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Meteor (satellite)
Encyclopedia
The Meteor craft are weather observation satellites launched by the USSR. The Meteor satellites were designed to monitor atmospheric and sea-surface temperature
s, humidity
, radiation
, sea ice
conditions, snow-cover, and clouds.
ILRS Mission Support Status: Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) tracking support of this satellite was discontinued in October 1998. What makes Meteor 2-21 distinctive from the other meteorological satellites is its unique retroreflector array. Fizeau is named after a French physicist, Armand Fizeau, who in 1851 conducted an experiment which tested for the aether
convection coefficient. SLR tracking of this satellite was used for precise orbit determination
and the Experiment of Fizeau. The Experiment of Fizeau tests the theory of special relativity
-that distance events that are simultaneous for one observer will not be simultaneous for an observer in motion relative to the first.
RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retro-reflector array consists of three corner cubes in a linear array with the two outer corner cubes pointing at 45 degree angles relative to the central cube. The central cube is made of fused silica and has a two-lobe Far Field Diffraction Pattern (FFDP) providing nearly equal intensities for compensated and uncompensated velocity aberration. Both outer reflectors have aluminum coating on the reflecting surfaces and near-diffraction-limited FFDPs. One of the end reflectors is made of fused silica with an index of refraction of 1.46 and should provide partial compensation of the velocity aberration. The other end reflector is made of fused glass with an index of refraction of 1.62 and should provide a perfect compensation of the velocity aberration.
SLR full-rate data from MOBLAS 4, MOBLAS 7, and Maidanak seem to confirm the presence of the compensating influence of the Fizeau effect. Resur-1, another Russian satellite launched in 1994, has 2 corner cubes reflectors with near diffraction-limited FFDPs, which were specifically designed for the continuation of this experiment. WESTPAC
, a future SLR satellite, will verify indisputably the existence or otherwise of the Fizeau effect.
Instrumentation: Meteor-2-21/Fizeau had the following instrumentation on board:
In the last days of the Cold War
, Meteor-3 carried the second Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
(TOMS) aloft as the first and the last American-built instrument to fly on a Soviet spacecraft. Launched from the Plesetsk
, Russia
, facility near the White Sea
, on August 15, 1991, Meteor-3 TOMS had a unique orbit that presents special problems for processing data. Meteor-3 TOMS began returning data in August 1991 and stopped in December 1994.
) "summer" satellite while 2-21 is in operation for approximately the half-year centered on winter.
and humidity
. The Meteor-3 class of satellites orbit in a higher altitude than the Meteor-2 class of satellites thus providing more complete coverage of the Earth's surface. The Meteor-3 has the same payload as the Meteor-2 but also includes an advanced scanning radiometer
with better spectral and spatial resolution and a spectrometer
for determining total ozone
content. Meteorological data is transmitted to four primary sites in the former Soviet Union
in conjunction with about 80 other smaller sites.
ILRS Mission Support Status: Satellite laser ranging and PRARE data was used for precision orbit determination and intercomparison of the two techniques. ILRS tracking support of this satellite was discontinued on November 11, 1995.
Instrumentation: METEOR-3-6 has the following instrumentation on board:
1) Scanning TV-sensor
2) Visible light and infrared radiometers
3) Scanning infrared radiometer
4) Ozone Mapper
5) Precise Range and Range-Rate Equipment (PRARE)
6) Retroreflector array
RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retro-reflector array is a box wing annulus with a diameter of 28 cm and has 24 corner cube reflectors.
The Meteor-3M series of satellites is to be an advanced series of polar orbiters with one 1.4 km resolution visible channel and a ten-channel radiometer with 3 km resolution.
The first of these, Meteor 3M-N1, was launched on December 10, 2001 at 17:18:57 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan
. The satellite is in a sun-synchronous orbit with an ascending node time of about 9 AM. An APT transmission was planned to only have a reduced resolution (2 km) visible channel data. The status of any APT capability on this satellite is unclear, but it is thought not to have an APT transmitter. No APT transmissions have been received from this satellite. SLR mission support began on May 1, 2002.
