Group for Earth Observation

The Independent Amateur Quarterly Publication for
Earth Observation and Weather Satellite Enthusiasts

41
March 2014
Inside this issue . . .
Following last issue’s foray
into the field of APT reception
with a DVB-T dongle,
courtesy Raydel Abreu
Espinet, Francis Bell narrates
his experiences with the same
technique in an article full of
explanatory screenshots of
the SDR# software in action.
With reference to satellite
imagery of Antarctica, alongwith some superb
photography from the ground,
Les Hamilton describes theenigmatic Antarctic Dry
Valleys, where snow seldomlies.
GEO’s 2014 Symposium
takes place in late April,where the keynote address
will be delivered by KlausPeter Renner fromEUMETSAT. With delivery of
products switching to
EUMETCast S2 VCM at theend of 2014, we hope to learn
everything we can about the
new system.
The period from Christmas
through to mid February 2014
has been noteworthy for theunprecedented succession ofAtlantic storms that havestruck the British Isles andwestern Europe. This issue
contains numerous
spectacular satellite images ofthese storms.
Plus, there articles on therecovering Ozone Hole,
Typhoon Haiyan, the Lena
Delta, Radiation Fog, and tips
on selecting the optimum PC
for the new EUMETCast data.

GEO MANAGEMENT TEAM
Director and Public Relations
Francis Bell,
Coturnix House, Rake Lane,
Milford, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5AB,
England.
Tel:
01483 416 897
email: francis@geo-web.org.uk
General Information
John Tellick,email: info@geo-web.org.uk
GEO Quarterly Editor
Les Hamilton,
8 Deeside Place,
Aberdeen AB15 7PW, Scotland UK.
email: geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk
GEO Quarterly Despatch
Peter Green
Membership and Subscriptions
David Anderson,
35 Sycamore Road,
East Leake, Loughborough LE12 6PP,
England, UK.
email: members@geo-web.org.uk
Tel:01509 820 067
Technical Consultant (Hardware)David Simmons
email: tech@geo-web.org.uk
Webmaster and Website Matters
Alan Banks,e-mail: webmaster@geo-web.org.uk
GEO Shop Manager
Nigel Evans (Assistant: David Simmons),
email: shop@geo-web.org.uk
International Liaison
Rob Denton,
email: international@geo-web.org.uk
Clive Finnis
Carol Finnis

Publisher
Published by The Group for Earth
Observation Limited, a company in Englandand Wales, limited by guarantee and nothaving share capital.
The Company Number is 4975597.
The registered office is Coturnix House,
Rake Lane, Milford, Godalming,
Surrey GU8 5AB, England.
Printing
Hedgerow Print,
16 Marsh Lane,
Crediton, Devon EX17 1ES.
Tel: 01363 777 595
Responsibility
Every effort is made to ensure that thetechnical and constructional articles
published in this Quarterly are correct.
However, the ultimate responsibility iswith the reader to ensure the safety of
constructions and for any interfacing withother equipment. GEO cannot accept liability
for shortcomings in any published design or
any constructions carried out by members orother third parties.
Copyright GEO © 2014
The contents of this Quarterly remain theintellectual property of the Group for Earth
Observation Limited and its contributors.
Copying of text or images, either from theprinted Quarterly or from any electronicallystored source, is forbidden without
permission from the Editor.

Les Hamilton
geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk

T

he cover image for this issue is a rather splendid Metop-A HRPT transmission showing
Typhoon Haiyan, which caused such terrible devastation in the Philippines during earlyNovember 2013 (see page 21 for details). At its height, Haiyan produced sustained windsof 315 kph to become the ﬁercest tropical cyclone ever observed, based on wind speed.
Haiyan was without doubt the deadliest typhoon known to have made landfall on thePhilippines with over 6000 conﬁrmed deaths by the end of the year.
’ve reported in previous editorials concerning poor reader participation and the paucity
of articles related to our hobby. Matters have really plumbed new depths during the past
three months with only three single page notes and a number of satellite images received.
Were it not for the efforts of John Tellick, Francis Bell and myself in the week prior to copy
deadline (and well beyond it), you would have had almost nothing to read in this issue. At
one time it looked as if this would be a 24-page issue. As the saying goes, every cloud hasa silver lining, and the atrocious recent weather which kept me indoors allowed me time toresearch material to ﬁll the pages. But I shouldn’t have to do that!
hope readers are aware that GEO Quarterly has no ‘ofﬁce staff’. There’s only me to do
everything except actually printing the magazine, so I need to have a steady trickle ofmaterial arriving throughout the three months preceding publication. This means that you,the readers, must start thinking about your contributions for June’s GEO Quarterly now.
urgently require articles. Here are some topic suggestions:• Image processing and the advantageous use of colour combinations for analysis• further hints and tips on the use of FM dongles and SDR#
• Interpretative essays on just a few of the myriad interesting images you download• news about the sensors aboard modern and forthcoming satellites, and their purposes• regular reports on extreme weather events around the globe
and so on ....
have major plans in place for the future: I’m out of the country from early to mid April, andwill leave for Skye just a few days after the April 27 copy deadline. The Editor’s Chair will
be empty for extended periods during the lead in to Quarterly 42. As I won’t be available to
do all the donkey work, it’s up to you. If the readership is unresponsive, you may ﬁnd that
there is no June issue this year.
pologies for appearing so gloomy, but the current situation, where it falls on me to create
the bulk of the content (well over 50% this issue) is unsustainable and causes me greatstress: I do not intend following that path again. Like all the Management Team, I am an
unpaid volunteer. GEO Quarterly is created in my spare time but instead of the joy it once
was, it is now a burden. If the situation does not improve very quickly, I will simply step aside
and get my life back.
opy Deadline for last-minute items in GEO Quarterly 42 is Sunday, April 27, but
the bulk of the content material is required well before this date.

I
I
I
I

A

C

Contents
GEO Report
GEO Symposium 2014
Quarterly Question
Lake Ontario ‘Whiting’ Event
December Storms Batter Europe (composite APT)
Bennett Island
Cover and Full Page Image Details
Software Defined Radio and APT Reception
Super Typhoon Haiyan
The Lena Delta
Britain’s Wild, Wet and Windy WInter
Relentless Warming Continues
The Dry Valleys of Antarctica
Auckland Island
Antarctic Ozone shows signs of Gradual Recovery
From Image to InsightLong Shadows
Radiation Fog
Some Thoughts on Future EUMETCast Computers
Satellite Status
GEO Helplines and Internet Discussion Groups
Copy deadline for the next issue of GEO Quarterly
GEO Membership Application FormGEO Shop Catalogue and Price List

Francis Bell
Francis Bell
Francis Bell
NASA Earth Observatory
André T’Kindt
NASA Earth Observatory
Francis BellLes Hamilton
John Tellick
John Tellick
NASA Earth Observatory
Les Hamilton
Les Hamilton
Les Hamilton
Robert Moore
Anders Hook
David Taylor

2
3
4
6
7
8
9
16
21
22
25
28
30
36
38
40
41
42
44
44
46
46
47
48

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Francis BellThe coming year promises change for those of us who are
engaged in direct weather satellite reception.

the TBS 5925 is that it is about half the cost of the other two
receivers.

The EUMETCast service has been running in its present
image dissemination format for over 10 years. Some of you
will remember the power amplifier failure on Meteosat 3
which forced a change to the EUMETCast service. Up
until that time the same satellite was used to bothcollect and then disseminate images to user services.
Thereafter, separate satellites have been used: the Meteosat
satellites for imaging the Earth but a different commercial
communications satellite to retransmit the data. I judge thisto be a huge advantage for users such as myself because the
DVB S1 standard used for transmissions is a commercial
standard; hence there is readily available, modestly priced
equipment for user stations such as mine instead of those
expensive dedicated receivers we all had to use in the past.

Evaluating these receivers is a high priority for GEO, andany member who has experience or knowledge about
potential receivers or appropriate software for the new DVB
S2 VCM signal standard is encouraged to get in touch withany member of GEO’s management team.

Many GEO members will be aware that the EUMETCast
service is about to change. This is necessary because of thevolume of data being transmitted and the anticipated further
increases in the near future. Not only is the EUMETCast
service sending data relating to EUMETSAT’s own satellites,
but it also retransmits data from other geostationary andpolar orbiting satellites. I was prompted to look at my licenceagreement with EUMETSAT and discovered that I am allowed
to receive 39 different data sets. The reality is that I only use
about ten, but that’s not to say the additional services are
not valued by others. To accommodate a further expansion
of EUMETCast services, the decision was made to stop using
the current Eurobird 9 satellite to disseminate data andmove to another communication satellite which, together
with a change in transmission standard to DVB S2 VCM, willmore than double the volume of data which EUMETCast canretransmit.
In order to be as supportive as possible to our members,
GEO has been investigating the implications of the comingchanges. We have been advised that the existing DVB S1
receivers that many of our members currently use will notwork with the new DVB S2 VCM service. GEO’s management
judged it essential that we should identify and test any
available receivers which will cope with the new standard.
Advice from EUMETSAT pointed us in the direction of tworeceivers which they have successfully tested, plus a third
receiver which may work with appropriate software.
In order to progress testing, GEO has imported two
Ayecka SR1 receivers from Israel, a Novra S300E receiver from
Canada plus a TBS 5925 receiver from USA. Tests with the
Ayecka and Novra receivers are going well and you can readtest reports on David Taylor’s website at
http://www.satsignal.eu/wxsat/dvb-s2

Thanks are due to David Taylor and David Simmons,
who have been involved with testing these receivers. The
TBS 5925 receiver has yet to be tested, and perhaps we will
have to await suitable drivers for this receiver box; however,I understand that there is a group in France who claim
they have a TBS 6925 receiver working! This receiver is acomputer card rather that the TBS 5925, which is a standalone box: but if the card works, it is highly likely that thebox will too. Only time will tell for certain. The advantage of2

GEO Symposium 2014
At our symposium on April 26, 2014, developments
relating to technical issues and purchasing a new DVB S2
VCM receiver will have a high priority. See the separate
symposium notice opposite.
Sentinel -1
An exciting new chapter of Earth observation is about
to begin with the anticipated launch of ESA’s Sentinel-1
satellite in March 2014. This will be the first in the family ofCopernicus satellites, which marks a new era of operational
missions rather than demonstration or research projects.
The data from the Sentinels will be open to users worldwide
and free of charge. The new satellite will be used to monitor
oil spills, sea ice, land movements and mapping changes inland use. Its radar imaging will allow it to map the Earth’s
surface through cloud and at night.
The issue for direct users such as GEO’s membership relates
to how the data is to be received. In the past, some of us
received images from the Envisat satellite via the Envi-Ham
transmissions which were so similar in format to EUMETCast
reception that the same equipment could be used for both
services.
As best I know, the timescales and data format for making
the Sentinel images freely available to users such as GEO
members have not been published: perhaps decisions arestill to be made. However, I am in touch with ESA-ESRIN
who were previously responsible for the retransmission of
the Envisat images. I hope to establish their policy relating toretransmission of Sentinel images and then the detail of how
receiver communities such as GEO should register for image
reception—plus of course, the receivers necessary for direct
reception. I will report to GEO as soon as there is further
information.
Note: do not discard your established EUMETCast DVB
S1 receivers, as perhaps, in due course, they will be able
to receive Sentinel satellite images. Watch this space!
PagersIf you read the article starting on page 16 of this Quarterly,
you will find that I have been experimenting with SDR for
APT reception. One of the variables which impressed me
was the ability of the SDR signal software to eliminate
interference from adjacent pagers to the desired APT signal.
At my home I do experience some pager interference, but thiswas entirely eliminated when using a SDR system.
Readers who are plagued with pagers may wish to try
SDR as a means of eliminating the local effects. For thevery modest cost of a dongle, this could prove to be very
worthwhile.

