SATELLITES IN METREOLOGICAL APPLICATION

INTRODUCTION:
Space technology has advanced rapidly in recent years. Satellite plays an important role in daily life. Here are few important satellite applications:

Navigation Communication Weather Earth Observation

Excluding all of the topic we will consider only weather forecast satellites. Weather forecast use a variety of observations from which to analyses the current state of the atmosphere. Since the launch of the first weather satellite in 1960 global observations have been possible, even in the remotest areas. Observation as obtained from satellite used in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP)model. During the 1970s and 1980s a wide range of satellite missions have been launched from which many different meteorological observations could be estimated. Some satellite instruments allowed improved estimation of moisture, cloud and rainfall. Others allowed estimation of wind velocity by tracking features (e.g. clouds) visible in the imagery or surface wind vectors from microwave backscatter. Meteorology Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries. After the development of the computer in the latter half of the 20th century, breakthroughs in weather forecasting were achieved. Meteorological phenomena are observable weather events which illuminate, and are explained by the science of meteorology. Those events are bound by the variables that exist in Earth's atmosphere; temperature, air pressure, water vapor, and the gradients and interactions of each variable, and how they change in time. Different spatial scales are studied to determine how systems on local, regional, and global levels impact weather and climatology.

Meteorological Satellites : Meteorological satellites carry onboard sensors to capture images of the earth from the space. There are two types of meteorological satellites characterized by their orbits. They are geostationary satellites and polar-orbiting satellites (Figure 1). Geostationary satellites are stationary relative to the earth and as such they capture images of the same geographical area on the earth 24 hours a day. Located some 35,800 kilometres above the equator, they take pictures covering almost half the globe. Polar-orbiting satellites are low-flying satellites circling the earth in a nearly north-south orbit, at several hundred kilometers above the earth. Most of them pass over the same place a couple of times a day. Since they travel at a distance closer to the earth, they are only capable of taking images of a limited area each time. However, the images are of higher resolution than those from the geostationary satellites. In comparison, geostationary satellites offer more satellite images of the same area per day.

WEATHER SATELLITE SYSTEM

Weather Satellite System Components Weather Satellite Systems consist of two main groups of components: the ground segment and the space segment. International meteorological organizations and space agencies supply the space segment, and Automated Sciences provides all of the equipment you need for the ground segment to receive and display the weather satellite data. 1)The Space Segment The space segment is controlled by international meteorological organizations, which have launched a number of geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. These satellites transmit data via a radio frequency carrier at microwave frequencies between 1680-1720MHz. The data from these satellites is available to anyone who has the proper equipment to receive, interpret and display the data.

Geostationary satellites are those that circle the earth at the same speed as the earth's rotation, such that they are always above the same location, monitoring that given region by supplying meteorologists with a new data set for that area every 15 to 60 minutes. There are two Geostationary-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) that provide data to the Western Hemisphere: GOES-West, located over the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean at 135 W and GOES-East, centered at 75 W. Europe has a GOES satellite covering their region at 0 E, called Meteosat. The Chinese Meteorological Administration's (CMA) GOES Satellite, known as Feng Yun 2 (FY-2), is located at 105 E. The Japan Meteorological Agency's (JMA) GOES Satellite is called MT-SAT, and is located at 135 E. Geostationary satellites orbit the earth in the Clarke Belt, which is located 36,000 km (22,000 mi) above the equator, which is the only latitude that allows for stable, geostationary orbits. GOES satellite coverage areas are shown in the diagram to the right. Geostationary satellites provide visible data at a resolution of 1 km, and multi-spectral infrared imagery at a 4 km resolution. Since each satellite is always imaging from the same location, GOES data may be easily put into time-lapsed animated loops to watch weather conditions develop, and GOES data is used to track storms and estimate precipitation. View a sample GOES full disk data set taken from GOES East.

