main page newsspace newsnew russian instrument to show all typhoons and hurricanes in eastern hemisphere

New Russian Instrument to Show All Typhoons and Hurricanes in Eastern Hemisphere. / November 30, 2015 /

The MSU-GS up-to-date multispectral scanning instrument developed by the JSC „Russian Space Systems“ (RKS forming part of ORKK) and installed onboard the ELEKTRO-L No.2 new remote sensing spacecraft will enable acquiring the high-end images of the Earth’s full disk for operational hydrometeorological observation. The satellite is scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to be placed on the geostationary orbit on 11 December 2015.

The multispectral scanning device is the key and most sophisticated instrument of the Elektro-L No.2 sensor complement. MSU-GS will provide high-quality multispectral imagery of the Earth’s visible disk at location 76°E over Indian Ocean in geostationary orbit of about 36000 kilometers. The images acquired will be received by ROSHYDROMET and Research Center for Earth Operative Monitoring to be processed and analyzed.

V. Selin, Deputy General Designer says the new spacecraft will be the second satellite of the Elektro-L space hyrometeorological system on which the RKS’s cutting-edge development – multispectral scanning instrument have been installed. He also notes that the space system to be deployed in full force in 2017 after the Elektro-L No.3 spacecraft will allow the acquisition of data for studying the global climate at a radically new level providing the ROSHYDROMET and other State services with operational weather data.

The new instrument is designed for operational acquisition from orbit the data on the Earth’s atmosphere, soil and reservoirs. It will enable observing occurrence and development of disasters like typhoons, sprouts, hurricanes, floods, fires, volcanic activity, and other dangerous natural phenomena in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Yu. Gektin, the MSU-GS’s Chief Designer says the scanning device installed on Elektro-L No.2 exceeds the capabilities of its counterpart on board Elektro-L No.1 launched in 2011. The number of sensing elements in IR photoreceivers increased by 6 times, their spectral sensitivity was optimized, optical system bandwidth increased, and radiometric accuracy of temperature measurements improved considerably.

The new instrument will change the imagery mode and improve significantly the quality of images acquired. The instrument will take imagery in all 10 spectral bands simultaneously while the previous version provided the parallel-serial multispectral imagery with a 30-minute interval in different bands. The more frequent imagery mode is designed for observing the rapidly developing dynamic natural processes like typhoons, tsunami and hurricanes. The more frequent imagery enables the image of the full disk of the Earth to be formed by scanner unlike that of separate surface fragments formed by foreign counterparts.

The Elektro-L No.2 spacecraft is also equipped by the Onboard Radio Engineering Complex (BRTK), Heliogeophysical Instrument Complex, and Onboard Data Acquisition System (BSSD) developed by JSC „Russian Space Systems“. BRTK is designed for high-speed downlink of meteorological and heliogeophysical data, collection and relay of data from ground observing platforms, relay of signals from the COSPAS-SARSAT emergency beacons, and data change between the ROSHYDROMET’s ground centers. The Complex comprises more than 20 Russian high-frequency instruments.

The Elektro-L No.2 Heliogeophysical Instrument Complex will provide a global monitoring of heliogeophysical parameters aimed for monitoring and forecasting the solar activity and radiation and magnetic field, and diagnostics and monitoring of magnetosphere, ionosphere and upper atmosphere. BSSD serves for receiving data from scanning unit and heliogeophysical instrument complex as well as operational and monitoring data, their buffering, and transport stream generation to be radio linked through BRTK.

According to the ROSCOSMOS’s plans, the Elektro-L system will be completed by three more spacecraft in future. Elektro-L No.3 is scheduled for launch in 2017 and Elektro-L No.4 and No.5 hydrometeorological satellites will be launched in 2019–2020 with their onboard equipment is continuing to be improved at RKS. The spacecraft will be located at 14.5°W, 76° and 166° E within the radio circle of the ROSHYDROMET’s receiving stations in Moscow, Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk.

ROSCOSMOS Press Service

Версия для печати