Group for Earth Observation

The Independent Amateur Quarterly Publication for

Number 27

Earth Observation and Weather Satellite Enthusiasts

September 2010
Inside this issue . . .
We take a look at the new
EUMETCast client, areplacement for Tellicast?
The Northern Lights,
Winter Cruising inNorthern Norway withDavid Taylor
International Space Station
Photographed by
Telescope Emil Kraaikamp
and Thierry Legault
Deadly French Flash
Floods, Rob Denton reports
Robert Moore looks at The
Perfect Front
Enrico Gobbetti shows us
his receiving station
First steps in setting up an
APT receiving station, amust read for new
members with Les
Hamilton
Stunning full colour
centrefold of Florida froman ENVISAT image
courtesy of Arne van BelleWill Lake Eyre refill? An
update from Ken Morgan
Douglas Deans continues
his in-depth look at the
EUMETCast channels

Now double thenumber of colour
pages
Plus much more ...

© EUMETSATThe GEO Quarterly

GEO MANAGEMENT TEAM
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 EditorPeter Green‘Hollowtree’
Eggesford, Devon EX18 7QX, England.
email:
geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk
Assistant GEO Quarterly Editor
Les Hamilton
email:
les.hamilton@tiscali.co.uk
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
Fax:
01509 559 015
Meteorological Consultant
Peter Wakelin
email: meteo@geo-web.org.uk
Technical Consultant (hardware)David Simmons
email: tech@geo-web.org.uk
Webmaster and Website Matters
Ray Godden
e-mail: ray-geo@lescharriols.eu
Education Coordinator
David Painteremail: education@geo-web.org.uk
GEO Shop Manager
Clive Finnis (Assistant: David Simmons)
email: tech@geo-web.org.uk
International Liaison
Rob Denton
email: international@geo-web.org.uk
Nigel Evansemail: nigel@geo-web.org.uk

September 2010
Editorial: Peter GreenS

ince the last Quarterly I have made some changes, some more obvious than others.
This issue sees us move to a new printer. Giving us the opportunity to bring you
over double the number of colour pages on higher quality recycled paper using
vegetable and soya based inks and saving GEO money. We are also using thiscompany for part of our distribution, again with a view to saving money. I hope you
like the new look.
his is also the first issue with a colour centrefold, this stunning image of Florida
was too good not really show off our new colour pages, thanks Arne.
ork has already started on Q28, Les Hamilton has a very interesting article inproduction and will take full advantage of our new colour pages, but theManagement Team cannot generate all the copy for the magazine, we need you to
guide us with your contributions. I am also very pleased to inform you that Les has
volunteered to continue to assist me by becoming Assistant Editor, since stepping
down as editor he has continued to give me help and guidance, this recognises hisvalued contributions.
long with the paper copy of Q28 I would like to produce for you an interactive
magazine on your computer (probably biting off more than I can chew here). This
would look like the paper copy but would have video/animations/audio embedded in itwith live web links. The inspiration for this comes initially from Terence Smith’s
article in GEO Q17, ‘GeoSatSignal Animations with Meteorological Chart Overlays’.
This detailed and informative article when followed gave super results, but it would
have been even more impressive to be able to see what was possible by a click of themouse, also from the very detailed, informative and enjoyable presentations given by
Ferdinand Valk at the Symposium last year. He used an interactive PDF whichcontained numerous animations to enhance and explain his subject. I would like totry and bring you a flavour of this. Recently Alan Banks made available a very
impressive animation of thunderheads, which David Taylor then worked on to bring
down the file size with no loss of quality. This type of collaboration and subject would
make an excellent article for your interactive Quarterly and would contain the
animation. There are so many uses for our group, but we need your input.
o, if you are interested in this, how about writing an article that can take fulladvantage of the technology? How would you like the interactive edition delivered
or would you like to go and download from a website? Please let me know.

T
W
A

S

Contents
Publisher
Published by The Group for Earth
Observation Limited, a company in Englandand Wales, limited by guarantee and nothaving share capital.
Company number 4975597.
The registered office is Coturnix House, Rake
Lane, Milford, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5AB
England.
Printing
HedgerowPrint
16 Marsh Lane
Crediton
Devon EX17 1ES
Responsibility
Every effort is made to ensure that thetechnical and constructional articles publishedin this Quarterly are correct. However, theultimate responsibility is with the reader toensure the safety of constructions and for any
interfacing with other equipment. GEO cannot
accept liability for shortcomings in any
published design or any constructions carriedout by members or other third parties.
Copyright GEO © 2010
The contents of this Quarterly remain theintellectual property of the Group for Earth
Observation Ltd. and its contributors. Copyingof text or images, either from the printed
Quarterly or from any electronically stored
source, is forbidden without permission fromthe Editor.

GEO Report

Francis Bell2

Northern Lights, Winter Cruising in Norway

David Taylor

4

ENVISAT, Smoke Free Iceland

John Tellick

6

International Space Station Photographed by Telescope Emil Kraaikamp

8

Quarterly Question

Francis Bell10

Deadly French Flash Floods

Rob Denton

11

A Perfect Front

Robert Moore

14

Soiano Del Lago Receiving Station

Enrico Gobbetti

17

Preview of the New EUMETCast Client

Arne van Belle18

GEO Shopi

NOAA Satellite Predictions for the UK and Western Europeii

Helplines and Internet Discussion Groupsiii

Copy Deadline for the next issue of GEO Quarterlyiii

GEO Membership Renewal Form

iv

First Steps in Setting Up An APT Ground Station

Les Hamilton

24

Results of Using a Solid State Drive

Guy Martin

26

Will Lake Eyre Refill, an Update

Ken Morgan

28

Gibraltar Travels

Francis Bell32

GEO Quarterly Update

Peter Green

33

Battery Powered APT in the Field

Francis Bell34

Computer Corner

Douglas Deans

35

Comma Cloud or Cyclone

David Taylor

38

Windows 7 With Tellicast

Mike Steven

42

Virtual Ocean and GEOMappApp

David Painter43

Feedback

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

September 2010

Francis BellMy first note in this report must relate to receiving members’communications from around the world; many via email but
some by telephone or post. It is very rewarding to receive
this supportive feedback. Some of these communications
are published in this Quarterly. It is worthy of note that not
all of our members are connected to the Internet so I wasvery pleased to see the NOAA APT prediction table back in
our last Quarterly. Our thank to Les Hamilton for compilingthis table with its predictions in response to membershipfeedback.
It is also worth noting that interest is shown in our groupbeyond the existing membership. In the last few months wehave had enquiries from commercial firms as contractors to
the UK MOD, a company in Iraq working on behalf of the
USA government and a direct enquiry from the French
Space Agency CNES. It is flattering to think such firms andagencies are sufficiently aware of GEO that they makeenquiries about our equipment and services. I certainly
exclude myself from this comment but there is within our
membership enormous talent and this is reflected in our
publication, shop, web site and user forums.
MembershipThis is my usual request for you to renew your membershipon time. We do have new members joining GEO but this isbalanced by an equivalent number not renewing. I know for
certain this is often by default, people just forget or put thereminder slip to one side with the intention of dealing withit later - but don’t ! The membership subscription for the UK
is only £20 a little more for overseas to cover postage. For
the quality of our printed Quarterly and other support
within the group this must be the best value for £20 thatanybody can spend in a year. If you can encourage any
friend, colleague or institution to join our group that would
be great. Here comes the warning: although GEO’s
management team are addressing the issue membershipincome does not quite cover the costs of printing anddistributing our Quarterly !
On a more positive note the response to my requests in thelast Quarterly had encouraging replies. I asked if anybody
would be willing to take over the role of international liaison.
A long standing member Rob Denton has volunteered toundertake this role. We are still working on the fine detail ofthe aims and objectives of the role. Someone able to give aregular report on the status of the weather satellites thatinterest many of us was another request. Again a positive
response from an established member John Rivitt. The
format and layout of this status page is being actively
progressed. My thanks to Rob and John for volunteering forthese two roles.
AMSAT-UK
Supported by David Simmons, I recently gave a talk to the
AMSAT-UK colloquium in Guildford about ENVISAT
reception via the Envi-Ham project. I will write a reportabout this in the next Quarterly. In the meantime an
excellent video is available from the BATC website thatshows my presentation ‘GEO & ENVISAT’. I would like tothank the BATC for making this video available.

2

www.batc.tv/channel.php select the 2010 AMSAT GEO
ENVISAT video from the drop down menu.
Coming events
The Royal Meteorological Society is organising their first
National Amateur Observers Symposium at Reading University
4th and 5th September 2010. I will be giving a presentation
about home reception of satellite data / images on the firstday of the meeting. I will write a report about this neworganisation and their first symposium in our next Quarterly.
For details of the meeting visit the web site www.rmets.org
events or after the symposium has taken place visit the samesite for their reports.
The Lincoln Short Wave Club in association with the Radio
Society of Great Britain RSGB are holding their second‘National HamFest’ on the Newark Showground 1st and 2nd
October 2010. This two day event is certainly worth visiting.
Last year GEO attended and we were allocated a large standwhere we ran live EUMETCast imaging on both days. We had
hundreds of visitors to the stand and a worthwhile number of
new members joined on the spot. I recommend that you visit
this meeting if you can. GEO hope to be there again this year.
The program of events is available from:www.g5fz.co.uk

GEO at the Newbury Rally
Regular readers will have seen the ‘Stop Press’ notice in ourlast Quarterly relating to the Newbury Radio Rally. By
invitation and accompanied by David Simmons, GEO attended
this rally with an exhibition stand. Although a well establishedevent this was the first time I had attended. I was encouraged
by conversations with radio amateur radio friends, particularly
my contacts with friends at the Guildford UHF repeater group
who told me the Newbury rally was popular and worthwhile
event. The venue was on the Newbury Show Ground which isconveniently located close to Junction 13 on the M4, thisparticular event being located on an open grassed area. I havebeen to many rallies before but this was the first outdoor
event where I had tried to run a GEO exhibition stand withlive weather satellite reception in a field, although I have done
something similar before at radio club events.
As some form of protection I took my gazebo which was duly
erected on site in spite of the wind. Alignment of the 60 cm
dish was achieved on a grass surface and a EUMETCast
signal fed into David’s laptop. By the opening time of theshow we were ready for visitors. I didn’t try to count the
number of visitors we had during the day but a few hundred
would be my guess. Nearly all expressed some interest inwhat we were doing and new memberships were taken on thespot, together with promises from others who said they would
send their applications directly to our membership secretary.
In anticipation of new members on the day I had preparedpacks containing some past issues of GEO Quarterly together
with a EUMETSAT MSG CD. During the course of the day allof these packs were distributed to stand visitors.

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September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

Both David and I thought the whole day was worthwhile andwould consider returning next year.
Even under a gazebo to view a laptop screen in the open withadjacent sunshine is difficult: plus the slightest breeze will
randomly distribute GEO literature across the site. Next year
perhaps I will take my large family tent with a darkened
corner for viewing a computer screen.

GEO Quarterly No 27

My thanks to the organisers for inviting GEO to their rally andalso to thanks to David Simmons who accompanied me andresourcefully ran his EUMETCast system all day from a 12V
battery supply. He had specifically brought an interface toprovide 9V to power the DVB World receiver and anotherinterface to provide 18V to his laptop. I will buy similarinterfaces myself as a convenient alternative to my noisy 230V
mains generator which I sometimes take to operations in thefield.

The GEO exhibition area at the Newbury Rally. On the left Francis Bell with visitors, David Simmons third left. The live dish and computer are almost masked by people.
Some other parts of the rally are just visible in the background. Photograph by Paul Le Feuvre

Cover and Full Page Images
Front CoverThis ENVISAT 15MB image was received
and processed by Arne van Belle andshows UK Full resolution (260x290m
pixel size) image 2010 06 22 10:56 UTC
as received over ENVISAT-DDS andprocessed using BEAM-Visat.
© ESA

Inside Front CoverWestern
Siberia
from
Metop-A
Occasionally when the clouds clear
satellite imagery enables us to see places
that we are not likely to visit. On 17th
June the sky cleared over western
Siberia enabling us to see the plains,
mountains and the might Ob river/ The
Ob flows west and north west before
turning north to the Arctic Ocean. The
city of Novosibirsk, the third largest city
in Russia, is marked with an arrow.
Parts of the Irtysh River may be seen in
the gaps in the cloud to the south westof the image. The Irtysh flows into the
Ob and the combined length of the tworivers makes them the longest river
system in Russia, at 5,410 kilometres(3,600 miles).
© EUMETSAT

Page 7This is a NOAA 18 HRPT images received
by Jordi Mas Bonet a GEO member who
lives in Barcelona and the satellite passmust have been very close to overhead
when it was received.
©NOAA

Page 15“Edinburgh reached its warmest everMay day (25C) on 2010-05-22 ThisNOAA-19 data (collected via the
EUMETCast system) was from the 1312
pass, and shows that much of the UK
and north-western Europe was also
enjoying splendid weather due to afavourable placed anticyclone. It wasmatched by 25C the next day, when the
Edinburgh Marathon was run. Not thebest choice of weather for the runners,
though!”© NOAA

Centre Spread
This stunning image of Florida wasreceived from ENVISAT and processedby Arne van Belle on 1st April 2010
©ENVISAT

Inside Back CoverTop Image, Virtual Ocean Enhanced
map view of the North East Atlantic,

www.geo-web.org.uk

over layered with a bathemetric contour
map, Earthquake data and added 3D
projection, thanks to David Painter.
Lower Image, Showing circulating
currents generated by water flow
through Strait of Gibraltar, night-time(0158) Infra-red from NOAA 19 processedby David Painter on 27th July 2010
© NOAA

Back cover
Image of the solar transit of theInternational Space Station (ISS) andSpace Shuttle Atlantis during the STS132 mission, taken from Niederbipp in
Switzerland on May 22nd 2010 at 13h
14min 09s UT. Transit forecast
calculated by:www.calsky.com

Transit duration: 0.49s. ISS distance toobserver: 390 km. Speed in orbit:
7.4km/s (26500 km/h or 16500 mph).
Takahashi TOA-150 refractor (diameter
150mm, final focal 2500mm), Baader
Herschel prism and Canon 5D Mark II.
Exposure of 1/8000s at 100 ISO,extracted from a series of 16 images (4images/s) started 2s before the predicted
time. Our thanks to Thierry Legault for
permission to print this image.
http://www.astrophoto.fr/

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

September 2010David Taylor
Spectacular images from the land of the trolls! Well, we allhear about the Northern Lights, and perhaps those living in
the north of Scotland may even have seen Northern Lights
on a semi-regular basis, but they are not a familiar site overmuch of Europe and the UK. I had always wanted to seethem properly, as the movies you sometimes see on TV are
speeded up. On a couple of occasions that they have beenvisible from Edinburgh they have been almost too weak tomake out. Another ambition of mine has been toexperience—at least in a limited and controlled way—theshort winter days of northern Scandinavia.

wind; they are shown out on deck waiting for the Lights infigure 3.
Once the aurora commenced, the Captain turned off most of
the bright deck lights and the fun began. Our group leaders
were keen to show us as many objects as they could in thenight sky. I had wondered whether my eyes were lesssensitive than when I was younger as I hadn’t seen the
Milky Way for ages. But in that clear, cold northern air there
it was again. Many people lost count of how many morethan ‘seven’ of the Pleiades (the seven sisters) they couldsee!