Areas of the Earth Covered by each of the Operational GOES Satellites

POES Satellite Path shown in

In the United States, Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) are run cooperatively by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which launches the satellites, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which runs the satellites. The Chinese Meteorological Administration also has a polar orbiting satellite. Polar orbiting satellites, as their name suggests, pass approximately over the North and South Poles in their orbit, alternating between ascending and descending passes. For example, a polar orbiting satellite may pass close to the North Pole, descend from North to South crossing perpendicular to the equator, pass near the South Pole, and then again begin an ascent toward the North Pole. Users receive POES data as the POES satellites rise over their
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black, with approximate radio horizon, pass near their location, and then descend over their Coverage Area, shown in red opposite radio horizon; such an event is called a satellite pass. Polar orbiting satellites are either in morning or afternoon satellites; depending on when they make their passes. Because POES satellites are in sun-synchronous orbits, a morning POES satellite might, for example, collect global data at about 9am for each region it passes over. POES satellites provide more detailed data than GOES satellites as they orbit much closer to earth, at an altitude of about 800 km (500 mi). The primary instrument of the POES satellite is the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), which provides 1 km resolution data in all spectral channels, with data sets that are approximately 3,000 km wide. POES satellites also include atmospheric sounding instruments. Each continuously orbiting satellite provides POES imagery at least twice daily at every location on earth. The high resolution data from POES is useful for weather forecasting, determining sea surface temperatures, monitoring volcanic ash, observing dust storms, and fire/smoke detection.

Polar Orbiting Path

The Ground Segment The ground segment consists of all of the equipment needed to gather and use the data sent down by the GOES and POES satellites. Once you have acquired ground segment equipment you may freely receive weather satellite data from your available satellites. Automated Sciences provides all of the equipment you need for the ground segment. The supplied satellite dish and integrated feed with downconverter focus the microwave signal and downconvert the RF carrier's frequency. This RF signal is then passed along via a cable to the GOES Box or POES Box, which have specialized receivers to demodulate the scientific data and save it on a hard drive so that it may be accessed by software. Because you are provided with scientific data from the satellite, you may choose how you wish to view and work with the data stream and how you want the images to be displayed. The user can work with individual images and enhance them in a variety of ways to aid in weather forecasting or other tasks. One popular way to view this satellite data is to use a time-lapse loop of a series of consecutive images to show storm motion, such as shown in this Time-Lapse Loop of Tropical Storm Mala. Or, in a given data set, you may smoothly animate dish with feed, through space to view details of a storm, such as shown in this Animation GOES Through Space of Hurricane Katrina. The Time-Lapse Loop may take workstation, and software several moments to load and the Animation Through Space may take several minutes to load. There are a number of ground segment options available depending on from which satellites the data will be received and how you will be using the data; these options are listed on our Products page.
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Satellite Imagery

The imagery provided directly from satellites is available in real-time, so you receive the satellite data as it is transmitted and your system stores it on the hard drive, enabling the data to be immediately worked with and viewed. The data sets from the satellites are multi-megapixel and multi-spectral, and in addition to the weather satellite image data include navigation, calibration, and status information. These data sets are not just images, but scientific measurements made with a radiometer, which detects and measures electromagnetic radiation from earth. Thus, with the proper software, this numerical data may be calibrated such that the temperature or albedo values of the data may be determined, the data may be displayed as an image in one of the measured spectral channels according to user-defined settings, and images or loops may be enhanced in ways to best view a given high-resolution data set. To facilitate comparisons among the channels and multi-spectral algorithms, the spectral channels within each data set are coregistered. The images produced can be saved or exported. Most of the images below are of Hurricane Wilma, a category 5 storm that damaged areas of the Yucatan Peninsula and Florida near the end of the 2005 hurricane season. Click on the small thumbnail images to view larger versions. The visible (VIS) channel shows the weather conditions as seen from space in the wavelengths visible to the human eye: 0.55-0.75 um, so it looks as though these images are simply taken with a very highresolution camera. The visible channel displays how much light is reflected from the clouds. A high albedo value signifies that more light is being reflected; this is often seen with clouds or snow. The visible channel's 1 km resolution allows fine details of cloud tops and land to be seen, and dust and smoke may also be viewed in this channel. Since this The Visible Channel channel is based on energy from the sun that is reflected from the earth to create its images, visible imagery is only available during daylight hours. The satellites offer several infrared (IR) channels, each of which measures a different spectral wavelength to show different features. In contrast to the visible channel, the IR channels provide data 24 hours a day as they do not depend on the reflection of sunlight. The long-wave infrared channel (LWIR) is the most important of the IR channels for meteorological purposes. It is optimized for showing cloud top temperatures. Using empirical algorithms, atmospheric cloud heights The Infrared Channel, with may be determined from cloud top temperatures. color enhancement The shortwave infrared channel (SWIR), measuring radiation levels between 3.8-4.0 um, may be used to show land and sea surface temperatures. When used with other channels, this channel may be used to show fog and other low-level atmospheric phenomena.

