WEATHER SATELLITES =============== POLAR APT, DIGITAL and GEOSTATIONARY WEEKLY STATUS. ============================== ================ Author : Douglas S Deans E-mail : gm4vzy@googlemail.com Twitter : Douglas Deans @GM4VZY There are no updates. SECTION 1: POLAR APT/LRPT REPORT – 7th December 2020. ============================== ==================== CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT. None. THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS. None expected. 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-A 137.100 (LRPT) off see Note 1 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. Metop-A's A-side LRPT transmitter has failed. Currently the redundant B-side transmitter is off until further notice (No further service expected due to interference with HIRS instrument). 2. NOAA 14 was decommissioned on 23rd May 2007. 3. NOAA 12 was decommissioned on 10th August 2007. 4. NOAA 17 was decommissioned on 10th April 2013. 5. NOAA 16 was decommissioned on 9th June 2014. 6. Elements are available from :- http://www.space-track.org and http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/ 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 expected in 2021. SECTION 2: POLAR HRPT/AHRPT REPORT – 7th December 2020. ============================== ====================== CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT. None. THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS. None expected. 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 see note 6. Feng Yun 3C 1701.4 RHCP see note 9. Off. Feng Yun 3D 7820 see note 11. Metop-A 1701.3 RHCP AHRPT Good (note 5) Metop-B 1701.3 RHCP AHRPT Good. Metop-C 1701.3 RHCP AHRPT Meteor M N2 1700.0 see Note 7. Meteor M N2-2 1700.0 see note 7 and 10 on NPP see Note 8. NOAA 20 see Note 8. 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. On 25 May 2009, Eumetsat extended the coverage of the Advanced High Resolution Picture Transmission (AHRPT) system on Eumetsat's Metop-A polar-orbiting satellite. The improved service provides additional coverage over the Gulf of Mexico and Indian Ocean regions. 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 :- http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/weather-satellite-report/message/ 2098. 8. As those weather satellites have no S-band transmitter, they are included for information only. 9. I am grateful to David Wright of Dartcom (http://www.dartcom.co.uk) 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 on the 1700 MHz band as with previous satellites of the series it is available on 7820 MHz. There are amateurs with working systems on those frequencies so I have added the satellite for information. LAUNCHES. Neteor M N2-3 launch expected during 2021. SECTION 3: GEOSTATIONARY REPORT – 7th December 2020. ============================== =================== CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT. None. THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS. None expected. Europe & Africa ------------------ 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 ---------------- East. Satellite : GOES 16 (75.2° W). Data : GRB - 1686.6 MHz. HRIT - 1694.1 MHz. Operational: yes. West. Satellite : GOES 17 (137.2° 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 :- https://www.airforce-technology.com/news/us-space-force-declares-ioc-of-infrared-weather-satellite-ews-g1/ Asia (Russian Operated Satellite) ------------------------------ -------- 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) ------------------------------ ---------- 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) ------------------------------ -- 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) ------------------------------ ----- 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) ------------------------------ ------------------ 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) ------------------------------ ---------------------- 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. 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:- http://www.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/winsat.htm 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. None expected. NOTES. 1. Reports for all sections should be sent to :- Douglas Deans. gm4vzy@googlemail.com GENERAL ======= For further weather satellite related information join GEO, Group for Earth Observation. See :- http://www.geo-web.org.uk/ To download element sets for all satellites visit the following sites : http://www.space-track.org and http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/ For further information about Eumetsat's Eumetcast service please see :- https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/DataDelivery/EUMETCast/index.html And service notifications are here :- https://uns.eumetsat.int/