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

Francis Bell
This GEO Symposium is particularly important in view of thechanges to EUMETCast transmissions that take place at the end of thisyear. The key issue for this meeting is to keep members informed
about these changes, and to offer demonstrations and advice
regarding the upgrading of the EUMETCast Europe Service from DVB-S
to the DVB-S2 standard.

If necessary, you may simply turn up on April 26 without thepreregistration. Also, if you have friends who are not members of
our Group, they will also be welcome, in the expectation that they
may be sufficiently interested to join GEO one day.

The Saturday programme will be along the following lines• 9.00 - 9.30 : Arrival and registration• 9.30 - 12.30 : Presentations• 12.30 - 2.00 : Lunch and viewing the NSC exhibition areas• 2.00 - 4.00 : Presentations• 4.00 - 4.30 : Afternoon break• 4.30 - 5.00 : GEO Membership AGM

Accommodation
For those staying overnight, there are many modestly priced hotels
in the Leicester area, and access to the NSC is supported by public
transport. Some of our members will be using
The Campanile Hotel,
St. Matthews Way,
Bedford Street,
Leicester LE1 3JE
Tel: 01162616600.

Those involved in setting up the exhibition and demonstration area
for the Symposium will be able to do so on the Friday afternoon.

The hotel management have stated that an early booking foraccommodation is likely to get the best price.

The exact timing of the programme may vary a little toaccommodate the speakers, but we anticipate a keynote addressfrom Klaus-Peter Renner, a senior communications engineer
from EUMETSAT, who will bring us up to date with the new
EUMETCast S2 VCM transmission service which will start this year.

Getting to the National Space Centre

Invitations have also been extended to representatives from SpaceBand Ltd. Israel, who manufacture the Ayecka satellite receiver,and Novra Technologies Inc. from Canada who also producean S2 VCM satellite receiver. Each company may make apresentation or demonstration relating to their receivers.
Other guests have been invited from Dundee University; Surrey
Satellite Technology Ltd.; Leicester University, relating to theirinvolvement with the GERB instrument currently gathering dataon the MSG satellites; and the designer of the AMSAT-UK FUNcube
Dongle which is now being used for APT reception by some of ourmembers, using Software Defined Radio (SDR).
The above list of guests should be regarded as flexible because
any potential guest’s commitments can change, but more positively
additional people may attend our meeting.

By RoadThe National Space Centre is located just off the A6, two miles
north of Leicester City Centre, midway between Leicester’s innerand outer ring roads. Brown road signs with a distinctive rocket logo
will direct you from the arterial routes around Leicester.
By Rail
East Midland Trains and Cross Country Trains serve Leicester
Station. From here you can take a bus or a taxi to the National
Space Centre. First Bus 54 runs every 10 minutes Monday toSaturday and every 20 minutes on Sunday from Charles Street, ashort walk from the station.
By BusFirst Bus 54 runs every 10 minutes throughout the day Monday toSaturday and every 20 minutes on Sunday running from 9.30 am.
Finally
Do keep checking the GEO website for updated details during thenext few weeks, at

Other topics to be covered could include results from the GERB
instrument being carried on the MSG satellites and the use ofsoftware defined radio (SDR) for polar orbiting satellite reception.

http://www.geo-web.org.uk/symposium.php

Any member wishing to make a contribution, be it apresentation, a suggestion for a topic to be covered ora workshop for the exhibition and demonstration area,
is invited to get in touch with Francis Bell as soon as
possible by emailing your intent tofrancis@geo-web.org.uk

The cost for this one day symposium has been set at £20.00. Notethat this charge includes entry to our symposium, plus free car
parking and a free pass into the NSC Exhibition Areas: good value
for money.
Pre-Registration
Pre registration for this symposium is encouraged as it makes
several aspects of planning much easier. Do not send any money,
but please register by sending an email tointernational@geo-web.org.uk

www.geo-web.org.uk

3

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Figure 1 - This a visible wavelength Meteosat 7 image of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa was received at 10:00 UT on
January 29, 2014. The island in question is to the right of the image, to the east of Somalia.

Figure 2 - This is a January 7, 2007 Landsat image showing the island in the Indian Ocean which is the subject of the Quarterly Question.

4

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

continued from page 2

Francis BellGEO Quarterly 40 contained a question relating to thedate when the current EUMETCast S1 service will cease.
EUMETSAT have issued many notices stating that theirtransmission service will soon switch from S1 to the S2
VCM standard, and stating that the final date for S1
transmission will be December 31, 2014. There will be
an overlap of the new and old transmissions but thedefinitive plan is for the old S1 service to end in December
2014 and I hope GEO readers are aware of this. Hence,
the answer I was looking for was December 31, 2014.
Correct answers were received from:• John Morris		
(UK)• Peter Hardy		
(UK)• Frank Skillington(UK)• Ap van Weeren(Harlingen, The Netherlands)• Elmar Bogles(Brunssum, The Neterlands)

NOAA
You may have read on page 37 of the December 2013
Quarterly the notice that NOAA is undertaking changes inrelation to its Satellite Direct Readout services. NOAA has been
invited to our symposium of April 26 this year but they areunable to attend. As an alternative, I remain in touch withNOAA, and perhaps, at the symposium, I will be able to givea report on their behalf, relating to the future of their direct
readout services.
Knowledgeable Members
I know we have many members in our group who are far
more knowledgeable about technical issues and satellite
reception than I am. At a time when technical changes are
imminent, please keep in touch with GEO’s management,
because we all need to benefit from each other’s knowledge
and experiences: your contributions and advice will be very
valuable, perhaps shortening or focusing our own testing.
Any experiences with the TBS 5925 or TBS 6928 receivers
would be very helpful. Also, reports relating to the use of SDR
for HRPT or LRIT reception would be welcome.
Forthcoming Events

Quarterly Question 41
This question relates to an island in the Indian Ocean,
off the Gulf of Aden, which I often see in images taken
by Meteosat 7. This satellite is currently located over the
Indian Ocean and provides regular images of this part of
the world via retransmission by EUMETCast. The image
shown in Figure 1 shows the Horn of Africa plus part the
Indian Ocean, with the island in question well to the rightof the image, in the ‘jaws’ of the Gulf of Aden. Figure 2
shows more detail of the island.

Sunday April 13 - The West London Computer and Electronic Show.
GEO will have its usual stand demonstrating direct satellite reception.
Saturday April 26 - GEO’s own symposium. Please refer to page 3.
On March 8 and May 10, our Dutch friends are holding their regular one
day Saturday meetings in Utrecht. For details visit their web site atwww.kunstnanen.net

Although, in my travels, I have managed to visit fourisland groups in the Indian Ocean, until recently I knew
little about the island in question and I am experiencing
a learning curve relating to this island, which in someways is unique in the world. Instead of being of volcanic
origin like almost every other oceanic island in the world,
this island is of continental origin. It was split frommainland Africa at the time tectonic movements of the
Earth’s crust opened up the Red Sea and the Gulf ofAden.
The question is straightforward:‘What is the name of this island and to which country does it
belong?’I will accept variations in the spelling of the island’s
name, even in Arabic. So that we can all share them inyour answer please include three or four lines identifying
some unique character of the island: anything biological,
geological, historical or political will be of interest. If there
a GEO member who has been to this island please get intouch.
As an aside, I note that the island is located in anarea frequented by Somali pirates, hence there willinternational naval activity in the seas around it aimed at
protecting merchant shipping. I don’t know, but perhaps
the island is being used as a base for these naval ships. I
had a personal experience of Somali pirates when, about
two years ago, pirates approached the ship on which I
was a passenger. However, defensive manoeuvres on ourpart, and other measures, were enough to discourage thepirates and there was a happy ending.

www.geo-web.org.uk

5

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

A NASA Earth Observatory Report

These two images of Lake Ontario, both dating from August 24,
2013, highlight an unusual phenomenon. What at first glance
appears from above to be a phytoplankton bloom across the lake
surface is in fact a whiting event, a phenomenon that often occurs
in late summer. Phytoplankton can of course produce stunning
colour changes like this, but scientists working on the water in thearea confirmed that this was instead a whiting event.
Whiting events are caused by changes in temperature, which allows
fine particles of calcium carbonate to form in the water column.
Increased photosynthesis by phytoplankton and other microscopic
marine life can also reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in thewater column, changing the acidity and allowing calcium carbonate
to form. In this instance, it’s these particles of calcium carbonatethat are causing the characteristic ‘whiting’ of the water colour.
The image below was acquired by NASA’s Aqua satellite, and thephotograph at right taken from the International Space Station, bothon August 24.

Astronaut photograph ISS036-E-35635 showing Lake Ontario
ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment andImage Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center

MODIS image of the Lake Ontario ‘whiting’ event viewed by NASA’s Aqua satellite on August 24, 2013.

6www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

Andre T’Kindt
Andre T’Kindt, a GEO reader based in Ronse ( Belgium), captured multiple APT images from the NOAA
satellites during last year’s December storms, and compiled them into wide ranging composites. Below
are two of his images, showing the amazing extent and ferocity of there Atlantic weather systems.

It’s December 18, 2013 as yet another winter storm batters western Europe. This MCIR-precipitation composite was created from infrared images fromeight different satellite passes, some from NOAA-15 and others from NOAA-18. Winds of up to 140 kph hit western parts of the UK, driving torrential
rain. The darker red colours indicate where rainfall was greatest.

