Meteorological Satellite

meteorological satellite: see satellite, artificial; weather satellite.

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meteorological satellite [‚med·ē·ə·rə′läj·ə·kəl ′sad·əl‚īt]

(aerospace engineering)

Earth-orbiting spacecraft carrying a variety of instruments for measuring visible and invisible radiations from the earth and its atmosphere.

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Meteorological Satellite 

(weather satellite), an artificial earth satellite designed to provide continuous observation of the distribution of the cloud cover and the earth’s radiation to obtain meteorological data for weather forecasts. Among the meteorological satellites are the Soviet Meteor space system, some satellites of the Cosmos series (for example, Cosmos 122, 144, 156, 184, and 206), and the American Tiros and Nimbus.

A meteorological satellite provides for simultaneous measurement of the radiation fluxes in various parts of the spectrum and photography of the cloud cover by visible and infrared rays. The measurement is performed by television cameras for day and night viewing; by infrared instruments, which measure the temperature of the earth’s surface and the clouds; and by actinometric instruments, which measure the reflected and radiated thermal energy of the earth and the atmosphere. The meteorological data are recorded in the memory of computers on board the satellite and are subsequently transmitted to ground stations. To provide the geographic referencing of the meteorological data, the satellite has functional systems that orient it continuously and accurately toward the earth and in the direction of the flight path and also synchronize all recording and memory devices. The power for on-board equipment comes from solar batteries, which have an independent system of orientation toward the sun, and from chemical batteries with the necessary automatic controls. The satellites also have radio telemetry systems and systems for making accurate measurements of orbital parameters. Present-day satellites orbit at altitudes of 400–1,500 km, thus providing observation zones up to 1,000 km wide.

The development of a Soviet meteorological satellite began as part of the program to create the Cosmos series of satellites. During the first stage of development, electrical equipment for stabilizing the satellite and orienting its housing toward the center of the earth was developed and tested using satellites of the Cosmos 23 type. A set of instruments for meteorological observations that included television, actinometric, and infrared de-vices, together with a system that ensured the functioning of the satellite in orbit for many months, was tested on Cosmos 122. Cosmos 144 and Cosmos 156, together with ground stations, formed the Meteor experimental space meteorological system. In only one revolution around the earth, the satellite provides information on the cloud cover over a territory of about 8 percent of the globe and data on radiation fluxes for about 20 percent of the globe. The orbits of satellites are arranged relative to one another in such a way that they produce observations of the weather over each region of the globe every six hours. Thus, the development of atmospheric processes in various regions of the earth may be traced.

G. A. NAZAROV