MetOp-A

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MetOp-A
MetOp-A
Type: Weather satellite
COSPAR-ID : 2006-044A
Mission dates
Dimensions: 4.1 t
Size: 17 m × 6.5 m × 5.2 m
Begin: October 19, 2006, 16:28 UTC
Starting place: Baikonur
Launcher: Soyuz-2.1a / Fregat
Orbit data
Rotation time : 101.3 min
Track height: 820 km
Orbit inclination : 98.72 °
Eccentricity : 0.00014

MetOP-A is a European weather satellite with near-earth polar orbit of the MetOp series. MetOp was developed by the European weather satellite operator EUMETSAT and the European space agency ESA in collaboration with Astrium , the French space agency CNES and the US weather agency NOAA for the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS).

mission

MetOp-A with a takeoff mass of 4093 kg took off - after several aborted takeoffs - on October 19, 2006 at 16:28 UTC in Baikonur . The modified Soyuz-2-1a / Fregat , which previously only had a suborbital test launch, served as the launch vehicle . Because MetOp has a much larger volume than the payloads previously launched with the Soyuz Fregat, the Soyuz-2-1a / Fregat used a voluminous ST payload fairing for the first time (largely identical in size and shape to the payload fairing of the Ariane 4 ).

69 minutes after the successful start, MetOp-A was suspended by the Fregat upper level and started operations in early 2007. It orbits the earth on a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of approx. 820 km with an orbit inclination of 98.72 °.

construction

The satellite consists of two modules: The service module is responsible for power supply, position regulation and control (S-band transmission of telemetry and telecommands) and was developed by EADS in France on the basis of the SPOT earth observation satellites. The payload module contains the instruments and the data transmission of the payload data to the ground (essentially X-band ) and was developed by EADS in Germany (Friedrichshafen).

Instruments

The satellite observes the weather with its 13 instruments. Some of them are identical in construction to instruments of the American NOAA -18 weather satellite, which fulfills a similar function. In addition, MetOp supplies environmental data to the environmental information systems involved . To do this, it measures the temperature and humidity distribution with great precision, as do trace gases in the atmosphere such as ozone , CO and CO 2 , nitrogen oxides , sulfur dioxide and methane .

A number of instruments fly on the MetOp-A, which carry out operational measurements of the atmosphere as well as land and sea surfaces.

  • IASI - Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer - measurement of the temperature of the air and the surface of the oceans, as well as measurement of air humidity, content of trace gases
  • MHS - Microwave Humidity Sounder - measurement of the humidity of the atmosphere
  • GRAS - Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding - Measurement of temperature in the upper troposphere and the stratosphere with high vertical resolution
  • ASCAT - Advanced Scatterometer - measurement of wind speed and direction over the sea surface and of soil moisture over land.
  • GOME-2 - Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 - Creation of ozone profiles of the atmosphere
  • AMSU-A1 / AMSU-A2 - Advanced Microwave Sounding Units - Measurement of sea ice, temperature and humidity under all weather conditions
  • HIRS / 4 - High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder - measurement of air temperature and humidity
  • AVHRR / 3 - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer - imaging in the visible and near infrared range of clouds and surfaces
  • A-DCS - Advanced Data Collection System - collection of data from other ground or sea-based observation stations
  • SEM-2 - Space Environment Monitor - measurement of plasma traces and radiation data
  • SARP-3 - Search And Rescue Processor
  • SARR - Search And Rescue Repeater - reception and transmission of emergency signals

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Announcement “Europe's new MetOp weather satellite reaches polar orbit” . ESA, October 19, 2006.