Thursday, October 27, 2022

Polar APT, Digital and Geostationary Weather Satellites Weekly Status Report 24 Oct 2022


Author  : Douglas S Deans E-mail  : gm4vzy@googlemail.com
Twitter : Douglas Deans @GM4VZY

Sections 1 and 2 have an update.

SECTION 1: POLAR APT/LRPT REPORT – 24th October 2022.

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 on 15th November 2021.
6. Elements are available from- http://www.space-track.org and
7. Meteor M N2-2 has likely been hit by a micro-meteorite. It has changed orbit and been de-pressurized. Although under control again the thermal balance is an issue and the main problem is 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.

INFORMATION and UPDATES.
NOAA 15 has AVHRR scan motor issues. Poor imagery.

Satellite    Frequency  Antenna    Mode     Image Quality
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. Off
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 on 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 emails for further explanation:-
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.
The frequency is also different - it is 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 polarization 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-pressurized. Although under control again the thermal balance is an issue and main problem is 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 :-
LAUNCHES.
Meteor M N2-3 launch date is unknown.

SECTION 3: GEOSTATIONARY REPORT – 24th October 2022.

INFORMATION and UPDATES.
None.
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 (137.3° 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 is underway and data is interleaved with GOES 17.

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.

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 were 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 is expected towards the end of the year but not yet on Ariane manifest.

SECTION 4: Weather Satellites on 7800 MHz(X-band) – 24th October 2022.

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:- 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:-
And service notifications are here:- https://uns.eumetsat.int/