Our trip was triggered by a brochure from the Cambridge
Alumni dropping through the door, as it does every year.
Although the trips on offer are always very tempting, they
are mostly too long in duration, too expensive, or to
somewhere I would find too hot these days! What a fussy
person! But last year’s brochure did start with a tempter—atrip to see the Northern Lights while travelling on one of themagnificent Norwegian Coastal Voyage vessels; in fact, on
my favourite one, the MS Trollfjord. This was just too goodan opportunity to miss (figure 1) - look how dark it alreadyis at 4:15 on a mid-February afternoon!

Our best night for aurora was on our southward journey,when just north of Tromsø. Although we were all packed
and ready to disembark, we were treated on that final
evening to a truly spectacular display. It was all I had hoped
for and more.

Essentially, the trip was from Tromsø, sailing northeast thensoutheast towards the Russian border at Kirkenes, thenback again, spending three nights aboard ship andconcluding with two nights in Tromsø. You can see theoutbound journey plotted as a yellow track on the map(figure 2).
There is an interactive map on my website
http://www.satsignal.eu/Hols/2010/NorthernNorway/route.html

with the full outbound track as measured by my GPS, which
worked well on board the ship when placed near the cabin
porthole.
Auroras occur in both hemispheres, generally around thepoles, and are called the Aurora Borealis (or Northern
Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights). Theseaurorae are caused by an interaction between high-energy
particles from the sun—channelled by the magnetic field of
the Earth—and the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere.
The colour of the emitted light depends on whether anoxygen or nitrogen atom or molecule has been hit. As I
understand that a fuller technical article on the aurora isdue in the next GEO Quarterly, I’ll leave my description atthat.
The Hurtigruten fleet are very helpful in making sure thatyou miss as little as possible, so one of the options is toleave your cabin intercom turned on overnight and they will
announce anything of special interest. In Antarctica we got
used to ‘Whale off the port side’, but here we were all
waiting for the ‘Northern lights expected’ announcement!
Soon after the first announcement, a group appeared on
deck, warmly clad against the bitterly cold weather and the

4

Photographing the Aurora
Being keen on photography, I wanted to take pictures of any
aurora we saw, and possessing a DSLR which produces
reasonable images at ISO 3200 I thought there would be achance. As we were to be on a moving ship rather than fixed
land, a tripod seemed not to be required, though onreflection I think that was a mistake. What I did realise wasthat the ‘kit’ lenses and others which I had for my camera
all had a relatively small maximum aperture (f/4.5 forexample), which admitted les light than a typical ‘prime’lens: getting enough light would be critical for this task.
I therefore bought a relatively low-cost (for Nikon) lens—thecompact 35mm f1.8. This now allowed the camera to collectabout six times as much light, and what would have been adifficult-to-hold one second shot now became a reasonable
sixth of a second, much easier to hand-hold. In fact, as thebrightness of the aurora varied, I was using exposures
between about 0.1 and 2 seconds—all hand-held. I really
was missing that tripod!
What I had not expected from my camera was that theaurora would be bright enough to be captured real-time, inmovie mode. On my website there are a couple of videos
captured with the Nikon D5000 DSLR using the 35mm f/1.8
lens. The ISO was set to 3200 and the video contrast
increased to 200% in post-processing, making the effective
ISO 6400, hence the grain (noise) in the image. The camera
was again hand-held, hence the image moving a lot morethan I would like! The only purpose of these videos is toshow how rapidly the Lights can change.
Figures 4 through 7 show images of the Northern Lights
photographed near Tromsø.
Worth doing? Very much so! Yes, it was cold, and evendifficult to stand up because of the wind at the North Cape(but the excursion still went ahead, despite a near blizzard).
We enjoyed excellent food and service on board ship and an
enjoyable husky dog ride in Tromsø to finish our holiday.

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w

Figure 1 - Our ship, the MS Trollfjord.

Figure 2 - The cruise (yellow track on map)

Figure 3 - Passengers out on deck waiting for the lights

Figure 4 - Aurora photographed near Tromsø

Figure 5 - The Aurora twists and turns in the sky

Figure 6 - Aurora photographed near Tromso

Figure 7 - Looking over the rail of the ship towards the Aurora Borealis

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

September 2010

Envisat Smoke-Free Iceland
John Tellick

This Envisat image features a smoke-free Iceland.Acquired by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer on 24 May 2010 at a resolution of 300 m

This Envisat image features a smoke-free Iceland. Although theisland has received a lot of attention in the past months for its
volcanic activity, it is also home to numerous glaciers, lakes, lava
and hot springs.
Volcanoes dominate the landscape, with more than 100, of which alarge number are still active, rising on the island. The Eyjafjallajokull
volcano, which had a series of eruptions in April and May, is visible
in the dark area on the southern coast.
Sitting in the North Atlantic Ocean east of Greenland and
immediately south of the Arctic Circle, Iceland has more land
covered by glaciers (11%) than the whole of continental Europe.
At 8000 sq km, the Vatnajokull glacier (visible in white northeast of
Eyjafjallajokull) is the largest in Iceland and in Europe. The white
circular patch in the centre of the country is Hofsjokull, the country’s
third largest glacier and its largest active volcano. The elongated6

white area west of Hofsjokull is Langjokull, Iceland’s second largest
glacier.
The front of Langjokull feeds into Hagavatn, a glacial lake with anelevation of 435 m and an area of 5 sq km.
The country’s largest lake, Lake Pingvallavatn, is in the lower left of
the image. The capital city Reykjavik is slightly southwest of Lake
Pingvallavatn on the western coast.
Iceland also boasts some 800 hot springs with an average watertemperature of 75ºC. Reykjavik, Icelandic for ‘Smoky Bay’, wasnamed for steam rising from hot springs in a southwestern bay.
Geothermal water reserves provide Iceland’s population with mostof its electricity and heating.
The various shades of green in the sea along the coasts are due tosediments being transported in the water.

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September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

September 2010

International Space Station
Emil Kraaikamp
Introduction (Fred van den Bosch)“Long, long ago there were two groups of satellite observers
active in the Netherlands. The largest, the “visual” group
had been active for years and had their home at theobservatory of Simon Stevin in Hoeven. These observers
were interested in the detection and recording of satellites
or parts of satellites that were in our atmosphere. The
results were collected and combined with otherobservations from around the world. Through theseobservations, which of course took place at night using
binoculars or a camera, one could calculate the orbit ofthese satellites and / or fragments thereof (such as rocket
stages, etc.). The Appleton Laboratory played an importantrole in this process.” [1]Back to the present. Emil Kraaikamp [2] has given theconcept “visual observer” a whole new dimension with his
spectacular images of the ISS. Especially for De Kunstmaan
and the GEO Quarterly, he describes his methods.
MethodThese images of the International Space Station have been
captured using a video camera connected to a 25 cm
Newtonian telescope. Because the ISS flies at 17000 mph,
it’s not possible to use the tracking motor on the telescope
so it has to be moved by hand. This means I have to try
and keep the ISS centred in the viewfinder, while thecamera records on a laptop at 60 frames per second. On

average, the camera produces around 7000 images duringa pass of the ISS, but because it is so difficult to follow, I
end up with only a few hundred images that actually havesomething of the ISS on them. The other images consists
the empty space next to the ISS. The images are thenedited by hand in Photoshop to achieve this end result.
The telescope is a 10” f/4.5 Meade Starfinder Telescope.
The focus has been extended with a 2x Barlow converter.
The camera is a modified monochrome DMK21, in which
ICX618ALA CCD has been placed. Therefore the camera ismore sensitive to light, and I can compensate for motion
blur, caused by the manual tracking and because I havelowered the shutter speed down to around 1/2500s. I
usually use an orange filter on the camera to overcome theeffects of the air turbulence. During the pass of the ISS,
there is no time to focus, so focusing is done very shortly
before the shooting on a bright planet or star in the sky.
The image of the ISS opposite was captured on 5th May
2010
For more pictures and animations of the ISS - and othernone artificial celestial bodies - you can visit my website[2].
[1] Ruud Jansen, Handbook Working group Satellites,
Chapter. 2.2.1 General Working Group[2] http://www.astrokraai.nl/

10” f/4.5 Meade Starfinder Telescope8

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September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

This image of the International Space Station was captured on 5th May 2010
©Emil Kraaikamp

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

September 2010

Quarterly Question
I was delighted with the responses I received to the last
Quarterly Question, so here is another one along similar lines.
I was reminded of this image when recently giving apresentation at the AMSAT-UK colloquium in Guildford.
I used some of my small library of ENVISAT images toillustrate the talk. I had recorded this image in early 2010 via
the Envi-Ham project and then I processed the raw data using
the ‘Beam VISAT’ software which as an Envi-Ham license
holder had been provided to me free of charge by ESA. The
image is a small sub-set of the original file I received at homeand has been subjected to my personal colour processing - tomake it look nice!

10

The question is: ‘What is the name of the island group shownin the image opposite?’
The only clue offered is that the islands are in the Atlantic
Ocean.
Answers to my by post - for my address see page one, or byemail to francis@geo-web.org.uk. Answers should be submitted
by the copy deadline for our next Quarterly. I will pick awinner at random and the prize, like the last one, will be asmall marine related present which I will buy when I visit theComoros Islands in a few months time.

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September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

Deadly flash floods hit southern France
Rob Denton g4yrz@wxsat.org

After noticing some unusual cloud patterns and activity on my APT station I knew something was outof the ordinary. It reminded me of the huge sandstorm when I was in Bulgaria but this time it wasdifferent.
Instead of the sand, Southern France was about tobe deluged with a mass of water on the scale thathas not been seen before, despite previous floods inthat region. Indeed, France was about to be plunged
under water, resulting in a loss of 19 lives and many
injured.
As I had only recently set up my APT station I had
not really been following the cloud pattern but on
the day of 16th June 2010 it soon became clear thatsomething was not right. I decided to post a message on the GEO Subscribers Yahoo group to see ifanyone had been watching this cloud behaviour andreceived a reply first from Ian Deans “Yes I have justbeen watching the news and parts of France have
had flash floods with over 12 inches of rain in a few
hours and regrettably a number of people have died”
Then came an email from John Tellick: “Yes thatis not good news. It is quite an unusual image on
Meteosat-9 HRV.
These potential storms - along with a chart, wereshown on the BBC 1 18:00 weather forecast.
The forecaster predicted: “some potential severe
downpours likely in Switzerland - we’ll be keeping aneye on these.”
Then finally from Alan Sewards in France itself:“I have been on the front line of this ‘disturbance’
since Tuesday morning and without power since 7
pm that evening and have not been able to follow the
EUMETCast images or via the Internet.
Yesterday was a re-run of September 18th here. We
clocked up 242 mm of rain in the 24 hours of Tuesday, most of which fell between mid-afternoon andabout 9 pm, at rates of up to 100 mm/hour.
Fortunately, we had no serious problems this time
but we came very close as a new drain I had installedto carry off the water got blocked by debris and in avery short time the level built up to the critical
overflowing point. Being on the spot, I was able toclear the obstruction and the drain quickly dropped

the level to a safe one. I’ve got to think of a solution
to this!
Various measures undertaken since the September
floods ensured that there was no repeat of the disastrous flooding and damage around here,
but communities further away were not so lucky.
Those where people died are no more than about 20
km away from us, but were not affected by the
September rains”.
Later that day after watching the images I knew thatsomeone was going to feel the wrath of nature, itthen became clear to me on the evening news andinternet news what had actually took place, capturing many people unaware.
I captured the unusual cloud mass on my APT
image (HVCT Mode with WxToImg on R2ZX
Receiver and Wimo sloping Cross Dipole) the colour
image on page 13, along with a Meteosat Image
from SSEC courtesy EUMETSAT (page 12) which
I downloaded from the web as my EUMETCast
station is not up and running yet, look how it
stretches all the way across Southern Europe from
Spain to Bulgaria. Unfortunately most of it dissipatedover Southern France with reckless abandon.
"We have never seen so much rain in the month ofJune," Patrick Galois of Meteo France told the BBC.
The rescue workers numbered 2,000 with some 1,750
homes left without electricity and over 1,000 people had to leave their homes and spend the night intemporary accommodation. Meteorologists say thefloods are the worst in the region since 1827.
Inhabitants of Draguignan, a town between Marseilleand Nice, were particularly badly affected by thesudden downpours, which began late on 15th Junejust as people were travelling home from work andcontinued through the night.
Because the region is a prime tourist destination
at this time of year, many foreign tourists wereamong thousands evacuated from nearby campsites
and villages. Across the area as many as 200,000
households were without electricity and authorities
warned of disruptions to drinking water supply inthe following days.

