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Meteor-M-2 Meteorological Mission

Overview    Spacecraft    Launch    Mission Status  Sensor Complement   Ground Segment   References

The Meteor-M-2 (also referred to as Meteor-M2, or as Meteor-M N2) satellite is a Roskosmos/Roshydromet/Planeta (Moscow, Russia) follow-on polar-orbiting meteorological mission to Meteor-M-1 (launch Sept. 17, 2009). The overall objectives of the Meteor-M-2 mission are to provide global observations of the Earth's surface and its atmosphere. The data acquired by the satellite is used for the following purposes:

• Weather analysis and forecasting on global and regional scales

• Global climate change monitoring

• Sea water monitoring and forecasting

• Space weather analysis and prediction (solar wind, ionospheric research, Earth's magnetic field, etc.).


Status of the future LEO satellite systems:

According to the Russian Federal Space Program, the polar-orbiting satellites system should consist of three hydrometeorological and one oceanographic satellite. 1)

• The Meteor-M2 spacecraft was launched on July 8, 2014.

• The Meteor-M2-1 hydrometeorological satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2015.

• The Meteor-M3 oceanographic satellite is scheduled to be launched in 2020.

These satellites will be (have been) designed by JSC VNIIEM Corporation.

• MSU-MR Scanning Radiometer (1 km spatial resolution multichannel scanning unit, 6 channels, VIS/IR)

• KMSS VIS Scanning Imager (6 channels implemented by 3 cameras, 50 m and 100 m spatial resolution)

• MTVZA-GY Imaging/Sounding Microwave Radiometer (module for temperature and humidity sounding of the atmosphere, 26 channels, 10.6-183 GHz)

• IRFS-2 Infrared FTS (Fourier Transform Spectrometer), an (IR atmospheric sounder, spectral range 5-15 µm, spectral resolution ~ 0.5 cm-1), also referred to as IKRS-2

• GGAK-M Heliogeophysical Measurements Suite

• Severjanin X-band Side-Looking Radar (500 m and 1000 m resolution)

• DCS (Data Collection System)

Table 1: Overview of the sensor complement of the Meteor-M2 and Meteor-M2-1 missions

Roskosmos plans to launch five similar satellites with the same payload as Meteor-M2, i.e. Meteor-M2-1, Meteor-M2-2, Meteor-M2-3, Meteor-M2-4, Meteor-M2-5. The goal is to create a system of identical operational meteorological satellites in the morning and afternoon orbits.

Regarding the future Meteor-M3 oceanographic satellite, this spacecraft is currently under development. Its payload will consist of:

• Multimode radar based on APAA (Active Phased Array Antenna) technology (X-band, spatial resolution from 1 to 500 m, swath width of 10 - 750 km)

• Scatterometer (Ku-band; 25 x 25 km spatial resolution, swath 1800 km)

• Coastal Zone Scanner (4 channels, visible range, 80 m spatial resolution, swath 800 km)

• Ocean Color Scanner (8 channels, visible range, 1 km spatial resolution, swath 3000 km)

• Radio-occultation instrument (Radiomet).



Figure 1: Illustration of the deployed Meteor-M2 spacecraft (image credit: Roskosmos, Ref. 3)


The Meteor-M spacecraft series are developed by RSC (Research and Production Corporation) VNIIEM , Moscow as prime contractor to Roskosmos. Each satellite in the series has a mass of ~2,800 kg including ~1,250 kg for the multi-instrument payload suite of the satellites. The Meteor-M satellites share a series of common instruments, but some instruments are specific to each spacecraft to increase the amount of available data.

The Meteor-M2 spacecraft consists of large cylindrical body structure, two deployable sun-tracking solar arrays, a large deployable synthetic aperture radar antenna and a rectangular payload deck that hosts the majority of the instruments and instrument apertures of the satellite being pointed to Earth for observations.

