Fengyun Satellites: Achievements and Future

Chinese meteorological satellite, Fengyun (FY) Satellite, has a polar-orbiting series and a geostationary series. Up to now, 5 polar-orbiting (FY-1A/B/C/D and FY-3A) and 5 geostationary (FY-2A/B/C/D/E) satellites were launched. FY data has been being intensively applied not only to meteorological monitoring and prediction but also to many other fields regarding ecology, environment, disaster, space weather and so and. The FY data sharing system, FengyunCast, is now one of the three components of global meteorological satellite information dissemination system, GEONETCast. The first satellite of the new generation polar-orbiting series, FY-3A, was launched on 27 May, 2008, demonstrating the FY polar-orbiting satellite and its application completed a great leap to realize three-dimensional observations and quantitative application. The first of the next generation geostationary series (FY-4) is planned to launch in 2014.      

Update on Fengyun Meteorological Satellite Program and Development

China began to develop its meteorological satellite program since 1969. With 50-years' growing, there are 17 Fengyun (FY) meteorological satellites launched successfully. At present, seven of them are in orbit to provide the operational service, including three polar orbiting meteorological satellites and four geostationary meteorological satellites. Since last COSPAR report, no new Fengyun satellite has been launched. The information of the on-orbit FY-2 series, FY-3 series, and FY-4 series has been updated. FY-3D and FY-2H satellites accomplished the commission test and transitioned into operation in 2018. FY-2E satellite completed its service to decommission in 2019. The web-based users and Direct Broadcasting (DB) users keep growing worldwide to require the Fengyun satellite data and products. A new Mobile Application Service has been launched to Fengyun users based on the cloud technology in 2018. In this report, the international and regional co-operations to facilitate the Fengyun user community have been addressed especially. To strengthen the data service in the Belt and Road countries, the Emergency Support Mechanism of Fengyun satellite (FY_ESM) has been established since 2018. Meanwhile, a Recalibrating 30-years' archived Fengyun satellite data project has been founded since 2018. This project targets to generate the Fundamental Climate Data Record (FCDR) as a space agency response to the Global Climate Observation System (GCOS). At last, the future Fengyun program up to 2025 has been introduced as well.      

The United States operational polar-orbiting satellite series,TIROS-N

The U.S. launched the first of its new series of polar-orbiting, operational satellites, named TIROS-N, on 13 October 1978. The second, named NOAA-A, was launched on 27 June 1979. Together they comprise the operational system since from an average altitude of 840 km two satellites are required to provide global coverage in the equatorial zone. Operational products for FGGE (atmospheric temperature profiles, sea surface temperature analysis, and other data) are discussed and compared with prior performance. New uses in support of oceanology (Service ARGOS) are described.     

Observations from Fengyun Satellites

Fengyun (FY) Satellite has a polar-orbiting series and a geostationary series. Up to now, 7 polar-orbiting (FY-1A/B/C/D and FY-3A/B/C) and 7 geostationary (FY-2A/B/C/D/E/F/G) satellites were launched. FY data has been being intensively applied not only to meteorological monitoring and prediction but also to many other fields regarding ecology, environment, disaster and so on.      

FY-3A卫星与NOOA系列卫星高能带电粒子实测结果的比较

FY-3A卫星是运行于830 km高度的太阳同步轨道气象卫星,其搭载的空间环境监测器可观测3～300 MeV的高能质子和0.15～5.70 MeV的高能电子.FY-3A卫星在轨工作期间,太阳活动处于由谷年向峰年过渡期,空间环境非常平静,探测结果显示3～300 MeV的高能质子分布主要集中在南大西洋辐射带异常区,0.15～5.70 MeV的高能电子分布区域除南大西洋异常区外,还分布在南北两极高纬区域.FY-3A与NOAA卫星测量结果反映出带电粒子强度及分布区域随投掷角变化的空间各向异性特征.本文在充分考虑了带电粒子时间、空间分布差异以及比对探测器之间自身设计差异的前提下,经过归一化处理后,首次对两颗卫星同期探测结果进行相关性分析,验证了两颗卫星相同时空条件下高能带电粒子通量分布的一致性;说明FY-3A空间环境监测器不仅具备空间带电粒子辐射监测能力,且探测结果有效可靠,可用作辐射带环境数据源的组成部分,为发展新的模型,深入研究辐射带高能粒子的分布、起源和传输等提供新的观测依据.     