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September 2010

A Perfect Front
Robert Moore
Glancing through some IR images I wondered whether there
has been another eruption on Iceland on 19th June. A proper
inspection showed that the thin white ‘plume’ was, in fact, along cloud starting from somewhere near La Rochelle inFrance and widening to the south east (rather like a smoke orash plume). LUTConvection-day showed that there was likely
to be some vigorous activity in this area.

types in such a narrow strip, but Grib Viewer indicated
Cumulonimbus along the north eastern edge of the cloudformation and Cirrus clouds above. What was going on? TheDWDSAT noon MSLP chart showed that the line of clouds
were lying along a cold front (picture 1).
This was cloud above a cold front as seen typically indiagrams, or carefully selected satellite images, in meteorology
textbooks. A perfect cold front! (picture 2)
So how about precipitation, France had suffered a number ofheavy storms with flooding and loss of life in the previous
week? The SATREP (http://www.satreponline.org/) chartindicated the possibility of severe weather in this part ofFrance but nothing on the internet suggested any weather outof the ordinary.
Whilst in the SATREP site I looked at the geopotential heightfor 500 hPa. (picture 3)
The winds across France were from a roughly northerly
direction although at the northerly point of origin of the cloudformation it would have been nearly easterly and here at 500
hPa the jet stream was crossing the lower winds at rightangles and likely to generate considerable wind shear. The
upper winds, visible in the satellite images, were being carriedby the jet in a south easterly direction. The higher clouds inthe ‘plume’ were actually marking the line of the jet stream.
The little crossing winds feature remains an interesting one* .
I am no meteorologist, but my guess was that cold air in theregion was encountering considerable wind shear, but if thiswas having a significant effect on the weather I was not able
to spot it. Weather Underground reported no rain in either La
Rochelle or Bordeaux on the 19th. By 0600 on the 20th thefront was passing over north eastern Spain but theaccompanying cloud was unremarkable,[Picture 1] ©EUMETSAT

The cloud tops were at 11,200 metres, nearly twice the heightof the surrounding cloud. It was not easy to separate cloud*For a discussion of ‘crossing winds’ see Watts, A. The
Weather Handbook Waterline Books, 1994) Chapter 5 andpage 67.

[Picture 3] ©ECMWF[Picture 2]

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Mobile Broadband for your Weather
Station-An Update

Soiano Del Lago,
Receiving Station

Rob Denton (rob@wxsat.org)

Enrico Gobbetti IW2AGJ
Let me introduce myself. My name is Enrico Gobbetti,
living in Soiano Del Lago, a small village close to the
Garda Lake in the north of Italy. As an amateur
radio licence holder with the call sign IW2AGJ, I am
really interested in the reception of spatial signals,
with a special interest in all metrological satellites.
As a subscriber of GEO for many years, following
your request to submit our personal experience, I
decided to send my contribution.
I have been involved of weather satellites for overthirty years, starting with analogue Meteosat images,
and later with Meteor, NOAA APT series and so on.
In 2004 I have added my NOAA HRPT reception
system.
I also have the facility for the reception of the new
MSG-Meteosat series via DVB.
Starting off in July 2009, thanks to the ESA-ESRIN
organization in Frascati, I have obtained the special
licence EHAM-Nbr007. As a result, I am able toreceive Envisat images via DDS system.
I am strongly hoping, in the future, that ESA andNOAA will continue to give to us amateurs thepossibility to receive hi-resolution images frommetrological satellites, including direct reception of
new digital signals.
I am informed that, starting from October 2010, the
new Russian satellite Meteor M-NI will be operational
at 137.100 MHz in LRPT and 1700 MHz in HRPT but
with the my current HRPT software I may not be able
to decode images. I am sure the support of the groupwe will be able to decode the new images when they
arrive.
The images opposite are a small selection from themany thousands that I have received. I hope you
enjoy seeing my station and images.
Part of my receiving set up is for APT reception:
Antenna 9+9 elements circular polarization,
dedicated receiver mod. FTM500 (CCE Bologna).
Software WXTOIMG, dedicated HP computer.
For HRPT reception: Antenna 1.5m dish, homemade
helix feed, 1700MHz DB6 preamplifier, HRPT
receiver made by Nuova Elettronica, software HRPTREADER (David Taylor), dedicated HP computer.

Editor.
At GEO we are very keen to see your receiving
stations and the results of your labours. Why notshare your experiences and images? Send them into
editor@geo-web.org.uk

Well, as I do more I learn more, and after communication
with Ed Murashie in the USA, he suggested I should do an
update for GEO. So here it is.
Since my last article in GEO Quarterly 25, March 2010,
there have been many events happening. Namely,
problems with my internet connection!
You may remember I said that I had moved to a ruralvillage where the landline internet was very slow. Well, themobile broadband was fine for 5 months and then I
started getting problems. Certain programs wouldn't work
correctly; example: the famous auction site. I couldn't sellthings as the windows would not display correctly. I knew
it wasn't my PC at fault because I tried three of them! I
called the auction company and tried to work things out
with them. They suggested it could be an ISP problem(Internet Service Provider) My emails were also playing up,
some of them were corrupt, either blank or garbled
messages. Also my weather satellite programs were
behaving strangely. I had checked for viruses and malware
but everything was clean.
So why this after 5 months of trouble free operation? To
be honest with you I don't know. I checked the connection
speed with several different sites and got an averagereading of 2.3Mbps so it was surely fast enough.
Maybe someone out there has the answer?
How did I get round it? You would never believe it. I called
good old BT. They had an offer on which included freeunlimited phone calls but only included service with amax speed of 2.0 Mbps. I thought I would give it a try andtook the plunge. I didn't expect miracles with a low speed
but was pleasantly surprised. At start up the average
speed was 1.2Mbps, but surprisingly the PC loaded faster,
everything was smoother and what's more, EVERYTHING
WORKED!
I have sent for a broadband accelerator, which is free to
BT customers. Basically it's a filter to remove the noise
and interference, therefore giving a purer and faster signal(up to 1.5Mbps faster) which could in effect significantly
boost my speed, which is already faster than the mobile
broadband network.
Now the bad news. The cost is £30 per month, twice what
I was paying for my mobile broadband, but taking into
account the unlimited anytime free phone calls, it mustsurely be worth it.
I thought I could save some money by my mobile
broadband, but I was wrong. I will eat humble pie. But,
are ALL mobile broadband providers the same? I thinknot.
In my case, cheapest was not best. I now run through my
BT home hub 2.0 (modem) but would surely like to try adifferent mobile broadband provider and test the results.
What has changed after 5 months? I never did find theanswer. The story goes on........
Thanks to all my GEO friends for their support.

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September 2010

Preview of the New EUMETCast Client
Arne van BelleOn June 22nd Sally Wannop from EUMETSAT announced apre-release version of the EUMETCast Client Software forWindows to manufacturers.

remove your “T-Systems\BusinessTV-IP”“Program Files” !

folder under

So if you have not done this before, make a backup now !
Manufacturers and a limited number of amateurs have been
given access to this new client for testing.
In early September, it is planned to use EUMETCast to
disseminate the final version of the software to all registeredusers. The final release will additionally contain updated
drivers for Linux, but the Linux client will remain unchanged.
David Taylor, Ian Deans, Douglas Deans, James Brown and I
have taken up the challenge and are beta testing the newclient installation.
The pre-release client has version number 2.5.17 and will
replace the previous version 2.4.4a for Windows.
EUMETSAT recommends not to upgrade the 2.4.4 version but
uninstall and perform a complete installation of the newclient.

Go to \Program Files\T-Systems\BusinessTV-IP\ and copy
the files recv.ini and recv-channels.ini that contain yourpersonal settings to a safe location. I recommend to backthese up onto a USB stick together with a text document inwhich you pasted your username and userkey that wasreceived by Email and matches your EKU ! Be sure to copy
and not move these files !
What’s new in TelliCast 2.5.17
Gone is the pink T-System style, the HTML Shell is now
completely re-styled according to the EUMETSAT website,using deep blue colours.
Unfortunately this includes the pink TelliCast Icon on yourdesktop and in your system tray ! This will need a rewrite ofmany guides and manuals.

Please note that uninstalling the old version will completely

The colour scheme used for TelliCast status is the same
however; White = OK, Yellow is Connecting, Red is an error.

On the left the new TelliCast Icon in the system tray, next to the green
DVBworld icon

The colour scheme used in the Icon is unchanged and shows TelliCast’s status

Clicking on the “EUMETCast Home” brings up the Product Navigator Clicking on the “EUMETCast Home” brings up the Product Navigator

A new EUMETSAT menu is added to the HTML Shell to accessthe disseminated EUMETSAT html pages directly. Although
not fully functional in the pre-release yet, we can now open
the GEONETCAST Product Navigator directly from the18

TelliCast HTML Shell and search for information on all
disseminated products without having a connection to theinternet. For more info on the Product Navigator, browse to:http://www.EUMETSAT.int/Home/Main/News/Features/711115?l=en

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The new client with EUMETSAT skin, note new “EUMETCast Home” link in the left bar

As these HTML pages are disseminated daily over EUMETCast,
this offers EUMETSAT a way to have up to date info available
for every user.
But more important are the internal changes in the newclient, the file database location can now be set to memory.
In this mode the new client does not need a RAMdisk any
more to receive large volume data like MetOp, AVHRR and
MODIS without missing segments or files !
The received files are written directly to a temporary locationon hard disk now, saving write operations. So there is no 0.
fsy file (some also have a 1.fsy too) any more.
Our tests have confirmed that the new client is indeed capableof receiving high data volumes without missing segments orfiles that the old client threw when your system is not in the“high end” category.
Furthermore the folder structure has changed for easieradministration.
Log files have a separate location now at C:\EUMETCast\logs
All received files are written under C:\EUMETCast\received(with various channel target directories below)
New is the C:\EUMETCast\tmp folder. Although the oldclient also could use a tmp folder, this one is different.
TelliCast creates 256 directories under the tmp folder named
00.fdb to ff.fdb and collects file fragments of every received filein a separate folder. Once a file is complete, TelliCast renames
and moves it to the received folder.
But here comes the catch ! Under normal conditions all these256 directories should be emptied once data is in. But when
you stop TelliCast, there can be a number of incomplete files
left behind in these folders.
Because there is no database any more, TelliCast has norecord of these incomplete files after it is restarted.
EUMETSAT recommends to install “housekeeping” on thereceived and tmp directories to avoid temporary files fillingyour hard disk.
At the time of writing we are monitoring the disk usage of thistmp folder and looking for an easy way to clear incomplete
files gathered at a stop of TelliCast.

David Taylor has given detailed instructions for using the free
TrimTree program to perform this task both for systems
running 24 x 7 and for those who start afresh each day. This
information will be updated as we learn more about the best
settings:
http://www.satsignal.eu/software/disk.html#TrimTree3

Why is there a new client ?
Although the old client does do its job well, it is limited in thenumber of simultaneously receivable files and their file size.
Most amateurs only receive a limited number of datachannels, the professionals do receive the full package andhave to use very large FSY databases (up to 500 MB on fastdisk or RAMdisk).
We have been told that in the near future even larger files may
be disseminated that do not fit into an FSY database any
more.
With the new client there is no FSY database with limited size,
instead we have 256 temporary folders on hard disk. So
theoretically the new client could receive up to 256 files
simultaneously with a total size limited only to the free spaceon your disk.
Do I have to upgrade ?
As mentioned before, amateurs generally receive only alimited number of channels, so as long as files on thesechannels do not drastically increase in size, your old TelliCast
version will continue to run normally.
But EUMETSAT will advise every user to upgrade as older
versions will not be supported any more once the new client
is officially released !
In the new Client package there are also new drivers for thereceivers and EKU.
If your system runs fine now, there is no need to update thesetoo. The new client is compatible with these older receiver and
EKU drivers.
Channel selection:
The new client also comes with a new recv-channels.ini file.
This file lists all the currently available data channels andsets a folder under “received” for every channel.

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Searching in the Product Navigator can be done in many ways:

And shows detailed information on all products disseminated over EUMETCast

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Apart from the entry used for the EUMETSAT HTMLpages, users can change this file as they like. A word of
warning is in place here, at the end of the data channel
entries, there still is a [*] entry that catches all datathat has not been matched by the data channel entries
above ! Amateurs better disable this entry.
David Taylor is currently adapting his managers to
conform largely to the new folder structure underreceived.

GEO Quarterly No 27

frequency of occurrence.
With the tmp folders on RAMdisk or on another drive,
excluded from mstDefrag, the losses are gone and the
new client performs well.
Ian is currently experimenting with a different (andfree) defrag program and it is looking promising.

http://www.satsignal.eu/wxsat/atovs/recv-channels.ini.txt

The tighter security on Windows 7 and Vista also
causes problems on saving the EUMETSAT HTMLpages but this can be worked around by not installingthe new client under “Program Files” and it looks likethis will be solved in the final version.

Now some test results:
I tested under XP using very low performance system.
This Foxconn nt330i netbox uses a dual core Atom at
1.6 GHz and nVidia ION onboard graphics. A 160 GB
notebook type hard disk (2.5”) is used, a lot slower thanmost desktop systems.

Is the RAMdisk completely obsolete now ?
Currently my tests have focused on receiving only, mygoal is to receive and process data on the same system,
just like I have done with the 2.4.4a client over the last
3 years. Tests with different configurations on the newclient have shown that even the new client will start toloose files if the hard disk is heavily loaded by othertasks.

For those not knowing how to edit the recv-channels.ini
file, a ready configured file is available for download at:

The DVB world receiver, EKU, keyboard and mouse are
all connected over USB2.0.
This netbox has the size of a dual DVD box, consumes
less than 32 watts including the USB receiver and still
has the “power” to serve the decoded files over the
network. Although this system is not recommended forrunning 24x7, it is excellent for demos and can run
from a car battery!

Simply opening a folder with say 8000 received files in
Windows Explorer causes long periods of hard disk
access, disabling TelliCast to access the disk in time.
By using a RAMdisk for storage of the tmp folder, we
can create a second storage path that is much fasterthan a hard disk !

After a lot of tweaking, I am able to receive and decode
MSG+FSD+AVHRR+MetOp by using the 2.4.4a Client
and a huge 500 MB RAMdisk.

The new client can be configured to use a RAMdisk,
there is even an option to do this for every data channel
separately. So if your hard disk isn’t handling well you
could for example move the tmp folders for only MetOp
and Modis data to RAMdisk.

The FSY database and temp and received folder are allstored on RAMdisk, leaving the slow hard disk only towrite the decoded images. But only a slight hiccup
causes the RAMdisk to overflow and stop reception.

Final words:
Our tests show that this new client runs excellently,evenon systems that are not up to the spec that EUMETSAT
recommends.

But now the new client is installed with EUMETSAT’s
recommended settings, this system is capable ofreceiving a huge amount of data without using a
RAMdisk and without missing segments or files !

The new program and file locations are well chosen andmake maintenance and troubleshooting a lot easier.