The spacecraft is three-axis stabilized. Attitude sensing is being provided with a star tracker, referred to as BOKZ-M. The S/C pointing accuracy is 0.1º, the angular drift rate is 0.0005º/s. A navigation subsystem (GPS/GLONASS receiver) provides orbit determination and timing services.

The BOKZ-M star tracker is of Resurs-DK1 (launch June 15, 2006) heritage. The BOKZ family instrument is a monoblock with the digital TV camera based on a CCD array detector, a signal processor based computer and a secondary power supply unit. The instrument is providing a pointing accuracy of 2 / 20 arcsec (x, y / z), the attitude data is updated at a frequency of 0.3 Hz, the instrument has a mass of 4 kg, power consumption of 11.2 W, and a size of 37 cm x 23 cm x 23 cm.

Solar power of 2 kW (BOL) is provided by two deployed panels which are continuously sun pointed for optimum power generation (solar panel area of 23 m2, solar array span of 14 m).

The S/C launch mass is 2778 kg (payload mass of ~1200 kg). The S/C design life is 5 years with a goal of additional service provision.

RF communications: Use of LRIT (Low Rate Information Transmission) and HRIT (High Rate Information Transmission) communication standards according to WMO (World Meteorological Organization) to permit data exchange on an international level.


X-band data transmission

8025-8400 MHz


Nominal carrier frequency

8192 (T1); 8320 (T2) MHz


Data transmission rate

15.36, 30.72, 61.44, or 122.88 Mbit/s (on each channel)


Transmitter output power

10 W


Data modulation type

RFM, DRFM (Digital Radio Frequency Memory)


L-band data transmission

1.69 - 1.71 GHz


Nominal carrier frequency

1.7 GHz


Data transmission rate

665.4 kbit/s (HRPT transmission)


Transmitter output power

5 W


Modulation type

PSK (Phase-Shift Keying)


VHF-band data transmission

137-138 MHz (MSU-MR bands in LRPT format)


Data transmission rate

80 kbit/s (LRPT transmission)


Onboard data collection and transmission system from DCPs (Data Collection Platforms)


No of DCPs in visibility zone, common

150, < 500


Message volume

250 bit


Data transmission rate

1200 or 400 bit/s


Location accuracy of DCP

3.6 km (for one session)


Total volume of stored data for one orbital revolution

300 kByte


Data reception frequency from DCPs

401.2-402.0 MHz (UHF band)


Data transmission from S/C to ground

1690-1710 MHz (L-band)

Table 2: Overview of communication links



Figure 2: Photo of the Meteor-M2 spacecraft during integration (image credit: Roskosmos)


Figure 3: Photo of a fully assembled payload section including the Meteor-M2 satellite, Fregat upper stage and secondary payloads (image credit: Roskosmos, Anatoly Zak)


Launch: The Meteor-M2 spacecraft was launched on July 8, 2014 (15:58:28 UTC) with a Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat launch vehicle of NPO Lavochkin. The launch site was the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. 2) 3) 4) 5)








Table 3: The launch of M3MSat was cancelled - a consequence of sanctions on Russia 7) 8)

Secondary payloads on this flight were:





• M3MSat dummy payload of 80 kg.








Mission status:

• November 2015: The Meteor-M-N2 spacecraft and its payload (some limitations on Severjanin) are operating nominally. 10)

- MSU-MR instrument is fully functional

- MTVZA-GY instrument is fully functional (absolute calibration work is still ongoing)

- KMSS instrument is fully functional

- IKFS-2 instrument is fully functional

- Severjanin instrument is functional with limitations (due to low signal/noise ratio)

- DCS is functional

- LRPT transmission is functional

- GGAK-M is functional.

• On January 15, 2015, Roskosmos announced that the flight testing of the Meteor-M-N 2 satellite had entered a final phase. The press-release stressed that the prolonged testing was the result of a long list of checks and the complexity of procedures providing the correct operation of onboard systems and high quality of remote-sensing data. The statement went on to say that all calibration and testing efforts provided enough data to conclude that the spacecraft had been ready for operations. By that time, Russian meteorological agency, Roshydromet, joined Roskosmos in processing the satellite's data, the space agency said (Ref. 3).

