Polar Operational Environmental Satellites
The Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) project operates a constellation of weather satellites in polar orbits around the Earth. It is a joint effort between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).[1] Spacecraft for the project are provided by NASA and the European Space Agency. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center oversees the manufacture, integration and test of the NASA-provided TIROS satellites.[2] On-orbit satellite operation of these is performed by NOAA's Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO).[3] The POES constellation also includes an ESA-provided MetOp satellite operated by EUMETSAT. To protect the satellite from solar and terrestrial anomalies such as solar radiation belts and fluctuations of charged particles at altitude, the POES project is equipped with the Space Environment Monitor 2 (SEM-2) which provides awareness of these anomalies that may impair the operation of the satellite and its other sensors.[4]
Daily global coverage
Each POES satellite completes roughly 14.1 orbits per day. Since the number of orbits per day is not an integer, the ground tracks do not repeat on a daily basis. The systems includes both morning and afternoon satellites which provide global coverage four times daily.[3]
Applications
Data from the POES satellites support a broad range of environmental monitoring applications including weather analysis and forecasting, climate research and prediction, global sea surface temperature measurements, atmospheric soundings of temperature and humidity, ocean dynamics research, volcanic eruption monitoring, forest fire detection, global vegetation analysis, search and rescue, and many other applications.[3]
SARSAT
POES being used for the Search and Rescue community since 1982. COSPAS-SARSAT is the international humanitarian Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System that is responsible for alerting and locating information to search and rescue authorities . COSPAS-SARSAT satellites detect 406 MHz distress signals at all times from nearly any place on the globe. Each 406 MHz beacon has a unique fifteen digit identification (ID) code embedded within its signal which allows rescuers to have an identification of the party in distress before they head out on the rescue. There is no charge for this service provided in conjunction with NOAA and SARSAT[5].
Recent Launches
- GOES-R - (Later to become GOES-16) launched 19 November 2016 at 6:42 PM EST from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard an Atlas V 541 rocket [6]
- MetOp-B - Launched 17 September 2012 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan [7]
- NOAA-19 - Launched 6 February 2009 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, United States
- MetOp-A - Launched 19 October 2006 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
- NOAA-18 - Launched 20 May 2005 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA
- NOAA-17 - Launched 24 June 2002 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA
See also
References
- ^ "EUMETSAT Polar System - Programme Background". EUMETSAT.
- ^ "POES Project". NASA.
- ^ a b c "Polar Orbiting Satellites". NOAA.
- ^ ". . . P O E S . . ". poes.gsfc.nasa.gov.
- ^ NOAA. "COSPAS SARSAT - Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking System" (PDF). http://www.sarsat.noaa.gov/COSPAS-SARSAT_lowres.pdf (PDF).
{{cite web}}: Check|archive-url=value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help); External link in|website= - ^ "GOES_R" NASA. Retrieved: 13 March 2017.
- ^ "MetOp-B Launches with NASA Goddard-Developed Instruments."NASA. Retrieved: 21 June 2012.