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several chys.
If S~CDPO term forecastin od was
CSA with
an HWoptical imager and 81 Plimiaed
SOUI~C~F. capability would probably
suffice nB used in conjunction with a
skilled Id forecaster.
required, a gcosaationiuy T 1 %
. i
I
,
I
I
h i
The concept of a meteorrsloaical
TACSAT system has been lmddaessed
through P review of current payUa~a& aund
military requirements. The use of the
GEO systsm is wen as being pmisleiar1rly
attractive since these can provide
continual observation as well as a data
transmission link. LEO payloads me seen
as a complement to those in GIEO md can
offer a number of additional benefits.
Indeed, for complete atmm Daeric
monitoring and data extraction, b 5 LEO
and GEO satellites are necessary.
From review of the possibla: military
requirements, it is considered that present
meteorolo ical payloads can provide
P useful information.
current technmc~la~~ can
offer improvements which auld lead to a
viable TACSAT system.
The oaential value of a dedicated
’ TAC sp AT meteorological system cappears
I
2
to hh@ on the possible need to replace
~et~a~~dogid data derived €rom civil
mums whch my be switched off in time
of CI%~S, ad o$e tactid need for the
timely delilev of processed data.
system based an
iting satellites co\L;a
provide data adequate for forecasting up
to several days &ea& and compensate for
the loss of cid data sources, should those
be switched off durin a crisis. If such
assets are not switche df off then current
GEO system provide full Earth cloud
maps at a refresh rate of
minutes which is adequate Tically or global 3Q
monitoring. However, there may be a
requirement for ditay operations in
which the provision o a more ra id
update over an area much smaller t K an
the globd image would be of value. Such
ill system could be obtained through only a
minimal development of current
techology and in con’unction with global
imsa e?, would provi d e sufficient data to
A m d d me0eoro)lo ‘d
2 or 3 Low Earth Or %
em % le short tern forecasting.
The ultimate assessment of the need for a
rne~eo~olo@d system and its subsequent
performance charaaeristics falls to the
various Ministries and De artments of
Defense. However, it is P elt that the
tecPlPlical capability to rovide a variety of
tactical meoeorologi cap systems has been
demonstrated.
An views ex ressed are those of the
aut 1 or(s) and f o not necessarily represent
those of HM Government.
REFERENCES
[ 11 RTessier ‘The Metcosat Programme’
ESA Bulletin 58, May 1989, pp45-47