The First Global Map of Atmospheric Ammonia(NH_(3)) as Observed by the HIRAS/FY-3D Satellite

Atmospheric ammonia(NH_(3)) is a chemically active trace gas that plays an important role in the atmospheric environment and climate change. Satellite remote sensing is a powerful technique to monitor NH_(3) concentration based on the absorption lines of NH_(3) in the thermal infrared region. In this study, we establish a retrieval algorithm to derive the NH_(3)column from the Hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounder(HIRAS) onboard the Chinese Feng Yun(FY)-3D satellite and present the first atmospheric NH_(3) column global map observed by the HIRAS instrument. The HIRAS observations can well capture NH_(3) hotspots around the world, e.g., India, West Africa, and East China, where large NH_(3) emissions exist. The HIRAS NH_(3) columns are also compared to the space-based Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer(IASI)measurements, and we find that the two instruments observe a consistent NH_(3) global distribution, with correlation coefficient(R) values of 0.28–0.73. Finally, some remaining issues about the HIRAS NH_(3) retrieval are discussed.

FY-3E:The First Operational Meteorological Satellite Mission in an Early Morning Orbit

Fengyun-3 E(FY-3E),the world’s first early-morning-orbit meteorological satellite for civil use,was launched successfully at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on 5 July 2021.The FY-3E satellite will fill the vacancy of the global early-morning-orbit satellite observation,working together with the FY-3C and FY-3D satellites to achieve the data coverage of early morning,morning,and afternoon orbits.The combination of these three satellites will provide global data coverage for numerical weather prediction(NWP)at 6-hour intervals,effectively improving the accuracy and time efficiency of global NWP,which is of great significance to perfect the global earth observing system.In this article,the background and meteorological requirements for the early-morning-orbit satellite are reviewed,and the specifications of the FY-3E satellite,as well as the characteristics of the onboard instrumentation for earth observations,are also introduced.In addition,the ground segment and the retrieved geophysical products are also presented.It is believed that the NWP communities will significantly benefit from an optimal temporal distribution of observations provided by the early morning,mid-morning,and afternoon satellite missions.Further benefits are expected in numerous applications such as the monitoring of severe weather/climate events,the development of improved sampling designs of the diurnal cycle for accurate climate data records,more efficient monitoring of air quality by thermal infrared remote sensing,and the quasicontinuous monitoring of the sun for space weather and climate.

FY-3 Meteorological Satellites and the Applications

FY-3 is the second generation polar-orbiting meteorological satellite of China. The first satellite named FY-3A of this series was launched on 27 May 2008. The first operational satellite named FY-3C of this series was launched on 23 September, 2013. The new generation satellites are to provide three-dimensional, quantitative, multi-spectral global remote sensing data under all weather conditions, which will greatly help the operational numerical weather prediction, global climate change research, climate diagnostics and prediction, and natural disaster monitoring. They will also provide help for many other fields such as agriculture, forestry, oceanography and hydrology. With the above-mentioned capability, the FY-3 satellites can make valuable contributions to improving weather forecasts, global natural-disaster and environmental monitoring.

FY-2F Meteorological Satellite and Its Applications

China is one of the countries in the world claiming the most occurrences of severe natural disasters. The natural disasters occurring in this country, diversify in type, wide in geographic distribution, high frequency of occurrence, and bring heavy losses in terms of people's lives and properties.

FY-4 Meteorological Satellite

FY-4 is the second generation of Chinese geostationary satellite for quantitative remote sensing meteorological application. The detection efficiency, spectral bands, spatial and time resolution have been greatly improved with respect to those of first generation, as well as the radiometric calibration and sensitivity. The combination of multichannel detection and vertical sounding was first realized on FY-4, because both the Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager(AGRI) and Geostationary Interferometric Infrared Sounder(GIIRS) are on the same spacecraft. The main performance of the payloads including AGRI, GIIRS and Lightning Mapping Imager, and the spacecraft bus are presented, the performance being equivalent to the level of the third generation meteorological satellites in Europe and USA. The acquiring methods of remote sensing data including multichannel and high precision quantitative observing, imaging collection of the ground and cloud, vertical observation of atmospheric temperature and moisture, lightning imaging observation and space environment detection are shown. Several innovative technologies including high accuracy rotation angle detection and scanning control, high precision calibration, micro vibration suppression, unified reference of platform and payload and on-orbit measurement, real-time image navigation and registration on-orbit were applied in FY-4.