Recent Progress of Fengyun Meteorology Satellites

After nearly 50 years of development, Fengyun (FY) satellite ushered in its best moment. China has become one of the three countries or units in the world (China, USA, and EU) that maintain both polar orbit and geostationary orbit satellites operationally. Up to now, there are 17 Fengyun (FY) satellites that have been launched successfully since 1988. There are two FY polar orbital satellites and four FY geostationary orbit satellites operate in the space to provide a huge amount of the earth observation data to the user communities. The FY satellite data has been applied not only in the meteorological but also in agriculture, hydraulic engineering, environmental, education, scientific research and other fields. More recently, three meteorological satellites have been launched within the past two years. They are FY-4A on 11 December 2016, FY-3D on 15 November 2017 and FY-2H on 5 June 2018. This paper introduces the current status of FY meteorological satellites and data service. The updates of the latest three satellites have been addressed. The characteristics of their payloads on-boarding have been specified in details and the benefit fields have been anticipated separately.      

FY-3A卫星与NOAA系列卫星高能带电粒子实测结果的比较

FY-3A卫星是运行于830 km高度的太阳同步轨道气象卫星, 其搭载的空间环境监测器可观测3~300 MeV的高能质子和0.15~5.70 MeV的高能电子. FY-3A卫星在轨工作期间, 太阳活动处于由谷年向峰年过渡期, 空间环境非常平静, 探测结果显示3~300 MeV的高能质子分布主要集中在南大西洋辐射带异常区, 0.15~5.70 MeV的高能电子分布区域除南大西洋异常区外, 还分布在南北两极高纬区域. FY-3A与NOAA卫星测量结果反映出带电粒子强度及分布区域随投掷角变化的空间各向异性特征. 本文在充分考虑了带电粒子时间、空间分布差异以及比对探测器之间自身设计差异的前提下, 经过归一化处理后, 首次对两颗卫星同期探测结果进行相关性分析, 验证了两颗卫星相同时空条件下高能带电粒子通量分布的一致性; 说明FY-3A空间环境监测器不仅具备空间带电粒子辐射监测能力, 且探测结果有效可靠, 可用作辐射带环境数据源的组成部分, 为发展新的模型, 深入研究辐射带高能粒子的分布、起源和传输等提供新的观测依据.      

风云三号C星GNOS北斗掩星电离层探测初步结果

利用风云三号卫星C星GNOS掩星探测仪电离层数据,分析了2013年10月FY-3C GNOS探测的北斗掩星电离层廓线分布,将2013年10月1日至2015年10月10日期间FY-3C GNOS观测的F₂层峰值电子密度（N_mF₂）与地面电离层测高仪观测结果进行对比,验证了FY-3C GNOS北斗电离层掩星的探测精度.结果表明,FY3-C GNOS北斗电离层掩星与电离层测高仪探测的N_mF₂数据相关系数为0.96,平均偏差为10.21%,标准差为19.61%.在不同情况下其数据精度有如下特征:白天精度高于夜晚;夏季精度高于分季,分季精度高于冬季;中纬地区精度高于低纬地区,低纬地区精度高于高纬地区; BDS倾斜同步轨道（IGSO）卫星精度高于同步轨道（GEO）卫星和中轨道（MEO）卫星.FY-3C GNOS北斗电离层掩星与国际上其他掩星电离层数据精度的一致性对GNSS掩星探测资料的综合利用具有重大意义.      

Potentials for radio occultation applications during inter-satellite calibration periods

EUMETSAT has launched the first in a series of three Metop satellites in October 2006. Each satellite has a nominal 5 year life time, covering 14 years in total. Successive satellites will be launched with about 0.5 year overlap into the same sun-synchronous polar orbit, allowing inter-satellite calibration.     

FY-2卫星太阳质子事件监测警报系统及质子事件警报的尝试

介绍搭载在FY-2地球同步轨道气象卫星上的空间粒子监测器和太阳X射线探测器所组成的太阳质子事件监测报警系统;1997-11-04和1997-11-06二次质子事件警报的尝试及相关的观测资料.      

A simulation study for anticipated accuracy of lunar gravity field model by SELENE tracking data

Results of numerical simulations are presented to examine the global gravity field recovery capability of the Japanese lunar exploration project SELENE (SELenological and ENgineering Explorer) which will be launched in 2007. New characteristics of the SELENE lunar gravimetry include 4-way satellite-to-satellite Doppler tracking of main orbiter and differential VLBI tracking of two small free-flier satellites. It is shown that the proposed satellite constellation will provide the first truly global satellite tracking data coverage. The expected results from these data are; (1) drastic reduction in far-side gravity error, (2) estimation of many gravity coefficients by the observation, not by a priori information, and (3) one order of magnitude improvement over existing gravity models for low-degree field.     