It’s now December 23, 2013 and hurricane force winds return to the British Isles and western Europe. Thousands of people in England were forced
from their homes by flooding, while in France quarter of a million homes were deprived of power in Brittany and Normandy. In the Netherlands, theEastern Scheldt storm surge barrier was closed for the first time in six years and there was flooding in Dordrecht and Rotterdam. The winds also forced
the closure of the Oeresund road-and rail bridge which links Copenhagen in Denmark with Malmo in southern Sweden.

www.geo-web.org.uk

7

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

A NASA Earth Observatory Report

Since the dawn of the weather satellite era, frequent tongues ofhigh, short-lived cloud, often stretching several hundred kilometres,
have been observed streaming from tiny, 150 km2, Bennett Islandin the Russian Arctic. These clouds remained a mystery until 1992
when a joint Russian-American research team flew over the areaand found they were being formed when air flow over the tiny island
was being elevated to higher-than-usual altitudes.
Situated well north of the Arctic Circle (76.5°N, 149°E), Bennett
Island rises to 420 metres above sea level, sufficiently high todisturb air flow in the area. When winds blow from the southeast,
moist air near the surface is ramped up into the atmosphere,creating waves which propagate upwards. When this rising, moist

8

air reaches cold, dry upper layers of the atmosphere, it condenses
into cloud-forming ice crystals at an altitude of about threekilometres.
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on theSuomi NPP satellite captured this image of the Bennett Island cloudplume on February 14, 2013. This long wave (thermal) infrared
image highlights the relative temperatures of the water, ice, andrising air. Cool areas such as the sea ice appear gray-white,
warmer areas (open water) are dark. Brightest white of all is thecloud plume, as the moist, rising air is cooled far below the nearzero temperatures of the ice and open water.

www.geo-web.org.uk

NASA Earth Observatory NPP image by Jesse AllenMarch 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

Front Cover
The power of Typhoon Haiyan is evident in this Metop A passacquired on November 8 last year. The image was shows Haiyan
at its strongest as it tore across the Philippines, causing almost
incalculable damage and taking thousands of lives. You can read ashort report on this event on page 21.
Image: NOAA CLASS Archive
Processing: HRPT Reader (Vegetation tab) / Photoshop

Inside Front CoverThis image was taken in the aftermath of the Great Storm thatswept across southern England, The Netherlands and parts ofFrance overnight on November 27/28, 2013. This scene comesfrom the 10:12 UT pass from Metop A, and shows the departing
storm making its way towards Scandinavia.
Image: NOAA CLASS Archive
Processing: HRPT Reader

Inside Back CoverThis Metop B image dating from November 12 was sent in by
Mike Stevens, who was impressed by the view of New Zealand,surrounded by a variety of attractive cloud systems.
Image © EUMETSAT 2013

Back Cover
The first snows of winter arrived in Scotland in the early hours ofNovember 19, but the skies rapidly cleared during the morning. This
MODIS image from NASA’s Terra satellite captured the moment,with the northwest highlands festooned in new snow.
Image: LANCE-MODIS/NASA/GSFC
Processing: SmoothMODIS / Photoshop

Because of the shortage of textual material in this issue,
we have maintained the usual page count by displaying
more full page images than normal. Some come fromreaders, for which we are most grateful: many more havebeen downloaded from NOAA and NASA image archives.
Page 11David Taylor spotted this attractive image from NOAA 19 on
January 11 this year, showing an almost cloud-free British
Isles prior to the onslaught of the next winter storm. This is thevegetation interpretation created using HRPT Reader software.
Image © EUMETSAT 2014

Page 12This is a NOAA 19 APT image sent ion by Andre T’Kindt from
Ronse in Belgium, acquired from the 13:28 pass on February 7.
Following weeks on end of gales, rain and high seas, a ridge ofhigh pressure provided a day of sunshine and welcome relief fromthe ongoing saga of misery and despair. But it was short lived: thenext depression looms ominously over the Atlantic Ocean.
Page 13This NOAA 19 image was acquired from Havana, Cuba by Raydel
Abreu Espinet at 19:13 UT on January 6, 2014. He used a
homebrew QFH with preamp, an RTL-SDR dongle, SDR# with
Orbitron DDE support for doppler (wide-FM 40 kHz), and recorded
the audio directly with WXtoImg. The final image was created bydecoding the WAV file with SatSignal.
Page 14
Japan’s MTSAT2 captured this fine image of Australia at 03:32 UT on
January 8, 2014.

GEO Quarterly No 41

Page 15
Anthony Lowe created this remarkable image of the January 26
storm that lashed the British Isles, by combining NOAA 19 channel-2
APT images from three passes of the satellite, using the WXtoImg
software package.
Page 24In winter’s embrace, frozen Newfoundland shows well in this Terra
MODIS channel-1 image acquired on January 6, 2014. Channel-1
shows up snow and ice particularly well, and highlights swirls of sea
ice north of Newfoundland.
Image: NASA/GSFC/LAADS Web

Page 27
This Terra MODIS image dating from February 3, 2014 is interesting
on a number of counts. Prominent in centre stage is the BlackSea, with an unusual diagonal streamer of cloud pointing almost
directly towards the Olympic Winter Games city of Sochi on its
northeastern coast, where it nestles below the foothills of the
Caucusus mountains. To the north, the Sea of Azov, tucked behind
the Crimean peninsula, can be seen totally icebound. The inset
annotated image pinpoints the locations of Sochi Olympic Park andthe Skiing venues.
Image: LANCE-MODIS/NASA/GSFC

Page 34
This Terra MODIS channel-2 visible light image captured Russia’s
far eastern Kamchatka peninsula almost totally cloud free at
00:55 UT on December 11 last year. The low elevation of thesun illuminates the eastern slopes of the snow-covered mountain
ranges, displaying the volcanic landscape in stark relief.
Image: NASA/GSFC/LAADS Web

Page 35
Taken from the same Terra pass as the previous image, this 250 m/
pixel segment highlights several of the great Kamchatka volcanos:
Shiveluch in the north, the Klyucheveskaya complex at centre(venting a thin stream of steam eastwards) , and Tobalchik to thesouth.
Image: NASA/GSFC/LAADS Web

Page 37
China’s Feng Yun 2F geostationary satellite acquired this highresolution (1 km/pixel) image of Typhoon Haiyan at 05:30 UT on
November 8, the day it made landfall over the Philippines, withtragic result.
Image: FengYun Satellite Data Center(http://satellite.cma.gov.cn/)

Page 43
This Envisat image of the southern White Nile as it courses throughthe Sudan dates back to June 26, 2011, and has been kindly
provided by Francis Breame. The confluence city of Khartoum,
where the Blue Nile joins the river following its journey throughEthiopia, lies just south of the point where the river veers to theright at the start of a wide anti-clockwise loop.
Image © EUMETSAT 2011

Page 45
John Tellick acquired this superb Metop-A image via EUMETCast on
February 6 this year, showing yet another intense storm drenching
England. The situation, with rain falling on already flooded terrain inSomerset, had by now become so serious that inhabitants in threevillages had been advised to evacuate their properties.
Image © EUMETSAT 2014

Image: FengYun Satellite Data Center(http://satellite.cma.gov.cn/)

www.geo-web.org.uk

9

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

This Terra MODIS image acquired on February 3, 2014 shows the Aral Basin firmly in the grip of winter. The two great rivers bounding Kazakhstan’s Kyzyl Kum
desert, the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, show clearly against their snow-covered backdrop. The Syr Darya is the river that replenishes the North Aral Sea.
Image: LANCE-MODIS/NASA/GSFC

This Terra MODIS image acquired on December 14, 2013 shows a mass of cloud streets debouching from the Gulf of St Lawrence, into the Atlantic Ocean
Image: LANCE-MODIS/NASA/GSFC

10

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

11

GEO Quarterly No 41

12

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

13

GEO Quarterly No 41

14

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

15

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Francis Bell
This article is more a diary relating to my experiences with
SDR than a technical report. Nevertheless, I hope it willencourage others who may be contemplating SDR reception
for the first time to pursue this exciting new dimension ofradio reception.
Over the past year or so I have been reading reports about
SDR in GEO Quarterly, as well as in such publications as
RadCom and Wireless World. I am also a member of AMSATUK, and try to keep up-to-date with their activities via theirquarterly publication, Oscar News, which has recently
been informing its membership about an SDR dongle
specifically designed for the reception of radio amateur
satellites using the 2-metre and 70-centimetre bands for theircommunications. Additionally amateur contact with the ISS
also uses 2-m and 70-cm.
I certainly admit to being something of a ‘Luddite’ whenregarding small changes in any technical system. My mental
attitude tends to tell me: ‘If this works satisfactorily at the
moment, why bother with something totally new?’ However,sometimes a quantum leap is necessary and the advertised
technical advances of SDR motivated me to try it for myself.
The Dongles
Because of my long association with AMSAT-UK, I was awareof the FUNcube SDR dongle which had been designed by
Howard Long, one of their members. Howard also organised
the production and sales of the FUNcube both in the UK
and worldwide. Oscar News often carries advertisements by
Martin Lynch and Sons [1] for this product, which is called
the FUNcube Dongle Pro+. The rationale behind the FUNcube
part of the name relates to its originally intended use forradio reception from the small, 30 cm cube, amateur radio
satellites (CubeSats) which transmit on the 2 m and 70 cm
amateur radio frequencies.

Figure 1 - The two dongles for APT/SDR tested by the author

The frequency coverage of the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ stretchesfrom 150 kHz to 1.9 GHz, with one small gap from 240 MHz
to 420 MHz. This means that it is capable of covering all thefrequencies I am interested in for the reception of:• APT• Amateur satellites and the ISS on 2 m and 70 cm• The potential for weather satellite HRPT close to
1.9 GHz.
Realising this, I just had to buy one of these dongles and try
it for myself.

16

Figure 2 - The two antennas used by the author, with preamp (left) for the
FUNCube Pro+ and without a preamp for the DVB-T+DAB+FM Dongle.