Algorithm for the Sea Surface Wind Imaging Products of Fengyun-3C Meteorological Satellite MWRI

This paper analyzes the sea surface backward thermal radiation data in the China Sea observed by the mmwave channel of FY3 MWRI, explains the reason for which the analysis method combined with multiple mmwave channels is conducive to wind inversion, uses the complex model of the two-scale randomly rough surface with foam scattering layer to calculate the backward heat emission, analyzes the different response characteristics of the thermal radiation characteristics of each channel with the change of the sea surface wind speed, and establishes the wind speed inversion model applying to the microwave radiometer, achieving better results than in previous studies. The sea surface medium-low wind speed precision standard deviation of new model reaches 1.2 m/s (0 - 15 m/s);the inversion strong wind data are consistent with the island fixed buoys data, and the global sea surface wind speed image schematic diagram is given.

FY-2 GEO Meteorological Satellite Launched Successfully

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FY-2F Meteorological Satellite Successfully Launched

At 08:56 on January 13,a LM-3A launch vehicle launched into space FY-2F,the fourth operational geostationary meteorological satellite independently developed by China,from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.24 minutes after the lift-off,data received from the Xi'an Satellite TT&C Center and the

FY-3A SATELLITE MICROWAVE DATA ASSIMILATION EXPERIMENTS IN TROPICAL CYCLONE FORECAST

China's new generation of polar-orbiting meteorological satellite FY-3A was successfully launched on May 26,2008,carrying microwave sounding devices which had similar performance to ATOVS of NOAA series.In order to study the application of microwave sounding data in numerical prediction of typhoons and to improve typhoon forecasting,we assimilated data directly for numerical forecasting of the track and intensity of the 2009 typhoon Morakot(0908)based on the WRF-3DVar system.Results showed that the initial fields of the numerical model due to direct assimilation of FY-3A microwave sounding data was improved much more than that due to assimilation of conventional observations alone,and the improvement was especially significant over the ocean,which is always without conventional observations.The model initial fields were more reasonable in reflecting the initial situation of typhoon circulation as well as temperature and humidity conditions,and typhoon central position at sea was also adjusted.Through direct 3DVar assimilation of FY-3A microwave data,the regional mesoscale model improves the forecasting of typhoon track.Therefore,the FY-3A microwave data could efficiently improve the numerical prediction of typhoons.

The Polar Orbit Meteorological Satellite in China

Meteorological satellite is one kind of applied satellite that has tremendous benefit to economic and social. The development of polar meteorological satellite in China has experienced the processes from experiment to application. This paper introduces briefly the development and performance of FY-1 polar meteorological satellite; the successes of space borne 10 channels scanning radiometer and long life, high reliable polar satellite platform are described. Moreover, the general information of the new generation polar FY-3 meteorological satellite is presented. The technology specialty of the satellite is summarized.

FY-3B Satellite Delivered to CMA

FY-3B was formally delivered to the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) on May 26. The delivery ceremony was attended by China National Space Administration (CNSA),

LM-3A Successfully Launched the FY-2F Satellite

China successfully launched the meteorological satellite FY-2F into space at 8:56 a.m.on January 13 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.Developed and produced by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST),a subsidiary of the

Evaluation of the Long-term Performance of Microwave Radiation Imager Onboard Chinese Fengyun Satellites