By enabling almost all data that EUMETCast offers on
my EKU and using the new recv-channels.ini I received
over 30GB of data during an 8 hour test period without
missing a file. To make sure it wasn’t a lucky shot, I
repeated this for 4 days successfully. Only rain fades
disturbed my test on the fifth day but losses where
similar to those reported by my old system running
TelliCast 2.4.4a.
Ian Deans, David Taylor and James Brown are testingon Vista and Windows7 64 bit and did hit a snag
unfortunately, the new client did loose data.
After testing with lots of different settings and many
discussions, Ian and David discovered that mstDefrag
does interfere with the new client. We now think that
this background defrag program does act on the files
being build up in the tmp folder on disk, preventing
TelliCast moving or renaming the file once it iscomplete.
Later tests have shown that the mstDefrag problem isalso present under Windows XP, but with a much lower

But users should be aware that the new client requires
some additional housekeeping to avoid temporary files
filling up their hard disk.
Thanks to EUMETSAT for inviting us to test this newclient and answering the many questions !
Authors note: This article is based on beta testing the
installation of the new client software, and you should
be aware that the information may be subject to change
before the final release of the software. Owing to tightpublication deadlines, it has not been possible to obtainapproval from EUMETSAT for the publication of thisarticle.
Editors note:
GEO will in the following quarterlies carry more
information on this new EUMETCast client. To keep up todate as it is released why not follow the progress theYahoo user groups GEO-Subscribers and MSG-1 and forthe latest on David Taylor’s Satsignal software. We arealso keen to share your experiences using this upgradewith other members via our pages, so please write inand let us know.

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EUMETCast
On-Line Registration
Guide
If you require to register as a first-time user for
any of the free EUMETCast data streams such as
MSG, NOAA AVHRR, Metop etc., or need torenew 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 the official
EUMETCast on-line registration form, which canotherwise prove somewhat tricky to locate.

GEO Helplines
Douglas Deans
Dunblane, Perthshire, SCOTLAND
All aspects of weather satellites from APT, HRPT
to Meteosat-8 DVB/EUMETCast systems.
   '*+;<=>?=YY=Y=  Z ' [#    \John Tellick
Surbiton, Surrey, ENGLAND
Meteosat-8 advice - registering for the various
MSG services, hardware and software installationand troubleshooting. John will also field generalqueries about any aspect of receiving weather
satellite transmissions.
   '*+Y+=?]^+]];_  Z ' [Z#\ \`Geoff Morris GW3ATZ
Shotton, Flintshire, NE WALES
Geoff has lots of experience with aerial,
co-ax,connectors, mounting hardware etc. and has
also done a lot of work with the orbiting satellites.
Geoff has been a EUMETCast Meteosat-8 user forsome time and is familiar with David Taylor’s MSG
software; he should be able to share his
experiences with newcomers to this branch of thehobby.
   '*+;Y{{?=;=Y_Y  Z '] |[#  \Mike Stevens
Portland, Dorset, England.
Advice offered on EUMETCast (MSG and Metop)and APT.
 ' ];Y[#    \Guy Martin G8NFU
Biggin Hill NW Kent, ENGLAND
Guy is prepared to advise anyone who wishing toreceive MSG/Metop using Windows 2000 or XP.
Can also help with networking and ADSL router
setup..
   [  #\\`Hector Cintron
San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Hector is prepared to field enquiries on HRPT,
APT, EMWIN and NOAAPORT  "'<=<Z<<{Z=>_<  Z '; ``[ \Email contact can of course be made at any time,
but we would ask you to respect privacy by
restritricting telephone contact to the period 7.009.00 pm in the evenings.

Group for Earth Observation

Internet News/
Discussion Groups

GEO Quarterly No 27

The Copy Deadline for

GEO Quarterly No 28
is Saturday, Oct 30, 2010

There are a numerous Internet-based discussion
groups available to weather satellite enthusiasts.
You can join any of these by sending an e-mail tothe appropriate address, with a request to
subscribe. Indeed, a blank e-mail containing theword ‘subscribe’ in its Subject line is all that isrequired. Some of the more useful groups andtheir contact addresses are listed below.
APT Decoder
This is a group where users of Patrik Tast’s
APTDecoder can share information and problems.
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), Earthobservation satellites and any GEO-related matter.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/
group/GEO-Subscribers/
Satsignal
An end-user self help group for users of David
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/
METOP
A forum for users of high-resolution AHRPT datafrom the MetOp satellite, available via
EUMETCast.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/METOP/
AVHRR
A forum for users who download high-resolution
EARS-AVHRR data from the NOAA polar orbiting
weather satellites via EUMETCast.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/AVHRR/ATOVSA Group for discussions about using ATVOS data.
Data from the whole world is available from
CLASS (www.class.noaa.gov) and for an extended
Europe, via EUMETCast.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/ATOVS/
Weather Satellite Reports
This group provides weekly reports, updates andnews on operational aspects of weather satellites.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/
group/weather-satellite-reports/
WXtoImg
Users of the WXtoImg software package for
capturing and imaging NOAA APT can air theirproblems, discuss its features and ask questions
about it.

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           
hardware and software                           
stations              ! 
 " #  $   &  
answerContributions should of course be original and,
where possible, should be submitted to theeditor in electronic format (floppy disc, e-mailattachment, CD, DVD). But of course we will
also accept handwritten and typed copy
should the need arise.
Please note, however, that major articles
which contain large numbers of satellite
images, photographs or other illustrations
should be submitted as early as possible, sothat 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 Windows metafile and 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 the individual, original
images, in one of the formats describedabove: these are essential for page make-up
purposes.
Submission of Copy
All materials for publication should be sent to
the editor,
Peter Green‘Hollowtree’
Eggesford, Devon EX18 7QX, England.
Tel:01769 580 700
The most efficient way to do this is as email
attachments to the following address
geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk

And finally . . .
if you do have material ready for the next
issue of GEO Quarterly, please submit it assoon as it is ready—do not wait till thedeadline above: this will simply create an
editorial log-jam and delay publication.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wxtoimg-l/

www.geo-web.org.uk

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GEO Quarterly No 27

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GEO Quarterly No 27

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September 2010

Les Hamilton
Perhaps you have visited one of the rallies this summer andseen weather satellite images on display. Maybe a friend
with a PC has let you into the secret that you too canreceive such images, in real time, from the skies. Or you
may have discovered the hobby when browsing the Web.
Either way, armed with a personal computer, suitableantenna and dedicated receiver for the 137 MHz band, you
could be running your own ground station in next to notime and for relatively little cost.
The Satellites
There are currently three American satellites dedicated to
the return of so-called Automatic Picture Transmission (APT)
weather images of our planet. Operated by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the NOAA12, NOAA-15 and NOAA-17 satellites occupy low Earthorbits 840 kilometres in altitude and pass completely roundthe planet once every 104 minutes. As the satellite orbits are
fixed in space with respect to the Sun, the rotation of the
Earth carries every part of the globe within the view of anyof these satellites at least twice per day.

type of signal. Use of a makeshift antenna will certainly
allow you to hear the audio signal through your receiver,
but it will not be possible to decode it into a satisfactory
image.
Most APT enthusiasts utilise one of two basic designs ofdedicated antenna, the crossed dipole (turnstile) or
quadrifilar helix (QFH). Turnstile antennas can be bought
for around £50. Commercial QFH antennas are notoriously
expensive, but many enthusiasts build their own from PVC
conduit tubing, junction boxes and co-axial cable.
The antenna should be mounted with clear horizons allaround. The best situation as at the top of your TV mast(above the TV antenna), but loft-mounted antennas can give
excellent results as can an antenna mounted on a stake inthe garden, just a metre or so off the ground. So long as
there are no obstructions between the antenna and thesatellite, nor large nearby metallic objects to cause signal
reflections, good results can usually be obtained.

Receivers
In order to gain access to the signals from these satellites,
you require a receiver tuned to the 137 MHz band. There areseveral options for European enthusiasts; the dedicated
R2FX abd R2ZX are currently the most popular. They canbe purchased from the GEO Shop. Alternatively, you can
use a scanner, though performance will be compromised.
Details can be found at
http://www.geo-web.org.uk/hard.html

The fact that these satellites approach the observer, passhigh overhead then recede towards the opposite horizon
superimposes a significant and constantly varying Doppler
effect on to their transmitted frequencies (the same as you
hear when a police-car siren approaches then recedes fromyou). Receivers must be able to accommodate this and abandwidth of 40 kHz is required. Both R2FX and R2ZX
receivers were specifically designed to combat this but the
majority of scanners were not. In addition, the R2ZX has
additional circuitry which allows it to combat interference
from pagers (in the UK).

Figure 3 - A QFH antenna

The Display Unit
These days, weather satellite images are almost always
displayed on the screen of a personal computer. But before
you can view the weather pictures, you must first convert
the received radio signals into images, and for this aninterface is required. There are two options: either apurpose-built decoder in the form of a PC card or externalunit, or the PC’s existing soundcard. The simpler option(and also the cheaper) is the latter, and this is the routedescribed here.
Your receiver will possess an audio output, and signals fromthis must be fed into the PC soundcard, generally via theline-in socket, though the microphone input is anotherpossibility—which one you use depends on the signal level
output by the receiver itself. Check which works best foryour set-up.

Figure 1 - The popular R2FX APT Receiver

Consequently, many scanners are totally unsuitable forweather satellite imagery, and even those that are (e.g. theIcom PCR 1000) produce inferior results compared with the
R2FX and R2ZX.
The Antenna
Signals from the NOAA weather satellites are transmittedwith right-hand circular polarisation, and you therefore
require an antenna specifically constructed to receive this24

Figure 2 - A turnstile antenna

Connecting It All Together
Once your antenna is safely mounted where you intend to
deploy it, use good quality screened co-axial downlead(RG 59 is ideal) to connect it with your receiver. The receiverin turn must be connected to your PC soundcard by alength of screened audio lead. Suitable short audio leads
with a jack-plug at each end are readily available at rallies
and computer fairs.

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September 2010

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Preparing the PC Soundcard for Recording
First-timers frequently stumble at the very first hurdle.
Although everything appears to have been set up correctly,
no audio signal is heard from the PC speakers andfrustratingly, no images are produced. This outcome isalmost always the result of an incorrectly configured
soundcard.
By default, computer sound-cards tend to be configured forplaying back audio through the PC speakers. Often the
card’s recording mode will not have been initialised. Do thisby means of the program Sndvol32.exe which you can findin your Windows folder. If in doubt as to where to find this,click on your PC’s Start button and select the ‘Search for
Files or Folders’ option. Type ‘sndvol32’ into the 'Filename'field, the 'Look in' field should be drive C:—now click the‘Search’ button. When the filename Sndvol32.exe appears inthe browser window, double-click on it to open it. Sndvol32
first appears with the words 'Volume Control' in its title-bar.
Click the <Options> menu, followed by <Properties> to reveal
the properties screen. Click the ‘Recording’ radio-button,
make sure that the ‘line-in’ option is ticked in the ‘Show thefollowing volume controls:' browser. Finally, click OK toreveal the Recording Control panel (figure 5).

Figure 5
The soundcard recording control with the line-in
input muted (left) and active (right).

either grey line.
Figure 6 shows part of a NOAA wave sample with a peak-topeak value of ± 0.7, which is more than adequate for the
production of good images. Figure 7 is an image produced
from the same NOAA-17 signal as shown in the test screen
below. Notice how the image displays a full range of tones
from brightest white through full black and that both landand cloud show excellent tonal variation. Figure 8 shows
what happens if the recording volume is set too high; mostof the cloud structure in the visible (left) frame has been lost
because of ‘clipping’. For the same reason, the infrared
image (right) is almost devoid of detail. Although this is anextreme example, for the purpose of illustration, readers dofrequently submit images with very washed-out clouds likethose in figure 8.
The main reason for this would seem to be an attempt toenhance land detail, which is often quite dark, by increasing
the input level. This practice is not recommended, as it
destroys most the cloud detail. Instead, the balance between
light and dark tones should be adjusted after the image has
been created, using the ‘gamma’ feature of an image editing
program such as Paintshop Pro’ or ‘Photoshop’.

Fig.4 - How the units connect

The usual input channel for recording from a wxsat receiveris line-in, so this must be activated by firstly checking the'Select' box in the 'Line balance:' panel, and then elevating
the volume control slider to mid-scale (this may require
more careful adjustment later). However, depending on the
input levels of your soundcard, you may prefer to make useof the microphone input channel instead.
Software
The simplest package, but the most popular among
beginners, is WXsat authored by Christian Bock ‘way backin 1995. The program’s appeal lies in its ability to decode
the satellite transmissions into images in real time, while
simultaneously recording them on to your hard-drive in theform of WAV files. Although the generation of images
requires a degree of experimentation and effort by the user,
recording WAV files is relatively straightforward.

The Usefulness of WAV Files
To actually record a WAV file while a screen image builds up
you must select the appropriate decoding mode. Click the<Parameters> menu in WXsat to reveal the default list of
decoding options. Start by selecting the topmost item fromthe list; this will produce twin NOAA images as shown infigure 7, with a visible light image on the left and an infrared
image to its right. Other options on the list permit decodingof individual visible or infrared images, as well as allowing
the user to combine them as a false-colour image.
To initiate a recording session, select <Start at Subcarrier>from the <Recording> menu, followed by <Save Bitmap andWave> to prime WXsat to record a WAV file as it displays theimage each time it detects a NOAA weather satellite APT
signal.

Open Wxsat’s <Recording> menu and select the third itemfrom the foot, labelled ‘Test’. This reveals a window flanked
by a grey line at both top and bottom. These two lines
represent the maximum permitted amplitude for an
incoming satellite signal. Exceed these levels and the signal
will be ‘clipped’, masking out much of the bright cloud detailas full white. This level must be adjusted during reception ofa live satellite signal, something which may be accomplishedby adjusting the Sndvol32.exe volume slider position, or byplacing a variable potentiometer (volume control) into theaudio line feeding the soundcard. The maximum amplitudes
in the signal from the receiver must not be allowed to break

www.geo-web.org.uk

Fig.6 - Wxsat’s recording-level test screen

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GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

Figure 7 - NOAA 17 - 11:12 UT on July 13, 2003

September 2010

Figure 8 - The same image, showing the effects of ‘clipping’.