METEOR-3M includes the SAGE III (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment
) payload and other instruments designed to measure temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, surface properties, and high energy particles in the upper atmosphere. SAGE III is a gyrating spectrometer that measures ultraviolet/visible energy that will be used to enhance our understanding of natural and human-derived atmospheric processes by providing accurate long-term measurements of the vertical structure of aerosols, ozone, water vapor, and other important trace gases in the upper troposphere and stratosphere.
Secondary mission objective is the flight testing of the novel-type spherical retroreflector for precise laser ranging.
ILRS Mission Support Status: SLR will be used for precise orbit determination and retroreflector research.
Instrumentation:
1. SAGE III
2. Spherical retroreflector
3. Other weather monitoring instruments
RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retroreflector is a glass ball 60 mm in diameter, fastened in a holder providing observation from Earth at elevations more than 30° (the retroreflector field of view is centered in the Nadir direction). The spherical retroreflector with it holder is fixed to the METEOR-3M spacecraft. The expected return signal strength level is between LAGEOS
and ETALON.
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
s, humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
, radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
, sea ice
Sea ice
Sea ice is largely formed from seawater that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs below the freezing point of pure water, at about -1.8 °C ....
conditions, snow-cover, and clouds.
Meteor 2-21
Meteor 2-21/Fizeau is the twenty-first and last in the Meteor-2 series of Russian meteorological satellites launched in 1993.ILRS Mission Support Status: Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) tracking support of this satellite was discontinued in October 1998. What makes Meteor 2-21 distinctive from the other meteorological satellites is its unique retroreflector array. Fizeau is named after a French physicist, Armand Fizeau, who in 1851 conducted an experiment which tested for the aether
Luminiferous aether
In the late 19th century, luminiferous aether or ether, meaning light-bearing aether, was the term used to describe a medium for the propagation of light....
convection coefficient. SLR tracking of this satellite was used for precise orbit determination
Orbit determination
Orbit determination is a branch of astronomy specialised in calculating, and hence predicting, the orbits of objects such as moons, planets, and spacecraft . These orbits could be orbiting the Earth, or other bodies...
and the Experiment of Fizeau. The Experiment of Fizeau tests the theory of special relativity
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
-that distance events that are simultaneous for one observer will not be simultaneous for an observer in motion relative to the first.
RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retro-reflector array consists of three corner cubes in a linear array with the two outer corner cubes pointing at 45 degree angles relative to the central cube. The central cube is made of fused silica and has a two-lobe Far Field Diffraction Pattern (FFDP) providing nearly equal intensities for compensated and uncompensated velocity aberration. Both outer reflectors have aluminum coating on the reflecting surfaces and near-diffraction-limited FFDPs. One of the end reflectors is made of fused silica with an index of refraction of 1.46 and should provide partial compensation of the velocity aberration. The other end reflector is made of fused glass with an index of refraction of 1.62 and should provide a perfect compensation of the velocity aberration.
SLR full-rate data from MOBLAS 4, MOBLAS 7, and Maidanak seem to confirm the presence of the compensating influence of the Fizeau effect. Resur-1, another Russian satellite launched in 1994, has 2 corner cubes reflectors with near diffraction-limited FFDPs, which were specifically designed for the continuation of this experiment. WESTPAC
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
, a future SLR satellite, will verify indisputably the existence or otherwise of the Fizeau effect.
Instrumentation: Meteor-2-21/Fizeau had the following instrumentation on board:
- Scanning telephotometer
- Scanning infrared radiometers
- Radiation measurement complex
- Retroreflector array
Meteor 3
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, Meteor-3 carried the second Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
The Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer is a satellite instrument for measuring ozone values. It has been flown on NASA-satellites. Of the five TOMS instruments which were built, four entered successful orbit...
(TOMS) aloft as the first and the last American-built instrument to fly on a Soviet spacecraft. Launched from the Plesetsk
Plesetsk
Plesetsk is an urban locality Plesetsk is an urban locality Plesetsk is an urban locality (a work settlement and the administrative center of Plesetsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, situated about northeast of Moscow and south of Arkhangelsk. Municipally, it is the administrative...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, facility near the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
, on August 15, 1991, Meteor-3 TOMS had a unique orbit that presents special problems for processing data. Meteor-3 TOMS began returning data in August 1991 and stopped in December 1994.
