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Mission description

Meteosat P2 was a refurbished prototype of Meteosat 2. In general, the spacecraft design, instrumentation, and operation were similar to SMS/GOES (SMS: Synchronous Meteorological Satellite; GOES: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite). The spin-stabilized, geostationary spacecraft carried
  1. a visible-IR radiometer to provide high-quality, day/night cloud-cover data and to take radiance temperatures of the Earth/Atmosphere system;
  2. a meteorological data collection system to disseminate image data to user stations, to collect data from various earth-based platforms, and to relay data from polar-orbiting satellites;
  3. a LASSO retro-reflector;
  4. a SEM-2 electron spectrometer, provided by LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratories), to investigate the link between deep dielectric charging and the spacecraft anomalies seen on Meteosat 1 and 2.
The cylindrically shaped spacecraft measured 210 cm in diameter and 430 cm in length, including the apogee boost motor. The primary structural members were an equipment platform and a central tube. The radiometer telescope was mounted on the equipment platform and viewed the Earth through a special aperture in the side of the spacecraft. A support structure extended radially out from the central tube and was affixed to the solar panels, which formed the outer walls of the spacecraft and provided the primary source of electrical power. Located in the annulus-shaped space between the central tube and the solar panels were station-keeping and dynamics control equipment and batteries. Proper spacecraft attitude and spin rate (approximately parallel to the Earth's spin axis and approximately 100 rpm) were maintained by jet thrusters mounted on the spacecraft and activated by ground command. The spacecraft used both UHF-band and S-band frequencies in its telemetry and command systems. A lower power VHF transponder provided telemetry and command during launch and then served as a backup for the primary subsystem once the spacecraft attained synchronous orbit.

Detector description

The data included in the SPENVIS data base was measured by the SEM-2 Space Environment Monitor. The objective of this instrument was to investigate the link between the spacecraft anomalies (as experienced previously on Meteosat F1 and F2) and deep dielectric charging by energetic electrons. The sensor unit was an SEM-2 Lo-E sensor provided by LANL as a spare from other programs. The instrument is identical to the Low Energy Electron unit on the Energetic Particle Detector, flown on the Defense Support Program series of satelites. The electronics and the calibration of the instrument were provided by MSSL. The instrument contained five surface barrier detector-collimator systems, oriented at polar angles of 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150° relative to the spacecraft spin vector, which was approximately parallel to the Earth's spin axis. Each collimator covered a nominal 10° full angle. Each system measured electrons in 5 energy channels between 43 and 300 keV. In 100 sec, full energy and azimuthal coverage was obtained, for a particular polar angle. In 5 successive 100 sec intervals, the full latitudinal coverage was also obtained. A Memory Upset Monitor was also included, looking for single event upset errors in a known memory pattern in the memory of a test RAM. A brief description of the instrument and a discussion of the results may be found in the paper by Coates et al. (1989). The sensor design was described by Aiello et al. (1975).

The data included in the SPENVIS implementation is the archived data from the TREND-3 study (J. Lemaire et al., 1998). For the high time resolution files, the data are stored in the maximum resolution of the raw data, i.e. in records of 500s, 500s, and 600s successively. The low resolution files (resolution 30 minutes), which were produced in the same study, are not included.

Meteosat 3
Mission
NameMeteosat 3 (MPSATP2, Meteosat-P2)
Orbit typeGEO
Longitude: varies from 0 to -75° (see graph)
Inclination < 1.7°
OperatorEuropean Meteorological Satellite Agency
Launch date/time15 Jun 1988 11:19:01
Out of commissionNov 1995
Instrument
InstrumentSEM-2 Space Environment Monitor
Data coverage06/1988-11/1995 (from 11/1988 available)
Data resolution500s, 500s, 600s (successively)
PIAndrew J. Coates (Mullard Space Science Laboratory)
SourceCD-ROM from MSSL
L-coverage6.5-7.5 RE
Data set
VariableDescription
AltitudeFixed value: 35786 km
LatitudeFixed value: 0°
LongitudeInterpolated from daily averages
Calculated BCalculated at BISA with UNILIB
  • Internal magnetic field: DGRF/IGRF
  • External magnetic field: Olson & Pfitzer quiet
McIlwain's L parameterCalculated at BISA with UNILIB
  • Internal magnetic field: DGRF/IGRF
  • External magnetic field: Olson & Pfitzer quiet
Total e--flux of in energy range 42.9 - 300 keVData set
Electron channelse-: 42.9 - 59.4 keV
e-: 59.4 - 90.7 keV
e-: 90.7 - 134.9 keV
e-: 134.9 - 201.8 keV
e-: 201.8 - 300.0 keV
Spectral indexData set: the slope of the logarithm of the energy spectrum, calculated using a least squares fit
AnisotropyData set: the angular shape of the plasma distribution relative to its axis of symmetry

Remark: A number of records from the original data set have been omitted because of overlapping time stamps.

References

Aiello, W. P., et al., IEEE Trans. Nucl. Sci., NS-22, p. 575, 1975.

Coates, A. J., et al., Proceedings of the Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference (Monterey, CA, 1989) (NSSDC Tech. Ref. File B39329)

Lemaire, J., D. Heynderickx, M. Kruglanski, A.D. Johnstone, D. J. Rodgers, S. Szita, G. Jones, E. Keppler, R. Friedel, and G. Loidl, TREND-3, Radiation Environments of Astronomy Missions and LEO Missions, Final Report, 1998.

The mission and instrument description are provided by NSSDC's Master Catalog.

Last update: Mon, 12 Mar 2018