A Brief Introduction and Recent Progress of the Geospace Double Star Program

The Geospace Double Star Project (DSP) consists of two small satellites operating in the near-earth equatorial and polar regions, respectively. The goals of DSP are: (1) to provide high-resolution field, particle, and wave measurements in some important near-earth active regions which have not been covered by current ISTP missions, such as the near-earth plasma sheet and its boundary layer, the ring current, the radiation belts, the dayside magnetopause boundary layer, and the polar region; (2) to investigate the trigger mechanisms of magnetic storms, magnetospheric substorms, and magnetospheric particle events,as well as the responses of geospace storms to solar activities and interplanetary disturbances; (3) to set up the models describing the spatial and temporal variations of the near-earth space environment.To realize the above goals, the equatorial satellite TC-1 and the polar satellite TC-2 will accommodate, respectively, eight instruments on board. TC-1was launched successfully in December 2003 while the polar satellite (TC-2)will be launched in July 2004. The orbit of the equatorial satellite TC-1 consists of a perigee at 550 km, an apogee at 60 000 km, and an inclination of about 28.5; while the orbit of the polar satellite will have a perigee of 700 km, an apogee of 40 000 km, and an inclination of about 90. The two satellites will take coordinated measurements with Cluster Ⅱ and will first form a "six-point exploration" in geospace.The operational status of TC-1 are introduced in this paper.     

Verification of satellite observations of stratospheric minor constituents

The TIROS-N operational meteorological satellite observing system will have the capability of determining global ozone amounts from two instruments by 1985. The TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) yields total ozone amounts through measurements of atmospheric infrared radiances. The Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV/2) spectrometer yields total ozone amounts and vertical ozone profiles through measurements of the solar ultraviolet radiation backscattered by the atmosphere. The current operations plan calls for single satellites containing both instruments system with local afternoon equator crossing times. They will be launched at approximately 18 month intervals.The satellite ozone products will require verification using commonly accepted references. For total ozone, Dobson spectrophotometer determinations are to be used. For vertical profiles, no clear choice now exists among balloon-launched chemical sondes, rocket-launched optical sondes or Dobson Umkehr measurements. The applicability and use of these measurement systems are discussed with emphasis on the need for the verification data consistent with the operational satellite lifetimes.Another major source of data for verification is other satellite systems. Comparisons of vertical ozone profiles from several concurrent satellites is discussed. This includes results from SAGE, LIMS and SBUV.     

GNSS遥感探测卫星星座设计

随着全球导航卫星系统（Global Navigation Satellite System,GNSS）掩星大气探测技术的兴起,GNSS遥感探测数据在气象数据资源中逐步占据重要地位,但是目前的掩星探测数量远不能满足数值天气预报等应用的需求,未来更需要充分利用GNSS信号资源,开展更大规模的GNSS掩星卫星星座探测.本文以世界气象组织发布的大气海洋数据需求为参考,提出新一代GNSS遥感探测星座任务需求与设计约束.在理想大气模型假设下,利用几何解析方法研究了探测卫星星座构型参数对探测性能的影响,并建立了新一代GNSS遥感探测卫星星座设计基本准则.以风云卫星为子星座,给出了星座规模同为40颗的三种GNSS遥感探测微纳卫星星座设计方案.研究结果表明,具备该规模的探测星座可满足数值天气预报等气象应用的最低数据需求,三种构型方案中,由高、中、低倾角三组Walker子星座与风云卫星子星座组建的GNSS遥感探测星座探测性能最优.      

“嫦娥4号”中继星任务轨道确定问题初探

"嫦娥4号"任务将采用着陆器、巡视器和绕飞地月拉格朗日L2点中继星进行月球背面的探测,中继星已先期发射,进入环绕地月L2点的晕(Halo)轨道。在中继星使命轨道动力学模型的基础上,通过相关仿真工作,开展了中继星在Halo轨道上的摄动源量级及影响定轨预报的主要因素分析,结果表明:太阳光压摄动是其主要影响因素。为降低其相关影响,提高定轨精度,在太阳光压球模型的基础上,结合中继星在轨运行特点及其星体结构特点,提出了一种求解光压等效面积的方法。经仿真分析,使用修正后的太阳光压球模型进行定轨求解,速度精度可提升约一个量级。     

MICROWAVE SENSOR DEVELOPMENT IN RECENT TWO YEARS IN CHINA

The development of microwave sensors in recent two years in China are in troduced with an emphasis on spaceborne sensors without the applications in cluded. The microwave sensors as the main payloads to be boarded on the future operational satellites, such as FY-3 meteorological satellites and HY-2 marine satellite are introduced with much in detail. Besides these, four new sensors are outlined, i.e. the imaging radar altimeter,synthetic aperture radiometer, and polarimetric radiometer. Two recently conducted flight experiment campaigns are also introduced with results shown.     

