New era in weather satellite reception

The Hong Kong Observatory today (June 12) launches a new webpage of images from the latest weather satellite in the Chinese Fengyun-2 series, viz. FY-2D: http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/intersat/satpic_s.shtml

The Hong Kong Observatory installed a receiving station for satellite data from the 'FengyunCast' system in early 2008. Through a satellite antenna at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters, images from a number of weather satellites can be received. These include images from FY-2D. The FY-2D satellite and the existing FY-2C satellite are both geostationary weather satellites located above the equator at 86.5 degrees East and 105 degrees East respectively and capable of capturing images over the Asia-Pacific region around the clock.

During the rainy season, each of the two satellites increases the frequency of observation from once an hour to twice an hour. The two satellites together provide one satellite image every 15 minutes. This is very useful for monitoring such hazardous weather as tropical cyclones and rainstorms, contributing towards the prevention and mitigation of disasters.

Senior Scientific Officer of the Hong Kong Observatory, Dr C M Cheng, said, "With the advent of new weather satellite technologies, a number of weather satellites will be launched by various countries in the next few years. China last month (May) launched the Fengyun-3A (FY-3A) weather satellite. When it begins broadcasting, the Observatory will be able to receive its images via the 'FengyunCast' receiving station, further enhancing weather monitoring in the region."

'FengyunCast' is developed by the Chinese Meteorological Administration. It is an integral part of a global earth observational data sharing network called 'GEONetCast'. 'FengyunCast' re-broadcasts data from various weather satellites over the Asia-Pacific region, including the Fengyun-1 and Fengyun-2 series of satellites of China, the Multi-functional Transport Satellite-1R (MTSAT-1R) of Japan, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) series and the Earth Observing System series of satellites of the USA.