FENGYUN 3D

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FENGYUN 3D is classified as:

Weather

NORAD ID: 43010

Int'l Code: 2017-072A

Launch date: November 14, 2017
Source: People's Republic of China (PRC)
Launch site: Taiyaun Space Center, China (TSC)

FENGYUN 3D is a new polar-orbiting weather observatory designed to replace an aging satellite (FENGYUN 3B launched in November 2010) for the China Meteorological Administration. FENGYUN 3D is placed into an orbit that passes overhead in the afternoon. The satellite is in a mid-morning orbit, giving Chinese forecasters a snapshot of weather conditions twice a day. The polar-orbiting observatories are designed to gather data inputs for numerical weather prediction models, which generate medium-range forecasts predicting changing weather conditions up to a week advance. One of FENGYUN 3D's instruments will take medium-resolution images with an upgraded camera that can see in 25 optical channels, 15 solar reflective channels and 10 infrared channels, allowing it to gather detailed data during day and night passes. Other sensors will measure soil moisture content, probe temperature and humidity at multiple layers in the atmosphere, and detect greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, a major contributor to climate change. Another instrument will monitor the health of the ozone layer, and an auroral imager and ionospheric photometer track the effects of space weather and solar storms.