Having purchased my first specialist dongle, I was anxious
to try one of the many more commercial dongles which I wastold are widely available. I think these commercial dongles
are mass-produced for the reception of television, but theyalso cover a wide radio spectrum, much broader than just a
few selected domestic TV channels. I had heard that thesedongles can be purchased from electrical shops or evensupermarkets but I could not find one available locally. A
friend directed to me to the website of a dealer in Guernsey,
and I used this to order a DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle which duly
arrived just two days later. Further details about sourcing
this dongle appear in Note 2 at the end of this article.
Figure 1 illustrates the two dongles which were used during
my introduction to SDR. Individually they easily fit into asingle USB socket but, because of their body thickness,they may restrict the use of adjacent USB sockets. The
FUNcube Pro+ comes with an SMA socket while the
DVB-T+DAB model has a short lead terminating in a standard
75 ohm TV socket. It may be noted that other dongles
currently on sale in the UK come with a variety of shortcables and connectors.
Antennas used with the SDR Dongles
I noticed that the software for the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ has
a facility for powering an antenna preamp, which was
perfect for my established antenna with preamp, purchased
about 20 years ago from Dartcom. This is my regular APTantenna, and although quite close to the house, it has agood view of the sky and can receive APT signals from Cairo
to Newfoundland (although not in the same satellite pass).
However, without powering the preamp, the signal from thisantenna is almost zero (the coax lead was about 12 m long).
This antenna was used for testing both SDR dongles andreceived worthwhile images a little closer to the horizon thana second antenna located in my lawn.
The DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle does not have the facility topower a preamp, so to test it I erected a second antenna
in a temporary location, at head height, on my front lawn
during SDR testing. This antenna is similar in design andperformance to the one currently being sold by the GEO Shop.
There was no preamp associated with this antenna as it waswww.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

intended to represent a typical crossed dipole system but without
being in a perfect position. The coax lead was about 10 m long. Thisantenna was also used to test both SDR dongles.
This gave me four configurations: using the antenna with no preampfor each dongle, and also using the established antenna connected toits preamp with each dongle. When using the DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle
with the antenna with preamp, I used a Bias-Tee unit to power the
preamp, and this worked perfectly well [3].
SoftwareNeither of the two dongles came with its own software, which therefore
had to be downloaded from the Internet. In the case of the FUNcube
Dongle Pro+, I was given assistance in selecting the correct software
during the AMSAT-UK meeting in Guidford, by Carlos Eavis, whodownloaded it by following the link to ‘FUNcube’ on their website at
http://amsat-uk.org

I was specifically recommended to use the program SDRsharp (SDR#),
which was duly loaded fromhttp://sdrsharp.com/

and used during all my FUNcube dongle Pro+ testing, although I
did notice a few weeks later that this dongle also works with othersoftware.
For the DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle, the appropriate software wasdownloaded from the RTL-SDR Community website. My understanding
for this downloading process was that the site reads the chipset in thedongle and then downloads the correct software. Whatever the exact
sequence, the system downloaded the correct software which worked
first time. For the protocols of downloading this software see Note 4.
Running the Software
Using either dongle, running the programs was an instant delight.
Instead of a conventional radio receiver where preset frequencies
are selected one at a time, or using a tuning knob to select a single
frequency, with the SDR radio a broad range of radio spectrum activity
was revealed in real time either side of the selected frequency. The
various screen shots will give some idea of the dynamics of runningthese SDR programs (figures 4 - 7). There is a graphical, oscilloscopetype display of the incoming signal and a waterfall pattern lasting a
few seconds generated by all activity on the selected band. Together,
these constitute a beautiful audio-visual picture of the selected band.
Setting the Parameters
The software for SDR allows the setting of many parameters and even
now I have not explored all of these. But the following must be set toallow signal reception. It’s worth noting that some of the parameters
can be changed while the program is running but others require
the program to be stopped while adjustments are made, and thenrestarted
Frequency
The set frequencies for me that were in the 137 MHz range for APT
or 88 MHz to 108 MHz for tests using public broadcasting signals.
Frequency adjustments are easily made by over typing the displayed
numerical frequency shown either at side of, or above, the main
screen displayed. Alternatively, using the mouse, the whole of thefrequency grid can be moved sideways, thus adjusting the frequency
range being displayed on the screen while running the program.
Sound Cards
The dongle’s sound card must be compatible with the selectedsoftware. For the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ it was the FUNcube Pro+ soundcard and for the DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle it was
sound
card.
The correct audio output sound card must also be selected, this caneither be used to listen to the audio or to use it as signal source forimage display using another computer: alternatively direct the audio
to an internal sound card perhaps in another computer for image
display.
Text continues on page 20

www.geo-web.org.uk

Figure 3 - The SDR Sharp input panel

17

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Figure 4This is a screen shot showing VHF FM public broadcasting using the DVB –T+DAB+FM dongle. At my location in SW Surrey I found thisvery useful for setting up and testing both dongles, as these signals (between 88 and 108 MHz) are available 24 hours a day. Using thesesignals was much more convenient that having to wait for an APT pass and then quickly trying to set up all the necessary parameters forthe dongle’s hardware and software. I suspect that similar signals are available in many parts of the world. The frequency of these publicbroadcasting signals is close enough to the antenna’s design frequency of 137 MHz to provide a strong signal into the dongles.

Figure 5This screen shot was taken during live reception of a NOAA 19 signal using the DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle and lawn-located, low level antenna. With the receive
frequency set at 137.116 MHz, the display shows the incoming signal while the waterfall identifies other nearby signals detected during the previous 12 seconds,
and the intermittent activity of pagers towards 137.9 MHz (close to the NOAA 18 frequency) and also near 137.1 MHz (the down link frequency for NOAA 19).

18

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

Figure 6
This screen shot was taken while using the FunCube Pro+ dongle set for an incoming frequency of 137.12 MHz with the filter bandwidth
at 40,000 kHz. This time the antenna was the well positioned Dartcom one, fitted with a preamp. APT signals don’t come much better
than this. Notice that some structure can be seen within the APT signal and that on this occasion there are no pager intrusions.

Figure 7
This screen shot shows a NOAA 18 APT signal centred at 137.91 MHz, recorded using the FunCube Pro+ dongle with the Dartcom antenna. However, notice thesudden appearance of a strong pager signal at 137.85 MHz which began about three seconds before this screen was recorded. Yet filtering by the dongle wastight enough so that the pager did not interfere with the APT signal. Other APT receivers with less precise filtering may well suffer interference from such pagers.

www.geo-web.org.uk

19

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

Figure 8
This image is a channel 2+4 colour composite created in WXtoImg
from a NOAA 19 pass received at 12.48 UT on December 8, 2013.
Because of the lack of illumination, detail towards the north of the
UK becomes rather dark, so the recording was stopped before theloss of signal. The receiver used was the FunCub Pro+ dongle with
the Dartcom antenna. It is interesting to record the snow covered
Alps and Pyrenees, and if you can spot it, some snow on the Atlas
mountains is just identifiable at the bottom left of the image.

March 2014

Figure 10
This image illustrates how synchronisation can be lost if thereceiving system becomes overloaded when maintaining thescreen display at the same time as recording the incoming
image data. Hence the recommendation to minimise the display
during the recording process.
For the record, this image comes from the 13:21 UT NOAA 19
pass from October 30, 2013, and was downloaded using the
DVB‑T+DAB+FM dongle with the lawn based antenna (no preamp).

Preamp
The control panel within the FUNcube Pro+ program has afacility to power an antenna preamp which I activated whenusing their dongle; this is not available with the SDRSharp
software used with the DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle.
Modulation.
The APT signal is frequency modulated hence from the menu
frame I selected FM also setting the signal bandwidth at
40,000 Hz. Note public broadcast is wide‑band FM.
Running
Running the programs for either dongle was an absolutedelight with the impressive display of activity covering theselected part of the RF spectrum. In real time using themouse it is possible to scroll across the frequencies both
listening to a particular station and watching adjacentactivity. I suggest anyone trying this for the first timepractises using the 88-108 MHz FM band before moving
to 137 MHz NBFM where repeaters can often be seen andheard. When you have done this you should be ready for an
APT signal from the NOAA satellites. Of course to make lifeeasy for APT reception satellite passes must be predicted andthese are available from many sources: I use the ‘HeavensAbove’ web site.

Figure 9This NOAA 19 infrared image was decoded in WXtoImg from a
WAV file recorded from the 13.21 UT pass on December 5, 2013using the DVB-T+DAB+FM dongle and the antenna positioned on
my lawn (with no preamp). Interestingly, this image records cold
weather and a water surge sweeping down the North Sea, which
resulted in flooding along the east coast of England. The somewhat
restricted south to north coverage in this image is a function of theantenna position, and not the actual performance of the dongle.

20

The host computer.
I do not know the minimum computer requirement to run
these programs but I strongly suspect only a relative newcomputer will prove suitable, certainly a fast processor isrequired. I used two computers during testing one was myAcer X1430 running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit with an
AMD E-300 duel core processor; the other computer was 7
year old Dell computer running Windows Vista with an Intel
Pentium duel core processor. Both worked well but I think
were close to their limits when running the software’s display
screenwww.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

The processor speed is critical when runningthese programs. I noticed when I was runningthe programs with their screen displays theprocessor was running at about 92% of capacity.
Well I guess that’s okay most of the time but I
also noticed when recording APT images there
was a regular loss of signal synchronisation
which was clearly visible in the display image
See Fig ? I judged this loss of synchronisation
was due to an overloaded processor. On one
occasion quite by chance I recorded an image butwith the dongle display screen minimised, thatis, the program was still running but there wasno display. The resulting image was now perfectand on double checking I found the processor
capacity was down to about 50% capacity. The
advice here is clear; if you are recording an APT
image first watch the dongle display screen to
establish the best possible signal, then minimise
the screen but continue to route the audio signal
to the program recording or displaying the image.
I used the WXtoImg software for recording anddisplaying the APT image either by using thecomputer’s own internal sound card or sending
the audio signal to a standby rather old laptop
but again running WXtoImg. The advice here
seems clear cut if you want to record an APT
image minimise the dongle screen display: unless
you have a faster computer that the ones I used.
Just a note about pager interference. If you
a troubled with interference from local pager
transmission it may well be worth experimenting
with a SDR dongle for your APT reception
because the software filtering and bandwidth areso tight that it should be possible to exclude any
local pager interference. This may be a godsend
to some members troubled by pagers.
My thanks go to David Simmons G1MAL who
has helped me on several occasions with thedongle testing, particularly the downloading of
the correct software and then demonstrating its
use. Without David’s help I would have life would
have been more difficult.
Notes
1 The FUNcube dongle Pro+ may be purchasedfrom Martin Lynch and Sons Ltd., Outline House,
73 Guildford Street, Chertsey Surrey KT16 9AS
Their web site is www.hamradio.co.uk or email
sales@hamradio.co.uk Telephone 03452300599.
Expect the price for a single unit to be about£150. For a full specification visit their website.
As best I know there is no other point of sale forthis FUNcube dongle Pro+.
2 The website www.cosycave.co.uk offers anumber of SDR dongles. The one I tested
was the DVB-T+DAB+FM with a USB-2 plug.
According to exactly which unit you buy, the cost
will be in the range £10 to £15.
3 A Bias-Tee unit for powering an antenna pre amp
is available from the GEO shop price £25.
4 To download the software to run the DVBT+DAB+FM dongle go the web site RTL-SDR
Community Web Site.
For a different program for the same dongle go towww.hdsdr.de

