Latest Progress of the Chinese Meteorological Satellite Program and Core Data Processing Technologies

In this paper,the latest progress,major achievements and future plans of Chinese meteorological satellites and the core data processing techniques are discussed.First,the latest three FengYun(FY)meteorological satellites(FY-2H,FY-3D,and FY-4A)and their primary objectives are introduced Second,the core image navigation techniques and accuracies of the FY meteorological satellites are elaborated,including the latest geostationary(FY-2/4)and polar-orbit(FY-3)satellites.Third,the radiometric calibration techniques and accuracies of reflective solar bands,thermal infrared bands,and passive microwave bands for FY meteorological satellites are discussed.It also illustrates the latest progress of real-time calibration with the onboard calibration system and validation with different methods,including the vicarious China radiance calibration site calibration,pseudo invariant calibration site calibration,deep convective clouds calibration,and lunar calibration.Fourth,recent progress of meteorological satellite data assimilation applications and quantitative science produce are summarized at length.The main progress is in meteorological satellite data assimilation by using microwave and hyper-spectral infrared sensors in global and regional numerical weather prediction models.Lastly,the latest progress in radiative transfer,absorption and scattering calculations for satellite remote sensing is summarized,and some important research using a new radiative transfer model are illustrated.

Fengyun Meteorological Satellite Products for Earth System Science Applications

Following the progress of satellite data assimilation in the 1990s, the combination of meteorological satellites and numerical models has changed the way scientists understand the earth. With the evolution of numerical weather prediction models and earth system models, meteorological satellites will play a more important role in earth sciences in the future. As part of the space-based infrastructure, the Fengyun (FY) meteorological satellites have contributed to earth science sustainability studies through an open data policy and stable data quality since the first launch of the FY-1A satellite in 1988. The capability of earth system monitoring was greatly enhanced after the second-generation polar orbiting FY-3 satellites and geostationary orbiting FY-4 satellites were developed. Meanwhile, the quality of the products generated from the FY-3 and FY-4 satellites is comparable to the well-known MODIS products. FY satellite data has been utilized broadly in weather forecasting, climate and climate change investigations, environmental disaster monitoring, etc. This article reviews the instruments mounted on the FY satellites. Sensor-dependent level 1 products (radiance data) and inversion algorithm-dependent level 2 products (geophysical parameters) are introduced. As an example, some typical geophysical parameters, such as wildfires, lightning, vegetation indices, aerosol products, soil moisture, and precipitation estimation have been demonstrated and validated by in-situ observations and other well-known satellite products. To help users access the FY products, a set of data sharing systems has been developed and operated. The newly developed data sharing system based on cloud technology has been illustrated to improve the efficiency of data delivery.

China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) simultaneously observes the typhoon-induced wind and wave fields

The China-France oceanography satellite(CFOSAT)developed by the China National Space Administration(CNSA)and Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales(CNES)was successfully launched into its orbit on October 29,2018.The Chinese wind scatterometer(SCAT)with swath width of about 1000 km and French wave spectrometer(Surface Wave Investigation and Monitoring,SWIM)with swath width of about 180 km onboard the CFOSAT are in line with all requirements and performing operationally.Thus,it is the first time that CFOSAT provides simultaneous and co-located observations of wind and wave fields with high spatial resolutions of 12.5 km×12.5 km for the winds and 70 km×90 km for the wave directional spectrum.The real-time and large-scale monitoring of wind and wave fields are of great significance for navigation and human activities on the sea(Xu et al.,2010;Tan et al.,2018;Sun et al.,2019),especially during severe typhoon processes when violent winds and hazardous waves occur(Walsh et al.,2002;Zhou et al.,2008).

The First Fengyun Satellite International User Conference

1.Introduction The First Fengyun Satellite International User Conference,sponsored by the China Meteorological Administration(CMA)and China National Space Administration(CNSA),took place during 15-17 November 2019 in Haikou,Hainan Province,China.The purpose of this initial conference was to develop a comprehensive mechanism for Fengyun satellite international users to exchange their applications,discuss an integrated approach to promote global applications of FY satel-lite data,and to better serve countries and users along the“Belt and Road”.Experts from over 30 countries,the World Meteor-ological Organization(WMO),the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization(APSCO),the National Oceanic and Atmo-spheric Administration(NOAA),the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites(EUMET-SAT),and the Sixth International Strategic Consultative Committee on Chinese Meteorological Satellite Programmes(ISCC),attended this conference(Fig.1).