GES DISC DAAC Data Guide:
Meteorological Satellite Platform Document

THIS DOCUMENT IS AVAILABLE ON THE GES DISC WEB SITE FOR HISTORICAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. Information provided in this document may not be accurate. We recommend checking other sources related to these data or sensors to acquire reliable and updated information.

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Summary:

Table of Contents:

• 1 Source/Platform or Data Collection Environment Overview
• 2 Ground Segment Information
• 3 References
• 4 Glossary of Terms
• 5 List of Acronyms
• 6 Document Information

1. Source/Platform or Data Collection Environment Overview:

Source/Platform or Data Collection Environment Long Name, Source/Platform Acronym:

Meteorological Satellite, Meteosat

Source/Platform Introduction:

Collection Environment:

Satellite.

Source/Platform Program Management:

The Meteosat satellites are financed and owned by Eumetsat, an international organization of 17 European weather services. The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for developing and launching the spacecraft, and until the end of 1995, also operates the satellites on the behalf of Eumetsat.

Source/Platform Mission Objectives:

Meteosat was developed as the European Space Agency's contribution to the Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP) to provide global data sets used in improving weather forecasting.

Source/Platform Parameters:

Meteosat-1 was launched in 1977 and the launch of the five other satellites in the Meteosat program followed in 1981, 1988, 1991 and 1993. Three Meteosat are currently opeational. The launch of the seventh Meteosat is scheduled for 1996/1997 time frame. Meteosats are 705 pound cylinders that are seven feet in diameter and ten feet high with solar cells on six main body panels. The Meteosats are in stationary orbit approximately 22,000 miles above the Earth. Meteosat-1, Meteosat-2 and Meteosat-3 were positioned near 140 degrees East.

Coverage Information:

Meteosat produces images of the full Earth disc as viewed from it's geostationary orbit. The satellite coverage extends from approximately 60 degrees West to 60 degrees East. A set of three images, one in each spectral band, is produces every 30 minutes.

Attitude Characteristics:

The following information is take from Rao, et. al, 1990.

The performance characteristics of the attitude and orbit control system are provided below.

	Parameters			Value

	Spin Rate			100 rpm +/- 1%
	Spin Rate Control		Possibility of adjustment 
					   better than +/- 0.1 rpm
	Nutation			<  5 arc seconds after damping
	Longitude station keeping	+/- 1 degree
	   (east-west)
	Inclination (north-south)	< 0.8 degree
	Eccentricity			<0.002
	Maximum amount of hydrazine	29 kg
	   at the beginning of life

Data Collection System:

The communications package aboard a Meteosat consists of a transponder and its antenna subsystem. This communications package transmits data every half hour to the ground facilities located at the European Satellite Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The communications package also receives processed images from the ESOC which are then relayed to user stations in over 16 countries.

Communication Links:

Data is transmitted from the platform to the ESOC via the communications package aboard a Meteosat. The transponder component of the communications package operates at 1675-2015 MHz.

List of Sensors/Instruments:

The primary instrument aboard the Meteosat satellites was the five-channel visible infrared (IR) imaging radiometer.

2. Ground Segment Information:

Tracking and Control:

This information is not available at this time.

Data Acquisition and Processing:

The ground facilities which carry out the Meteosat missions consist of four elements. The activities at each of these elements is discussed below.

The Meteosat Operations Control Center is reponsible for the operational management of the satellite and tracking facilities.

The Data Referencing and Conditioning Center is reponsible for processing and formatting the image data.

The Meteorological Information Extraction Center extracts specific meteorological parameters, such as radiation balances or sea surface temperature charts.

The Data Acquisition Telecommand and Tracking Station is responsible for acquiring radiometric data from the satellites as well as messages from the data collection platforms. This station also works with a land-based transponder at Kourou, French Guiana, to perform ranging measurements used to locate the satellite precisely.

Latitude Crossing Times:

This information is not applicable to this platform.

3. References:

Rao, P.K., S.J. Holmes, R.K. Anderson, J.S. Winston, and P.E. Lehr: 1990: Weather Satellites: Systems, Data, and Environmental Applications, American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, 503 pp.

A.R. Curtis, 1994: Space Satellite Handbook, Gulf Publishing, Houston, TX, 346 pp.

4. Glossary of Terms:

See the EOSDIS Glossary for a more general listing of terms related to the Earth Observing System project.

5. List of Acronyms:

See the EOSDIS Acronyms for a more general listing of terms related to the Earth Observing System project.

ESOC

European Satellite Operations Center

GARP

Global Atmospheric Research Program

GOES

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite

GMS

Geostationary Meteorological Satellite

Meteosat

Meteorological Satellite

URL

Uniform Resource Locator

6. Document Information:

Document Revision Date:Fri May 10 11:53:02 EDT 2002

July 31, 1996

Document Review Date:

July 31, 1996

Document ID:

This information is not available at this time.

Change History

Version 2.0

Version baselined on addition to the GES Controlled Documents List, July 31, 1996.