The great advantage of saving WAV files as well as theactual bitmap images is that the WAV file may be repeatedly
decoded through Wxsat (or another program such as
Satsignal or Wxtoimg). This allows parameters to be
adjusted until you judge that the final image is the best thatcan be achieved.
Help with Wxsat
The WXsat program comes complete with an extensive ‘Help’
file extending to more than 350 kb in size. This contains
dozens of pages of information, many with supporting
diagrams and screenshots to help you customise theprogram to meet your requirements.
WXsat may be downloaded from the HF-FAX site at
http://www.hffax.de/inst257e.exe

Figure 9 - A WXsat help screen dealing with histograms

Results of using an SSD as a System Drive
Guy Martin
Modern home computers have progressed enormously inthe last decade, yet all still rely on a mechanical device, adisk driven at high speed by an electric motor. I refer ofcourse to the hard disk which is an essential part of any
home computer. These hard disks have grown in size
while dropping in price, a 250GB device being available forabout £40 or less.
Recently, SSDs (Solid State Drive) have become available
on the consumer market and whilst still expensive they
are now within the reach of the home consumer’s pocket.
The SSD comes in two flavours: SLC (Single Layer Cell)and MLC (Multi Layer Cell). SLC are very fast and very
expensive whereas MLC are slower and cheaper, thoughstill expensive compared to a normal hard drive. However,
because of the limitations of the SATA interface, the actual
performance of the two types in a home computer issimilar.
I organize my main MSG processing PC into several
partitions. I use one drive (drive 0) for the C & D drives forthe system and applications respectively. Drive 1 carries
partitions for other data such as weather files on drive W.
The reasons for doing this are various. I can use disk
imaging software to save the system partition in the eventof a crash the file of which is not bloated out withapplications. Also, after a re-install, all the applications
are there on the D drive and most work straightaway aftera registry restore.

26

I managed to source a Transcend 32GB MLC SSD fromJapan (my son works in Japan) where they are about £20
cheaper than in the UK. The SSD is 2.5in format so an
adapter kit is needed (two metal cheeks) to fit into a 3.5inbay. I disk imaged my C & D partitions and copied them
onto the SSD so that I had an identical system to before.
Interestingly, when using XP, I had two equal partitions of
15GB. Changing to Windows 7 I had to increase thesystem drive to 20GB as 15GB was nearly full. However
10GB is fine for applications as I am not a fan of
bloatware.
Upon re-booting the first thing I noticed was how quiet my
PC was, followed immediately by the speed of booting up
which I estimated was about half the time. Shutdown was
also much quicker. This should be expected of course as
there are no mechanical bits to whiz across the spinning
wheel. Now it was time for some real figures as opposed tojust subjective impressions.
I ran some speed tests using some free software (Roadkil’s
DiskSpeed) . The SSD carrying partitions C & D against a
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB used for the otherpartitions. The results are shown here, as you can see themaximum throughput for the SSD was 160MB/sec, thiscompares favourably with the published figures fromTranscend of 150MB/sec. The Seagate Barracuda
staggered up to 74MB/sec.

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September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

I also ran a temperature check from the ‘SMART’
information. The barracuda started at 31C rising to 37C
where it levelled off. The SSD read zero.Powerconsumption is less, only 5v required (no motor) 2.4W
write, 0.7 W idle. The Barracuda uses 2.4W at 5v but afurther 6.7W at 12v.
Transcend as expected have an informative web site http://
www.transcendusa.com/Products/ModDetail.
asp?ModNo=177&SpNo=-100&LangNo=0

With a full data sheet here:
http://www.transcendusa.com/support/dlcenter/Datasheet/
SSD25S-JMI%20Datasheet%20v2.5.pdf

SSD Test:

GEO Quarterly No 27

Of course Transcend are not the only sources of thisproduct and hopefully with some competition andvolume production prices with fall.
Prices for a 32GB Transcend SSD are typically £85 £90. Same price you paid for your first CD Rom drive,
so is it a useful and essential piece of equipment or justa ‘nice to have’. Well it is certainly nice to have. It is
quieter, faster and uses less power. I have been running
for a year now with no problems and it is now
supporting Windows 7. It comes with a 2yr warranty,
data retention is 10yrs and the MTBF is 1000000hrs.
The instructions on my drive were of course inJapanese Kanji script, but who reads instructions
anyway ! One interesting line read “This technology will
be performing when your other technology has failed”.
We tried to determine whether the hardware would
outlast the computer or the SSD concept would replacecurrent hard drive technology. My Son’s wife repliedthat the Japanese didn’t really translate fully into
English. The reason for this question is that recently
questions have arisen for an SSD to be used in place ofa RAM disk with all excessive read writes that would
occur, a SSD can be an expensive fix to a no problem,
RAM is much cheaper and this could be a case of ‘if it
ain’t broke don’t fix it. I guess that it could but don’t
quote me. There have also recently been rumours of a
Tellique software version not requiring a ram disk inwhich case this would be a moot point.
On my last trip to Japan I purchased another SSD for
my receiving machine System and Apps drive following
the good experience with the previous one. We willprobably have a while to go before we can match the
1Tb hard disks now available in spinning wheel
technology but with the ever increasing rate of advanceof technology those days cannot be far away.

Barracuda Test:

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GEO Quarterly No 27

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September 2010

Will Lake Eyre Refill ?
Ken Morgan

GEO Quarterly 24 contained an Article
titled “Lake Eyre Fills – an Australian
View”.
During 2010 much more rain
has fallen, and the question is “Will Lake
Eyre Refill” ? There is so much discussion
by all parties with different agendas andhopes that it is difficult to provide adefinitive answer. The Tourist Industry
and those interested in wildlife are surethat water will reach and refill the lakewith the accompanying explosion in
wildlife, vegetation and tourism. Water
engineers and those wishing for more
irrigation and drinking water hope thatthe water will take a slightly different
path so enabling the filling and flowingof the Darling and Murray Rivers.
On top of the enormous rains of lastyear, there have been an equally great
downpours this year, with towns flooded,River/Creeks breaking banks andsurface water spreading along the land
& desert.
A typical newspaper heading of January
3, 2010 states “Floods force evacuations
in central NSW. Floodwaters have force
hundreds of people to evacuate theirhomes in Northern NSW, as severe
thunderstorms hit parts of the Northern
Tablelands and North west slopes".
Last year the rains seemed
moreconcentrated in Northern Territory andslightly less in Northern Queensland.
This year slightly more to the east of
Northern Queensland. This means thatas the waters the “roll” southwards, thedirection will tend to favour filling theDarling River and its tributaries perhaps
rather than the Diamentina River andCooper Creek, although there are reports
indicating that water is flowing in thesewaterways .
An image from NOAA-19. (Image 1
opposite) was produced from a pass on
April 1st,2010. It was northbound,commencing at 4.44 GMT and of 15
mins. 47 secs duration.
Decoding
software was Wxtoimg. Enhancement,
MSA. The options of overlays of Rivers
and lines of lat. / long were included.
Image 2 shows a selected portion ofimage 1, magnified by 2, and shows
areas where the floodwaters are moving.
Both images are worthy of study, andcomparison with similar images in GEO
Q.24 pages 20 &21.
Noteworthy are the “outskirts” ofcyclone Paul in the vicinity of CapeYork and the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Diminished evidence of Lake Eyre, but

28

evidence of areas of water enclosed by
Lats. 25 & 30 and Long’s 140 & 145.
See the magnified image where names
have been added and the image scanned.
It probably is no accident that areas ofwater are shown at the turning points of
Cooper Creek.
Note where the overlaid Diamentina
River and Cooper Creek enter the Lake
Eyre system. ( Thanks for your accuracy
Craig. You can see why I asked about
putting the names of Rivers on overlays)
The curved band of cloud coming fromthe south-west seemingly “hinged at theAntarctic”. This is very typical of weatherchanges in Southern Australia.
The Diamentina River, Cooper Creek
and their tributaries both flow into toLake Eyre. A complex of Rivers, Creeks
andswamplands
includingtheParoo,Warrego and Barwon flow into
the Darling which in turn flows into the
Murray River via the Mindee Lakesystem.
What does this water flow achieve, if
it is in sufficient quantity ?,Makes the Murray River flow,
defeating algal bloom .
Provides fresh water for the City of
Adelaide.
Allows irrigation of the great MurrayDarling foodbowls, the Riverina,
Orchards and farms on the North &South banks of the Murray. Thislargely determines whether Australia
becomes a net exporter or importer offoodstuffs.
The Murray empties into Lakes
Alexandrina and Albert. (Image 3 )These have been fresh water lakes andexamination of the image shows acomplex Barrage System, designed toallow fresh water exit to the Coorong,thence to the Southern Ocean. The
barrage system is designed to keep salt
water out of the two lakes in the event of
low fresh water flow and high tides.
Note that Adelaide takes its drinking
water from the lakes. The Coorong
waters are brackish and another greatplace for birds and wildlife to flourish.
Thus you can see that there arecompelling reasons for wishing thenorthern floodwaters to eventually findtheir way to the Murray River.
Australia is capable of growing large
quantities of food, if there is sufficientwater when and where it is needed.

www.geo-web.org.uk

There have been drought conditions infood growing and city areas. Irrigation
has been curtailed and homes placed
under stringent water restrictions.
Desalination plants have been built anda pipeline constructed to bring waterfrom the Murray to Melbourne - midst
great resentment. There have been large
projects to replace open irrigation
channelswith pipes, so preventing
evaporation.
State Premiers and Federal Politicians
are arguing about current national wateragreements and who will benefit fromany water largess.
During collection of information for thisarticle I was not surprised to learn that
under The Water Act of 2007,
Government has decreed that the CSIRO
and The Bureau of Meteorology are
required to collect, hold, manage,interpret and disseminate Australia’s
water information. This has been termed“A Water Information Alliance”
The collection of information and writingof this article have proved that a liaison
with such a duty is very necessary inAustralia. Hard facts on the quantity ofrain falling, where it has fallen and what
path the flow is likely to take are vitalin irrigation and other consumption/conservation decisions.
This Alliance, much better than me
would be able to determine whether
Lake Eyre is likely to fill again !
I wonder whether other countries have asimilar organization to help in themaking of water decisions .
There follows a list of websites which will
provide Tourist pic’s, info about Lake
Eyre, The Murray-Darling Basin
Authority and info. about the Csiro &Bureau of Meteorology Alliance. Plus
much more.
http://goinoffsafaris.com.au/water-startsflowing-into -lake-eyre/
http://www.csiro.au/partnerships/wirada.
html
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/
s2787694.htm
http://www.bom.gov.au/water/regulations/waterAct2007AuxNav.shtml
http://www.bom.gov.au/water/regulations/
wdtf/index.shtml
http://www.wrightsair.com.au/
floodwaternews.htm
http://www.mdba.gov.au/water/waterinstorage/southern?rundate=2010-0402

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

Image 1GEO Quarterly No 27

Image 2The Murray empties into Lakes Alexandrina and Albert. (Image 3 )www.geo-web.org.uk

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September 2010

The flood spreading over the plain about 10km downstream (west) of the full flood at the Birdsville Track crossing. June 9, 2010 Picture John Bailey

30

www.geo-web.org.uk
Birdsville Track crossing, at Cooper Creek. Normally dry , now ferry in service after 40 years of non-operation.
June 9 2010. Picture John Bailey

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

Here Cooper creek enters Lake Eyre North. Lake Eyre is 16 metres below sea level June 9th 2010. Picture John Bailey

The Cooper Creek Flood at the point where the Birdsville Track crosses the (normally dry) Copper Creek bed, about 145 kms north east of Maree. June 9, 2010.
Picture John Bailey

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September 2010

Gibraltar Travels
Francis Bell

Recently my travel duties took me briefly to southern Spain. I foundthe plan attractive because I particularly wanted to visit the
Alhambra Palace at Granada, plus Gibraltar. I wanted to see theAlhambra at first hand to examine the wall decorations within thepalace. I had studied the mathematics and symmetry of these
decorations many years ago at university but never set eyes on
the full set of symmetry examples displayed in this palace.
My other target was Gibraltar which was about 60 km from where
we were staying. A car hire and a one day visit fulfilled myambitions. The rock, as a geographical feature, surprised me
because it's a distinctive outcrop rock and major feature reaching aheight of 426m in an otherwise gently rolling coastal area.
We spent a varied day visiting the tourist High Street, the walled
area of the town and then driving as far as possible up the rock forviewing areas and wildlife.

did notice when walking along the High Street and residential
areas the sky was cloudy. This contrasted with our inward journey
which had clear skies and sunshine all the way.
While up at the viewing points I noticed the rather unusual cloudformation above the rock. On the windward eastern side of therock there was the sudden formation of a cloud while on thewestern leeward side the cloud was disappearing within a few
seconds. I took several photographs of this cloud but the images I
recorded did not quite do justice to the dynamics of what was
happening. It looked to me like the airflow I have seen across anaircraft's upper wing surface when in flight, the low pressure
creating visible condensation. Perhaps a GEO member will be able
to explain the Gibraltar phenomenon and whether this is just a
micro example of weather systems flowing over mountainous
regions?
Please submit you thoughts either to:

Although I was not looking for any special meteorological features I

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francis@geo-org.uk or editor@geo-web.org.uk

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September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

GEO Quarterly UpdatesPeter GreenAs Les Hamilton will tell you, making up and editing theQuarterly takes many hours.
Although this can become a chore, if you the members enjoy
the magazine then it’s worth it. However I am trying to findways to make our lives easier when you have taken thetrouble to send an article in for inclusion in the Quarterly.

Just click on your article and it will be presented to you as a
PDF contained in a web page. If it is more than one page,
there are up/down arrows to move between them. You canalso enlarge the whole page by clicking the + sign, - to reduce
the size.

One service that I have been trialing with this issue of theQuarterly is called CS Live. This allows me to post copy to theauthor for proofing straight up to the internet from the makeup program to Acrobat.com.
This saves sending PDF’s backwards and forwards as wecorrect things in your articles.

Your article displayed ready for proofing

Should you see something that you wish to correct or change,
just click where you require the change and you will bepresented with a pop up box as shown below. Your name isshown in the top left, so I know who has made the change.
Enter the changes and click save on the right hand side. You
can do this as many times as required.
Once you are happy with your proofing, just log out.

Email invitation with a link to your article for review

The first thing you will get is an email with a link to Acrobat.
com (as above) asking you to review the article. If you have notregistered before, then it will ask you to. This is free of charge
and only takes a short time.
Once registered and logged on you will be presented with theshared folder where you article is.

When I open my layout program for the magazine, I am
automatically signed into the service. It shows me that you
have made changes to your article, with your changes
highlighted. I can then edit and if necessary send you anotherlink if required.
Believe me this saves hours my end and will save you getting
numerous emails, where you have to respond saying things
like, page 1, paragraph 3, fourth word etc etc and so it would
gone on until we are happy.

