1. Meteorological Satellites
This Web site uses observation images by the following satellites.
| Satellite ID |
Nickname |
Satellite name |
| GMS1 |
Himawari 1 |
Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 1 |
| GMS2 |
Himawari 2 |
Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 2 |
| GMS3 |
Himawari 3 |
Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 3 |
| GMS4 |
Himawari 4 |
Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 4 |
| GMS5 |
Himawari 5 |
Geostationary Meteorological Satellite 5 |
| GOE9 |
(Pacific) GOES 9 |
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 9 |
| MTS1 |
Himawari 6 |
MTSAT-1R |
| MTS2 |
Himawari 7 |
MTSAT-2 |
| HMW8 |
Himawari 8 |
HIMAWARI-8 |
| HMW9 |
Himawari 9 |
HIMAWARI-9 |
The period of usage is summarized in the following. Notice that the lack of period o GMS1 between 1979 and 1981 is due to the unavailability of data, and GMS1 (Himawari 1) satellite had been operational for this period.
The history of those satellites are summarized in History of Japanese meteorological satellites and Major specs of meteorological satellites. (in Japanese).
2. Meteorological Satellite Images (Photographs)
This web site uses the word "meteorological satellite images" instead of "meteorological satellite photographs" because the way the satellite takes pictures of the earth is different from the ordinary cameras with respect to the following points.
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The satellite image is not taken in the same way as a photograph that is shot by closing the shutter of the camera and takes the whole picture at once. A geostationary meteorological satellite, such as "Himawari," needs more than 20 minutes to scan from the Arctic down to the Antarctic, so clouds in the Arctic and the Antarctic have 20 minutes difference in the time of shot. The time of shot at Tokyo, for example, is either 30m25s or 18m25s of every hour for GOES-9, according to the fixed point observation at Tokyo.
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The satellite image takes information other than light visible to the human eye. Infrared light, for example, makes us possible to take pictures even in the night, compared to visible light which is only effective with the presence of the sun.
Those are the reasons we prefer the word "image" than "photograph." More detailed information is available in the following pages.
In terms of visible images, on the other hand, sensors work
effectively only during daytime. Hence we set up the schedule of
generating visible images as follows. Here JST is explained in
The expression of time.
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Himawari-1 through Himawari-4
3 times / day (09 JST, 12 JST and 15 JST)
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Himawari-5, GOES-9, Himawari-6 through Himawari-9
7 times / day (every hour from 09 JST through 15 JST)
For Himawari-8 through Himawari-9, we also provide visible images for 24 hours from Images and Movies of Himawari-8 / Himawari-9 - Next Generation Weather Satellite.
Reference: A meteorological satellite that can observe lights even in the night
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