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AbsltmsU
'E'AC.WT MEmOROWflCU
PAYLOADS
by
ID. Nickman
Matra-Marconi Space
Anchorage Road
Portsmouth PO3 5BU
Hampshi rc
United Kingdom
Information derivable from
Meteoroio@cd satellites are revkwed in
tern of their ag , liability to rnillitary use.
Potential TA 8 SAT meteordo ical
system are discussed in term of &EO
and EO payloads currently in operation.
1. InthosilnoccUiOna
Knowledge of changes in weather
conditions could provide essential
information in numerous militaky
scenarios. Such information has becn
obtained for many years from both ciril
aiid militauy satellite systems and is now a
well established technology with ti ,e
accuracy of information retrieval arld
processing cor,;inually improving.
Meteorological data can relate PO either
actual regional variations or to predictions
of cpli~gcs for a Liven area. bOBp
infomaion could be of consider
to a ground commander. For military
operations involving the movement or
deployment of men
frequent and accurate
maps and forecasts
assistance with operational g8anranio .
Furthermore, meteorolo icd da@ wou P d
also play a significant ro f: e in ~hc tactical
and strategic de loyment of foums in both
defensive and o H" Pensive 0pemtiom.l
The present papet aims to crspnoue the
a p p 1 I cab i 1 i t y of me t eo u d og i CP 1,
measurements from dedicated mtelli$tf
systems to support
military operataons.
atmospheric physics
meteorolo&ical data p~oscsohg are
outside the swpe of this paper sa~d awe not
considered here. Of more irnpmi-tance is
I
33-1
tbri! rel~vmss of atmagheriic parameters
trhich could be measured through a
dedicated tacoid meteorological system.
These requirements are reviewed in
wdon 2.
To ascertain what information could be
retrieved from such a TACSAT payload,
section 3 discusses the capabilities of a
nunbet of current civil and military
meteorological payloads which, it is felt,
demonstrate how the requirements of a
ground commander can be met. The
central discussion will be based on the
METEOSAT series of satellites together
with its companion satellites which form
part of a lobal monitoring s stem.
Although a P
r ull review of meteor0 ogical
payloads cannot be given here, the
payloads which are discussed are
considered to be relevant to TACSAT
applications and indicate what
measurements can be performed.
Satellite system can take the form of
either 6eostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)
or Low Earth Orbit (LEO), the choice of
orbit being dependent on the resolution,
ground coverage and data rates as well as
the scan characteristics of the satellite
pa load. A further distinction between
G6O and LEO satellites is that the
former employs assive sensors whereas
the latter can a P so
developments in
ere. Active
are not considered in any detail
in phis ager. However, it should be noted
that t R ey are becoming increasingly
important and do represent important
advances in meteorological systems.
In section 4, the features identified in
section 2 and the systems presented in
section 3 are brought together and
disclased in the context of meteorolo.ica1
TACSAT payloads. Additional nee& of
TACSAT system which are not currently
met by meteorological payloads are
reviewed in term of extensions to present
satellite system. Finally, an assessment is
offered on the usefulness of
meteorological payloads in a TACSAT
role.
2. RqWrnemU Revim
Atmospheric cswditiom clearly play a
m'or role in d itay operations and must
in d uence decisions mode by a local