GEO Quarterly No 41

Les Hamilton
Super Typhoon Haiyan, pictured on
our front cover and again on page 37,
was an exceptionally powerful typhoonthat devastated the Philippines on
November 8, 2013. It proved to be
the deadliest typhoon ever recorded
to make landfall in the Philippines,
causing close on 8000 fatalities at thetime of writing, and severely damaging
the homes of more than four million
people.
Already classified as a super typhoon
by November 6—equivalent to a
Category-5 hurricane on the SaffirSimpson scale—Haiyan continued
to intensify until, in mid evening, theJoint Typhoon Warning Center based
at Pearl Harbour was estimating
the system's one-minute sustained
windspeed as 315 kph. On finallyachieving landfall at Guiuan in
the Philippines, this intensity was
undiminished, making Haiyan thestrongest tropical cyclone ever known
to make landfall anywhere, surpassing
the 305 kph of Hurricane Camille over
the Mississippi delta in August 1969.
Typhoon Haiyan caused catastrophic
damage throughout much of Leyteand Samar islands, where cities andtowns were largely destroyed. In
Surigao City, 282 mm of rain fell, mostof it during a period of just 12 hours.
Storm surges were recorded in many
locations, some as high as 15 metres.
The surges on the islands of Leyteand Samar only reached between fiveand six metres, but it was these thatproved the most damaging.
Tacloban
Although wind speeds were extreme,
the major cause of damage andloss of life appears to have been thestorm surges. The major focus ofdevastation was on the east coast of
Samar and Leyte, in particular in thecity of Tacloban. The terminal buildingof Tacloban airport was destroyed
by a 5.2 metre storm surge which
engulfed everything up to the second
storey. So powerful was the storm thatlarge ships were washed ashore at
Tacloban. In many ways, the scene
resembled the aftermath of a tsunami.
Tacloban city suffered widespread andnear total devastation from the surge:
many homes, shops and schools werecompletely destroyed, trees were
knocked over or broken and cars andvans were piled up. The low-lying
areas on the eastern side of Tacloban
were hardest hit, with some areas

www.geo-web.org.uk

completely washed away as flooding
extended a full kilometre inland on
the east coast of the province. In
all, roughly 90% of Tacloban was
totally destroyed. Widespread powerinterruptions, landslides and flash
floods were also reported. Major
roads were blocked by trees andbecame impassable, and more than
450 domestic and international airline
flights were cancelled. In addition,
there were severe shortages of bothclean water and food as officials andrescue workers struggled to distributeaid. Looting was widespread.
In the aftermath of Haiyan’s passage,
matters were greatly compromisedby extensive pillaging that took
place in the two weeks following thestorm. Over a thousand convicts
escaped from three prisons and joined
residents in ransacking large areas.
A particularly lucrative target was
Tacloban’s electricity transformers,
which were torn apart and theircopper cores sold for scrap on theblack market. Sections of fallen powerlines were also stolen for their copper.
As a result, most of the city remains
without electricity, and is plunged into
darkness overnight.
Another effect of Haiyan is thatmuch of the population has moved
elsewhere in the Philippines. Morethan a third of the 1,370 students
at the University of the Philippines
campus in Tacloban have transferred
to other campuses, and many more
have dropped out because they
can no longer afford to attend. The
migration of the most able to findopportunities elsewhere is leaving
behind a city populated by the poorand destitute.
But some aspects of life in the city
have improved, and relief food anddrinking water are now generally
available. But the continued lackof power makes life difficult forbusinesses and there are as yet few
signs of economic recovery.
Vietnam
On leaving the Philippines, Haiyan
bore down on Vietnam, where morethan 600,000 people were evacuatedin northern provinces. Rainfall totals
in excess of 450 mm and wind gusts
touching 150 kph were recorded. Tenpeople were killed during preparationsfor Haiyan’s landfall but, thanks toadequate warnings, there were no
fatalities after the typhoon landfall.

21

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

John Tellick
The advent of Metop-A and -B worldwide AVHRR
dissemination via EUMETCast has allowed us to view every
part of the world in high resolution—clouds permitting. By
using the RGB options on David Taylor’s AVHRR Reader,various features can be highlighted and/or enhanced. The
trouble is that you can’t sit by the computer all day on theoff-chance of seeing something interesting nor spend hours
reviewing the day’s imaging. So I guess we miss a lot?

However, I did happen to be by the computer when a ‘quick
look’ image of northern Russia and the Arctic Ocean was
being received. The area in question, which often seems
cloudy, was on this day fairly clear, and showing aninteresting feature—which I learned later to be the Lena River
Delta.
The Lena River is one of the three great Siberian rivers thatflow into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world’s 11th longest river

The Lena Delta, imaged by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor aboard NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite on February 27, 2000.
Image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch

22

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Lena Delta and Leptev Sea as imaged by Metop‑B on June 11, 2013. The left-hand image is the standard falsecolour rendition produced with David Taylor’s HRPT Reader software. while that on the right has been processedwith an RGB palette which enhances the contrast between frozen terrain (green) and sea ice (magenta).
Image © EUMETSAT 2013and has the world’s 9th largest watershed area. Its source isin the Baikal Mountains, just west of Lake Baikal, and it’sjoined by several other rivers as it flows to the Arctic Ocean.
The total length of the river is around 4350 kilometres andit is ‘the only big river in the world flowing on the permafrost
area. Its hydrology is unique and characterised by its
immense spring floods.’
The River Lena enters the Leptev Sea, part of the Arctic
Ocean, through a vast delta, which shows up well in these
Metop-B image from June 11, 2013. As you can see, much of
the Leptev Sea remains covered in sea ice, even at this timeof the year. The Lena Delta extending into the Leptev Sea

is around 400 kilometres across and formed into many flat
islands. This terrain is frozen tundra for seven months of theyear, but from around May becomes a lush wetland wildlife
area.
The Lena is one of the cleanest rivers in the world. It stillflows along its original course, uninterrupted by manmade intrusions such as hydro-power stations, dams,
and industrial developments which would affect the river’s
environment. The Lena River represents a natural source offresh water, a commodity which, every year, becomes lessand less available all over the planet. Still one of the pristine
areas of our planet, one wonders how much longer the Lena
can remain this way.

www.geo-web.org.uk

23

GEO Quarterly No 41

24

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

John Tellick
Here in the British Isles, the winter of 2013/14 is turningout to be a record breaker, it seems, characterised byan endless succession of depressions sweeping in fromthe Atlantic. Ever since last December, and continuing
as I compose this note in early February, these storms
have been crossing the country. Today, yet another deep
depression is battering southwest England and Wales;
even here in London, strong winds are whistling aroundmy house and the Met. Office has issued a warning ofyet more gales and rain in two days time as anotherdepression lies waiting in the wings.
Several of these storms have caused considerable
damage, either from gales, rain or tidal surges: in somecases all three simultaneously. Parts of Somerset havebeen flooded since Christmas and there has been
widespread flooding elsewhere in southern England. In
fact, January 2014 turned out to be the wettest January
recorded in the south of England for at least 100 years:
probably the wettest ever.
It’s been quite a change for me, living in SW London,
from the last three winters, when it was often cold withaccompanying snow and frost. This winter has been mild
so far and quite sunny at times, with hardly any frost. In
the garden, my fuchsias are still in full flower along with
geraniums. Last week I spotted a butterfly in the garden
and had a large bumble bee buzzing around indoors.
When the wind drops, and with temperatures quite often
around 10° to 12°C, it can be very pleasant— for a while.
But strong winds and rain are the norm at the moment.
France too has had problems, with wind damage andflooding along the Atlantic and Channel coasts, in thewake of these massive depressions. I started archiving
satellite images during December after a particularly deep
depression coincided with high spring tides, and caused
tidal surges in the North Sea and along the coasts of parts
on Britain, with a view to producing an article. But, with as
many as three depressions crossing the UK most weeks,
one could fill a whole issue of the GEO Quarterly withthem. Nevertheless, many of the images are particularly
spectacular, and a few appear here and on page 26.
Spring tides.
It’s worth a few words on the effects of spring tides on thisweather scenario. Tides are, of course, the rise and fallof sea levels caused by the combined gravitational forces
exerted by the Moon and the Sun, and the rotation of the
Earth. While tides are usually the largest source of shortterm sea-level fluctuations, sea levels are also subject toforces such as wind and barometric pressure changes,
which can result in what are termed storm surges. This isespecially true in shallow seas and near coasts.
Spring tides are those very high and low tides that occur
at the times of New Moon or Full Moon, when the Sun
and Moon are in approximate alignment with the Earth sothat their gravitational pulls reinforce each other. Whenthese tides coincide with a deep depression (low pressure)and its associated strong winds, storm surges occur, as
happened during the night of December 5/6 2013, causing
problems across much of the North Sea coastline. The
same storm’s wind and rain also caused considerable
damage across inland northern Europe and the UK.

Much of Spain and the British Isles are lost beneath cloud in this Metop-A image
acquired at 09.45 UT on February 3, 2014. East Anglia, The Netherlands and part of
Denmark are enjoying a brief period of respite.
Image: NOAA CLASS Library

www.geo-web.org.uk

25

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

This NOAA 19 image, acquired by John Tellick at 13:54 UT on February 4, 2014, shows
yet another massive Atlantic depression bearing down on the sodden British Isles
Image © EUMETSAT 201426www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

27

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies(GISS) [1] have reported that 2013 continued the long-term
trend of increasing mean air temperatures over Earth’s landand sea surfaces. Their analysis of global temperatures has
shown that 2013 tied with 2006 and 2009 as the seventh
warmest year since 1880. Indeed, the list of hottest years onrecord is already hugely dominated by the years of the 21st
century: and each of the 12 years starting with 2001 features
as one of the 14 warmest on record. Global temperatures
are affected by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, with its
extremes of El Niño and La Niña leading respectively tounusually warm and cool years. With El Niño holding sway in2010, that year topped the previous record set in the El Niño
year of 1998. Conversely, 2012—a La Niña year—was cooler
than 2010, yet still ranked as the tenth warmest year sincerecords began in 1880. The GISS report illustrates how Earthcontinues to experience temperatures warmer than thosemeasured several decades ago.

emissions, scientists do expect each decade to be warmer
than the previous one. The decade-by-decade temperature
trend is depicted in the second map opposite.

The upper map on the opposite page depicts global
temperature anomalies for 2013. It does not show absolutetemperatures, but instead shows how much warmer or cooler
various parts of the Earth were compared with an averaged
base period from 1951 to 1980. The GISS team assembled
its analysis using publicly available data from roughly 6,300
meteorological stations around the world, as well as shipbased and satellite observations of sea surface temperature,
and Antarctic research station measurements. Thensoftware is used to calculate the difference between surface
temperature in a given month and the average temperature
for the same place from 1951 to 1980. This three-decade
period functions as a baseline for the analysis. For more
explanation of how the analysis works, read World of Change:
Global Temperatures [2].