- Almost half a year after the launch of the Meteor-M2 satellite in July 2014, the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, published a number of press-releases on the flight testing of its newest meteorological satellite along with numerous photos delivered by its instruments. However as important was what was not said or shown — in particular any mentioning of the onboard radar. The 150 kg Severyanin (Northerner) X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar onboard Meteor-M2 satellites was designed to provide all-weather, day-and-night imagery of the Earth surface with a resolution as high as 400 m.


Figure 4: Sea of Okhotsk imaged by Meteor M2's KMSS instrument on Jan. 13, 2015 (image credit: Roscosmos, Ref. 3)


Figure 5: Troubled Northern Caucuses region imaged on Jan. 14, 2015, by MSU-MR instrument onboard Meteor-M2 satellite (image credit: Roscosmos, Ref. 3)

• First image of Meteor-M2 obtained with the MSU-MR instrument on July 25, 2014. 11)


Figure 6: Multispectral image of Italy observed with MSU-MR on July 25, 2014 (image credit: Roscosmos)



Sensor complement: (MSU-MR, KMSS, MTVZA-GY, GGAK-M, IRFS-2, Severjanin, DCS,)

MSU-MR (Low-resolution Multispectral Scanner)

MSU-MR was designed and developed by FSUE/RISDE (Federal State Unitary Enterprise) / Russian Scientific Institute of Space Device Engineering), Moscow. Objective: Global and regional cloud cover mapping, SST (Sea Surface Temperature), and LST (Land Surface Temperature). The optomechanical MSU-MR instrument provides imagery in six bands in the VIS and IR spectral regions (similar in performance and function to the AVHRR/3 instrument on the POES missions of NOAA) with a spatial resolution of 1 km.



Band No 1 (VIS= Visible)

0.50 ± 0.2 - 0.70 ± 0.2 µm

Band No 2 (VNIR=Visible Near Infrared)

0.70 ± 0.2 - 1.10 ± 0.2 µm

Band No 3 (SWIR= Short Wave Infrared)

1.60 ±0.50 - 1.80 ± 0.50 µm

Band No 4 (MWIR= Mid Wave Infrared)

3.50 ± 0.50 - 4.10 ± 0.50 µm

Band No 5 (TIR = Thermal Infrared)

10.5 ± 0.50 - 11.5 ± 0.50 µm

Band No 6 (TIR = Thermal Infrared)

11.5 ± 0.50 - 12.5 ± 0.50 µm

Scanning geometry-plane, scanning angle

108º, 54º

Swath width

2800 km

Angular resolution in all spectral channels

1.2 +0.2 mrad

Spatial resolution at nadir

1 km

SNR in bands 1 and 2, in band 3

≥ 200, ≥ 100

Overall relative measurement error of radiance in bands 1-3


Range of radiation temperature measured in bands 4-6

213-313 K

NEDT (Noise Equivalent Differential Temperature) at 300 K
- Band 4
- Band 5
- Band 6

≤ 1 K
≤ 0.2 K
≤ 0.2 K

Overall absolute measurement error at 333 K in bands 4-6

0.5 K

Data quantization

10 bit


Use of onboard calibration sources

Data rate

660 kbit/s

Operational mode


Instrument mass

≤ 70 kg

Table 4: Key performance parameters of the MSU-MR instrument


Figure 7: Illustration of MSU-MR instrument (image credit: FSUE/RSIDE, Roshydromet/Planeta, Ref. 4)


KMSS (Multispectral Scanning Imaging System)

KMSS was designed and developed at IKI (Space Research Institute), Moscow. The objective is Earth surface monitoring. The instrument comprises three pushbroom cameras in the VNIR range; two cameras (MSU-100) have a focal length of 100 mm; the third one (MSU-50), has a focal length of 50 mm. The two MSU-100 cameras are tilted ±14º in cross-track to each side of nadir; together they cover a swath width of 960 km, which is close to the swath of MSU-50. 12)

Each camera has a focal plane with 3 CCD lines (each covered with a corresponding filter) behind a common lens. The three-line camera system (with 3 CCD-lines in a focal plane and 1 lens, the corresponding detector elements of different bands look necessarily in different along-track directions) provides the following along-track observation directions: ±17º and 0º (nadir) for MSU-50, and ±8.7º and 0º for MSU-100. The KMSS instrument represents simply the mounting fixture of three separate cameras, and the KMSS image will be an image of 3 separate cameras put together in ground processing.