Accurate brightness temperature(BT)is a top priority for retrievals of atmospheric and surface parameters.Microwave Radiation Imagers(MWRIs)on Chinese Fengyun-3(FY-3)serial polar-orbiting satellites have been providing abundant BT data since 2008.Much work has been done to evaluate short-term MWRI observations,but the long-term performance of MWRIs remains unclear.In this study,operational MWRI BTs from 2012–19 were carefully examined by using simultaneous Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2(AMSR2)BTs as the reference.The BT difference between MWRI/FY3B and AMSR2 during 2012–19 increased gradually over time.As compared with MWRI/FY3B BTs over land,those of MWRI/FY3D were much closer to those of AMSR2.The ascending and descending orbit difference for MWRI/FY3D is also much smaller than that for MWRI/FY3B.These results suggested the improvement of MWRI/FY3D over MWRI/FY3B.A substantial BT difference between AMSR2 and MWRI was found over water,especially at the vertical polarization channels.A similar BT difference was found over polar water based on the simultaneous conical overpassing(SCO)method.Radiative transfer model simulations suggested that the substantial BT differences at the vertical polarization channels of MWRI and AMSR2 over water were partly contributed by their difference in the incident angle;however,the underestimation of the operational MWRI BT over water remained a very important issue.Preliminary assessment of the operational and recalibrated MWRI BT demonstrated that MWRI BTs were substantially improved after the recalibration,including the obvious underestimation of the operational MWRI BT at the vertical polarization channels over water was corrected,and the time-dependent biases were reduced.

Assimilation of Feng-Yun-3B Satellite Microwave Humidity Sounder Data over Land

The ECMWF has been assimilating Feng-Yun-3B （FY-3B） satellite microwave humidity sounder （MWHS） data over ocean in an operational forecasting system since 24 September 2014, It is more difficult, however, to assimilate microwave observations over land and sea ice than over the open ocean due to higher uncertainties in land surface temperature, surface emissivity and less effective cloud screening. We compare approaches in which the emissivity is retrieved dynamically from MWHS channel l [150 GHz （vertical polarization）] with the use of an evolving emissivity atlas from 89 GHz observations from the MWHS onboard NOAA and EUMETSAT satellites. The assimilation of the additional data over land improves the fit of short-range forecasts to other observations, notably ATMS （Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder） humidity channels, and the forecast impacts are mainly neutral to slightly positive over the first five days. The forecast impacts are better in boreal summer and the Southern Hemisphere. These results suggest that the techniques tested allow for effective assimilation of MWHS/FY-3B data over land.

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-4 A on 11 December2016, FY-3 D on 15 November 2017 and FY-2 H 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-3气象卫星降水探测能力分析与展望

降水是全球能量/水循环中的重要过程。本文着重分析FY-3气象卫星降水探测能力,展望风云卫星后续规划中降水探测技术的发展前景。分析表明,以FY-3降水星为主星,与其他FY-3极轨卫星组成的FY-3气象卫星降水探测体系,在设计层面上,从载荷类型、数量、通道设置等方面均优于由美国发起并已在轨运行的全球降水测量(Global Precipitation Measurement,GPM)计划核心星的设计性能。FY-3降水星设计装载Ka/Ku双频降水测量雷达,卫星轨道设计覆盖南北纬50°范围内的中低纬地区,对影响我国区域的台风暴雨等强对流天气系统结构具有三维探测能力。FY-3气象卫星星座的降水探测能力为气象防灾减灾提供了基础支撑。

FY-3卫星应用和发展

回顾了风云三号(FY-3)卫星的应用和发展历程。介绍了FY-3卫星装载的成像、大气探测、辐射收支探测、大气成分监测和空间环境监测器5类仪器包,可实现从紫外、可见光、近红外、中红外、热红外到微波的多种电磁波谱段的遥感和探测。给出了地面应用系统生成的大气、陆地、海洋和空间天气等科学和应用领域的卫星遥感信息产品及其分辨率与精度。列举了部分典型的FY-3卫星数据在数值天气预报、臭氧和二氧化碳等大气成分和气候监测、生态环境和灾害监测等领域的应用结果。展望了未来FY-3卫星的发展,其中包含的4颗卫星,按晨昏、上午、下午近极地太阳同步轨道卫星3颗和倾斜轨道降水测量卫星1颗布局安排,组网完整的FY-3业务卫星的综合观测能力将有极大的提高,带动我国气象卫星应用进入成熟发展阶段。

