WEATHER SATELLITES
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POLAR APT, DIGITAL and GEOSTATIONARY WEEKLY STATUS.
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Author : Douglas S Deans
Twitter : Douglas Deans @GM4VZY
Sections 1 and 2 have an update.
SECTION 1: POLAR APT/LRPT REPORT – 24th October 2022.
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INFORMATION and UPDATES.
NOAA 15 has AVHRR scan motor issues. Poor imagery.
Satellite Frequency (MHz)
Status Image Quality
NOAA 15 137.620 (APT)
on periods of synch problems
NOAA 18 137.9125 (APT)
on good
NOAA 19 137.100 (APT)
on good
Metop-B
No LRPT service
Metop-C
No LRPT service
Meteor M N2 137.100 (LRPT) on
QPSK, 72k
Meteor M N2-2 137.900 (LRPT) off
(see Note 7).
OQPSK, 72k
NOTES.
1. NOAA 14 was decommissioned on 23rd May 2007.
2. NOAA 12 was decommissioned on 10th August 2007.
3. NOAA 17 was decommissioned on 10th April 2013.
4. NOAA 16 was decommissioned on 9th June 2014.
5. Metop-A end of life switch off 15th November 2021.
6. Elements are available from :-
7. Meteor M N2-2 has likely been hit by a micro-meteorite. It has
changed orbit and been de-pressurised. Although under control again
the thermal balance is an issue and main problems are overheating of
the batteries which keep switching to backup. LRPT transmitter cannot
operate under those arrangements and is off permanently.
LAUNCHES.
Meteor M N2-3 launch date is unknown.
SECTION 2: POLAR HRPT/AHRPT REPORT – 24th October 2022.
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INFORMATION and UPDATES.
NOAA 15 has AVHRR scan motor issues. Poor imagery.
Satellite Frequency Antenna Mode
Image Quality
(MHz)
NOAA 15 1702.5
Omni HRPT Weak(periods of problems)
NOAA 18 1707.0
RHCP HRPT
Good
NOAA 19 1698.0
RHCP HRPT
Good
Feng Yun 3A 1704.5 RHCP
see note 6.
Feng Yun 3B 1704.5 RHCP
off. see note 6.
Feng Yun 3C 1701.4 RHCP
see note 9. Off.
Feng Yun 3D 7820
see note 11.
Feng Yun 3E 7860 commissioning
see note 11.
Metop-B 1701.3
RHCP AHRPT Good.
Metop-C 1701.3
RHCP AHRPT
Meteor M N2 1700.0 see Note 7.
on
Meteor M N2-2 1700.0 see note 7 and 10
on
NPP
see Note 8.
NOAA 20
see Note 8.
Arktika-M1 see Note 12
NOTES.
1. NOAA 14 was decommissioned on 23rd June 2007.
2. NOAA 12 was decommissioned on 10th August 2007.
3. NOAA 17 was decommissioned on 10th April 2013.
4. NOAA 16 was decommissioned on 9th June 2014.
5. Metop-A end of life switch off 15th November 2021.
6. I am also grateful to Dave Wright of Dartcom for confirming that
unfortunately (as usual) the Chinese have not strictly complied with
the CGMS AHRPT Global Standard so reception using a standard Metop
AHRPT receiver is not possible.
Update: The second in the series, Feng Yun 3B was launched on
4th November 2010. I expect the information above for 3A will
equally apply to 3B.
My thanks to Johnny Lin for drawing this to my attention.
7. It appears that Meteor M N2 and M N2-2 are neither using full HRPT or
AHRPT and cannot be received using standard receivers. Please see
other mails for further explanation :-
8. As those weather satellites have no S-band transmitter, they are
included for information only.
for providing up to date information for Feng Yun 3C.
Now fully operational but the Chinese have changed the data rate
compared to FY-3A and FY-3C DB downlink data rate is 3.9 Mbps after RS
Encoding.
Frequency is also different - it is on 1701.3 MHz same frequency as
Metop A/B. It still requires a special AHRPT receiver like FY-3A/B.
They have also changed the polarisation of the X-band downlink to
LHCP.
10. Meteor M N2-2 has likely been hit by a micro-meteorite. It has
changed orbit and been de-pressurised. Although under control again
the thermal balance is an issue and main problems are overheating of
the batteries which keep switching to backup. AHRPT is on when
spacecraft (solar panels) are illuminated.
11. Although AHRPT is not available on FY-3D/3E on the 1700 MHz band as
with previous satellites of the series it is available on 7820/60 MHz.
There are amateurs with working systems on those frequencies so I
have added the satellite for information.
12 Arktika-M1 is in a specialised Molnyia orbit. For more information
please see :-
monitor-arctic-regions/
LAUNCHES.
Meteor M N2-3 launch date is unknown.
SECTION 3: GEOSTATIONARY REPORT – 24th October 2022.
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INFORMATION and UPDATES.
None.
Europe & Africa
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Satellite : Meteosat 9 (3.5° E).
Data : HRIT and LRIT(digital).
Operational : Hot FES standby. No LRIT.
Satellite : Meteosat 10 (9.5°E).
Data : HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational : Yes. Prime RSS satellite. No LRIT.
Satellite : Meteosat 11 (0°).
Data : HRIT and LRIT(digital).
Operational : Yes Prime 0° FES satellite. No LRIT.
North America
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East.
Satellite: GOES 16 (75.2° W).
