Group for Earth Observation

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

35
September 2012NOAA recently released this new Blue Marble image of Earth, created by combining multiple VIIRS images from the Suomi-NPP satellite.
Image: NASA/NOAAGEO MANAGEMENT TEAM
Director and Public Relations
Francis Bell,
Coturnix House, Rake Lane,
Milford, Godalming, Surrey GU8 5AB,
England.
Tel:
01483 416 897
email: francis@geo-web.org.uk
General Information
John Tellick,email: info@geo-web.org.uk
GEO Quarterly Editor
Les Hamilton,
8 Deeside Place,
Aberdeen AB15 7PW, Scotland UK.
email: geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk
GEO Quarterly Despatch
Peter Green
Membership and Subscriptions
David Anderson,
35 Sycamore Road,
East Leake, Loughborough LE12 6PP,
England, UK.
email: members@geo-web.org.uk
Tel:01509 820 067
Fax:
01509 559 015
Technical Consultant (Hardware)David Simmons
email: tech@geo-web.org.uk
Webmaster and Website Matters
Alan Banks,e-mail: webmaster@geo-web.org.uk
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

Publisher
Published by The Group for Earth
Observation Limited, a company in Englandand Wales, limited by guarantee and nothaving share capital.
The Company Number is 4975597.
The registered office is Coturnix House,
Rake Lane, Milford, Godalming,
Surrey GU8 5AB, England.
Printing
Hedgerow Print,
16 Marsh Lane,
Crediton, Devon EX17 1ES.
Tel: 01363 777 595
Responsibility
Every effort is made to ensure that thetechnical and constructional articles
published in this Quarterly are correct.
However, the ultimate responsibility iswith the reader to ensure the safety of
constructions and for any interfacing withother equipment. GEO cannot accept liability
for shortcomings in any published design or
any constructions carried out by members orother third parties.
Copyright GEO © 2012
The contents of this Quarterly remain theintellectual property of the Group for Earth
Observation Limited and its contributors.
Copying of text or images, either from theprinted Quarterly or from any electronicallystored source, is forbidden without
permission from the Editor.

Les Hamilton
geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk

M

any readers will be familiar with the Blue Marble visualisations of Earth created by NASAusing MODIS imagery acquired from their Terra satellite. Recently, a new Blue Marble
image was created from fifteen passes of the new Suomi-NPP satellite on May 26, 2012.
But there is a difference: this image looks down on Earth from above the North Pole. It’s so
spectacular that it appears on this quarter’s cover. You can read more about this visualisationin ‘View from the Top’ on page 34. There have now been several follow-up Suomi Blue Marble
images which van be viewed at
http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/feature2012-bluemarble.html

T

his issue sees us returning to the grass roots of satellite imaging with the second part ofRon Hahn’s series on APT Weather Satellite Reception. This time, Ron focuses on the
popular WXtoImg software package, and provides a detailed guide to its features, aimed mostparticularly towards newcomers to the hobby.

MIIy immediate thoughts are that David Taylor has developed several new software packages
in recent years: looking at his website I note CHLO Viewer, CMA Viewer, Metop LSA
Viewer and MODIS L1 Viewer.
presume that there are GEO members who use these software packages, yet nothing has
ever been mentioned of them in the pages of GEO Quarterly.

t would be very much appreciated if readers familiar with these packages, and who are making
use of them regularly, would be kind enough to write articles for GEO describing how to utilise
them: a basic ‘how-to’ guide outlining the main features that they provide, and descriptions of theresults that can be obtained. Little really new has happened in amateur Earth Imaging recently.
This could be just the trigger needed to awaken enthusiasm and, perhaps, encourage seasoned
GEO members to remain in the fold.
Masthead photograph: Morven in Aberdeenshire, seen from Tomnaverie recumbent stone circle.

Contents
GEO Report
Envisat Bows Out
A new EUMETCast System at Amberly Museum
ESA’s Sentinel Satellites
GEO Visits SSTL
Algal Blooms
Venus Solar Transit Observed in Vietnam
Usingen Revisited
GEO at Kempton: March 2012
Cover and Full Page Image Details
Antarctic Mystery - Has Mount Siple Erupted?
ESA Bulletin No 150: Review
Composite Imagery with WXtoImg
APT Weather Satellite Reception: Part 2
Swirling Winds
Koksaray Reservoir
Huge Ice Island calves from the Petermann Glacier
SSTL: Changing the Economics of Space
Luizi Crater
El Hierro Undersea Eruption
From Microscope to Satellite
View from the Top
A Simple JeeNode Barometer
Natural Disasters and Emergency Communication
EUMETSAT 25 Years: Book Review
Spectacular High Pressure South of Australia
Feedback - Readers’ Letters etc.
GEO AGM
Satellite Status
Pacific Glory
Ice Melting on Lake Baikal
GEO Helplines and Internet Discussion Groups
Copy Deadline for the next issue of GEO Quarterly
GEO Membership Application FormGEO Shop Catalogue and Price List

