PIA-02791 and PIA-02792. 

The elevation data used in this image was acquired by SRTM aboard 
the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000.  SRTM 
used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne 
Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) 
that flew twice on Endeavour in 1994.  SRTM was designed to 
collect three-dimensional measurements of Earth's land surface.  
To collect the 3-D SRTM data, engineers added a mast 60 meters 
(about 200 feet) long, installed additional C-band and X-band 
antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices.  The 
mission is a cooperative project between the NASA, the National 
Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) of the U.S. Department of 
Defense, and the German and Italian space agencies.  It is 
managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif, for 
NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C.  JPL is a 
division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. 

Location (Mt. Fuji):  35.33 deg. North lat., 138.67 East lon. 
View:  West Southwest 
Date Acquired: February 21, 2000 SRTM 
Image:  NASA/JPL/NIMA