OpenBCM V1.08-5-g2f4a (Linux)

Packet Radio Mailbox

IZ3LSV

[San Dona' di P. JN]

 Login: GUEST





  
G4ROA  > WXSAT    09.03.09 10:36l 404 Lines 14037 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : CB1255G4ROA
Read: GUEST
Subj: WX Sat Status report 9/3
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<OE6XPE<OE3XZR<OE1XAB<HG8LXL<XE1FH<ED1ZAC<GB7CIP<
      GB7COV<GB7COV
Sent: 090309/0817Z @:GB7COV.#29.GBR.EU #:59392 [Coventry] $:CB1255G4ROA
From: G4ROA@GB7COV.#29.GBR.EU
To  : WXSAT@WW


                      WEATHER SATELLITES
                         ================
APT,  DIGITAL and GEOSTATIONARY WEEKLY STATUS.
  ==========================================

Author :   Douglas S Deans.    dsdeans@tiscali.co.uk
Section 4 has updates.

SECTION 1:   POLAR  APT/LRPT  REPORT --  9th March 2009
  ============================================

    Satellite           Frequency (MHz)      Status        Image Quality

  NOAA 15          137.500  (APT)           on               good
  NOAA 17          137.620  (APT)           on               good
  NOAA 18          137.100  (APT)           on               good
  NOAA 19          137.9125(APT)           on         see Note 6
  Metop-A           137.100 (LRPT)         off          see Note 3

CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
None.

THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS.
Possible switch-on of NOAA 19 AVHRR IR channel for APT.
(should happen eventually !).

NOTES.

1. Three of the older NOAA weather satellites which have been
    decommissioned and are tumbling freely are know 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 15 when active on this frequency.
    Latest report below.
    22/07/08 - There is some recent evidence that NOAA 9 is once again
    transmitting a spurious carrier from time to time. (I am grateful to
    John Cooper from Oxford for this report).

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. For several weeks the APT will carry 2 visible images (channels 1 and
     2).  The infra-red system requires out-gassing before being switched
     on and is the reason for the delay (usually about 2/3 weeks) in its
     operation.  My understanding is that the outgassing prevents
     precipitation (and contamination) when the coolers are switched on.
    Thereafter the APT format should follow the norm of Channel 2
(visible)
    and channel 4 (IR) during daylight passes, switching automatically
    to channels 3 (3A) and 4 during darkness.

7. Elements are available from :-

    http://www.space-track.org    and
    http://celestrak.com/NORAD/elements/

LAUNCHES.
None due.


SECTION 2:   POLAR  HRPT/AHRPT  REPORT -- 9th March 2009
   =============================================
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
NOAA 16        1702.5       LHCP       HRPT         Mixed ( note 3)
NOAA 17        1698.0       RHCP       HRPT               Good
NOAA 18        1707.0       RHCP       HRPT               Good
NOAA 19        1698.0       RHCP       HRPT               Good
Feng Yun 1D   1700.4       RHCP       CHRPT             Good
Feng Yun 3A        see note 5
Metop-A         1701.3       RHCP       AHRPT        Good (note 4)

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:  Scan motor performance has recently improved.

4. On 29 September 2008, EUMETSAT commenced a partial Metop-A AHRPT
   Direct Readout service. Due to the operational constraints, the
   activation of AHRPT is for a limited geographical region covering
   the North Atlantic and European area (southbound passes only).  This
   service is being introduced for a trial period of up to  2 months,
   following which the activation scenario will become operational. For
   further details on this service see:
   http://www.eumetsat.int/Home/Main/Access_to_Data/Metop__amp__NOAA_Servic
es/SP_1117714487826?l=en

5. Feng Yun 3A was declared operational on 12th January 2009.  My thanks
to
  Johnny Lin for drawing this to my attention.
  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.

LAUNCHES.
None due.


SECTION 3:   CONTINENTAL  GEOSTATIONARY  WORLD
  ===========================================
   WEATHER  SATELLITE  REPORT  -- 9th March 2009
     =====================================

CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
None.