Scientific evidence states that the level of carbon dioxide in
Earth’s atmosphere is presently higher than at any time in
the past 800,000 years. In 1880, the first year included in
the GISS analysis, the global carbon dioxide level was about
285 parts per million; by 2013, it had peaked to more than
400 parts per million. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gasthat traps heat and plays a major role in controlling changes
to Earth’s climate. It occurs naturally, and is also emitted by
the burning of fossil fuels.

The global average temperature for 2013 was 14.6° Celsius,
which is 0.6°C warmer than the mid 20th century baseline.
The average global temperature has risen about 0.8°C since1880. Exact rankings for individual years are sensitive todata inputs and analysis methods.
“Long-term trends in surface temperatures are unusual,and 2013 adds to the evidence for ongoing climatechange,” according to GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt.
“While one year, or one season, can be affectedby random weather events, this analysis shows thenecessity for continued, long-term monitoring.”
Weather patterns and other natural cycles cause fluctuations
in average temperatures from year to year. This is especiallythe case at regional and local levels. For instance, while theglobe experienced notably warm temperatures in 2013, thecontinental United States experienced a fairly average year
(ranked only 42nd among its warmest) while it was the hottest
year ever in Australia’s recorded history.
Regardless of the regional differences in any year, continued
increases in greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphereare driving a long-term rise in global temperatures. Eachcalendar year will not necessarily be warmer than the
one before but, with the current level of greenhouse gas

28

It has been 38 years now since of a year with cooler than
average temperatures has been recorded. The graph at
the foot of the following page shows how the long-term
temperature trend has continued to rise, even when the effectof an El Niño or La Niña event skews temperatures to bewarmer or cooler in a particular year. Orange bars represent
global temperature anomalies in El Niño years, with the redline showing the longer trend (the classification of years
comes from the NOAA Oceanic Niño Index). Blue bars depict
La Niña years, with a blue line showing the trend. Neutral
years, where neither El Niño nor La Niña is active, are shownin gray, the black line showing the overall temperature trend
since 1950. Note that even the La Niña years are warmer
than they used to be.

Related Reading
1 NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies GISS Surface
Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP)

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/
2 NASA Earth Observatory (2012) World of Change: Global
Temperatures.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
Features/WorldOfChange/decadaltemp.php
3 NASA Earth Observatory (2011, January 14) Different Records,
Same Warming Trend

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=48574
4 NASA Earth Observatory (2007, November 5) Earth’s Temperature
Tracker

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GISSTemperature/
5 NASA Earth Observatory (2010, June 3) Global Warming

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/page1.php
6 NASA Earth Observatory (2013, March 26) Arctic Amplification

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81214
7 NASA Earth Observatory (2013, September 27) Global Patterns ofCarbon Dioxide

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82142
8 NASA Earth Observatory (2011, June 16) The Carbon Cycle

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/CarbonCycle/page1.php
Note
Many of the above URLs are Case Sensitive. Do take carewhen keying them in.

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

1950 - 2013 Temperature Trend

www.geo-web.org.uk
NASA images by Gavin Schmidt and Robert Simmon,
based on data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

29

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Les Hamilton
Renowned as a land of snow and ice,
almost the entire continent of Antarctica
lies beneath a 14 million square kilometre
ice cap with an average depth ofsome 1500 metres (and a maximum of
4776 metres at the South Pole). Most of
this ice is permanent, less than 2% of
it melting seasonally during the australsummer. Such melting that does takeplace occurs predominantly along the west
coast of the Antarctic peninsula and its
attendant islands, which enjoy a so-called
maritime Antarctic climate. Here, averagetemperatures can remain just a few degrees
above freezing for between three and fourmonths at a stretch, exposing the rocky
shorelines that provide such excellent
habitats for several species of penguin.
But inland from the coast, Antarctica isboth frigid and arid, receiving so little
precipitation—annual mean 166 mm—that
it is technically a desert. Yet, despite theintense cold, there exists a group of almost
snow-free valleys centred on 77.5°S, 163°E
in Victoria Land, only 130 kilometres as thecrow flies from the famed Scott Base across
McMurdo Sound (figure 1).

Figure 2 - The Dry Valleys as imaged by NASA’s Landsat-7 on December 18, 1999.
Landsat 7’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) Image by Robert Simmon, based ondata provided by the NASA GSFC Oceans and Ice Branch and the Landsat 7 Science Team

Figure 1 - Location map for the Dry Valleys

These McMurdo Dry Valleys [1,2] are to befound in a cluster, west of McMurdo
Sound, and are so named because of theirextremely low humidity and lack of snow
and ice cover. The Landsat-7 satellite
image (figure 2) and detailed USGS map of
the region (figure 3) both clearly show thethree principal Dry Valleys: Victoria Valley,
Wright Valley and Taylor Valley. One of
the few areas of Antarctica not covered bythousands of meters of ice, the McMurdo
Dry Valleys stand out starkly in the satellite
image. For a few weeks each summer,
temperatures can become warm enoughto melt glacial ice and create streams thatfeed freshwater lakes lying on the valley
floors. Though permanently capped bya thick layer of ice, these lakes remains
unfrozen throughout the year, and support
colonies of bacteria and phytoplankton.

30

Figure 3 - Map showing the McMurdo Dry Valleys
Source: USGS

Additionally, photosynthetic bacteria havebeen found living in the relatively moist
interiors of surrounding rocks.
Scientists consider the Dry Valleys to be
the closest of any terrestrial environment
to Mars. Over the past 14 years, however,summers here have been colder than usual,www.geo-web.org.uk

and the lakes are becoming more and morefrozen. If the trend continues, it is possiblethat the biological communities the lakes
harbour could go into hibernation.
Taylor Valley
While flying over Antarctica aboard a
P-3 aircraft in November 2013, Operation

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

Figure 4 - Taylor Valley and the Taylor Glacier, photographed in November 2013
Photo: NASA/ Michael Studinger

Figure 5 - Taylor Valley slants from lower left to upper right in this image

Image: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.

Figure 6 - A Terra ASTER image showing Lake Bonney

Image: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.

IceBridge [3] project scientist Michael Studinger photographed thesouthernmost of the main Dry Valleys, Taylor Valley (figures 4, 5),which extends some 30 kilometres from Taylor Glacier in the west
to McMurdo Sound. One of the most remote and geologicallyexotic places on the planet, Taylor Valley is surrounded by some
spectacular mountain scenery, and contains its eponymous glacierwith its spectacular Blood Falls.
The reason Taylor Valley and its neighbours are so conspicuouslybare is due to the presence of the Transantarctic Mountains to theirsouth: these force moisture from the air as it passes over them,leaving the valleys in a precipitation shadow that creates one of thedriest places on Earth. Any snow that falls on the valleys is swept
away by the relentless cold, dry katabatic winds that frequently
surge downhill from the ice cap toward the sea at over 300 kph.
The mean annual temperature here is around -20°C, and theannual precipitation averages around 100 mm water equivalent.
The lack of precipitation has helped to preserve the dramaticsequences of exposed rock shown in the photograph above.

Figure 7 - Blood Falls

Photograph: Mike Martoccia/Wikimedia

www.geo-web.org.uk

31

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

The light brown bands are layers of sandstone which wereformed on the bed of a shallow sea between 250 million and
400 million years ago, during an era when Earth’s southern
continents were locked into the Gondwana supercontinent.
The dark horizontal band of rock that divides the sandstone isa dolerite sill, intruded during a later volcanic interlude about
180 million years ago, possibly one of the events that tore
Gondwana apart.
The photograph is dominated by Taylor Glacier, noteworthy
because (like all glaciers in the Dry Valleys) it is cold-based.
This means that its base is frozen to the ground below.
The majority of Earth’s glaciers are wet-based: pressure
underneath the glacier melts the ice to produce a lubricating
film of water which allows the entire mass of the glacier toscrape downhill over its bedrock, picking up piles of debris
which are later deposited as substantial moraines. Cold-based
glaciers on the other hand, are found where temperaturesare so low that their basal ice cannot melt and remains
firmly welded to the bedrock: only the upper portion of sucha glaciers moves, slowly creeping forwards under its own
weight. Cold-based glaciers are largely non-erosive: theypick up minimal debris along their margins and create only
rudimentary moraines. From above the difference between thetwo is very clear: instead of exhibiting the typical highly ridged
and crevassed surface of an alpine glacier, the surface of acold-based glacier is comparatively flat and smooth.
Blood Falls
Just visible as a small, dark smudge on the snout of the glacierat lower right in figure 4 are Blood Falls. Here, intermittent
trickles of iron-rich hypersaline water from a sub-glacial
reservoir seep out from a fissure in the glacier’s 30 metre
leading edge and stain the ice red. This gives the appearanceof a blood-red waterfall cascading down the glacier into Lake
Bonney (figures 7-11). The phenomenon has been known
since its discovery in 1911 by Australian geologist Griffith
Taylor, who gave his name to the surrounding valley. Originallythe red colour was thought to be caused by red algae, but is
now known to be the work of a population of chemosynthetic
bacteria similar to those found near hydrothermal vents near
mid-ocean ridges.
It is postulated that, some five million years ago, what is now
Taylor Valley used to be a fjord-like inlet of the sea which, as
the climate cooled and the sea retreated, became isolated
as an inland saltwater lake. As Taylor Glacier advanced, itburied the lake under some 400 metres of ice, totally isolating
its saline waters for the best part of two million years. The
increasingly frigid temperatures resulted in water at thesurface of this sub-glacial lake to start freezing, causing salts
to precipitate out and concentrate in the solution below. It isbelieved that iron entered the lake as a result of the scraping
motion of the early Taylor Glacier against its bedrock. Today,
the trapped solution is so salty—around three times as saline
as the world’s oceans—that it never freezes.

Figure 8 - Blood Falls spills from Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonney
Photo: Mike Martoccia

The sub-glacial lake has also trapped more than a dozen
species of extremophile bacteria, which have been able tosurvive in its dark, oxygen-free waters on energy gained bymetabolising sulphur and iron compounds. The water in thelake is not itself red: the red colour only develops when ironcompounds produced by the bacteria are oxidised (basically torust particles) when the liquid emerges from the glacier.
Many astrobiologists think that Jupiter’s moon Europa,
possesses a liquid ocean beneath its icy crust. Should life exist
on Europa, it may well be as forms of extremophile bacteria.
References
1 McMurdo Dry Valleys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMurdo_Dry_Valleys
2 McMurdo Dry Valleys
http://www.mcmurdodryvalleys.aq/
3 Operation IceBridge - GEOQ 39, page 51

32

Figure 9 - A close-up of Blood Falls spilling from a fissure in Taylor Glacier
Photo: Kristan Hutchison, National Science Foundation.

