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WEATHER SATELLITES
===============
POLAR APT, DIGITAL and GEOSTATIONARY WEEKLY STATUS.
==============================================
Author : Douglas S Deans.
E-mail : dsdeans@btinternet.com
Twitter : Douglas Deans @GM4VZY
Sections 2 and 4 have updates.
SECTION 1: POLAR APT/LRPT REPORT -- 30th January 2012
===============================================
Satellite Frequency (MHz) Status Image Quality
NOAA 15 137.620 (APT) on good. See Note 8.
NOAA 17 137.500 (APT) on No images. See Notes 7&8.
NOAA 18 137.9125 (APT) on good
NOAA 19 137.100 (APT) on good but see Note 6
Metop-A 137.100 (LRPT) off see Note 3
Meteor M N1 137.100 (LRPT) sporadic see Note 6
CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
None.
THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS.
None expected.
NOTES.
1. Three of the older NOAA weather satellites which have been
decommissioned and are tumbling freely are known to sporadically put out
a carrier on 137.500 MHz. The satellites are TIROS-N, NOAA 6 and NOAA 9
When the relevant footprints overlap this will cause interference to
NOAA 17 when active on this frequency.
--- 20th May 2011 update for NOAA 9. ---
Sadly although no signals had been heard from NOAA 9 since October 2010,
I have received 2 reports from Mike Piper and Mike Kenny confirming that
NOAA 9 is back. Of course the only other APT satellite on 137.500 MHz
is NOAA 17 with its stalled scan motor so the interference is not a
problem. My thanks to Mike and Mike for the reports.
2. NOAA 16's APT transmission system failed a few months after launch.
3. 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).
4. NOAA 14 was decommissioned on 23rd May 2007.
5. NOAA 12 was decommissioned on 10th August 2007.
6. Signals have been reported from Meteor M N1 but they are
sporadic with periods off. Although classed as LRPT it does not
conform to the CGMS standard.
During in-fill carrier phase this satellite can cause interference to
NOAA 19 when footprints overlap.
7. NOAA 17 has scan motor problems with rising motor currents.
Constant rephase by the MIRP was causing data dropouts on all the HRPT
stream and APT and GAC derivatives.
Auto re-phase has now been disabled and the resulting AVHRR products are
almost all unusable. Daily MIRP rephasing via the Stored Command Table
began on 18 May 2010 (10/138) - at the first pass over the South Pole
each day.
Update 29/09/10 :- Further deterioration in scan motor performance with
no useable data from the AVHRR instrument. Scan motor has stalled.
8. As of 12th October 2010 at 15.00 UTC the following APT frequencies
applied :-
NOAA 17 137.500 MHz.
NOAA 15 137.620 MHz.
9. Elements are available from :-
http://www.space-track.org and
http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/
LAUNCHES.
Metop-B launch expected May 23rd 2012.
SECTION 2: POLAR HRPT/AHRPT REPORT -- 30th January 2012
=================================================
CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
NOAA 16, Note 3 update on AVHRR performance.
THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS.
None expected.
Satellite Frequency Antenna Mode Image Quality
(MHz)
NOAA 15 1702.5 Omni HRPT Weak
NOAA 16 1698.0 RHCP HRPT Good ( note 3)
NOAA 17 1698.0 RHCP HRPT No images. See note 7.
NOAA 18 1707.0 RHCP HRPT Good
NOAA 19 1698.0 RHCP HRPT Good
Feng Yun 1D 1700.4 RHCP CHRPT Good (see Note 9.)
Feng Yun 3A 1704.5 see note 5.
Feng Yun 3B 1704.5 see note 5.
Metop-A 1701.3 RHCP AHRPT Good (note 4)
Meteor M N1 1700 See note 6.
NPP see Note 8.
NOTES.
1. NOAA 14 was decommissioned on 23rd June 2007.
2. NOAA 12 was decommissioned on 10th August 2007.
3. On Friday 19th September 2003 NOAA 16 developed AVHRR synch. problems
similar to those on NOAA 14 (and previously NOAA 15).
Since then reports have been mixed. Some periods of good data, some
poor.