THIS WEEK'S POSSIBLE EVENTS.
None.

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 7).
Data :             HRIT (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational :   Yes

North America
----------------
East.

Satellite :        GOES 12 (75.0° W)
Data :             GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
                      LRIT (digital) -1691 MHz
Operational :   Yes

West.

Satellite :         GOES 11 (135°W)
Data :              GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
                       LRIT (digital) - 1691 MHz
Operational :    Yes

South America
----------------
Satellite :         GOES 10 (60°W)
                      GVAR (digital) - 1685.7 MHz
                      LRIT - No service.

Asia   (Russian Operated Satellite)
--------------------------------------

Satellite :         GOMS N2 / ELECTRO-L
Data :              HRIT/LRIT.
Operational :   Launch date unknown.

Asia  (European Operated Satellites)
----------------------------------------
Satellite :        Meteosat 7 (57.5°E)
                     HRI (digital) - 1691 MHz
                     Wefax (analogue) occasionally for ranging purposes
                     only.
Operational :  Yes.

Satellite :        Meteosat 6 (67.5°E)  (Note 2).

Asia  (Indian Operated Satellite)
-----------------------------------
Satellite :         Metsat
Data :              None available.
Operational :   Present....

Satellite :         Insat 3A  (Note 3.)
Data :             VHRR (digital) 2599 MHz
Operational :   Yes.


Asia & Oceania  (Japanese Operated Satellites)
-----------------------------------------------------
Satellite :       MTSAT-1R (140° E) (note 5.)
Data :            HRIT (digital) and LRIT(digital) on 1691 MHz.
                    (Note 6.)
Operational :  Yes.


Asia & Oceania  (Chinese Operated Satellites)
----------------------------------------------------
Satellite :         Feng Yun 2C (105°E)
Data :              SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational :   Yes.

Satellite :          Feng Yun 2D (86.5°E).
Data :              SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational :    Yes. Parallel operation with 2C.
                       (My thanks to Johnny Lin for the update).

Satellite:           Feng Yun 2E (123.3° E)
Data :              SVISSR (digital) and LRIT (digital)
Operational :    No.   Commissioning.

NOTES.

1.  Meteosat 7 stopped its 0° service at 09.00 UTC on 14th June 2006.

2. Meteosat-6 arrived on station at 67.5 degrees East, on the 27 April
2007.
   After a short testing campaign, Meteosat-6 is now supporting the DCP
   mission over the Indian Ocean during eclipse periods.

3. Insat 3A is a combined data and meteorological satellite.

4. For those interested in EMWIN data, the following sats/frequencies
apply.

    GOES 7     (175 W)  1690.725 MHz.
    GOES 11   (135 W)  1690.725 MHz
    GOES 12   (74.5 W) 1690.725 MHz
   For further info. there are many sources but the following is
   particularly  informative:-
   http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/emwin/user-intro.htm

5.  This satellite is also known as HIMAWARI 6.

6. HiRID and WEFAX was discontinued on 12th March 2008.  It was replaced
   with HRIT/LRIT (after many months of dual dissemination).

7. Only LRIT (1691.0 MHz) is provided in direct readout.
    Full HRIT and LRIT service from Eumetcast.

LAUNCHES.
GOES O ....... Launch due 28th April 2009.


SECTION 4:   EUMETCAST  REPORT  -- 9th March 2009
  =======================================

       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

CHANGES SINCE LAST REPORT.
Meteosat 8 (RSS) Note updated.
FSD Note updated.