Ocean Observation from Haiyang Satellites

In 2018, China successfully launched three new Haiyang (which means ocean in Chinese, referred to as HY) satellites which are an ocean color observation satellite HY-1C (operational), an ocean dynamics environment satellite HY-2B (operational) and the China-France ocean satellite CFOSAT (experimental). In 2019, all the three satellites had finished their commissioning phases and were declared operational. HY-2A satellite continues to operate in-orbit, and its operational status is basically normal. So in 2020, China has 4 Haiyang satellites in-orbit, China's ocean satellites enter into a new operational application phase. The operation of the ground application system of Chinese ocean satellites is stable. In 2019, Beijing, Hainan, Mudanjiang, and Hangzhou ocean satellite ground stations had received the data of HY-1C, HY-2A, HY-2B, and CFOSAT 5012 orbits and 26.46 TB data had been distributed to both domestic and international users. Chinese ocean satellite data has played an important role in marine disaster prevention and mitigation, development and management of marine resources, maintenance of marine rights and interests, marine environment protection, scientific researches, and blue economy development.      

The longwave radiation estimated from NOAA polar orbiting satellites: An update and comparison with Nimbus-7 ERB results

The planetary outgoing longwave radiation has been estimated since 1974 from two different series of NOAA operational polar spacecraft. The first series provided data from June 1974 through February 1978 and was designated “SR” for the scaning radiometers used at that time. This data set has been used in a variety of radiation budget and climate studies, such as that by Ohring and Gruber, 1983. The second satellite system is the currently operational TIROS-N series of satellites. Data from this series began in January 1979 and are continuing. In both systems, estimates of the outgoing longwave radiation are obtained from narrow spectral interval (10–12 μm) window radiances. A comparison is made of the estimates from the two different series of satellites in order to arrive at an assessment of their compatibility. This is important since the SR observations were taken at approximately 0900 and 2100 local times, while the TIROS-N data alternate between 0730-1930 and 0300-1500 local times. In addition, there is a period of overlap between the TIROS-N data and the broad band (5–50 μm) Nimbus 7 EArth radiation budget data. A comparison of those two data sets indiciate excellent agreement generally within about 1–2 Wm^?2 on the monthly means on global and hemispherical scales. Comparisons of zonal averages indicate maximum differences as large as 9 Wm^?2.Evidence is presented to suggest that observations taken at different local observing times may be biased by the diurnal variation of emitted flux, even on global scales.     

High accuracy satellite drag model (HASDM)

The dominant error source in force models used to predict low-perigee satellite trajectories is atmospheric drag. Errors in operational thermospheric density models cause significant errors in predicted satellite positions, since these models do not account for dynamic changes in atmospheric drag for orbit predictions. The Air Force Space Battlelab’s High Accuracy Satellite Drag Model (HASDM) estimates and predicts (out three days) a dynamically varying global density field. HASDM includes the Dynamic Calibration Atmosphere (DCA) algorithm that solves for the phases and amplitudes of the diurnal and semidiurnal variations of thermospheric density near real-time from the observed drag effects on a set of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) calibration satellites. The density correction is expressed as a function of latitude, local solar time and altitude. In HASDM, a time series prediction filter relates the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) energy index E_10.7 and the geomagnetic storm index a_p, to the DCA density correction parameters. The E_10.7 index is generated by the SOLAR2000 model, the first full spectrum model of solar irradiance. The estimated and predicted density fields will be used operationally to significantly improve the accuracy of predicted trajectories for all low-perigee satellites.     

Results About Ocean Satellite Observation

They have played more and more important roles in marine pollution monitoring, marine environment and marine disaster monitor and forecasting, marine resource investigation and marine scientific research. In this paper, the author will give a brief review of China's operational and scientific activities in satellites ocean observation during 2008 to 2010. These activities include the application of the HY-1B for red tide and green tide detecting and monitoring, sea ice monitoring, fishery resources assessment at coastal zone and ocean, marine water quality assessment, sea surface temperature monitoring and forecasting, ocean primary productivity and carbon cycle research, and the development in the ocean dynamic environment parameter application technology before launch of HY-2. The achievements we have made in the ocean observation and monitoring during the past 3 years indicate that, the development of the ocean satellite series and the application of the ocean satellite can greatly promote the development of China's three-dimensional marine observation system and earth-observation system from space, accordingly we can improve the ability of acquiring the marine environmental parameter to sustain the marine economy development and the sea defense construction.