Beijing, 2 May 2024, (GNP): China’s first precipitation monitoring satellite in a low-angle orbit, the Fengyun-3G (FY-3G), commenced its official operations on Wednesday, as announced by the China Meteorological Administration.
Deployed on April 16, 2023, FY-3G primarily serves in the study of precipitation climatology and the systematic monitoring of hazardous weather events.
It offers three-dimensional data on precipitation structure in areas with moderate and low latitudes.
China’s satellite launch success has positioned it as the sole nation to concurrently operate four civilian meteorological satellites in near-Earth orbit, encompassing morning, noon, afternoon, and inclined orbital trajectories.
Chen Lin, deputy chief designer of the FY-3G ground system, highlighted in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) that global precipitation observation, particularly the three-dimensional structure observation, has historically posed a challenge in meteorological detection.
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Since October 23, 2023, the satellite has undergone over six months of trial operation. Throughout this period, the satellite-ground system operated consistently, with the satellite platform, onboard payload, and satellite measurement and control systems all maintaining normal conditions.
The four assessment criteria – data reception, data processing, product distribution, and data archiving – all fulfilled the established standards.
Throughout the year, the FY-36 has not onlyprovided strong and powerful support forweather service guarantees for China’sUniversiade, Asian Games and other events,but also provided support for monitoringglobal disasters such as floods in Pakistan,heavy rainfall in Brazil and the recent heavyrainfall in Yemen,” Chen said.
China’s independently developed Fengyun meteorological satellite system, of which the FY-3G is a part, has been continuously evolving since the launch of the first Fengyun meteorological satellite in 1988.
Over the years, a total of 21 Fengyun meteorological satellites spanning two generations and four types have been successfully deployed, with nine of them still operational in orbit.