Meteor 3-5
Meteor 3-5, launched in 1991, is in a slightly higher orbit than Meteor 2-21. It transmits on 137.300 MHz. Mechanically, it is similar to Meteor 2-21. Which satellite is in operation depends on the sun angles and consequently the seasons. Meteor 3-5 is usually the (Northern HemisphereNorthern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
) "summer" satellite while 2-21 is in operation for approximately the half-year centered on winter.
Meteor 3-6/PRARE
The METEOR 3-6/PRARE satellite is the sixth in the Russian METEOR-3 series of meteorological satellites launched in 1994. These satellites provide weather information including data on clouds, ice and snow cover, atmospheric radiationRadiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
and humidity
Humidity
Humidity is a term for the amount of water vapor in the air, and can refer to any one of several measurements of humidity. Formally, humid air is not "moist air" but a mixture of water vapor and other constituents of air, and humidity is defined in terms of the water content of this mixture,...
. The Meteor-3 class of satellites orbit in a higher altitude than the Meteor-2 class of satellites thus providing more complete coverage of the Earth's surface. The Meteor-3 has the same payload as the Meteor-2 but also includes an advanced scanning radiometer
Radiometer
A radiometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term radiometer denotes an infrared radiation detector, yet it also includes detectors operating on any electromagnetic wavelength....
with better spectral and spatial resolution and a spectrometer
Spectrometer
A spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
for determining total ozone
Ozone
Ozone , or trioxygen, is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope...
content. Meteorological data is transmitted to four primary sites in the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in conjunction with about 80 other smaller sites.
ILRS Mission Support Status: Satellite laser ranging and PRARE data was used for precision orbit determination and intercomparison of the two techniques. ILRS tracking support of this satellite was discontinued on November 11, 1995.
Instrumentation: METEOR-3-6 has the following instrumentation on board:
1) Scanning TV-sensor
2) Visible light and infrared radiometers
3) Scanning infrared radiometer
4) Ozone Mapper
5) Precise Range and Range-Rate Equipment (PRARE)
6) Retroreflector array
RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retro-reflector array is a box wing annulus with a diameter of 28 cm and has 24 corner cube reflectors.
Meteor-3M
The first of these, Meteor 3M-N1, was launched on December 10, 2001 at 17:18:57 UTC from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. The satellite is in a sun-synchronous orbit with an ascending node time of about 9 AM. An APT transmission was planned to only have a reduced resolution (2 km) visible channel data. The status of any APT capability on this satellite is unclear, but it is thought not to have an APT transmitter. No APT transmissions have been received from this satellite. SLR mission support began on May 1, 2002.
METEOR-3M includes the SAGE III (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment
Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment
The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment is a series of remote sensing satellite instruments used to study the chemical composition of earth's atmosphere. Specifically, SAGE has been used to study the Earth's ozone layer and aerosols at the troposhere through the stratosphere...
) payload and other instruments designed to measure temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, surface properties, and high energy particles in the upper atmosphere. SAGE III is a gyrating spectrometer that measures ultraviolet/visible energy that will be used to enhance our understanding of natural and human-derived atmospheric processes by providing accurate long-term measurements of the vertical structure of aerosols, ozone, water vapor, and other important trace gases in the upper troposphere and stratosphere.
Secondary mission objective is the flight testing of the novel-type spherical retroreflector for precise laser ranging.
ILRS Mission Support Status: SLR will be used for precise orbit determination and retroreflector research.
Instrumentation:
1. SAGE III
2. Spherical retroreflector
3. Other weather monitoring instruments
RetroReflector Array (RRA) Characteristics: The retroreflector is a glass ball 60 mm in diameter, fastened in a holder providing observation from Earth at elevations more than 30° (the retroreflector field of view is centered in the Nadir direction). The spherical retroreflector with it holder is fixed to the METEOR-3M spacecraft. The expected return signal strength level is between LAGEOS
LAGEOS
LAGEOS, or Laser Geodynamics Satellites, are a series of scientific research satellites designed to provide an orbiting laser ranging benchmark for geodynamical studies of the Earth...
and ETALON.