Swath width (2 MSU-100, 1 MSU-50)

960 km (cumulative of 2 cameras), 940 km

FOV (Field of View) in cross-track direction

31º, 62º

Spatial resolution

60 m (MSU-100)
120 m (MSU-50)

Total No of spectral bands


Spectral bands (µm) of MSU-100
Spectral bands (µm) of MSU-50

0.535-0.575; 0.630-0.680; 0,760-,900;
0.37-0.45; 0.45-0.51; 0.58-0.69

No of CCD elements in cross-track


Data quantization

8 bit

SNR for bright objects (clouds at high sun elevation)


Source data rate per band

9.8 Mbit/s

Source data rate of 1 camera system, 2 camera system

~30 Mbit/s, ~60 Mbit/s

MSU-100 mass, power
MSU-50 mass, power

2.9 kg, 6.8 W (peak power consumption)
2.3 kg, 6.8 W (peak power consumption)

MSU-100 size

210 x 200 x 200 mm (the last size - along the optical axis)

MSU-50 size

210 x 200 x 140 mm (the last size - along the optical axis)

Table 5: Specification of the KMSS instrument


Figure 8: Illustration of the KMSS cameras (MSU-50 at center and the 2 MSU-100 on each side), image credit: IKI, Roshydromet/Planeta


MTVZA-GY (Microwave Imaging/Sounding Microwave Radiometer)

MTVZA-GY was designed and developed at the Space Observations Center, Moscow, under contract to Roskosmos. The instrument is of MTVZA heritage flown on the Meteor-3M-1 mission (launch Dec. 10, 2001). MTVZA-GY is a passive 29-channel microwave radiometer - similar to the SSMIS (Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder) of the DMSP-F16 mission, as well as to NOAA's AMSU-A (Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A) and -B radiometers. Note: MTVZA-GY was named in memory of Gennady Ya Gus'kov (1919-2002, Moscow) - the Russian designer of various spaceborne instruments.

The objective of the MTVZA-GY instrument is to monitor ocean and land surfaces as well as global atmospheric parameters such as temperature and water vapor profiles and to obtain sea surface wind profiles. MTVZA-GY is a conical scanning instrument with a common field of view for imaging and sounding channels (simultaneous multispectral and polarization measurements), due to the single antenna design.

The operating frequencies are located in the transparent atmospheric windows at 10.6, 18.7, 23.8, 31.5, 36.7, 42, 48, and 91.65 GHz, as well as in the oxygen absorption lines at 52-57 GHz and water vapor at 183.31 GHz. 13) 14)


Figure 9: Photo of the MTVZA-GY instrument (image credit: Roskosmos, Roshydromet/Planeta, Ref. 4)

The instrument consists of a large rotating main reflector and an Instrument Support Structure facilitating the RF electronics and sensors as well as the spin mechanism and support systems. MTVZA-GY has a mass of 90 kg, requires 80 W of power and has a data rate of 35 kbit/s. The operating frequencies of the instrument cover the transparent atmospheric range, the oxygen absorption lines and the water vapor absorption range.

Observation geometry: MTVZA-GY is a conical-scanning radiometer rotating continuously about an axis parallel to the local spacecraft vertical with a period of 2.5 s (24 rpm). The view direction of the instrument is backwards (anti-velocity direction) with a viewing angle of 53.3º and an incidence angle of 65º (with respect the the surface). The scan direction is from the left to the right when looking in the aft direction of the spacecraft, with the active scene measurements in the range from -90º to +15º about the aft direction, resulting in a swath width of 1500 km.