THIS WEEK AND  FUTURE  POSSIBLE  EVENTS.
General Note.
Due to sun interferences of the disseminating satellites users might
experience lower signal margin or outages on EUMETCast for a short period
(less than 15 min) every day :-
on Ku band Europe between 23/02/2009 and 14/03/2009
on C band Africa between 23/02/2009 and 06/04/2009
on C band Americas between 23/02/2009 and 12/04/2009

The exact times and durations of the signal degradation or outages depend
on
the reception location and the used satellite.
Please use following link to determine the time for your location:
http://www.satellite-calculations.com/SUNcalc/SUNcalc.htm
- enter as satellite Eurobird 9 (Ku band Europe), or  Atlantic Bird 3 (C
band Africa), or NSS 806 (C band Americas)
- enter location, band, season and antenna size and press "Calculate"

Future Event.
On 31 March 2009 EUMETSAT will introduce a registration requirement for
EUMETCast access to all level 2 satellite products generated by EUMETSAT
and
the Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs). After this date, only
registered users will continue to receive level 2 products through
EUMETCast. The registration requirement is being introduced to allow
EUMETSAT and its SAFs greater visibility of product usage.
New EUMETCast users will be able to select their choice of level 2 product
sets (Meteosat, Metop/NOAA, Ocean Sea Ice, Land Analysis
and Ozone & Atmospheric Chemistry) via the online registration form.
Existing EUMETCast user may request a continuation of access
to these products by sending an email to the User Helpdesk via
ops@eumetsat.int.
The registration requirement comes into force on 31 March 2009 and
existing
users are kindly requested to indicate their product requirements before
this date to avoid any unnecessary loss of service.

Meteosat 8 RSS.
Due to a Meteosat-8 East-West station keeping manoeuvre on 10/03/09 at
03:39:00 UTC, Users may experience degraded image quality following the
manoeuvre for up to 3 hours.
Users may experience degraded meteorological product quality following the
manoeuvre for up to 3 hours.

The Meteosat-8 Rapid Scanning Service will be interrupted from 09:00 UTC
on
10/03/09 until 12:00 UTC on 13/03/09 for the regular monthly rapid
scanning
interruption and for essential maintenance to the Primary Ground Station
antenna.  Full earth scanning data (if any) will not be disseminated.

FSD.
GOES11_135W eclipse from 09/02/09 to 28/04/09: 09:00 UTC and 10:00 UTC
files
may not be available.
GOES12_75W eclipse from 14/02/09 to 28/04/09: 05:00 UTC and 06:00 UTC
files
may not be available.
MTSAT-1R_140E eclipse from 15/02/09 to 25/04/09: 14:00 UTC and 15:00 UTC
files may not be available.
Update to compression of MTSAT1R data.
At 10:00 UTC, on 11/03/09, the compression for the MTSAT1R 3.8 channel
will
be enabled. This will use the same wavelet compression used by the other
MTSAT1R channels.
FY2C eclipse season from 22/02/09 to 12/04/09: 16:00 to 18:00 UTC files
may
not be available.

IODC.
Due to Meteosat-7 eclipse season from 12/02/09 to 31/03/09, slots 39 to 43
may not be available.

Metop-A.
The following EPS GDS products are available on Eumetcast.

EPS-2    PID 510    Metop AMSA          operational
EPS-3    PID 510    Metop ASCAT        operational
EPS-4    PID 510    Metop ATOVS        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-10  PID 510    Metop AVHRR        operational
EPS-11  PID 510    Metop IASI              operational
EPS-13  PID 510    NOAA AMSA          operational
EPS-14  PID 510    NOAA ATOVS        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



NOTES.

1.  Reports for all sections  should be sent to :-
     Douglas Deans   dsdeans@tiscali.co.uk

2.  For further information on the Eumetcast service see :-
    David Taylor's web site
    http://www.satsignal.eu  =>  Weather Satellites, Using EUMETCast
                                               or Satellite Tools, MSG
Data
                                               Manager.
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/

==================

 
73's - Adrian, G4ROA @ GB7COV

Message timed: 07:11 on 09 Mar 2009
Message sent using WinPack V6.70 (R)
(Prog written by Roger Barker, G4IDE/G8MZX, Silent Key 09/09/04)

	Member of: 
 AMSAT, RSGB, GEO & RAYNET
     QTH Loc - IO92gj
      NGR SP 342 765
      GPS  52deg 23.15min N
          001deg 29.83min W
  E-Mail: G4ROA@AOL.com


Read previous mail | Read next mail


 18.09.2025 05:33:41lGo back Go up