Francis BellLes Hamilton
Francis BellLes Hamilton
Francis Bell
Francis BellFred van den Bosch
Francis Bell
Francis BellLes Hamilton
Francis BellRob Denton
Ron Hahn
NASA Earth Observatory
Les Hamilton
NASA Earth Observatory
Ian Stotesbury
NASA Earth Observatory
NASA Earth Observatory
Jason Hopkins
NASA Earth Observatory
David Taylor
Esko Pätäja
Francis Bell
NASA Earth Observatory

NASA Earth Observatory
NASA Earth Observatory

2
4
5
6
8
10
11
12
14
14
15
16
17
18
21
22
25
26
28
29
31
34
36
38
40
41
42
43
43
44
45
46
46
47
48

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Francis BellMSG-3
My first comment must be to offer congratulations to EUMETSAT
and ESA for the successful launch of MSG-3. I watched the launch
live on TV and it was impressive, with such a massive rocket andthe short time scale for the satellite to reach orbit. I know othermanoeuvres are necessary to secure the final orbit but the first 30
minutes were thrilling. I believe that the testing and commissioningof MSG-3 are progressing according to plan. Again: congratulations
to all concerned.
Envi-Ham
On a less happy note, I understand that the Earth observation
satellite ‘Envisat’ is effectively lost, which is a great disappointment
to me. I just loved receiving those outstanding Earth images
disseminated via the Envi-Ham programme. I don’t know what the
future now holds, but I have written to the ‘Principal Investigator’,Stefano Badessi in Frascati, asking if there are alternative images/
data sources in mind for the Envi-Ham project. As soon as I receivea response I will try to inform GEO members.
Membership Renewals
Elsewhere in this Quarterly you can read about our members’ AGM
which took place in Guildford on June 8. In addition to the meeting
there were further informal discussions which took place over the
weekend and some of these resulted in a number of action points
one of which related to membership renewal procedures.

subscriptions. For overseas members, and, indeed, UK members,
the option remains of using PayPal. And when dealing with different
currencies and making a sterling payment, this may remain thepreferred option.
The Format of GEO Quarterly
It has been suggested on a number of occasions thatGEO Quarterly be made available in electronic format as analternative to the printed copy we currently enjoy. There are anumber of ways this could be achieved and we will be guided
by members’ opinions. Our membership secretary is currently
canvassing opinion on this subject, and no decision will be taken
until this is complete. My view is that I value the printed copyof GEO Quarterly and would not wish to see it substituted byan electronic version. I confirmed this to myself when I saw theelectronic copy of EUMETSAT’s 25 year history in PDF format on
their website. I viewed the web material diligently, but promptly
requested a copy of the printed book which I find much more user
friendly!
There are also issues to be addressed relating to printing costs, thenumber of copies we print, distribution and the security of material
published electronically. Until we are all happy, the short term planis continue with our printed Quarterly.
EUMETCast Receivers
We now hold fresh stocks of the DVBWorld EUMETCast receiver.
Some months ago there was doubt over whether we could buy
more stocks of this receiver but this is now resolved. We currently
hold stocks that should satisfy demand for a few years to come.
During this period of uncertainty, I bought two TechniSat ‘SkyStar’receivers from Germany to test them for EUMETCast reception.
Both the basic S1 and the S2 HDTV receivers worked well withEUMETCast reception and were compatible with the David Taylor
software which I run at home. Should the day ever come when our
DVBWorld receiver is not available, it’s reassuring to know that
there are modestly priced alternatives available.