The water vapor (WV) channel, used to show the moisture levels and air movement patterns of the middle and upper atmosphere, is a special IR channel at the wavelength where water vapor absorbs infrared energy. Portions of the atmosphere that have higher concentrations of water vapor absorb more energy between 6.5 um and 7.4 um, and for these moist regions the satellite detects less energy. Generally the white sections in a water vapor image represent moist sections of air in the upper troposphere, which are usually clouds, while darker portions of The Water Vapor Channel water vapor images represent dry regions. Gray areas typically represent areas of high humidity, but not necessarily clouds.

The visible channel and infrared channels are standard channels that display the data collected by the satellite. With this data, other information and channels may be automatically derived, including the rainfall rate channel, sea surface temperatures, and cloud motion vectors. The rainfall rate (RR) channel identifies the probable rainfall rate of convective cells. Using data from the infrared channel, algorithms yield the approximate rainfall rate, based on the fact that cooling and expanding cloud tops produce the most precipitation. The rainfall rate channel calculated from satellite data may be preferred over rain gauges, which are not real-time and which each provide only discrete data points, covering an area much smaller than that available with satellite imagery. The rainfall rate channel and the associated cumulative rainfall channel may be used to as a tool to show heavy rains and better predict flooding. The Cloud Height channel provides estimated cloud top heights, estimated empirically from infrared data temperatures. This empirical derivation, in addition to cloud top temperature, also considers the latitude. Cloud height estimates are only accurate for thick, middle to upper atmosphere single-layer clouds.

The Rainfall Rate Channel

The Cloud Height Channel The sea surface temperature (SST) channel calculates the temperature of the very surface of the ocean from infrared channel satellite data. SST data is important to fishermen and boaters, and meteorologists use the data to aid in the prediction of coastal fog and low-level cloud development. High SSTs are monitored as they are often a factor associated with tropical storm intensification. The sea surface temperature can only be calculated for oceanic regions not obstructed by clouds, so cloud covered areas of the ocean are displayed in white to The Sea Surface Temperature signify the unavailability of data. Because the SST measures the very top Channel layer of the ocean, the measurement is sensitive to solar reflection and surface evaporation.
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Cloud Motion Vectors

Cloud motion vectors provide the user with an idea of the overall direction and intensity of cloud movement in an image. These vectors are automatically obtained through examining a series of consecutive images and the cloud features within them, and tracking how those features move from one image to another. Longer arrows and those with more barbs represent vectors with higher velocities. The direction and speed at which clouds move fairly closely reflects winds in the middle and upper atmosphere.