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

Figure 10 - A scientific campsite near Blood Falls
Photo: Mike Martoccia

Figure 11 - Blood Falls spills from Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonney
Photo: Kristan Hutchison, National Science Foundation.

Figure 12 - The Commonwealth Glacier in Taylor Valley.
Mount Erebus can be seen on the horizon.
Photo: Kelly Speelman, National Science Foundation.

www.geo-web.org.uk

33

GEO Quarterly No 41

34

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

35

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Les Hamilton

This Terra MODIS image, which was acquired on December 3 lastyear, intrigued me when I spotted a set of prominent lee wave
clouds over the Pacific Ocean, to the southwest of New Zealand(lower left of image). This came as something of a surprise as
I was unaware of any land there that might give rise to such aphenomenon: so I did a little research and discovered that, in
this remote area of the ocean, lies a small archipelago, the New
Zealand Auckland Islands: Auckland Island itself, Adams Island,Enderby Island, Disappointment Island, Ewing Island, Rose Island,

Dundas Island and Green Island. These islands, which have a
combined area of just 625 km2, lie just over 450 kilometres from thesouthern coast of New Zealand at approximately 50°S, 166°E.
Auckland island, by far the largest member of the group, accounts
for 510 km2 of the total area and, like the remainder of the islands,
has no permanent population. It is notable for its steep cliffs andrugged terrain, its four mountains rising to over 600 metres clearly
being the cause of the prominent wave cloud in the image.
Image: LANCE-MODIS/NASA/GSFC

36

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

37

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Les Hamilton
GEO has reported on Antarctic Atmospheric Ozone Depletion several
times during the past decade [1,2]. The phenomenon, popularly
dubbed the Ozone Hole, relates to the annual reduction in
stratospheric ozone concentrations above the Earth’s polar regions,more especially over Antarctica, during late spring. Stratosphericozone acts as a natural sunscreen, absorbing harmful ultraviolet(UV) radiation emitted by the sun, thereby making life on ourplanet possible. UV radiation damages DNA in plants and animals,causes sunburn and eye damage, and can lead to skin cancer. It is
not overstating the case to say that, without ozone in our planet’s
atmosphere, life on Earth (as we know it) would be impossible.
During the early 1980s, a combination of ground-based, balloon
and satellite measurements revealed for the first time that ozone
concentrations over the Antarctic were falling dramatically eachspring before recovering with the onset of each austral summer.
This was a trend that accelerated year on year until 1994, thenheld relatively constant until 2006, the year when the Ozone
Hole attained its greatest ever recorded geographical extent
of 29.9 million square kilometres. Previous to 1979, ozone
concentrations lower than 220 DU over Antarctica had never been
observed, but from 1980 this became the norm as levels dropped
rapidly, dipping below 100 DU for the first time in 1994 when the
deepest ozone hole ever (73 DU) was recorded on September 30that year.
NASA’s Ozone Hole Watch website at
http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/meteorology/annual_data.html

tabulates a wealth of information about the Ozone Hole for every
year since 1979 (1995 excepted). This includes:• mean area for the season September 7 - October 13• mean depth for the season September 21 - October 16• single-day maximum area, and• single-day minimum depth.
The ozone hole is a seasonal phenomenon that starts building
up with the reappearance of the sun following the long periodof winter darkness. Circumpolar winds trap cold air above thecontinent during the Antarctic spring, and sunlight catalyses
reactions involving chlorine compounds which deplete ozone
in the stratosphere. This process reaches its peak between
late September and early October, after which conditions ease.
Generally, by early December, the seasonal Ozone Hole has closed
again.
Notably, the season when the Ozone Hole attains its maximum
spread does not coincide exactly with the occurrence of maximum
ozone depletion. Figure 2 plots the mean minimum recorded

Figure 1
The year’s deepest, single-day Ozone Hole over the Antartctic was recordedon September 29, 2013, when the concentration fell to 116 DU. The meanvalue throughout the ‘Minimum Period’ (Sept 21 - Oct 16) was 132.5 DU.

atmospheric concentrations of ozone in the stratosphere during the
September 21 - October 16 window while figure 3 does likewise forthe mean maximum geographical areas of the Ozone Hole between
September 7 - October 13 (all data courtesy NASA Ozone Hole
Watch).
It is clear that the area and depth of the ozone hole have generally
stabilised since 1994, although annual fluctuations remain because
ozone levels are also affected by more mundane processes suchas yearly variations in stratospheric temperature and circulation:colder conditions in particular favour enhanced ozone depletion,
creating a wider Ozone Hole with a lower ozone concentration at its
centre. Figure 4 opposite shows a selection of Ozone Hole maps
showing both the extent and depth of the Ozone Hole for selected... continued on page 40

Figure 2 - Annual minimum ozone levels (Dobson Units)

38

Figure 3 - Area covered by the ozone hole by year (km2×106)

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

1979

1980

1981

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

2007

2009

2011

2012

Figure 4
Maps plotting changes in the mean annual extent and depth of the Ozone Hole between 1979 and the present day.

www.geo-web.org.uk

39

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

years between 1979 and 2012. The outer edge of the Ozone Holelies at the boundary between the cyan and dark blue regions; theareas of highest ozone depletion over the south pole region are
rendered in shades of magenta. Variations in the apparent shapeof the Ozone Hole from year to year have no significance. The
Ozone Hole is dynamic, and stratospheric circulation slowly shifts
its contours, even over the course of a single day. Figure 1 (above)shows the Ozone Hole at the time of its maximum extent this year,
achieved on September 29. Note the marked reduction in purple
colouring around the South Pole in the most recent maps.
The Antarctic Ozone Hole Images
The images of the Ozone Hole in figures 1 and 4 were createdfrom measurements made by NASA’s Total Ozone Mapping
Spectrometer (TOMS) instruments, which flew aboard a varietyof satellites (Nimbus 7, Meteor 3-05, ADEOS and Earth Probe)
between 1979–2003, and by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological
Institute (KNMI) Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), which has
been operating from NASA’s Aura satellite since 2004. The dark
blue and purple areas indicate the position and extent of the Ozone
Hole.
The 2012 Antarctic Ozone HoleThe average area covered by the Antarctic Ozone Hole during
2012, at 17.8 million km2, was the second smallest on record
since 1988. This is an area roughly equivalent to that of the USA,
Canada and Mexico combined. The fact that it has taken over two
decades for ozone levels to fall back to pre-1990 levels relates tothe long lifetimes of ozone-depleting substances released into theatmosphere prior to implementation of the Montreal Protocol.
Additionally, the minimum mean concentration of ozone in theatmosphere above Antarctica in 2012, 139.1 DU, was the second
highest recorded since 1988: only the anomalous 157.4 DU spikeof 2002 was higher. And at the South Pole itself, ground-based
observations by NOAA recorded a minimum level of 136 DU.
Outwith the ‘Ozone Hole Season’, total ozone levels over the
Antarctic are typically in the range 240-500 DU.

More and more specialist publications are eschewing theprinted medium these days and moving totally over toelectronic distribution. One of the latest ‘casualties’ of thistrend has been EUMETSAT’s popular Image newsletter. The
following announcement appeared in Image No 38, publishedin July 2013:
IMAGE goes online
This is the final print edition of IMAGE, whose contents
will have a new home on our website. In addition to future
editions of IMAGE, there will be a PDF archive of past
editions dating back to May 2000 on the website.
http://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/InSight/

This website is called. To search for past editionsof Image newsletter, use the search panel at on the top righthand corner of the web page and type in ‘IMAGE newsletter’.
This opens the a search filter panel illustrated below.
Tick Document and then Publications, whilst un-checking all theremaining ticked options.
Finally, clock the Apply button at the foot of the panel and you
will be provided with a list of links to past Image newsletters.
For reasons not understood, all issues do not seem to beavailable, but the entire website is so comprehensive that you
might be better served searching for a specific topic (rather
than newsletter). If that topic has been covered in an Image
newsletter, a link will be provided.

The 2013 Antarctic Ozone HoleThe average area of the Ozone Hole this year showed an increase
to 21.0 million km2, but was still significantly below the average
since the mid 1990s of 22.5 million km2.
Conclusion
Since 2006, as the effects of the 1987 Montreal Protocol [2] banning
the release of ozone-destroying chemicals into the atmosphere has
started to take effect, the ozone hole is stabilising. Indeed, the trend
suggests that ozone levels are at last slowly starting to decreaseagain.
Levels of chlorine in the atmosphere are falling [5] as a result of
the treaty, but as yet not sufficiently to have a major shrinking
effect on the ozone hole. Currently, it is the annual variations intemperature, and the winds which transport ozone from the tropics
to polar regions, which largely determine the size of the ozone
hole. Such natural events were largely responsible for the disparity
between the large ozone hole of 2006 and the much smaller one in2012. And variations like this are expected to continue for several
decades yet. Only when chlorine levels fall below those prevalent
in the 1990s—probably some time between 2015 and 2030—will
major reductions in the ozone hole become apparent, hopefully
leading to a full recovery by about 2070.
References
1 The Expanding Ozone Hole - GEOQ 13, page 4 (2007)
2 Montreal Protocol and the Ozone Hole - GEOQ 36, page 18 (2012)
3 NASA Ozone Hole Watch
http://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/
4 Antarctic Ozone Hole: 1979 to 2008
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=38835
5 NASA Reveals New Results from inside the Ozone Hole
http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/
new-results-from-inside-the-ozone-hole/

40

March 2014www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 41

Robert Moore

On October 28, 2013, showery weather was moving in
towards the UK from the Atlantic. In the afternoon, when thesun was low in the west, NOAA 18 made a pass over the UK.

Are the tall columns of cloud a natural meteorologicalphenomenon or are they created by rising columns of warm
air from power stations or industrial plant?

Patches of what look like quite vigorous convection were to
be seen casting long shadows, notably across the English
midlands and East Anglia, the most conspicuous shadow
across east Anglia being about 80 kilometres in length.