Figure 10: Scanning geometry of the MTVZA-GY instrument (Roshydromet/Planeta, Ref. 4)

Observation region


Range of measurements



Surface wind velocity

Ice: age (gradations)
- concentration
- boundary

3-40 m/s

±1.0 K
±2 m/s
16 km


Temperature profile
Column humidity

up to 45 km
0-5 g/cm2

±1.5 K
±0.25 g/cm2

- total amount, balls
- water content
- dynamics
- effect. temperature

0-5 kg/m2

±0.2 kg/cm2

±3.0 K

Rain rate

0-25 mm/h

±5.0 mm/h


Thickness of dry snow
Boundary of snow

up to 1.5 m

±0.2 m
±16 km

Table 6: Geophysical parameters derived from MTVZA-GY

Channel No

Center Frequency (GHz)

No of Passbands

Bandwidth (MHz)

Effective FOV
(km x km)

Pixel size (km x km)

Sensitivity (K/pixel)

Approx. peak sensitivity altitude (km)





89 x 198

32 x 32







52 x 16

32 x 32







42 x 94

32 x 32







35 x 76

32 x 32







30 x 67

32 x 32







26 x 60

32 x32







24 x 43

32 x 32







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







21 x 48

48 x 48







14 x 30

16 x 16







9 x 21

32 x 32







9 x 21

32 x 32







9 x 21

32 x 32



Table 7: Channel characteristics of MTVZA-GY

All instrument channels are switched to four feed-horn antennas. MTVZA-GY employs a total-power radiometer design providing a better sensitivity (factor 2) over a conventional Dicke-switched system. The channels in the 10-48 GHz domain are direct amplification radiometers, while the channels in the 52-57, 91 and 183 GHz range are realized as as superheterodyne receivers using balanced mixers. The performance parameters are given in Tables 7 and 8. The following comment applies to Table 7:

• Channels 1-7 and 18 operate on both vertical and horizontal polarization

• Channels 13-17 operate on horizontal polarization only. - Hence, the total number of MTVZA-GY channels amounts to 29.

The antenna system of MTVZA-GY consists of an offset parabolic reflector of dimension 65 cm, illuminated by the four broadband feed-horn antennas. The antenna and radiometers are mounted on a drum for the purpose to provide an invariant viewing and polarization geometry for the reflector scan. The drum contains the various system components like digital data subsystem, power and the signal transfer assembly, which rotates continuously about an axis parallel to the local spacecraft vertical. The power, commands, all data, timing and telemetry signals pass through slip ring connectors to the rotating assembly.

Instrument calibration: Hot and cold reference absorbers are used for calibration. They are mounted on the non-rotating part of the instrument and are positioned such that they pass between the feed-horns and the parabolic reflector, occulting the feed-horns once on each scan. The temperature difference between the hot and cold target is expected to be 50-60 K.

Spatial resolution (km)

16-198 (horizonal); 1.5 - 7 (vertical)

Conical scanning period

2.55 s

Viewing angle


Incident angle


Swath width

1500 km

Instrument mass, power

90 kg, 80 W

Data rate, data quantization

35 kbit/s; 16 bit

Table 8: Performance characteristics of MTVZA-GY


GGAK-M (Geophysical Monitoring System Komplex)

The geophysical Monitoring Complex is dedicated to the measurement of geophysical properties consisting of two instruments:

1) MSGI-MKA (Spectrometer for Geoactive Measurements), an electrostatic analyzer

2) KGI-4C (Radiation Monitoring System).

