Abstract
Meteorological satellites have become an irreplaceable tool for weather and land observation. Traditionally, geo-stationary satellites are commonly used in operational meteorological services due to their high temporal resolution properties. While polar-orbiting satellites, with their high spatial resolution properties, are more applied to monitor environmental change and natural disasters. The development of China’s next-generation geostationary meteorological satellites (FY-4 series) represents an exciting expansion in Chinese Non-meteorological remote sensing capabilities. The first satellite (FengYun-4A) of the FY-4 series was launched on 11 December 2016. The Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI) on board FY-4A has 14 spectral bands (increased from the five bands of FY-2) that are quantized with 12 bits per pixel (up from 10 bits for FY-2) and sampled at 1 km at nadir in the visible (VIS), 2 km in the near-infrared (NIR), and 4 km in the remaining IR spectral bands (compared with 1.25 km for VIS, no NIR, and 5 km for IR of FY-2). For the following series of FY-4A, the AGRI channel number will be gradually increased from 14 to 18 with IR spatial resolution of 2 km, and the full-disc temporal resolution will be enhanced from 15 to 5 min. With their improved spectral, spatial and temporal resolution properties, the FY-4 series will gradually approach the LEO sensors in spatial and spectral resolutions, which will offer greater opportunities and capacities for observing fine objects and rapid change of land, ocean and atmosphere. This review paper provides an introduction to the Chinese FY-4 observation capabilities, comparison of FY-4 with other new generation geo-stationary weather satellites, and associated non-meteorological applications. A series of typical examples based on recent and on-going operational work in NSMC/CMA that are using FY-4A data for non-meteorological applications were demonstrated and discussed, including (i) Aerosol monitoring; (ii) Sand storm monitoring; (iii)Volcanic ash detection and aviation applications ; (iv) Fire detection and dynamical evaluation; (v) Water body detection and (vi) Cyanobacterial Blooms monitoring. The paper concludes with a synthesis of these application areas and challenges we have to address for future research, technological innovation and in-depth applications.
Highlights
On 11 December 2016, China’s new-generation geostationary (GEO) meteorological satellite FY-4A/Advanced Geosynchronous Radiation Imager (AGRI) on board the Chinese new-generation satellites (FY-4A) was successfully launched at Xichang satellite launch center in the southwest of China
(3) The temperature calibration accuracy of FY-4A/AGRI has increased from 1 K (FY-2 series) to 0.1–0.5 K, which helps improve the accuracy of quantitative retrieval of land surface and atmospheric parameters
Differences In the infrared bands, the spatial resolution of ABI and AHI is 2 km while that of FY-4A/AGRI is 4 km, indicating that FY-4A/AGRI still has a certain disadvantage in detecting finescale surface and cloud detail compared with ABI and AHI
Summary
On 11 December 2016, China’s new-generation geostationary (GEO) meteorological satellite FY-4A was successfully launched at Xichang satellite launch center in the southwest of China. The primary use of China’s geostationary meteorological satellites (FY-2 series) was to image the Earth’s weather due to their high temporal resolution. (2) FY-4A/AGRI has more spectral bands (increased from 5 in FY-2 to 14), which will greatly improve object detection (e.g., aerosol, vegetation, cloud, snow, fire and water bodies) and quantitative retrievals. The observation mode and channel characteristics of FY-4A/AGRI are first compared with other GEO and LEO meteorological satellites, and the potential and challenges of FY-4A/AGRI for nonmeteorological applications are further discussed. During the in-orbit tests, FY-4A/AGRI data have been used in a wide range of applications including monitoring of aerosol (e.g., dust) and volcanic ash, fire detection, water body monitoring, and floating algae detection. Future work is discussed according to FY-4’s mission plan
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