What is perhaps especially interesting about this image isthat it does indeed show the clouds to be in vertical columns,
something that would not have been at all obvious without
the oblique sunlight.

www.geo-web.org.uk

41

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

Anders Höök
In the last issue of GEO Quarterly (GEO Q40), there was avery beautiful image of Scandinavia with the rivers in the
middle and northern parts of Sweden especially prominent.
David Taylor, who wrote about the image, challenged theSwedish readers to confirm his hypothesis that it might
be fog or mist that was making the rivers so prominent(figure 1).
As I am one of them (I live in Vallentuna, Sweden), I felt
it was appropriate to try to check: so I made a phone callto the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute(SMHI). I happened to come in contact with meteorologist
Sverker Hellström. He told me that on this very occasion(Sunday, August 25, 2013), the phenomenon had also been
noticed by SMHI, and had been discussed in a blog written
by meteorologist Mattias Lindh. The information below
comes from his blog, which also showed a satellite image(figure 2), however not so beautiful as the one in GEO Q40. I
also include a photograph from the blog showing a view fromground level (figure 3).
A major area of high pressure had been dominating theweather over Sweden for some time before August 25. At theend of the summer this results in nice daytime temperaturesand relatively cold nights. Such prevailing high pressure andabsence of wind gives high heat radiation during the nights.
This results in veils of mist over meadows and in depressions,what we in Sweden call ‘the dancing fairies’.

Figure 1 - Radiation Fog in Swedish River Valleys

NOAA 15 image courtesy the University of Berne/David Taylor

Figure 2 - A satellite image showing in the valleys and adjacent torivers in southern Norrland at 7 am on Sunday, August 25, 2013.
Image courtesy SMHI/ Mattias Lindh

So, radiation mist is common during late summer andautumn. The ground loses heat due to long wavelength heatradiation, becomes cool, and water vapour can condense fromthe air.

Figure 3 - A chilly morning with radiation mist over low lying terrain

Radiation mist had occurred in many places during thedays around August 25. During these cold and calm nights
the cold air descends into depressions and valleys, where
the mist accumulates. This most probably explains why therivers in the image are so prominent. But one can also notein the same image that, in the more southern parts of thecountry, other places than rivers are misty. These, I believe,
are low-lying parts of the land.

42

You can access Mattias Lindh’s blog at
www.geo-web.org.uk
http://www.smhi.se/Bloggar/2.1701/2013/08/27/alvar-och-alvor/

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

43

GEO Quarterly No 41

The Group for Earth Observation

March 2014

David Taylor
I know that there is still a corps of GEO Members who areusing Windows XP as the operating system of choice for
their EUMETCast receiving stations. It is probably common
knowledge these days that Microsoft have been planning to
end support for Windows XP for some time, and the deadline
on which they intend to stop supplying security updates isimminent: April 8, 2014.
It therefore makes sense now, provided your PC is capable, tomove to a more recent operating system such as Windows-7
or Windows-8, both of which handle the EUMETCast softwareand satellite programs just as before. If your PC is rather
long in the tooth, consider buying a new one with quad-coreprocessor, 8 GB of memory, and equipped with Windows 8.1.

risks. This may result in an officially recognized control
failure by an internal or external audit body, leading tosuspension of certifications, and/or public notificationof the organizations inability to maintain its systems andcustomer information.
• Lack of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) & Hardware
Manufacturers support: A recent industry report from
Gartner Research suggests "many independent software
vendors (ISVs) are unlikely to support new versions ofapplications on Windows XP in 2011; in 2012, it will
become common." And it may stifle access to hardware
innovation: Gartner Research further notes that in 2012,
most PC hardware manufacturers will stop supporting
Windows XP on the majority of their new PC models.

A quad-core computer with 8 GB memory should be a goodstarter. It’s not essential to go for an SSD system disk forthe type of use we tend to make—and most definitely keepthat massive data flow away from any SSD, as these have alimited re-write life span. You can purchase a 2 TB or 3 TB
hard disk quite cheaply these days. Perhaps the minimum
system to aim for is one with a 500 GB system disk and a
2 TB data disk; and make sure there’s room to fit a second
network card (the motherboard will most likely already havean Ethernet port built-in), and get speakers if you don’t
already have them.
You can read what Microsoft have to say on the topic at
http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/
enterprise/endofsupport.aspx

Why is Microsoft ending support for XP and Office 2003?
In 2002, Microsoft introduced its Support Lifecycle policy
based on customer feedback, to offer more transparency andpredictability of support for Microsoft products. As per thispolicy, Microsoft Business and Developer products, including
Windows and Office, receive a minimum of 10 years of
support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended
Support), at the supported service pack level.
Thus, Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 will come outof support on April 8, 2014. If your organisation has
not started the migration to a modern desktop, you arelate. Based on historical customer deployment data, theaverage enterprise deployment can take 18 to 32 months
from business case through full deployment. To ensure
you remain on supported versions of Windows and Office,you should begin your planning and application testing
immediately to ensure you deploy before support ceases.
What does end of support mean to customers?
It means you should take action. After April 8, 2014, there
will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, freeor paid assisted support options or online technical content
updates. Running Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003 in yourenvironment after their end of support date may expose yourcompany to potential risks, such as:• Security & Compliance Risks: Unsupported andunpatched environments are vulnerable to security

44

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

45

GEO Quarterly No 41

EUMETCast On-Line
Registration Guide
If you require to register as a first-time user for
any of the free EUMETCast data streams suchas MSG, NOAA AVHRR, Metop etc., or needto renew an existing subscription, this must be
done on-line.
GEO has produced a step-by-step guide to theentire process at
http://www.geo-web.org.uk/eumreg.html
This guide also contains a direct link to theofficial EUMETCast on-line registration form,
which can otherwise prove somewhat tricky tolocate.

GEO Helplines
Douglas Deans

Dunblane, Perthshire, SCOTLAND.

All aspects of weather satellites from APT,
HRPT to Meteosat-9 DVB/EUMETCast
systems.
• telephone:(01786) 82 28 28• e-mail: dsdeans@btinternet.com
John Tellick
Surbiton, Surrey, ENGLAND.
Meteosat-9 advice: registering for the various
MSG services, hardware and software
installation and troubleshooting. John will
also field general queries about any aspect ofreceiving weather satellite transmissions.
• telephone: (0208) 390 3315
• e-mail: info@geo-web.org.uk
Geoff Morris GW3ATZ
Shotton, Flintshire, NE WALES.
Geoff has lots of experience with aerial,coax,connectors, mounting hardware etc. andhas also done a lot of work with the orbiting
satellites. Geoff has been a EUMETCast
Meteosat-9 user for some time and is familiar
with David Taylor’s MSG software. He
should be able to share his experiences with
newcomers to this branch of the hobby.
• Tel: (01244) 818252• e-mail: gw3atz@btopenworld.com
Mike Stevens
Portland, Dorset, England.
Assistance with reception of EUMETCast
to include Metop-A and Metop-B; also MSG
Data reception and set-up within the PC, andassistance with dish alignment and set-up.
• email: mikeg4cfz@gmail.com
Guy Martin G8NFU
Biggin Hill NW Kent, ENGLAND
Guy is prepared to advise anyone who wishing
to receive MSG/Metop using Windows 2000 or
XP. Can also help with networking and ADSL
router setup.
• gmartin@electroweb.co.uk
Hector Cintron
San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Hector is prepared to field enquiries on HRPT,
APT, EMWIN and NOAAPORT• Phone: 787-774-8657• e-mail: n1tkk@hwic.net
Email contact can of course be made at any
time, but we would ask you to respect privacy
by restricting telephone contact to the period
7.00 - 9.00 pm in the evenings.

46

The Group for Earth Observation

Weather Satellite Reports
If there is a single Internet Forum that isrelevant to all weather satellite enthusiasts,
it must surely be Douglas Deans’ Weather
Satellite reports.
Here you will find every conceivable type of
information about weather satellites, whether
polar or geostationary, APT, HRPT, LRIT orwhatever.
Absolutely everything is covered, and theinformation is updated every week. Special
additional bulletins may be issued if an
important change takes place mid week.
You can read the bulletins from this URL
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/
weather-satellite-reports/
or, even better, elect to have the reports sent
to you by email every Monday.

Internet Discussion Groups

There are a numerous Internet-based
discussion groups available to weather satellite
enthusiasts. You can join any of these by
sending an e-mail to the appropriate address,
with a request to subscribe. Indeed, a blanke-mail containing the word ‘subscribe’ in its
Subject line is all that is required. Some of themore useful groups and their contact addresses
are listed below.
APT Decoder
This is a group where users of Patrik Tast’s
APTDecoder can share information andproblems.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/
group/APTDecoder/
GEO-Subscribers
This is GEO’s own group, where members can
exchange information and post queries relating
to any aspect related to weather satellite
reception (hardware, software, antennas etc),
Earth observation satellites and any GEOrelated matter.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/
group/GEO-Subscribers/
Satsignal
An end-user self help group for users ofDavid Taylor’s Satellite Software Tools(SatSignal, WXtrack, GeoSatSignal, HRPT
Reader, GroundMap, MSG Data Manager,
AVHRR?Manager and the ATOVS?Reader).
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/
group/SatSignal/
MSG-1
A forum dedicated to Meteosat Second
Generation (MSG), where members share
information about the EUMETCast reception
hardware and software.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/
group/MSG-1/
www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014

Copy Deadline for
GEO Quarterly No 42 is
Sunday, April 27, 2014
The Editor is always delighted to receive
articles and images for inclusion in
GEO Quarterly. These can relate to any
aspect of Earth Imaging, especially• Technical articles concerning relevant
hardware and software• Construction projects• Weather satellite images• Reports on weather phenomena• Descriptions of readers’ satellite imaging
stations• Activities from overseas readers• Letters to the Editor• Problems and Queries for our experts toanswerContributions should of course be original
and, where possible, should be submitted
to the editor in electronic format (e-mailattachment, CD, DVD). But of course, wewould also accept handwritten or typed copy.
Please note, however, that major articles
which contain large numbers of satellite
images, photographs or other illustrations
should be submitted as early as possible,
so that they can be prepared and made up
into pages in time for publication.
Images and Diagrams
Images can be accepted in any of the major
bitmap formats: JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF etc.
Images in both monochrome and colour are
welcomed. Line drawings and diagrams are
preferred in WMF, EPS or postscript formats.
We can also scan original photographs,
negatives and slides.
Gridding, Overlays and Captions
Please note that readers’ satellite images
should be provided without added grid lines,
country outlines or captions unless these areconsidered essential for illustrative purposes
within an article.
If your article submission contains embedded
images and diagrams, please note that you
must also submit copies of the original
images in one of the formats describedabove: these are essential for page make-up
purposes.
Submission of Copy
Materials for publication should be sent to
the editor,
Les Hamilton
8 Deeside Place
Aberdeen AB15 7PW
ScotlandThe most efficient way to do this is by email
attachments to the following address
geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk
Particularly large attachments (8 MB andabove) can be transmitted via YouSendIt
www.yousendit.com_________________________
And finally . . .
if you do have material ready for the next
issue of GEO Quarterly, please submit it
as soon as it is ready—do not wait till thedeadline above: this will simply create an
editorial log-jam and delay publication.

March 2014

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 41

47

GEO Quarterly No 41

48

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

March 2014