Satellite User Readiness Navigator (SATURN)

[ 2018.12.21 04:18 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Basic

① Development of Geo-KOMPSAT-2A

Geo-KOMPSAT-2A(hereafter GK-2A) was successfully launched on 5th December of 2018 in Centre spatial guyanais(CSG), which will succeed the COMS(Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite) meteorological mission. The COMS is scheduled to complete its observation operation until March of 2020, the data service will be done until the end of 2019. And the level 1B data of GK-2A will be released on July of 2019 after completion of in-orbit-test(IOT). So there will be six months transition period of user service of COMS and GK-2A parallely from July to December of 2019.

The GK-2A has much better capabilities in terms of observation performance. The number of channels of GK-2A will be increased from 5 to 16 and the number of meteorological products from 16 to 52, respectively. Its ability of full disk scanning of every 10 minutes will enhance the disaster monitoring.

<Comparison of COMS and Geo-KOMPSAT-2A>

② Payload Development

The GEO-KOMPSAT-2A will load two instruments, one is AMI(Advanced Meteorological Imager) for meteorological mission and the other is KSEM(Korea Space wEather Monitor) for space weather mission.

• AMI(Advanced Meteorological Imager) 
  The AMI is manufactured by Harris Co. and it has 1.3 micrometer channel and doesn’t have 2.3 micrometer channel compared to AHI on Himawari-8/9.

• KSEM(Korea Space wEather Monitor)
  KSEM is the first Korean space weather instrument suite aboard a GEO satellite. Like the Galaxy 15 anomaly on 2010, GEO satellites are easily exposed to the risk due to severe space weather. It is expected that KSEM data will contribute to secure the satellite operation and the high-tech ground infrastructure
  KMA in coordination with KARI selected KHU (Kyunghee University) to develop the KSEM suite of instruments and post-delivery support for the assembly and integration test, pre- and post- launch test of Geo-KOMPSAT-2A. The suite of KSEM instruments consists of particle detector (PD), magnetometer (MAG) and SCM (Satellite Charging Monitor). The sensors are used to monitor the space environment 6 the severe space weather information of high-impact space storms, the radiation environment hazardous to spacecraft, aircraft and radio communication for 24 hours and 7 days during 10 years mission life time.

< PD: Particle Detector / MG: Magnetometer / CM: Charging Monitor >

③ Development of ground station

NMSC has been developing the ground station to operate Geo-KOMPSAT-2A since 2014. For non-stop operation and real-time data service, back-up systems will be equipped for all components and the remote data storage will be implemented for enhancing data security.

The Ground Segment of GEO-KOMPSAT-2A will improve the weather forecast accuracy, sharpen the competitive edge in the global meteorological information sector, establish the safety control and climate change response, and cultivate the professional in the meteorological sector.

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A ground segment contains the algorithms to produce 52 meteorological products which will be used for weather forecasting and climatology research. Those algorithms were developed by the universities in Korea, which were modularized, standardized, and parallelized for NMSC to be installed in the data processing system of the ground segment.  the application algorithms to provide more value-added information to the satellite data interpreters, weather forecasters, typhoon analyzers and the satellite data users in many other areas. Four application areas include Nowcasting, Typhoon and Ocean Monitoring, Surface and Hydrology Information, and Climatology and Environmental Monitoring.

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A has the mission to observe the space weather. Five types of space weather outputs are Magnetospheric high energy particle distribution, Geostationary particle distribution, Spacecraft charging index, Dst index, and Kp index. The service of the processed satellite data will be provided in two ways : WEB-based internet/intranet service and weather broadcasting service. Various satellite meteorological data services such as searching, displaying, or downloading can be provided on the website of the National Meteorological Satellite Center.

For weather broadcasting services in conjunction with large scale broadcasting receivers, all channel data will be provided at the resolution same as that of imagery captured by the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Satellite.

④ Development of data processing and application technology

NMSC plans to produce 52 kinds of products and develop 4 types of base technologies in the field of meteorological data processing. Also the applications system will be developed to provide the customized information over the Now-casting, NWP, Typhoon/ocean, climate changes and environmental weather monitoring, and converging technology area.

[ 2018.12.21 04:29 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A User Readiness Planning

KMA has established the work structure for the GK-2A products user readiness.
Below are the roles of each components

• NMSC : Quasi-realtime operation of algorithm testbed/education and guidances for users
• User groups : Assessment and recommendation for the meteorological products/feedbacks on the results to NMSC
• ETRI : Algorithm improvement reflecting the users’ feedbacks from NMSC

The user readiness group consists of members in various divisions such as forecast, NWP, synoptic observation and aviation. NMSC leads and communicates to the user readiness group. The user readiness group assesses the performance of GK-2A meteorological products.

With the activities of the user groups, the timeline guidance for nearcast and warnings of convective rainfall is suggested as below.