The GEO party enjoying a meal together following the AGM held at SSTL

It is clear that GEO loses many members each year by the defaultof just not renewing their membership. I know from the responses
I receive from the membership renewal reminders that I send outthat only a small number say they actively decided not to renew
because of changed interests or other equally valid reasons. Manyothers, I suspect just fail to renew by default.
In order to minimise this drainage of members, UK readers will, in
future, be invited to complete a bank ‘Standing Order Mandate’.
This has a double advantage. Firstly members will only have tocomplete one mandate and their annual renewal will be done
automatically via the bank. However, this mandate or instruction
can be cancelled by the member at any time. In return, GEO will
try to keep the annual subscription constant for as long as possible
hence minimising the need to alter bank mandates. Members will
receive the necessary form when their next renewal becomes due.
A second advantage is the saving GEO will make by not having
to pay commission to PayPal or others when receiving members’

2

The popular DVBWorld receiver is shown here alongside theTechniSat USB 2 receiver (centre), now in service with GEO’s
mobile EUMETCast receiving station. Note that the remote control
unit is not needed for EUMETCast reception but is usful if watching
the many TV stations available on the same satellite’s transponder.

Interestingly, EUMETSAT are testing one of ‘our’ DVBWorld
receivers for compatibility with their potential new data formats,which I believe are 64-bit. There will never be an end to theevolution of data speeds and formats, so it’s reassuring toknow that collaboration is taking place between some of ourknowledgeable GEO members and EUMETSAT. I wish to record
my thanks to both sides involved with these technical issues forkeeping the GEO membership up-to-date with live EUMETCast
reception.

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Poster advertising the 2nd eteorological Technology World Expo

Meteorological Technology World Expo 2012
Following last year’s inaugural event,Meteorological Technology World Expo
2012 will take place in Brussels, Belgium
on October 16-18 this year. Information
indicates that there will be about 160
exhibition stands and a full programme oflectures and presentations. Interestingly,
there is free admission to this event for
the general public. At the time of writing
I’m not sure whether GEO will havea stand in the exhibition area but theopportunity to attend such an event freeof charge seems too good to miss. For
more details about this event, and forregistration, visit
www.
MeteorologicalTechnologyWorldExpo.
com

Software Defined RadioI have to admit I’m on a learning curvewith software defined radio. I attended
an evening presentation on the subject
by David Simmons, and Arne van Bellebriefly spoke about it during the recent
GEO afternoon visit to SSTL in Guildford.
However, I still consider myself abeginner on this subject. I would like toknow where I can buy a receiver covering
APT frequencies? Also, where can I
obtain the necessary software to run sucha system?
I would love to hear from any reader
experience in this area and willing to help
me: and better still, I would very muchappreciate it if someone could write anarticle on software defined radio for GEO
Quarterly.
Space Link
I am currently progressing collaboration
with this educational group which evolved
out of my Millennium Satellite programmein the late 1990s. Space Link, who aresupporting space topics in schools, visit
different schools a number of times eachterm, and I am currently assembling amobile EUMETCast station for them todemonstrate weather satellite reception
in a school context. I would like to see
as many schools as possible runningdaily live satellite reception, and GEO
will certainly try to help where we can. To
learn a little more about this educational
project visit their web site atwww.spacelink.org

Space:UK
Quite by chance, I have just received thelatest copy of the Space:UK magazine, aspecial edition celebrating 50 years of the
UK in space. It is well worth reading. I did
review this publication in GEO Quarterly
34, page 40, but this is just a reminderthat Space:UK is available free of charge.
To be placed on the regular mailing list
write to:Newsletter and Space:UK Subscription,
UK Space Agency,
Polaris House,
North Star Avenue,
Swindon SN2 1SZContinued on page 9

use to judge answers. Please send youranswers to Francis Bell at
This Quarterly Question is very straightforward:‘What was the mass of the recently
orbited MSG-3 satellite, in kilograms,
at the time of its launch?’
For my reference, I have a definative
answer from EUMETSAT which I will

francis@geo-web.uk

by October 31, 2012.
A winner, picked from the correct
answers submitted to me,, will
receive a new copy of the book
EUMETSAT 25 Years, reviewed on
page 40 of this issue. Help can be foundon the web, either at ESA or EUMETSAT.