FY-3卫星大气湿度微波探测技术发展

介绍了风云三号(FY-3)卫星大气湿度微波探测技术及其发展。阐述了大气湿度微波探测原理。给出了微波湿度计(MWHS)的组成,以及变速扫描、匀速扫描和定点观测三种工作模式。从FY-3卫星01批到03批,MWHS从单一的湿度探测发展为大气温湿度同步探测,灵敏度和定标精度不断提高。其中:A、B星MWHS有150,183.31GHz两个探测频率,150GHz在国际上首次采用准光技术实现了极化分离,有垂直和水平通道2个,183.31GHz与国际同类设备相同,有通道3个;C、D星MWHS增加了118.75GHz探测通道8个,183.31GHz探测通道增加到5个,并增加了150GHz窗区频率,显著提升了微波湿度计的探测能力,实现了多通道的细分探测,并具有大气温度、湿度同步探测的功能,且118GHz首次实现了星载非临边大气探测;03批MWHS将包括探测频率4个、探测通道15个,窗区探测频率由150GHz更改为166GHz,并大幅提高灵敏度、定标精度等系统性能指标。性能比较表明:FY-3卫星MWHS的系统灵敏度优于其他国际同类载荷。给出了FY-3卫星MWHS在台风监测、全球亮温图获取等大气探测和灾害性天气预报与跟踪监测中的应用成果。

FY-3卫星VIRR海表温度产品进展

介绍了在过去的5年中根据用户需求FY-3卫星可见光红外扫描辐射计(VIRR)海温产品算法和产品设计的进展。给出了其中主要的国内外海温算法。介绍了FY-3卫星VIRR海温产品的进展:FY-3A星海表温度(SST)用可见光阈值进行云检测,其SST值偏低;FY-3B星SST用云检测产品中的确信晴空进行分纬度带的白天MCSST算法,但整体海温仍偏低;FY-3C星SST在B星的基础上进行了优化,首次反演了夜间海温,并提供了逐像元的质量标识及海温的气候偏差,设计了5km全球海温,实现了5min段海温产品存档,提高了风云海温产品的可靠性、可用性和精度。给出了FY-3C星VIRR海温产品的图像及质量检验情况。归纳了海温产品的同一框架下多级别、多源、高分辨率的发展趋势。将风云卫星海温产品规格与高分辨率海温科学组(GHRSST)GDS2.0的交叉比对,海温科学组认为中国在海温方面的能力在不断增强。研究认为:长序列海温产品重处理以确保海温产品的一致性非常必要,海温产品需采用国际通用海温产品规格。

FY-3卫星洪涝灾害监测应用

对利用风云三号(FY-3)卫星数据对洪涝灾害监测进行了研究。给出了用FY-3卫星中分辨率成像仪(MERSI)和可见光红外扫描辐射计(VIRR)对薄云下和薄雾覆盖的水体判识的原理,以及洪涝信息检测中水体最大淹没面积和淹没时间信息的获取方法。给出了用FY-3卫星微波成像仪(MWRI)通过微波指数法反演洪涝信息的方法,可进行连续、全天候的大范围洪涝灾情监测。2011、2016年由其他卫星获得的洪涝水体信息表明:风云卫星的洪涝水体监测精度可达90%以上,甚至优于EOS卫星的MODIS和NOAA卫星的AVHRR的精度。近年来,风云卫星在国内外洪涝灾害等重大灾害监测评估中发挥了重要作用,改变了业务上以国外卫星资料为主进行洪涝灾害监测的局面,同时也提升了FY-3卫星在国际上的地位。展望了我国风云卫星在洪涝监测中的发展方向,指出随着风云卫星遥感技术的不断发展,洪涝灾害监测评估精度将会提高,为洪涝灾害防灾减灾提供更科学准确的决策依据。