Update 28th January 2012 :- After a long period of excellent images,
there are signs of judder in the images, characteristic of first stage
of possible scan motor synch. loss.
4. 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.
For more information, please see:
http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/Media/Features/710601
5. Feng Yun 3A was declared operational on 12th January 2009.
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.
6. It appears that Meteor M N1 is neither using full HRPT or AHRPT and
cannot be received using current receivers. Please see other WSR mails
for further explanation :-
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/weather-satellite-reports/message/2098.
Continual sporadic problems with transmission.
7. NOAA 17 has scan motor problems with rising motor currents.
Constant rephase by the MIRP was causing data dropouts on all the HRPT
stream and APT and GAC derivatives.
Auto re-phase has now been disabled and the resulting AVHRR products are
almost all unusable.
Daily MIRP rephasing via the Stored Command Table began on 18 May 2010
(10/138) - at the first pass over the South Pole each day.
Update 29/09/10 :- Further deterioration in scan motor performance with
no useable data from the AVHRR instrument. Scan motor has stalled.
8. As this weather satellite has no S-band transmitter, it is included for
information only.
9. Update 5th January 2012 :- I am grateful to Bill Ulrich from Baltimore
for reporting good reception from FY-1D with his 1 metre dish.
LAUNCHES.
Metop-B launch expected May 23rd 2012.
SECTION 3: GEOSTATIONARY REPORT -- 30th January 2012
==============================================
CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
None.
THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS.
None expected.
Europe & Africa
------------------
Satellite : Meteosat 8 (9.5°E)
Data : HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational : Yes, RSS and Standby for Meteosat 9.
Satellite : Meteosat 9 (0°) (note 6).
Data : HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational : Yes.
North America
----------------
East.
Satellite : GOES 13 (75° W).
Data: GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
LRIT (digital) - 1691 MHz
Operational: Yes.
West.
Satellite : GOES 15 (135°W approx).
Data : GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
LRIT (digital) - 1691 MHz
Operational : Yes.
Satellite : GOES 14 (105°W)
Data : In storage.
South America
----------------
Satellite : GOES 12 (60°W)
Data : GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
Operational : Yes on South American project.
Asia (Russian Operated Satellite)
--------------------------------------
Satellite : ELECTRO-L (76° E)
Data : HRIT/LRIT.
Operational : Yes.
Asia (European Operated Satellites)
----------------------------------------
Satellite : Meteosat 7 (57.5°E)
HRI (digital) - 1691 MHz
Wefax (analogue) occasionally for ranging purposes
only.
Operational : Yes.
Asia (Indian Operated Satellite)
--------------------------------
Satellite : Metsat
Data : None available.
Operational : Yes.
Satellite : Insat 3A (Note 2.)
Data : VHRR (digital) 2599 MHz
Operational : Yes.
Asia (Korean Operated Satellite)
-----------------------------------
Satellite : COMS (128.2° E)
Data : HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital)
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 : yes
Satellite : MTSAT-2 (145º E).
Data : HRIT (digital) - 1687.1 MHz
LRIT(digital) - 1691 MHz.
Operational : Yes
Asia & Oceania (Chinese Operated Satellites)
----------------------------------------------------
Satellite : Feng Yun 2D (86.5°E).
Data : SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational : Yes.
Satellite: Feng Yun 2E (104° E).
Data : SVISSR (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 (135 W) 1692.700 MHz
GOES 13 (75 W) 1692.700 MHz
For further info. there are many sources but the following is
particularly informative:-
http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/user-intro.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. Only LRIT (1691.0 MHz) is provided in direct readout.
Full HRIT and LRIT service from Eumetcast.
LAUNCHES.
None expected.
SECTION 4: EUMETCAST REPORT -- 30th January 2012
===========================================
Service Status Eurobird 9A Satellite (9° E)
EARS On Transponder TP63: 11976.82 MHz
Meteosat 8 (RSS) On Transponder TP63: 11976.82 MHz
Meteosat 9 On Transponder TP63: 11976.82 MHz
DWDSAT On Transponder TP63: 11976.82 MHz
EPS(Metop-A) On Transponder TP63: 11976.82 MHz
Jason On Transponder TP63: 11976.82 MHz
CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
Meteosat 9 Note added.