DEVELOPMENTS
Beginning in the early 1960s, meteorological, or weather, satellite programs have been an important focus of government agencies. In the United States, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Department of Defense (DOD) have all been involved with developing and operating weather satellites. In Europe, the European Space Agency (ESA) and EUMETSAT (European Organisation (the European spelling for Organization) for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) operate the meteorological satellite system. The world's first weather satellite, a polar-orbiting satellite, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 1960. Named TIROS for Television Infrared Observation Satellite, this was NASA's first experimental step to determine if satellites could be useful in the study of the Earth and whether they could continue operating for an extended period of time. The series proved extremely successful, with one satellite operating for almost five years and several operating more than three years. An operational system of meteorology satellites flying in low-Earth orbit (about 450-470 nautical miles [833-870 kilometers] altitude) began operating in 1970. These satellites were called the Improved TIROS Operational System (ITOS) at launch and NOAA once they were checked out and became operational. The primary objective of this series of sun-synchronous satellites was to provide improved infrared and visual observations of Earth cloud cover for use in analyzing weather and forecasting. Other objectives included measuring snow and ice and the sea surface, and gathering information on the vertical structure of temperature and moisture in the atmosphere on a regular daily basis. Six of the eight satellites in this series were launched and operated successfully, with one operating more than four years. NASA's Nimbus satellites were flown from 1964 through 1978, as advanced research satellites that tested new sensing instruments and data-gathering techniques rather than as operational weather satellites. Instruments on the Nimbus satellites included microwave radiometers, atmospheric sounders, ozone mappers, the Coastal Zone Color Scanner, and infrared radiometers and provided significant global data on sea-ice coverage, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric
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chemistry (i.e., ozone distribution), the amount of radiation in the Earth's atmosphere, and seasurface temperature. The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument aboard the final Nimbus, Nimbus-7, mapped the extent of the phenomenon known as the ozone hole. The first series of TIROS satellites was followed by a series that began with the October 1978 launch of TIROS-N, an experimental spacecraft that served as a model for the operational follow-on series: NOAA-6 through NOAA-17. The technological improvements integrated into this series of satellites, the current ATN or Advanced TIROS series (the launch of NOAA-17 is planned for 2004), have provided higher resolution images, and more day and nighttime data for both local and global areas than the earlier series. Polar-orbiting satellites can collect data for almost the entire Earth, and when two operate simultaneously, as this system is designed, environmental data for any region of the Earth is collected at least twice every 12 hours Geosynchronous weather satellites provide a different type of coverage. Flying in orbit some 22,400 miles (35,790 kilometers) above the equator, a pair of satellites provides the continuous day and nighttime monitoring of almost an entire hemisphere necessary for intensive data analysis. NASA launched the first geosynchronous meteorological satellite (SMS-1) on May 17, 1974, from Cape Canaveral Florida. GOES-1, launched on October 16, 1975, was the first of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). It formed part of a two-satellite constellation that viewed nearly 60 percent of the Earth's surface. Twelve more GOES have been launched since, with only one launch failure.

As with the polar-orbiting satellites, NASA manages development, launch, and checkout of these satellites and then turns them over to NOAA for operation.NOAA also currently operates the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), a near-polar-orbiting series of satellites initiated by the Defense Department in the mid-1960s and the responsibility of the U.S. Air Force. Each DMSP satellite, orbiting at approximately 516 miles (830 kilometers) above the
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Earth, crosses any point on the Earth up to twice a day. They see such environmental features as clouds, bodies of water, snow, fire, and pollution in the visual and infrared spectra. Scanning radiometers record information that can help determine cloud type and height, land and surface water temperatures, water currents, ocean surface features, ice, and snow. Communicated to terminals on the ground, the data is processed, interpreted by meteorologists, and used in planning and conducting U.S. military operations worldwide. The European meteorological satellite system is called Meteosat. First proposed by the French national space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), in 1969, eight member nations of the European Space Research Organization (ESRO), the predecessor to ESA, decided in 1972 to finance the effort. On November 23, 1977, Meteosat-1 was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Meteosat-2 followed in June 1981, launched from Kourou, French Guyana, as were all later Meteosat satellites. The most recent satellite, Meteosat-7, was launched in 1997. Currently, EUMETSAT and ESA are cooperating on the production of a completely new system to take over and significantly improve the operational service by 2003

AN EXAMPLE OF METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITES

Observation function by MTSAT Series
The most valuable feature of geostationary meteorological satellites is that they can globally observe atmospheric phenomena uniformly, including overlying areas in the sea, desert, and mountain regions where weather observation is difficult. The World Weather Watch Programme, as an important part of the World Meteorological Organization's is supported by multiple geostationary meteorological Satellites and polarorbiting meteorological satellites that comprise an space-based part of an observation network for severe weather, typhoons, hurricanes, or cyclones around the earth. To improve meteorological services in a wide field of activity, such as weather forecast, natural disaster countermeasures, and securing safe transportation, MTSAT series will replace the GMS series that has been in operation since 1977, and will occupy the role in the GMS series, covering East Asia and the Western Pacific region from 140 degrees East longitude above the equator.

Geostationary Meteorological Satellite System of MTSAT-1R

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