Acrobat.com shared folder where your article is held for review

www.geo-web.org.uk

Pop up screen where you would like to make a change

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GEO Quarterly No 27

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September 2010

Battery Powered APT in the Field
Francis BellFor many years I have been a member of the Three Counties
Amateur Radio Club ( TCARC ) this is my local radio club. In
addition to regular twice monthly meetings each year there isa field day, sometimes a field weekend. The location for thisevent is high on the South Downs in Hampshire, it is chosen
for its clear view of the sky with its potential for good distanceradio propagation - but that also means horizon to horizon
APT reception for anyone willing to try.

similar to the one David was using at Newbury. See thephotograph below and costs about £20.

I usually attend this event but in addition to the amateur
radio activities I use the venue to experiment with APT
reception. Away from home you have to plan carefully and beresourceful. At home I have the resources of a fixed antenna
and mains electricity and several computers also time to fix
things if they are not perfect, not so in ‘the field’. Regularreaders will know that I take my APT equipment whentravelling abroad so any opportunity to experiment away fromhome is a useful learning experience.

Some cautionary notes.
At the end of the day with everything packed away I tried tostart my car.

At radio and computer rallies usually there is mains electricity
available but this was not the case at the Newbury Rally which
GEO recently attended, effectively we were in a field! Although
on the stand we ran live EUMETCast reception for a full day
using a DVB World receiver and David Simmons’ laptop
computer it was all done from a 12V car battery. I took
interest in the interface that David was using to convert the
12V up to 18V for the laptop and a similar device to supply
9V to the DVB World receiver.

I had not recognised the significance of the 12V power adaptor
being plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter socket. The
socket is a useful source of a 12V power supply but in the caseof my car it’s only live when the ignition is turned on, hence
over a period of five hours the car’s battery became nearly
discharged.

Now for the brief story of my own laptops. I have two laptop
computers both rather old and in both cases their batteries
have died. Because of the expense I refuse to buy replacement
internal batteries however because of my Newbury experience
have bought as an alternative a 12V car battery converter

In possession of my new power adaptor I was confident
enough to take it to the TCARC field day to power my laptop
from my car battery. During the afternoon everything went
well and I recorded four NOAA APT images over a period of
about five hours of running the system and displaying images.

The car would not start because of a flat battery. Resourcefully
other club members on the site brought over a mobile 12V
power supply and with jump leads the car started at the firstturn of the key. However, I was pleased I was not on my own
in a remote location with this experience.

Subsequently I have checked the power consumption of my‘IBM Think Pad’ computer and its specification quotes it at
72W. Well that’s okay when running from the mains but isdemanding from any internal or external battery. I will be
more circumspect with use of my car battery in future and willconnect my voltage interface box directly to the battery withall car circuits remaining off this should prevent future
problems when working away from home.

"     \   # ;]<|"     
consumes 100mA, my home made turnstile antenna and the power hungry laptop: all poweredby the car battery.

34

www.geo-web.org.uk

My laptop car interface from Maplins but I believe theygenerally available from electrical suppliers.

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

Douglas Deans - dsdeans@btinternet.com
The NOAA 17 AVHRR saga continues withmost of the HRPT and APT data almost
unusable, certainly for professionals. There
are occasional short spells of improved
imagery. Your receivers and computer
programs are working fine, the problem is asatellite one and an issue seen a numberof times before with previous satellites in
the NOAA fleet. We must remember thatmany of the NOAA satellites are operating,albeit in some instances with reduced
capabilities, well beyond their design life.
The AVHRR scan motor issue plagued
NOAA 14, launched in December 1994,
from 2001 until 2006. NOAA 15, launched
May 1998, had similar serious problems
during 2001 and 2002 and although mainly
operating well since then does rely on adaily manual re-phase. NOAA 16, launched
September 2000 had intermittent problems
particularly between 2003 and 2005. Whatcan be said is that in almost all instances
the problems were resolved partly due toclever engineering management withtemperature controls, rephasing etc., andpartly because in some cases the problem
simply cleared itself. So in many ways itshould bode well for NOAA 17 ….. let us
hope so. Nevertheless it has been goingon now for quite a considerable time andmany of the engineering options have so far
only resulted in brief periods of better
imagery. NOAA now refer to the issue as
an end of life condition indicating that they
have done all that they can.
With the ease at which we can now getaccess to full channel, full resolution HRPT
data, it is easy to forget that there are still
many APT stations enjoying the hobby.
Many relish the challenge and sense ofachievement in setting up their own
receiving station although I must admit toalso having a sense of achievement
overcoming the technical and computer
challenges of setting up my EUMETCast
system. The beauty of this hobby is thatpeople enjoy it for a wide range of reasonsand no matter which route you follow, it is
now relatively simple to set up a station atminimal cost. Compare this to 15 years ago
when my APT station cost upwards of £400.
Of course there was no simple sound card
systems available then for APT. My own
involvement in the hobby came about very
many years ago from an interest in amateur
meteorology so from a weather satellite
point of view I simply want the best image
and meteorological data I can get at least
cost. EUMETCast fills that role admirablywith gigabytes of high resolution data fromall over the world along with huge amountsof meteorological data. It is simply astunning service and all for a one of cost ofless than half my first analogue APT station.
As I said we all have our different reasonsfor enjoying this hobby.
This quarter I am continuing with my new
section providing information on what data
and files are sent on each of the
EUMETCast channels. Last quarter I dealt
with Channel 1 and in this column will moveon to Channel 2 but also channel 5, both ofwhich carry important but similar data. Let
me explain. As I mentioned in my lastcolumn there may be times when it islogical to look at more than one channel
either because the data types within thechannel are limited or because there is asimilarity in the channel’s data types.
Channels 2 and 5 fall into both thosecategories. They carry Meteosat HRIT
data. It will also help in my efforts to review,in a quarterly journal, nearly 40 channels
now available in the EUMETCast system !
I should also stress that my channel report
is for the European service. In other words
the data sent on the channels via theEurobird 9 satellite on the Ku-band. I do
appreciate that some readers may be using
either the Africa C-band or the SouthAmerica C-band, but I have no way ofmonitoring those to check the bands
content.
In addition to this new information eachquarter, it is equally important that I keep
you up to date with any changes toChannels which have previously beenreviewed. Already I have just such an
update this quarter to Channel 1.
Again may I just remind readers that thissection is a simple factual account of thedata type and file types sent on the channel
or channels under review. If more
information on the EUMETCast system or
how to set it up is required please see thesuggestions in my last column (GEO 26).
I will also give a brief introduction to a
Windows 7 innovation called Jump Lists.
Sounds fancy but we have met a simpler
concept of this before.
As usual there are a number of weather
satellite related programs with updates
which I will list or review.
Windows 7 Jump Lists.
Jump Lists are a time saving feature
introduced with Windows 7 and are really amore sophisticated and useful development

www.geo-web.org.uk

of the ‘Recent Documents’ folder whichcame with earlier releases of Windows.
Whereas the previous Recent Documents
provided a single list of recently opened
files from various programs, Windows 7
provides each individual program its own
Jump List of recently opened files. They
appear in two places. On the Start menu
and the Taskbar. When you click the Start
button you will see a list of recently opened
programs and any program with a Jump
List will have a right-pointing arrow beside it.
Simply place the mouse cursor over the
program and the Jump List will appear. A
simple example of this is the Microsoft
Word program I am using to prepare thiscolumn. If I highlight the program (itappears in the top 10 programs in the Startmenu as I use it quite frequently) I
immediately see a list of all the files I haverecently used or created using the programand I can quickly access them by a simple
click. No need to launch programs, huntthrough menus, folders and files to findsomething. So it can be a great time saver.
There are also further options available
when you right click a file in the Jump List
allowing you to do a range of otheractivities including removing from the list or
pinning to the list.
Pinning ensures that a file will always be
shown associated with the program. There
are two ways to pin files. If the file isalready listed as one of the recent files in
the Jump List then simply highlight it withthe mouse and click the pin icon. Without
pinning it may simply through time move off
the Jump List for a program, as only thelast 10 used files are shown. If the file is
not already associated with the program
simply search for it and then drag its icon
on to the program’s Taskbar icon.
Unpinning is very straightforward and isachieved by simply right clicking on the fileand selecting unpin.
There are further more sophisticatedoptions available on the Jump Lists but forthe majority I expect that the above will be
the most useful and most used features.
WxtoImg Version 2.10.9
It is some time since I did a review of Craig
Anderson’s excellent WxtoImg program.
Firstly a brief reminder to readers what the
program does. Basically WxtoImg is aweather satellite recording, decoding andviewing program. The attraction of thisprogram for APT is its composite natureproviding recording, decoding, viewing andsubsequent processing all in one neat

35

GEO Quarterly No 27

package. This program has been about
for a long time but as always Craig keeps
it up to date with new options being addedfrom time to time. Version 2.10.9 releasedin April 2010 has many additions too
numerous to mention but some of themore important are listed below :New “thermal” enhancement.
Improves RSFX calibration (and image
colour).
Adds independent setting of minimum
recording elevation for north and south.
There is an independent setting of W
and E minimum/ maximum satellite
elevation for recording.
Wide-area composite image creation
using pristine images from multiple
ground stations.
Improved presentation of telemetry datain all enhanced images.
Support for temperature scale onthermal enhancements.
Supports more GPSS, rotor controllers,
and receivers.
Performance improvements for web
page creation and composite image
generation.
Auto crops MSA/HVC/HVCT images
when satellite changes sensors.
Improvements for pristine image quality
and image quality of projections.
As I said there are too many new things tofully list and that is on top of an alreadywell proven and sophisticated program. If
you are into APT then you must try this.
To learn more about the program and to
download it go to :http://www.wxtoimg.com/
EUMETCast Data Channel 2.
This channel carries the Primary High Rate
SEVIRI data from the geostationary
satellite located at 0°. For the moment the
primary satellite is Meteosat 9, also known
as MSG 2 being the second of the
Meteosat Second Generation of satellites.
The original Meteosat range was Meteosat
1 to 7 and indeed Meteosat 6 and 7 arestill operating on the IODC project. To
help with a better understanding of thedata and file types let me give a brief
description of what is provided by thesatellite on this channel.
The Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)
satellites produce SEVIRI image data in
the form of both High and Low Rate
SEVIRI data. This real-time data isprocessed to level 1.5 to provide
correction for radiometric and geometric
non-linearity before distribution to the enduser. Considerable ancillary information isprovided with the data to allow the user tocalculate the geographical position and theradiance of any pixel. Eleven of the twelve
channels provide measurements with aresolution of 3km at the sub-satellite point
whilst the High Resolution Visible channel(HRV) provides measurement to 1km at
the sub-satellite point.

36

Group for Earth Observation

Briefly the features of the High Rate
SEVIRI image data service on Channel 2
are as follows :Data in 15 minute repeat cycles.
Lossless compression in the form ofWavelet Transform.
Full spatial resolution in 12 spectral
channels
Data available on EUMETCast.
Each repeat cycle nominally consists of 8
segments of image data, except for the
HRV channel, which has 24 segments andeach segment has 464 lines of image data.
A repeat cycle prologue file precedes thedelivery of the image segments and a
repeat cycle epilogue file follows after thedelivery of the segments and contains final
quality information for the image. The
image segments are numbered and afixed relationship between the image
segment number and the line offset isestablished. The image segment
numbering direction follows the radiometerscan direction.
Now let us look at the file name and types
you will see on Channel 2.
As you can see from above (image
opposite), for each 15 minute cycle there
will be 8 segments for each of thechannels 1-11 inclusive and 24 segments
for the HRV channel, which in addition to
the prologue and epilogue data gives adata total of 114 files for every fifteen
minute cycle. A typical file has thefollowing format.
H-000-MSG2__-MSG2________IR_120___-000001___-201005301930-C_
Some features to note.
The ‘H’ refers to the High rate previously
explained.

September 2010

HRIT channels. This image is produced
from the 3km data and even on this small
section of the whole disc a number ofinteresting features can be seen veryclearly. Those include some incredible
detail of very active thunderstorms overAfrica, evidence of sand blowing over the
Atlantic and cloud eddies produced by theCape Verde Islands. No doubt readers will
spot many other interesting features. The
HRV channel is even more stunning but it          | 
image. Add to this the ability to animate
images and you just begin to realise themeteorological feast at our fingertips.
EUMETCast Data Channel 5.
This channel carries High Rate SEVIRI
data for a Rapid Scan Service (RSS) fromthe standby satellite.
Meteosat 8 (MSG 1) is the standby
satellite to be brought into use if there are
any problems with the Primary Service ofMeteosat 9 at 0°. However as that is likely
to be very rare EUMETSAT decided toutilise the satellite for a Rapid Scan
Service (RSS). It is possible to provide
scans shorter than 15 minutes if the wholedisc is not scanned.
Rapid scan data from the service
complements the 15-minute High
Resolution Image data generated by theoperational Meteosat satellite, Meteosat 9.
The scan period is five minutes which isthe same as that of European weather
radars, making it even more useful inmonitoring rapidly developing localised
convective weather systems likethunderstorms. The scan covers a latitude
range of 15° to 70°. The image data andproducts are based on the full 12 spectral
channels available from MSG.
Meteosat 8 is located at 9.5°E, from where
it delivers the RSS and continues to be a
backup satellite for Meteosat 9.

