1. Current Status of INSAT Meteorological Satellites
Dr.V.Rajeswara Rao
Scientist-E (Operations)
Satellite Meteorology Division
India Meteorological Department
New Delhi, INDIA

2. Introduction in late seventies to provide services to Meteorology,
INSAT (Indian National Satellite) Program was started
in late seventies to provide services to Meteorology,
Telecommunication & Television Broadcast
All INSAT Satellites are geostationary, multi-purpose (except
KALPANA-1)and 3-axis stabilized systems.
All these satellite are controlled and monitored by Master
Control Facility (MCF), ISRO situated at Hassan, near
Bangalore, India.

3. The first satellite INSAT-1A was launched on 10th April, 1982.
The India Meteorological Department processed the first
earth image transmitted by INSAT-1A successfully with the ground reception system installed at IMD Head Quarter, New Delhi.
Since then India Meteorological Department is involved
in receiving and processing data from INSAT-1, INSAT-2 and INSAT-3 series of satellites and different products generated and used for forecasting purposes.

4. Current Status of INSAT Meteorological Satellites
Currently there are two INSAT satellites in operation
KALPANA-1
INSAT-3A
KALPANA-1 is an exclusive meteorological satellite launched in September, 2002 and positioned at 74ºE by
PSLV-C4 from India.

5. Originally named METSAT-1
Originally named METSAT-1. Renamed as KALPANA-1 after Kalpana Chawla who perished in the space shuttle Columbia.
KALPANA-1 is currently working in inclined orbit with an inclination of 1.5 deg
INSAT-3A is a multi purpose satellite launched in April 2003 and positioned at 93.5ºE by European Ariane.
Both the satellite will transmit the VHRR data at the rate 526kbps

6. KALPANA-1 Payloads It has two payloads for Meteorological Purposes
Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR)
Data Relay Transponder (DRT).

7. Characteristics of VHRR S.No Payload Channel Spectral Bandwidth
Resolution 1.
VHRR
Visible µm
2 Km. x 2 Km.
Infrared µm
8 Km. x 8 Km.
Water
Vapour µm
DRT is used to transmit and receive data from Automatic
Weather Stations (AWS)

8. Modes of Operations
There are three Modes of Operation for VHRR payload.
Full Frame Mode
Normal Frame Mode
Sector Scan Mode
The scan coverage in East-West is 20deg in all modes
where as North-South coverage will vary depending upon
the mode..

9. The full frame mode is 20deg in both N-S and E-W direction and takes 33 minutes and number of lines will be 1560.
The normal mode covers a range of 14deg in N-S direction and 20deg in E-W direction and takes 23 minutes and number of lines will be 1092.
The sector scan mode which is useful for tracking the synoptic systems like thunderstorms etc. covers a range of 4.5 deg in N-S direction ( selectable) and 20deg in E-W direction takes 7minutes ( 3 scans in 23 minutes) and number of lines will be 351.
Presently this satellite is providing half hourly normal scans round the clock.

10. Visible
Infrared
Normal Mode Scans
KALPANA-1
Water vapour

11. INSAT-3A Payloads It has three payloads for Meteorological Purposes
Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR)
Charged Coupled Device (CCD)
Data Relay Transponder (DRT).

12. The characteristics & modes of Operations of INSAT-3A VHRR
Payload are exactly similar to KALPANA-1
S.No
Payload
Channel
Spectral Bandwidth
Resolution 1.
VHRR
Visible µm
2 Km. x 2 Km.
Infrared µm
8 Km. x 8 Km.
Water
Vapour µm
INSAT-3A DRT is currently in use to transmit and receive data
from Automatic Weather Stations (AWS)

13. Visible
Infrared
Full Frame Mode Scans
INSAT-3A
Water Vapour

14. INSAT-3A CCD Payload
Channels
Spectral Range
Resolution
Visible µm
1 Km.
NIR µm
SWIR µm

15. Modes of Operation for CCD payload
There are two Modes of Operation for CCD payload.
1. Normal Mode
2. Program mode
The coverage in the normal mode will be 10 deg. Both
in East-West and North-South directions
where as in the Program mode 1 to 25 lines, each covering deg. In the North-South direction and 10deg. In
East-West direction.
Currently IMD is processing hourly images during day time only.

16. Images from INSAT-3A CCD
Visible
Near Infrared

17. Cyclone GIRI (CCD)
Cyclone GIRI (K1)

18. Cyclone JAL (K1) Cyclone JAL (CCD)

19. Derivation of Geo Physical Parameters
Using the imagery data of these two satellites, IMD is also deriving the following geo physical parameters routinely.
Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMV)
Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR)
Quantitative Precipitation Estimate (QPE)
Sea Surface Temperature (SST)
Upper Tropospheric Humidity (UTH)
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)

22. INSAT-3D Exclusive Meteorological Satellite Launch Schedule: 2011
Three Payloads
6-channel Imager
19-channel Sounder
Data Relay Transponder

23. Thank you