IODC Note added.
Metop and NOAA Global Data Service Note updated.
SAF Note added.
Third-Party Data and Products Note updated.
Future Events Note updated.
THIS WEEK AND FUTURE POSSIBLE EVENTS.
METEOSAT 9.
31 January 2012 09:30 - 10:00 UTC.
Due to ground segment maintenance there will be a risk of a short loss to
DCP reception.
IODC.
04 February 2012 - 27 March 2012.
Meteosat-7 Spring 2012 eclipse season.
Slots 38 to 43 may not be available.
METOP AND NOAA GLOBAL DATA SERVICE.
30 January 2012 10:14 UTC orbit 27401.
ASCAT Gain Compression.
A short outage of all ASCAT products can be expected.
02 February 2012 - 05 February 2012.
ASCAT external calibration.
Short outages of the ASCAT GDS Level 1, soil moisture and global and
regional winds products can be expected.
02 February 2012 08:17 UTC orbit 27443.
03 February 2012 19:17 UTC orbit 27463.
04 February 2012 09:15 UTC orbit 27471.
05 February 2012 19:16 UTC orbit 27492.
SAF PRODUCTS.
30 January 2012 08:00 - 09:00 UTC.
KNMI SAF Outage.
Due to system maintenance at KNMI SAF, O3MSAF-NOP in BUFR and HDF5 format
via EUMETCast might be delayed during the upgrade.
THIRD-PARTY DATA AND PRODUCTS.
31 January 2012 01:58 UTC.
Meteosat-7 Manoeuvre.
Users may observe degraded image quality for up to 6 hours after the
manoeuvre.
31 January 2012.
SSMIS data available on EUMETCast.
For full details, please see:
http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/News/ProductServiceNews/814610?l=en
02 February 2012.
CMA Feng Yun 2D products available on EUMETCast.
For full details, please see:
http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/News/ProductServiceNews/814900?l=en
FUTURE EVENTS.
Meteosat 9.
08 February 2012.
Changes to the Meteosat Second Generation Meteorological Product generation.
For full details, please see:
http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/News/ProductServiceNews/814615?l=en
Metop and NOAA Global Data Service.
08 February 2012.
File naming change of BUFR-formatted EPS global products disseminated on
EUMETCast to the WMO file format.
For full details and test data, please see:
http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/News/ProductServiceNews/814405?l=en
NOTE: the EUMETCast Daily Logs will be changed to ensure compatibility with
the file naming change. The date for the Daily Logs change shall be
communicated in due course. Until then, they will not contain the WMO
filenames.
The following EPS GDS products are available on Eumetcast.
EPS-2 PID 510 Metop AMSA operational
EPS-3 PID 510 Metop ASCAT operational
EPS-5 PID 510 Metop GOME operational
EPS-6 PID 510 Metop GRAS operational
EPS-7 PID 510 Metop HIRS operational
EPS-8 PID 510 Metop MHS operational
EPS-9 PID 510 Metop SEM operational
EPS-10 PID 510 Metop AVHRR operational
EPS-11 PID 510 Metop IASI operational
EPS-12 PID 510 Metop HKTM operational
EPS-13 PID 510 NOAA AMSA operational
EPS-15 PID 510 NOAA GAC operational
EPS-16 PID 510 NOAA HIRS operational
EPS-17 PID 510 NOAA MHS operational
EPS-18 PID 510 EPS Service News operational
EPS-19 PID 510 Test service operational
EPS-Africa PID 300 EPS Europe/Africa operational
EPS-Global PID 300 EPS Global data operational
(EPS-19 may sometimes be limited to Manufacturers)
NOTES.
1. Reports for all sections should be sent to :-
Douglas Deans. dsdeans@btinternet.com
2. For further information on the Eumetcast service see :-
David Taylor's web site : http://www.satsignal.eu
or the Eumetsat web site : www.eumetsat.int
GENERAL
=======
For further weather satellite related information join GEO, Group for Earth
Observation, and receive the informative quarterly magazine. 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/
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