Himawari-8/AHI latest performance of navigation and calibration

摘要

The new-generation Himawari-8 geostationary meteorological satellite of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started operation in July 2015 after the completion of in-orbit testing and checking of the overall system. Himawari-8 features the new Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI), which has 16 bands and double the spatial resolution of its MTSAT-series predecessor satellites. Full-disk imagery is obtained every 10 minutes, and regional observation at 2.5-minute intervals is also conducted. These significant improvements are expected to bring unprecedented levels of performance in nowcasting services and short-range weather forecasting systems. To leverage the full potential of the advanced imager, high precision in navigation and radiometric calibration is essential. This is estimated in off-line processes such as pattern matching for navigation and the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) for radiometric calibration. On 9 March 2016, JMA updated its ground processing system, including the image navigation and registration (INR) module, for further quality improvement. This update covered improvement of the band-to-band co-registration process for infrared bands, improvement of the resampling process, and implementation of a coherent noise reduction process. Results from the off-line processes showed that the update had improved Himawari Standard Data (HSD), which is Himawari-8/AHI L1B-equivalent data.