Data : GRB - 1686.6 MHz.
HRIT - 1694.1 MHz.
Operational: yes.
West.
Satellite : GOES 17 (137.3° W).
Data: GRB - 1686.6MHz.
HRIT: - 1694.1MHz.
Operational: Yes.
Satellite: GOES 15 (128° W).
Data : GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
LRIT (digital) - 1691 MHz
Operational : Yes.(In parallel with GOES 17).
Satellite: GOES 14 (105°W).
Data : GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
LRIT (digital) - 1691 MHz
Operational: Standby.
Satellite: GOES 13 (61.6 E).
Data: GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
LRIT (digital) - 1691 MHz
Operational: Repurposed by US Space Force. See :-
Satellite: GOES 18 (137.0°W).
Data: GRB - 1686.6MHz.
HRIT: - 1694.1MHz.
Operational: No. PLT Phase 2 underway and data being interleaved with
GOES 17.
Asia (Russian Operated Satellite)
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Satellite : ELECTRO-L (14.5°W)
Data : HRIT/LRIT.
Operational : No
Satellite : ELECTRO-L2 (14.5° W)
Data : HRIT/LRIT.
Operational : No (but transmitting)
Satellite : ELECTRO-L3 (76° E)
Data : HRIT/LRIT.
Operational : Yes.
Asia (European Operated Satellites)
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Satellite : Meteosat 8 (41.5°E).
Data : HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital).
Operational : Yes. Operating IODC.
There is no direct readout
LRIT.
Asia (Indian Operated Satellite)
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Satellite: Insat 3D (82° E).
Data : HRIT/LRIT 4781 MHz
Sounder 4798 MHz.
Operational : Yes.
Satellite: Insat 3DR (74° E).
Data : HRIT/LRIT 4781 MHz.
Sounder 4798 MHz.
Operational : Yes.
Asia (Korean Operated Satellite)
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Satellite : COMS (128.2° E)
Data : HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational : No. Standby
Satellite : GEO-KOMPSAT-2A. (128.2° E)
Data : HRIT (digital) - 1695.4 MHz.
LRIT (digital) - 1692.14 MHz
UHRIT (digital) - 8070 Mhz (DVB-S2)
Operational : Yes.
Asia & Oceania (Japanese Operated Satellites)
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Satellite : MTSAT-1R (140° E) (note 4.)
Data : HRIT (digital) - 1687.1 MHz.
LRIT(digital) - 1691 MHz.(Note 5.)
Operational : No.
Satellite : MTSAT-2 (145° E).
Data : HRIT (digital) - 1687.1 MHz
LRIT(digital) - 1691 MHz.
Operational : Yes
Satellite : Himawari 8 (140.7° E).
Data : No direct dissemination.
Satellite downlink only on
18.1 - 18.4 GHz (raw).
Data only available via HimawariCast service.
Operational : Yes.
Satellite : Himawari 9 (140.7° E).
Data : No direct dissemination.
Satellite downlink only on
18.1 - 18.4 GHz (raw).
Data only available via HimawariCast service.
Operational : No. Standby (expected operational 2022).
Asia & Oceania (Chinese Operated Satellites)
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Satellite : Feng Yun 2E (86.5°E).
Data : SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational : No.
Satellite: Feng Yun 2F (112.5° E).
Data: SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital).
Operational: Standby but used for regional scanning.
Satellite: Feng Yun 2G (99.5° E).
Data: SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital).
Operational: Yes. (from 16/04/18 09.00 UTC).
Satellite: Feng Yun 2H (79° E)
Data: SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational: Yes.
Satellite: Feng Yun 4A (99.5° E).
Data: HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital).
Operational : Yes.
Satellite: Feng Yun 4B.
Data: HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital).
Operational: No. Just launched.
NOTES.
1. Meteosat 7 stopped its 0° service at 09.00 UTC on 14th June 2006.
2. Insat 3A is a combined data and meteorological satellite.
3. For those interested in EMWIN data, the following sats/frequencies
apply.
GOES 15 (128° W) 1692.7 MHz
GOES 16 (75.2° W) 1694.1 MHz
GOES 17 (137.2° W) 1694.1 MHz
For further info. there are many sources but the following is
informative:-
4.This satellite is also known as HIMAWARI 6.
5.HiRID and WEFAX was discontinued on 12th March 2008. It was replaced
with HRIT/LRIT (after many months of dual dissemination).
6.GOES-12 was decommissioned on 16th August 2013.
LAUNCHES.
MTG-I1 launch expected towards end of year but not yet on Ariane manifest.
SECTION 4: Weather Satellites on 7800 MHz(X-band) – 24th October 2022.
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INFORMATION and UPDATES.
None.
Satellite Frequency Service Bandwidth Polarisation
Metop-A 7800 MHz GDS
63000 kHz RHCP
Metop-B 7800 MHz GDS
63000 kHz RHCP
Metop-C 7800 MHz GDS
63000 kHz RHCP
NOAA 20 7812 MHz HRD
32000 kHz RHCP
SNPP 7812 MHz HRD
30000 kHz RHCP
FY-3B 7775 MHz MPT
45000 kHz RHCP off
FY-3C 7780 MHz MPT
45000 kHz LHCP
FY-3D 7820 MHz FRD
100000 kHz RHCP
NOTES.
1. Reports for all sections should be sent to :-
GENERAL
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