Development and Integration of Himawaricast Reception System at Pekayon Ground Station

Abstract

The vast territory of Indonesia stretches along the equator. Indonesia, which has a dynamic tropical rainy climate, needs fast and accurate weather information for various activities on land, sea, and air. Therefore, it is necessary to have information on the available weather that covers the entire area on an ongoing basis. Weather data information can be obtained quickly from remote sensing satellites. Where the advantage of geostationary satellites has wide enough coverage of the earth’s appearance where weather information can easily be obtained. Since 2015, the Himawari-8 satellite has been used as a weather satellite by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). There are several methods of data distribution, one of which is Himawari Cast that suitable for use by ground stations. Since 2016, the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN) has received Himawari-8 data using the Himawari Cast method via the Pekayon Ground Station. Himawari data sent by the telecommunications satellite JCSAT-2B is carried out every 10 minutes. Therefore, reliable ground station equipment is needed because it works almost all the time. Therefore, a backup reception system was built that functions as a system that is ready if one day the main receiving system fails. This paper contains the design, installation, and integration of devices from a backup system made at Pekayon ground station to receive Himawari data. Not only from the hardware side that was developed but also from the software side that can generate data regarding cloud information from Himawari-8 data.