FY-1C polar orbiting meteorological satellite of China

Meteorological satellites have been an irreplaceable weather and ocean observing tool in China since 1970s. These satellites are monitoring major weather system and natural disasters, as well as improving the efficiency of many sectors of the national economy. The meteorological satellite program of China consists of two major series: Polar orbiting and geostationary series.

FY-1C, the third one of the FY-1 series polar orbiting meteorological satellite with a ten-channel radiometer as the primary sensing instrument, was launched successfully On 10 May 1999. The FY-1C satellite is designed and manufactured by the Ministry of Aerospace of China, according to the requirements specified by China Meteorological Administration (CMA).

The major features of the FY-1C satellite and data transmission are: (1) The main payload of FY-1C satellite is a ten-channel imager named Multi-channel Visible and Infrared Radiometer (MVISR), which enables the more powerful observations to the land and oceans. (2) The on board data storage capacity is 300 minutes. Therefore, FY-1c satellite and the ground system can receive the Global Area Coverage (GAC) data for four selected channels with reduced resolution (4 km) for one time each day (defined as Delayed Global Picture Transmission, DGPT). As an alternative, the ground system can also receive 20 minutes orbit observational data for ten channels with the original resolution at any region of the world with the onboard data storage capacity (defined as Delayed Local Picture Transmission, DLPT). (3) The FY-1C HRPT (High Resolution Picture Transmission) format is very similar to NOAA/HRPT, except that the data transmission rate is 1.3308 Mbps. The transmission modulation is PSK and bit format is split phase.

A Multi-channel Visible and IR Scan Radiometer (MVISR) is the major sensor of FY-1C with ten channels, including 4 VIS channels, 3 near IR channels, 1 short wave IR channel and 2 long wave IR channels. The instantaneous field of view of the MVISR is 1.2 mrad, which makes 1.1 km resolution at the sub-satellite point.

The preliminary application reveals that image quality of the MVISR is pretty good. With more spectral information from the ten-channel sensor, more detailed features of the cloud system and surfaces can be identified. The full paper will detail the FY-1 system, instrumentation and some preliminary results.

The FY-1C is an operational polar orbiting meteorological satellite of China. It is hoped that more products can be generated and can be used in the operational weather forecasting in China. China is ready to share these data with the world meteorological community, to contribute to the World Weather Watch Program and World Climate Research Program.