5.11 NOAA

5.11 NOAA

The NOAA satellite series are the third generation of meteorological satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA (see Figure 5.11.1).

The first generation was the TIROS series (1960 - 1965), while the second generation was ITOS series (1970 - 1976). The NOAA series, the third generation, are listed in Appendix 2.

NOAA has a circular and sun synchronous orbit. The altitude is 870 km (NOAA-11) and 833 km (NOAA-12) with inclination of 98.7 degree (NOAA-11) and 98.9 degree (NOAA-12)to the equator. The orbital period is 101.4 minutes.

As the NOAA series are operational for meteorological observation, two NOAA satellites (currently NOAA-11 and NOAA-n) are in operation. A NOAA satellite can observe the same are area twice a day (day and night), so that the two satellite can cover the same area four times a day. Figure 5.11.2 shows the flyover times of NOAA-11 and NOAA-12 over Japan.

The major sensors of NOAA are AVHRR/2 (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer; model 2) with a 1.1 km IFOV for a swath of 2,800 km, and TOVS (TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder ) including HIRS/2 (High Resolution Infrared Sounder; model 2) with 20 km IFOV, for a 2,200 km swath, SSU ( Stratospheric Sounding Unit ) with 147 km IFOV, for a 736 km swath and MSU (Microwave Sounding Unit) with 110 km IFOV, for a 2,347 km swath.

Table 5.11.1 shows the characteristics of AVHRR/2, while Table 5.11.2 shows those of the TOVS Channels.