During the IOT period, NMSC and User readiness group will have the deeper assessment of GK-2A products using the actual GK-2A data, and NMSC and user group will make an effort to find the application method of GK-2A for the improvement of forecast accuracy

[ 2018.12.28 04:37 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Instrument Performance

① AMI(Advanced Meteorological Imager) with 16 channels

Belows are the target products of each channels

• 0.47 : for Aerosol over land, coastal water composite imaging
• 0.511 : for Composite imaging
• 0.64 : for Vegetation, burn scars, aerosol over water, winds, composite imaging
• 1.38 : for cirrus cloud detection, cloud type and amount
• 1.61 : for Daytime cloud-top phase and particle size, vegetation snow
• 3.83 : for Surface and clouds, nighttime fog, fire, winds
• 6.24 : for High altitude atmospheric water vapor, winds, precipitation
• 6.95 : for Low altitude water vapor, winds, sulfur-dioxide
• 8.59 : for Total atmospheric, turbulence, winds
• 9.62 : for Ozone, atmospheric turbulence, winds
• 10.4 : for Surface and clouds, atmospheric window
• 11.2 : for Clouds, Precipitation, atmospheric window
• 12.64 : for Total water, ash, atmospheric window
• 13.31 : for Air temperature, cloud heights, carbon dioxide

② AMI(Advanced Meteorological Imager) SRF(Spectral Response Function)

③ KSEM(Korea Space wEather Monitor)

[ 2018.12.21 04:44 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Areas of Coverage and Observation Schedule

① Observation Scan Patterns

– Full Disk (FD)

– Regional Area (RA) : 6200 X 5900 km (EW X NS)

– Extended Local Area (ELA) : 3800 X 2900 km (EW X NS)

– Local Area (LA) : 1000×1000 km (EW X NS)

② Observation Area and Schedule

– Plan 1: Full Disk (1) + ELA (4) / 10 minutes

– Plan 2: Full Disk (1) + RA (2) / 10 minutes

During 10 minutes timeline, GK-2A takes 1 FD, 5 ELA and 5 LA images. LA image can be utilized for special observation for designated area defined by operation center such as typhoon, volcanic eruption etc.

[ 2018.12.21 05:16 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Data Access mechanisms

GK-2A data can be accessed in various ways of landline-based network and dissemination by satellite.

• Satellite broadcast system (AMI data)- To maintain H/LRIT broadcast corresponding to COMS five channels
  • [UHRIT] All 16 channels data of meteorological observations in Ultra HRIT
  • [HRIT] Maintain HRIT broadcast corresponding to COMS five channels
  • [LRIT] Broadcast weather FAX replaceable information for ships over ocean

The antenna size map for receiving GK-2A UHRIT data is below. For example, the 4.5m diameter antenna is needed for Indonesia to receive those data.

• Landline service (AMI/KSEM data)
  • Access and download will be available on websites (NMSC, DCPC)
  • Data service function on websites will be available by user registration

[ 2018.12.28 05:20 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Software Tools and Test Data

• Image Processing Tools are under development
  • Image processing/analysis tool for Linux and PCs
  • The function of real time/non-real time image format conversion (library) will be developed
  • This software will be released on NMSC website and the availability will be notified in the future.

<Example of screen display of image analysis tool>

[ 2018.12.21 05:02 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Data, Products, and Applications

① Meteorological products

NMSC/KMA has started to develop 52 meteorological products (23 day-1 and 29 day-2) for GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (GK-2A) since 2014 for applying now-casting, numerical weather prediction, climate, and so on. All products are developed by 4 development teams which are Cloud and Precipitation, Radiation and Aerosol, Atmosphere and Aviation, and Scene Analysis and Surface Information. The detailed Algorithm Theoretical Baseline Document for each product will be provided in near future.

<List of 23 Day-1 and 29 Day-2 products>

The specification of level 2 product for main products

② Application techniques

Also, NMSC/KMA will plan to develop the application technology of GEO-KOMPSAT-2A data including the following four parts:

• Nowcasting
• Tropical cyclone & Ocean
  • Hydrology & fusion technology
• Climate change monitoring & Environmental meteorology

<The development plan for GEO-KOMPSAT-2A application products>

[2018.12.21 05:08 UTC Content has been updated. ]

GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Data Formats and Volumes

NMSC/KMA is developing the ground segment that will receive data from GK2A, generate real-time GK2A meteorological/space weather products and disseminate data via GK2A broadcasting. The top-notch Information & Communication Technologies and scientific capabilities are being applied to handle the vast volume of GK2A data in real-time manner consistent with user requirements.

The each level 1B and level 2 products will be generated in netCDF4 format as you can see below sample.

The level 1B files will contain some quality information in header parts.

To give some clue of data volume, you can refer the below table which displays the file sizes of Full Disk level 1B. For all 16 channels, it would be 2.25 GB.

[ Content has been updated. ]

Geo-KOMPSAT-2A Training and Resource

All documents including ATBD (Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents) of Level-2 products from GK-2A satellite are now being prepared and will be available after 2018. To meet the user’s needs and operational performance, user community composed of scientists, researchers and operational forecasters communicate with each other through monthly science meeting, seminars, or annual workshops. NMSC/KMA is also developing user-oriented GK-2A image processing tools for internal and international users.

On the other hand, Centre of Excellence (CoE) of KMA will provide an international training course on “Improvement of Meteorological Satellite Data Analysis and Application Capacity” from 2016 to 2018 through the support of KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency). The objective of this course is to improve analysis and application competence in the various fields such as forecasting, marine, climate, environment, hydrology etc. using GK-2A and other LEO satellite data.

The first training is scheduled for 24 days from 10 October to 2 November, 2016 and 26 participants from 17 countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Mongolia, Philippines, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Bhutan, will attend the course. The training will focus on the quantitative and qualitative use of COMS and GK-2A data and products, satellite image interpretation and analysis for weather forecasting, fundamental RGB techniques, various application methods for climate, environment and hydrology fields to enhance understanding on the next generation satellite of GK-2A.

At the occasion of Asia-Oceanic Meteorological Satellite Users’ Conference in Songdo, Korea from 21 to 27, November 2016, 2days’ training event (21~22, Oct.) is also planned, which is related to data processing and application on nowcating of next generation satellites such as Himawari-8, GOES-R, FY-4, and GK-2A.

The detailed module of KMA’s international training is as below table.