The MSGI-MKA instrument can detect electrons in the energy range of 0.1 to 15 keV, protons at 0.1 to 15 keV in a high- and low-sensitivity channel. Integral electron fluxes can be measured up to 40 keV. The instrument features four channels for the measurement of the following parameters:

• Electron fluxes in the energy range of 0.1-15 keV (high-sensitivity channel)

• Ion (proton) fluxes in the energy range of 0.1-15 keV (high-sensitivity channel)

• Electron fluxes in the energy range of 0.1-15 keV (low-sensitivity channel)

• Monitoring of integral electron fluxes with a threshold energy of 40 keV

The FOV (Field of View) is 10º x 10º for each channel (3) and 20º x 20º for the integral electron flux. The instrument has a mass of 5 kg and a power consumption of 6.8 W.

KGI-4C (Radiation Monitoring System). The objective is to monitor flux densities within the following threshold energy ranges:

• Total proton flux threshold energy of: 5, 15, 25, 30, and 40 MeV

• Total electron flux threshold energy of: 0.17, 0.7, 1.7, 2.0 and 3.2 MeV

• Proton fluxes with threshold energies of: 25 and 90 MeV

The KGI-4C instrument has a mass of 12 kg and a power consumption of 6.8 W (max).


IRFS-2 (Infrared Fourier Spectrometer-2)

The instrument is an advanced infrared sounder with the objective to provide atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles. Note: The Russian abbreviation for the instrument is simply "IKFS".

The IRFS-2 instrument was designed and developed by the Keldysh Research Center. The instrument consists of an optical unit, a data processing and power supply unit and a radiative cooler that keeps the focal plane at an appropriate temperature to reduce the dark current of the detectors. The optical system is comprised of an interferometric module with a double pendulum interferometer and a radiometer, a pointing module and a calibration module. 15)

IRFS-2 covers a spectral range of 5 to 15 µm at a spectral resolution of 0.4 cm-1. The instrument covers a ground swath of 1,000 to 2,500 km with a spatial resolution of about 30 km. The radiometer operates at a radiometric accuracy of 0.5 K. The instrument covers the carbon dioxide absorption band to obtain temperature profiles, two atmospheric windows for cloud properties and surface parameters, the ozone absorption band for ozone sounding and the absorption bands of water, nitrous oxide and methane for moisture profiles and column amount measurement of these substances.


Figure 11: Photo of the IRFS-2 instrument (image credit: Roshydromet/Planeta)



Spectral range

5.0-15 µm (2000-667 cm-1)

Spectral resolution FWHM (Full Width Half Maximum)

0.5 cm-1

Digitization interval

0.25 s m-1

Detection limit [NESR (Noise-Equivalent Spectral Radiance)]
- at wavelength of 6 µm
- at wavelength 13 µm
- at wavelength 15 µm

3 x 10-4 W m-2 sr-1 s m
1 x 10-4
1 x 10-4

Measurement error of object spectral brightness in terms of equivalent temperature at wavelength 11-12 µm and object temperature 280-300 K

0.5 K

IFOV (Instantaneous Field of View), corresponding to a spatial resolution at nadir

40 mrad x 40 mrad, 30 km

The measurements are made across the flight path with horizontal pitch depending on view width:

- 2500 km swath width, pitch = 100-110 km
- 2000 km swath width, pitch = 90-100 km
- 1500 km swath width, pitch = 77-85 km
- 1000 km swath width, pitch = 63-70 km

Periodicity of interferogram

≤ 0.6 s

Source data rate

~600 kbit/s

Instrument mass, power

~50 kg, 50 W

Table 9: Specification of the IRFS-2 instrument

Band No

Spectral region

Absorption band



665 - 780 cm-1




790 - 980 cm-1

Atmospheric window

Surface parameters (Ts, εv) Cloud properties


1000 - 1070 cm-1


Ozone sounding


1080 - 1150 cm-1

Atmospheric window

Ts, εv (cloud properties)


1210 - 1650 cm-1

H2O, N2O, CH4

Moisture profile, CH4, N2O column amounts

Table 10: Spectral regions of the IRFS-2 instrument


Figure 12: Photo of the FTS (Fourier Transform Spectrometer) instrument (image credit: Roshydromet/Planeta)