MSG-2 confirms the satellite of origin.
The IR_120 is the channel reference
where 120 represents the wavelength of;Y\+    ;+\The 000001 refers to the 1st segment of
the cycle.
201005301930 refers to the 19.30
segment on the 30th May 2010.
The prologue and epilogue files take theform :-H-000-MSG2__-MSG2________________-PRO____-201005301930-_
H-000-MSG2__-MSG2________________-EPI____-201005301930-_
And finally there is one other file in thechannel for service administration :H-000-MSG2__-SERVICE___ADMIN___-03659_001-201005301944
An example of the quality and resolution ofthis data is shown below, with an artificiallycoloured image made up from several

www.geo-web.org.uk

Of course with the shorter scan (basically
Europe) the number of segments are
reduced and for channels 1-11 inclusive
only segments 6-8 are sent, and segments
16-24 for the HRV channel. Compare thisto the full Meteosat 9 scan discussed
above. Although there are fewer files perscan, remember the repeat scans are
every 5 minutes something that produces
buttery smooth animations.
The file format is very similar to that
explained above for the Primary satellitewith the obvious changes being MSG1 inlieu of MSG2 and the reference to RSS. A
typical file is shown below and as with
Channel 2 there is a prologue andepilogue file for each repeat cycle and an
ADMIN file. A typical file has the following
format with the explanation similar to thatabove for Channel 2.
H-000-MSG1__-MSG1_RSS____VIS006__-000006__-201005312040
H-000-MSG1__-MSG1_RSS____-

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

www.geo-web.org.uk

37

GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation_________-PRO____-201005312040
H-000-MSG1__-MSG1_RSS_____________-EPI____-201005312040
H-000-MSG1__-SERVICE___ADMIN___-03661_001-201005312044
Update to Channel 1 Data.
As I mentioned in my last column the only
EARS service still to be completed was theMetop AVHRR FDES. As I draft thiscolumn in early June EUMETSAT have justadvised that this final EARS service willcommence on the 23rd June 2010. For afull explanation of what the FDES service
entails and why it was needed please see
my column in GEO 26. So to complete thefile types for Channel 1, here is a typical filefor the Metop FDES service.
AVHR_HRP_00_M02_20100623101100Z_2
0100623101200Z_N_O_20100623102134Z.
#|YDavid Taylor’s programs (latest releases).
Just a reminder that the list below is for fully
tested releases and does not include thelatest beta (or alpha) versions currently on
test. Those can also be downloaded fromDavid’s site.
To learn more about those programs and to
download the latest updates please go to :http://www.satsignal.eu

ATOVS Reader

v 1.2.0

AVHHR Manager

v 2.0.0

BUFR Viewer

v 1.1.1.4

CMA viewer

v 1.2.0

DWDSAT HRPT Viewer

v 1.2.2

GeoSatSignal

v 7.1.4

GRIB Viewer

v 2.3.8

GroundMap

v 2.1.4

HDF Viewer

v 1.4.4

HRPT Reader

v 2.9.6

Kepler Manager

v 1.3.2

MapToGeov 1.1.6

Metop Manager

v 1.4.4

MSG Animatorv 2.5.32

MSG Data Manager

v 2.5.38

PassControl

v 3.2.4

Satsignal

v 5.2.2

Sea-Ice & Viewer

v 1.4.2

Wxtrackv 3.8.8

MODIS L1 & Fire Viewer

v 1.0.2

Withdrawal of NOAA-17
data from EARS AVHRR
The operational EARS-AVHRR service
covers the provision of AVHRR datafrom the primary Morning Orbit satellite
and the primary Afternoon Orbit satellite.
For a period of time EARS-AVHRR data
have been provided from two satellites
in the Morning Orbit, namely NOAA-17
and Metop-A. The main justification forthis has been the problems relating to
the Metop-A HRPT direct read-out
capability.
However,sincetheimplementation of a partial Metop Direct
Read-out scheme, Metop-A instrument
readout covering the ascending passes
over Europe and the North Atlantic havebeen incorporated into the EARSAVHRR service.
Additionally, Metop-A AVHRR extracted
from the global Metop-A data using theFast Dump Extract System (FDES) is
being provided as part of the EARSAVHRR service. The FDES data sets
include the full European Region andcover well the periods when no HRPT
data are available. AVHRR data
originating from the FDES system arealready being distributed as part of
EARS-AVHRR via EUMETCast. It
seamlessly integrates with AVHRR data
originating from HRPT and uses identicalfile naming and formatting.
Consequently Users registered for the
EARS-AVHRR service are alreadyreceiving AVHRR data from both sources.
At the same time, the quality of the
NOAA-17 AVHRR data has now degradedto a level where the operational value ofthe data is very limited.
It has therefore been decided to
discontinue the dissemination of the
NOAA-17 data with the EARS-AVHRR
service as of 14 September 2010.
With best regards,
Kim-Hui Gaune
User Support Officer
User Service Division

FOR SALE
For sale; R2ZX VHF Receiver, completewith the CD it came with containing thefollowing software: APT Decoder,
SATSIGNAL, WXtolmg. The RX has
never been used in anger and thesoftware has never been loaded on a PC.
Reason for sale,change of plans.

Comma cloud or
cyclone?
David J Taylor
Noted off the UK on 2010 July 01 wasthis cloud formation opposite. Is this acomma-cloud, or is it too large for that?
Image derived from NOAA-19, broadcast
over EUMETCast, processed in David
Taylor’s AVHRR Manager and HRPT
Reader software. Pass was at 13:15
UTC.
While most of the UK is under somecloud, to the west Ireland is in the clear,as are the Danish mainland and muchof southern Sweden and Norway.
To the south, most of the Mediterranean
is in the clear, and the classic shape of
Italy can be seen at the bottom right of
the image.
From ZAMG & KNMI website 'A Comma
is a very prominent cloud featuredeveloping and existing in cold air.
There are several similar phenomena
within cold air: One of them is Enhanced
Cumulus cloudiness (see Enhanced
Cumulus. Also a ring of vortices,
crescent, oval, solid cloudiness, multiple
deep or shallow bands, single deep orshallow bands or swirls in cumulus
streets can all be found in cold air.
In order to distinguish the Comma fromother features in cold air, the Commacloudiness is defined as a small tomeso-scale cloud spiral consisting ofwhite (i.e. cold) cloud cells partly overlaid
by cirrus shields.
In most cases the strongest convection
can be found in the Comma tail, butsometimes enhanced convection canalso be found in the Comma head. In a
few cases the Comma head and tail are
separated by a narrow cloud-free area or
only connected by low clouds (although
this may not be apparent during thewhole life time of the system). The scaleof a Comma lies between 200 and 1000
km, i.e. much smaller than a fully
developed depression or a cyclone.
Larger Commas can be a sign of adevelopment process called Cold Air
Development(see ColdAir Development),
where a Comma increases in size andfinally gains some frontal characteristics'.
For a discussion, see:Sensible offers to, Dave Rennolds(G0BXS)
rennolds@tiscali co.uk

38

September 2010www.geo-web.org.uk

http://www.zamg.ac.at/docu/Manual/
SatManu/main.htm?/docu/Manual/SatManu/
CMs/Comma/structure.htm

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

www.geo-web.org.uk

39

GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

Answers to Quarterly Question 26
My thanks to all those members who
responded to the Quarterly Question in
our last issue. The question wasprompted by an Envisat image I had
received at home which showed a small   | #   \special interest was aroused because I
was now receiving earth images at homewith such a high resolution that this small
island could be seen. This wascompounded by the fact that I hope to besailing in that part of the world in January
2011.
The island’s name has evolved a little
over time but is currently known as
Bassas da India although Basse de Judieor Baixo da Judia were also consideredcorrect names. The following members
submitted a correct name for the island.
Rob Denton
Storm Dunlop
John Nixon
Elmar Bogels
Ap van Weeren
Ken Eaton
David Pykett
Peter andFrancesca Wade

George James
Cliff Goddard
Anders Höök
Fred E, Piering
Ruud Jansen
Nick Tebneff
Mike Bragg

Below are some of the answers I received
all of which I found interesting. One
member wrote to me in some detail
relating his experiences in the merchant      | # Channel. He said that particular care wastaken when sailing anywhere near thelocation of the island because it did notshow up on radar. Only at low tide aresome rocks exposed. The island ofEuropa a little to the south is more

conspicuous because of its humanoccupation which includes ameteorological station and small air strip
all of which do show up on a ship ‘s radar.
Background information about the islandof Bassas da India can be found on theInternet. My particular thanks to Ruud
Jansen for taking the trouble to trackdown a detailed image of the island
courtesy of Google.
I have not picked a winning entry for the
Quarterly Question but will do so in due
course: and as promised I will try to buy
something suitable from the area as a
 |
In the mean time for personal interest I
have been tracking down images ofMauritius, Comoros Islands Madagascar
and other islands which we hope to visit
in the new year.
Hello Francis,
First of all let me say a very big “ THANK- YOU” to you and all of the “GEO “ teamfor such an excellent and very interesting
and absorbing publication. Also of course
to those that make the contributions to thecontents. I do pass the publication aroundwith the intention of raising awarenessand discussions associated not just withsatellites, but also the science, technology
advancement and of course impact on “
Global Warming”.
I always find something of interest tofollow up, however I regret to say I havenot found time to do much active
monitoring of the weather satellites.
Your question raised in the Quarterly 26©Google40

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2010

took me back to some references andstudies I was following up in relation to
the “MODIS “ satellite and its work andprogress. I recall looking at quite anumber of excellent photographs
published on the topic of the Mozambique
Channel and the reefs etc, I was
searching for the impact that Global
Warming might have on this area.
The island to which you refer, is I believe,“ Bassas da India” which lies some 385km
west of Madagascar and approx. 110km
NW of the Isle Europa.
At low tide it only emerges to a height of 1
-2 metres so I can quite understand theconcerns of navigating around this areaand location. Thanks to the “Modis “
project, so many of the wonderful views ofthis area and other parts of the world we
can now share and use the publishedphotos and other information. Look
forward to meeting you and the team atthe “Holiday Inn” for the “Amsat -UK”
gathering.
Regards
Ken Eaton GW1FKY: AMSAT-UK and
AMSAT- NA
Hi Francis,
Again a very good magazine with a lot of
information and amazing images.
I think I have the answer on your question
about the island name in the south
Mozambique Channel. I first took a lookat my collection of maps but I couldn’t findthe island on the maps. Only a few small
dots in the water without names. Then I
started up Google maps and zoomed inon a south-part of the MozambiqueSeptember 2010

Group for Earth Observation

Channel. Comparing the blue ring image
on page 32 and Google maps viewed
after zooming and shifting the cursor it
was easy (I hope) to find a island with thesame dimensions. Surprising for me wasthat the name of that island was also on
the map. I offer you the name of thisisland and also a screendump of theGoogle maps page (shown opposite).
The name is Bassas da India. On a paper
map the name was Europa but I think thatis wrong. I hope this is correct and useful
information. Two other names for thisIsland are Basse de Jude and Europ
Rocks or only Europ. You can find more
information in the Wikipedia pages,
pictures and facts.

Best wishes and 73's
Nick Tebneff VK5NTBest wishes,
Ruud PA0ROJ

I do download data on the internet
frequently and use David Taylor's
software to display it. My interest is still
as keen as ever.

http://www.jendela.nl
http://www.kookadri.nl

Dear Francis
I must say, Francis, that I was rather
surprised to discover how easy it was tofind out details of that island (Bassas da
India or Basse de Judie) in the
Mozambique Channel.

Good morning Francis
I have to work hard to stop myself
reading the whole Geo Quarterly on the
day it arrives here in Spain! A thoroughly
educational and entertaining magazine.
Unfortunately I am unable to receive data
directly due to restrictions at this location
but my wife and I hope to return to the
Scotland as soon as we can find a buyer
for our house here. A requirement will be
an unrestricted view to the required
satellite

Please include me on your email
database.
Kind regards
Ian Walsh
GM4OLH
Dear Francis ,It made me realise how little I tend to turnto the Internet for information - mainly,
perhaps, because I have doubts about
the accuracy of many pages. There arecertainly some dubious astronomical andmeteorological ones ... And some of thegood ones tend to move around. The
NASA pages are particularly prone to dothat, and the other day I had to searchhard, and for a long time, to find the latest
URL for a particular set of pages that I
had given as a reference in one of mybooks that is just being revised.
At first, incidentally, I thought you weretalking about Europa Island, off to thesoutheast, which is perhaps the moreinteresting, given that it is inhabited andhas a meteorological station.
Yours,
Storm Dunlop

Thank you for the ' MSG In Orbit In Use'publication from EUMETSAT, it is very
interesting, informative and of highquality: also for taking the time to answer
my question regarding MSG reception
and including the CDs
My Skystar II PCI card is set up toreceive the data stream on 9 deg east
ENVISAT and 10 deg east EUMETCast
the signal and quality levels on bothsatellites are high. I have also read about
the Rob Alblas' software which gives easy
control over the Tellique software with theoccasional user in mind, ideal for myintended purpose.
I do not have Internet access or an Emailaddress, but I did get onto the web whilst
on holiday in Gibraltar, attempting to
download the Tellique software: without
registering this proved impossible!

GEO Quarterly No 27

During a recent trip to Gibraltar I visited
the Met Office which is situated besidethe airport terminal building overlooking
the runway.
MSG images are extensively used, alarge wall mounted LCD screen
continually displays 'Cloud Height' inmetres denoted in various colours. OtherMSG data is accessed via a PC with dual
screens, the mouse cursor jumps
between screens. IR images show landand sea temperatures which aids with theprediction of sea mist formation. Visible
images show land mass and cloud,sunrise creates shadows around thecloud giving some indication of the depthof the cloud base. Additional data
indicates particle size usually rain but
more recently ash.
A separate PC displays an animatedsequence of visible images taken over a
period, showing cloud formation andmovement. Another PC displays local
wind speed, barometric pressure,temperature and humidity.
I was shown images from mid-April
centred on Iceland, the volcanic ash
cloud depicted in yellow could be seen togrow steadily in size as the days passed.
Other images showed the area of ocean
where many of the storms build up before
travelling inland to the America's oftenwith devastating effect.
The office has a panel with a number offour inch dials indicating wind speed, amechanical barometer recording onto apaper chart and a long column barometer.
All in contrast to the PC equipment
nearby!
A weather balloon, transmitting on 402
MHz is released twice daily, one at midday the other at mid-night, more
frequently if additional data is required.
These balloons eventually drop into thesea or the mountains of Morocco.
Met Office data is provided to GBC,BFBS Television and radio, local
newspapers and for the sailing forecast.

Hi there Francis
I would be quite happy to receive theoccasional email on the group's activities.
Not that I can do much from over here,
but it's nice to keep in the loop.
Now, to question 26. I believe the answer
you are after is BASSAS DE INDIA. I canclaim no special knowledge except theability to play on Google Earth andWikipedia to find this interesting spot. I
did enjoy the challenge and like you, had
no idea that the peak of a volcano
becomes visible at low tides.
Although this is my first letter to thegroup, I am enjoying the quarterly
magazines.