Severyanin-M OBRC (Onboard Radar Complex)

The small size radar Severyanin-M (translation from Russian - "Northerner") is a part of the on-board hardware of the spacecraft Meteor-M series designed and developed by the Research Institute of Precise Instruments, Moscow, Russia. Serveryanin-M is an X-band side-looking radar instrument providing vertical polarization. The main objective is sea ice monitoring in the polar regions, but the radar imagery can also be used for land surface observation, for vegetation monitoring, and a number of other applications. The system consists of two main components: the antenna subsystem and the electric unit. The radar antenna consists of seven segments, six of which are deployed after launch with the central segment attached to the zenith-pointing deck of the satellite. The instrument has a mass of 150 kg and requires 1 kW of power when in operation, the source data rate is 10 kbit/s. 16)

The OBRC instrument operates at a center frequency of 9.623 GHz and an incidence angle range of 25 -48º. A 450 to 600 km ground swath is covered by the radar, depending on the observation mode as it can operate in low and medium resolution mode. In low resolution mode, the radar reaches a ground resolution of 700-1,000 m while the medium resolution mode leads to images with a spatial resolution of 400-500 m.



Center frequency (X-band, 3.1 cm wavelength)

9.623 GHz

Incidence angle access range


Swath width

450-600 km

Spatial resolution in medium resolution mode

400-500 m

Spatial resolution in low resolution mode

700-1000 m

Source data rate

10 kbit/s

Table 11: Specification of the OBRC instrument

The radar uses an uncontrolled antenna array, klystron transmitter, digital receiver and special digital device for forming the sounding signals, the echoed signals prefiltering and matching to the radiolink. It has embedded facilities for inner amplitude calibration. In addition there is possibility to change parameters of the sounding signal and some other radar parameters through the command radio-link from the Earth.

The spacecraft specifics dictated restrictions on the following radar characteristics:

- radar power consumption: not more than 1 kW

- radar mass: not more than 150 kg (including the antenna mass – not more 40 kg)

- data transfer rate of the radio-link used: not more than 10 kbit/s.


DCS (Data Collection System):

The objective is to collect in-situ data from DCPs (Data Collection Platforms) in the ground segment with location capability.

No description available.



Ground Segment:


Figure 13: Roshydromet Ground Segment for Meteor-M N1, 2 (image credit: Roshydromet, Ref. 10)


1) "Report on the status of current and future Russian satellite systems," CGMS (Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites)-42 ROSH/ROSCWP-01, 25 April 2014, URL:











12) Information provided by Boris Zhukov of IKI, Moscow

13) I. V. Cherny, G. M. Chernyavsky, N. N. Gorobets, "Spaceborne Microwave Image/Sounder MTVZA," Proceedings of 25th ESA Antenna Workshop on Satellite Antenna Technology, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, Sept. 18-20, 2002, pp. 523-527

14) I. V. Cherny, G. M. Chernyavsky, "Microwave Imager/Sounder MTVZA of Space Meteor-3M," Proceedings of 7th International Conference on Remote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments, Miami, FLA, May 20-22, 2002

15) A. B. Uspensky, A.N. Rublev, Y. M. Timofeev, A. V. Polyakov, F. S. Zavelevich, Y. M. Golovin, D. A. Kozlov, "Atmospheric and surface parameters retrieved with IR-sounder IRFS-2 data – numerical modeling," IASI Infrared Accuracy from Space In a fragile world, Hyères Les Palmiers, France, 4-8 February 2013, URL:

16) Sergey Vnotchenko, Michail Dostovalov, Vladimir Dudukin, Alexander Kovalenko, Tomas Musinyants, Viktor Riman, Aleksey Selyanin, Stanislav Smirnov, Andrey Telichev, Valentin Chernishov, Anatoliy Shishanov, "Wide-Swath Spaceborne SAR System "Severyanin-M" For Remote Sensing: First Results," Proceedings of EUSAR 2012 (9th European Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar), Nuremberg, Germany, April 23-26, 2012