GOES-P was launched from Cape
Canaveral on a Delta IV on Thursdaynight 4th March 2010. I followed theproceedings on 10 deg. East W1 10970
Vertical 4167 5/6 , this is the up feed andcarries NASA TV at times of activity. The
recent STS 130 mission was shown as
was the L-Cross mission.
Thank you for your recent letter and thetime and effort you all put into GEO: it isappreciated.
Regards

This was my first viewing of MSG, theability to see round the world was
impressive, also the wealth of available
data.
I recently received my GEO Quarterly No.
26 and was pleasantly surprised to see
my name in print. I am pleased to see thereturn of the NOAA satellite predictions
and grateful to Les Hamilton for compilingthem, armed with this information I canresume my APT activities.
Thank you for the time and effort you all
put into GEO.

Kevin Hewitt, Kent UK
Dear Francis,

www.geo-web.org.uk

Regards
Kevin Hewitt, Kent UK

41

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

Windows 7 with TelliCast
Mike Stevens (G4CFZ)
Its been some time since I put finger tokeyboard so I thought it was about time
I did, but since then a lot has happenedin the Satellite world most of which weknow as GEO Members, more and moreadvances have taken place in all walksof life non more so than Computers, andof course the latest whiz is Windows 7,
which I am sure we are all still learning
how to drive.
I had a complete PC failure back in
March/April this year, my Asus
computer gave its last breath and failed
completely, upon inspection it was foundto be beyond economical repair. So wesearched on-line as you do these days
and found ever more information
regarding which is the best. One PC kept
cropping up and that was Acer, I havean Acer Laptop, which is now nine years
old, but still works fine and is mystandby PC to run EUMETCast on(which I have tried and it still works). So
having a trusted model as this I decided
to go to the nearest supplier and lookthis machine over. Once seen thedecision was made, plus it was at a
special introductory offer, so I purchased
the Acer Aspire X3300 Desktop PC with
Windows 7, it has 3GB Ram and 640GB
Hard Drive with accommodation to
upgrade to 6GB Ram and a second Hard
Drive if required.
So then came the fun part, learning allabout Windows 7, and as we know by
now it’s a totally different animal fromXP which we all know and love, so thedecision was made to try and make
TelliCast and EUMETCast to run on the
new PC, I wasn’t really sure what I had
let my self in for, it was a very sharp
learning curve, so here we go.
The first part of the installation is to set
up a network, now if you have two PC’swith Windows 7 that’s easy by going into
the Homegroup site and set the systemup, but if you are working with one PC
running Windows 7 and the otherrunning Windows XP it gets a little more
complicated. First go into the Windows 7
PC and open up the < Network andSharing Centre> then locate and open <Homegroup and Sharing Options> youthen open < Change advanced sharing
Settings> and then open < Home orWork file>. On each of the sections makesure you turn them all on except the last
one under the heading < Homegroupconnections>, leave that box as “ Useuser accounts and passwords to connect
to other computers”. Also where it says
“Use 128-bit encryption, make sure thatis ticked, then <Save Changes>.
You should now be able to see theWindows 7 PC on your Windows XP PC,

42

but there is still a move to be made on
your XP PC. Open < Control Panel >then < System Properties> locate
Computer name, in that same panel you
will see the name of the< Workgroup >click on the change icon and set thename to exactly the same as the new PC
on windows 7, in my case it was “Workgroup” once done click OK andcome out of that section, you should
now be able to Network across the two
PC’s one running XP the other on
Windows 7.
A good test is to open Network Places
and follow it through to the “
WORKGROUP” open on that icon and all
the computers in that group will beshown, I have three, two desktops andthe Laptop, one other thing do not forget
to make sure that any files within
Windows 7 you want to share are marked
accordingly or you will not have access,for example Program Files, T-Systems
etc, especially if you are going to use twocomputers for EUMETSAT.
So having set up the Network its time to
install the EUMETSAT Programmes, I
have the latest EUMETCast software
Version 5.5, but there is another version
6.0 on its way, (you may have it before
you read this article)
But lets work with 5.5, make sure you
load the correct EKU Software for yoursystem, its quite easy to pick the correctone, once that is done you can install
TelliCast in the usual manner, makesure you put the name and key incorrectly, one easy test to ensure the key
has entered properly is to click on the
RED Tellicast icon and open
“About tc-recv”in the box that appears
you will have Four Key lines, the bottom,“ Host_key_4 should have a line of “
xxxx_xxxx_xxxx_xxxx “ that indicatesthe key has entered correctly. The next
item to load are the Drivers for the typeof Satellite Receiver you have, mine is
the TechniSat Skystar USB, if you havethis or the PCI Card you will needTechniSat software version 4.6.0 as thatis the only version that will load on
Windows 7, and that version will be
included on the new EUMETCast
Software Version 6.0. So if you need it go
to the TechniSat website and locate it
and down load to your PC, I did and it
loaded without any problems at all, theothers on the CD would not load at all.
Now from what I am seeing with Windows
7 there are some variations on different
PC’s, my Daughter has an Acer Aspire,different model from mine but with
Windows 7, and she has some very
different variations from mine, so thisarticle is how it worked for me and mywww.geo-web.org.uk

system, but hopefully it will help you tounderstand how it works, and that thisis a guide rather than absolute.
So we now have all the TelliCast software
loaded, we now proceed to set-up thesatellite system in the usual way,
locating Eurobird 9 and loading all the
Data details and PID’s, once that is done
try the system out to see if it works, if
not then we have other things to do.
My advice is to go to David Taylor’s
excellent website and look at all thedetails relating to TelliCast and Windows
7, there you can determine what problem
you have encountered and how to
overcome it.
You may be experiencing a Configuration
Error, (key or name not put in correctly),or the TelliCast Icon switches between
Active and starting, ie, Yellow or Red, if
so there is a line of detail that has to beentered in the Command Prompt, thiscan also be located on David’s website,take care when entering the information
as it is case sensitive, I did copy andpaste and it went in first time, I thenchecked to make sure the command was
active, and it was confirmed.
If you still have problems look into the
Log File on TelliCast and see what itsays, one that cropped up with me was,
< Coordinator Lost > or < Channel Lost>, if either of those have appeared on thelog you will now need to go straight tothe Windows 7 Firewall. Locate theFirewall and open it, you need to findthe files setting marked < Allow a
Program or Feature through Windows
Firewall >, open that up and you will
have a box on screen with all programmesthat are allowed through the Firewall,
locate < tc-recv.exc > and <tc-recv > andthen make sure you have both boxes
ticked in the < Home/Work > column
and the < Public column >, as this willstop the system working, once done try
the system again, and it should start
immediately.
As I have stated before this is how it
happened on my set-up and there may
be some slight variations on your system
due to different satellite receiver ofsoftware, but most faults occurring willin some way lead back to the items inthis article, I have to say all this worked
for me, with lots of advice and help fromwithin the GEO fraternity
I wish to acknowledge the help andadvice given to me throughout this setup to David Taylor, Ian Deans & MarkDrapes and all the guys on the GEO
Yahoo Groups. Also to the staff at
EUMETSAT Ops,for the excellent service.

September 2010

Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 27

Virtual Ocean and GeoMapApp A vital resource?
David PainterMany of you reading this have probably installed “Google
Earth” and wondered at its ability and facilities to zoom into
any earthly facet, and allow you to see images of far off
places, or maybe you in your garden from an aerial andsatellite montage of images. There is something just as
exciting, that does allow you to add further dimensions to thedesire to explore further into the Earth by providing many
more sources of information that are used daily by thescience community globally, to provide the research that weall have an interest in.
These tools are open-source and give the user unrestricted
access to many differing locations and types of information,that can be overlaid on satellite images and provide many
access portals to a vast array of photographs and other data.
These two programs are called “GeoMapApp” and “Virtual
Ocean”. These two programmes are maintained by the MarineGeo-science Data System (MGDS) at the Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory of Columbia University. (http://www.geomapapp.
org/) (http://www.virtualocean.org/)
Virtual Ocean Start page

Structure
The menu structure is “Layer based” in that it allows the user
to build up a layer upon layer image, made up from different
data sets, as such you need a base layer to start. The Virtual
Ocean application is different from GeoMapApp in several
ways, but mainly the projection is spherical and allows pan
and tilting of the image.
Choose the base map to start with (I suggest for lower
bandwidth users) choose the simple topography (GMRT) Basemaps> GlobalMaps>Global Multi-Resolution Topography(GMRT). It is over this initial layer all the other data can belayered, other choices include Landsat Altitude below 500km,
NASA Blue marble Imagery or Microsoft virtual Earth. You willsee from the expanded menus this is no slouch of aprogramme when it comes to giving the user choice, so beware
you don’t add too many layers initially. All of the base maps
can have their “opacity” varied so that differing base maps canbe graded together to provide a complex base image, thatnewer research data can be plotted over.
Virtual Ocean welcome screen

Operation
Both these programmes are “online” portals and require aninternet connection to access the vast databases, they use aJava engine to access the resources, as this stops therequirement to download masses of data to the user machine,
as such please remember that some of the data you canaccess can be quite substantial and may cramp you PC or
broadband connection if you try too much data at once.
To start visit the website of choice and download the Javaruntime programme where it says
“Click here to launch Virtual Ocean “, follow the instructions
to either open or save the installer as you require. After the
installer runs successfully (if you have an up-to date Javainstall) you will have to verify the security certificate if yoursystem requests it, after this the application will start andshow you the start screen.
The following description is for Virtual Ocean

You should now have a populated segmented view of the
Earth in topographic relief, you can click left mouse buttonand hold, (or use the arrow keys) then you can spin the globe
anyway you want to view it. If you have a scroll type mousethe wheel will now magnify/reduce the globes size (else use
the keyboard + or – to do the same)
Pan and tilt
You can now use the arrow keys to pan and tilt the chosen
magnified area whilst holding down the shift key, and add inother resources by adding data from a “portal” or chose adataset from the relevant menu. The amount of 3D relief canbe controlled from the horizontal (vertical elevation) V.E slider
at the top of the map window. Space shuttle Altitude data isavailable to enhance this feature and is usually effective atlower “virtual” altitudes.
Data resolution
Most of the data will give you some idea of the resolution
before you select it, and you will have to zoom into the area ofinterest before the data becomes apparent if there is a lot of
data; this is to reduce the amount of information sent to theuser PC and help processing.

www.geo-web.org.uk

43

GEO Quarterly No 27

Group for Earth Observation

September 2010

lot of data. (not full resolution). Also when combining layers
remember there are several high resolution data sources
streaming down your internet connection.
Data
This application appears to be run in real-time aboard many
research vessels so the GPS data and track information isavailable to view to co-ordinate the observations of temperature,depth or other; this can be quite amusing when you see someof the ships tracks between locations as it appears as ameandering snail across the globe as some course correction
was applied, or some storm avoided. Some data has thefacility to show the coverage as a layer and this can be selected
too, this can show you where the most concentrations of data
are recorded, for example the Azores as it is a research stopover for the mid Atlantic ridge observation campaigns

Virtual Ocean Base Map

Basemaps>Regional>Maps>Antarctica>Satellite
Imagery>Modis Mosaic Image of Antarctica
Menu’sWhen a dataset or other information resource is added, othertear off menu’s are added that are interactive, these give thedata in tabulated form or provide web-links to the chosen dataor load it directly into your browser. The extra tabulated datamenus can be controlled and switched off or unloaded by aseparate “Layers” tab menu that lists the chosen layers witha Cross-boxed icon that allows you to un-check it or chose the“Close” option within the various menus as selected. I havefound that with Windows 7 sometimes the main projection
window can become off centred; this I view as another
undocumented “feature” of the O.S and be cured by zoomingback to global scale from a magnified view. Bookmarks>Zoom
to global scale (CTRL-W) (Ubuntu and WinXP are OK)

You can enable place names, geographical boundaries, andsome NOAA nautical charts; Earthquake data, and othervaried sources can be added from many other academic
portals if you know or have access to them. Much more layers
can be added from the overlays tab, and other data like NOAAAVHRR SST and salinity base-maps from the base-map tab.
Interestingly there is an overlay of the Mexican Gulf deep
water oil exploration drilling sites, and this has the MC252
Deep water Horizon Drill site, the source of the massive oilspill located on it.(recent) There may be other data for thisevent but I have not yet found it. Some of the data may not be
the latest information, but that is just a matter of knowing
where to get the latest data sources and pointing thisprogramme to it.
Tutorials
There are many tutorials for using this program under
Education>Tutorials

To switch on or off the chosen layers over the base map either
chose the little “tape cassette” looking icon marked “Mask”
when the cursor hovers over it (Top Left) if it’s a dataset chose“Close” from the newly appeared windows.
For example an archive of ASTER Volcano images can beaccessed by choosing:“Volcanoes and Seamounts> location and ASTER satellite
images of major volcanoes” ;this tabulated view when loaded
will bring up a list of all the available volcanic images listed
and these can be selected and opened in a browser window by
selection of the table view. Some volcano images are single
thumbnail images; however some web-links take you to alarge archive full of different images of the same location.
Some images can be downloaded in higher resolution (VNIR
and Infra-red). There are digital elevation models of somesites, but most of the data seems to be around 2005. There
are shuttle and other astronautical photographs as well. The
same applies should you want to delve into the oceanic depths
and view the Alvin or Jason Oceanic trench photographs
taken at the crushing depths of the worlds oceans. The top
image (opposite page) shows the basic topography base-map(lower) plus an enhanced map view of the North East Atlantic,
over layered with a dataset of Earthquake locations coloured
by magnitude (1973-2009) with added 3D projection, tilted toprovide the desired perspective.
Some data may have several 1000’s of points or plots orimages and must be allowed time to load, and some data will
only be visible above or below a certain global magnification
percentage. Some layers like the Terra Modis True colour layer
can take some time to load properly, so be patient there is a

44

GeoMapApp welcome screen

OverallIf you want data or just to examine the available scientific
data on a subject, then this software is a valuable tool; if
you just want images then Microsoft virtual Earth or Google
is for you; this certainly won’t show your house or garden,
or even where to find a restaurant. However it can show you
almost instantly anywhere on the surface of the globe andshow you some very interesting websites and images notnormally in the public gaze; as well as unlock some data
you may have not known how to get at or know existed.
This is in all respects an excellent research tool and I
thoroughly recommend it and it can always be used to help
illustrate articles for the GEO Quarterly!

www.geo-web.org.uk

Enhanced map view of the North East Atlantic, over layered with a bathemetric contour map, Earthquake data and added 3D projection ©Virtual Ocean

Circulating currents generated by water flow through Strait of Gibraltar, night-time Infra-red