www.geo-web.org.uk

3

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Les Hamilton
When the European Space Agency’s Envisat lifted off from the
Kourou Space Centre in Guyana on March 1, 2002, the 8.2 tonne
craft became the largest civilian Earth observation satellite everto enter orbit. By comparison, NASA’s Terra satellite weighs in
at a mere 5.2 tonnes. And with a minimum design lifetime of five
years, Envisat had continued to transmit flawlessly beyond its
tenth anniversary until all contact mysteriously ceased on April 8
this year. Envisat’s final two images were received shortly after
11:00 UT on that date, a MERIS image of the Iberian peninsula(figure 1) and an Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR)
image showing the Azores (figure 2).
Envisat’s abrupt failure came as a real surprise: there had beenno hint of any problem—such as image degradation—prior to lossof contact. Readers will no doubt recall how several of the NOAA
weather satellites (NOAAs -12, -14 and -17 in particular) exhibited
fluctuating imagery problems during the years and months prior totheir ultimate failures.
The reason for Envisat’s sudden demise remains unknown, but
could result from a number of causes. Initially, ESA expressed thehope that a fault with the satellite’s electronics might have placed
Envisat into ‘safe mode’, from which recovery should have beenroutine. However, despite tireless efforts throughout April, whencontinuous commands were sent to Envisat via a widespread
network of ground stations, the craft obstinately refused to respond.
Another possibility was that a piece of space junk might havedamaged Envisat’s 70 m2 solar array, thus depriving the satelliteof power or destabilised its orbit. But images from, the French
Space Agency’s new Pleiades satellite [3]—which normally provides
very high-resolution
images of Earth but
which was reoriented
towards Envisat on
April 15—indicated that
it was still intact, andoptical, radar and laser
observations from theground confirmed thatEnvisat remained in astable orbit. Anotherpossible scenario wasThis image of Envisat was acquired by thethat a power regulator
Pleiades Earth Observation Satellite, and showsmight have failed,Envisat at a range of about 100 kilometres.
blocking telemetry and Envisat’s main body, solar panel and radar
telecommands to andantenna are all clearly visible.
from Envisat.
Image: CNES

Figure 1
Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) captured thisimage at 11:05 UT on 8 April 2012. The image shows Portugal and Spain andwas the last data transmitted via Ka-band before communication was lost.
Image: ESA

In early May, after a month-long recovery effort proved fruitless andthe cause of the failure remained unsolved, ESA formally declared
the end of the Envisat mission. But ESA have not completely lost
hope and will continue making attempts to re-establish contact with
their flagship satellite for some months yet.
References
1 Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar from Envisat - GEOQ 1, page 22
2 Multitemporal ASAR Imagery from Envisat - GEOQ 21, page 36
3 Pleiades - http://smsc.cnes.fr/PLEIADES/

Figure 2
This ASAR image, transmitted at 11:09 UT on 8 April 2012, shows Spain’s
Canary Islands, and is the final Envisat data transmitted via X-band.
Image: ESA

4

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Francis BellI have previously reported my contacts with the Amberley Museumand Heritage Centre and can now report on the successful
completion of a small project which will, I hope, provide the generalpublic and many school groups with access to live EUMETCast
images.
The Amberley Museum site is set in the heart of the South Downs
National Park and located in a disused chalk quarry. In the past, thechalk was excavated for burning into lime which was then used for
agricultural applications over the Weald of Kent. Lime production
ceased many years ago and the quarry site became more orless abandoned. More recently, the 36 acre site has become
home to a unique collection of listed buildings and scheduled
ancient monuments, many from the Sussex area of the UK. The
museum and exhibition buildings, about 40 of them, cover not
only the history of the site, but incorporate country crafts, railways,
electricity generation and distribution, the history of telephone
communications and a dedicated building covering the history ofradio communications. The radio building also houses an amateur
radio station run by Amberley Museum Amateur Radio Club
GB2CPM (Chalk Pit Museum).
I have visited this heritage site several times but was prompted
by Paul Le Feurve G0DBS, a member of my own Three Counties
Amateur Radio Club, who had also spoken to the people running
the amateur radio station at the Amberley museum site. He told
me that they had expressed an interest in establishing a weather
satellite receiving station and to have this running whenever they
were manning their amateur radio station. With this background inmind I visited the museum again, and discussed with the radio clubmembers there the hardware and software necessary to run a live
EUMETCast station in the Radio and Communications building.

10°E, which carries the EUMETCast data stream: hence a decision
was made to progress this project. From my perspective, theinducement was to have a EUMETCast station available to thevisiting public and particularly to school groups. However, there waslittle money available, so GEO called on the goodwill of some ofits own members to provide the necessary hardware and software.
Eventually, after a number of tests, and moving equipment fromone location to another, a working station was established. The
contributors to the station were:• Amberley Radio Club, who provided the dish which was
securely located on a mast and gave a strong signal.
• David Simmons G1MAL, who provided the computer.
• GEO, who sponsored the purchase, at a reduced rate, ofsoftware from David Taylor GM8ARV.
• The EKU, was provided by David Stickland, an ex GEO
member.
• EUMETSAT, who made the necessary configuration changes
to enable the EKU to access data streams.
David Taylor and I recently revisited the site and checked thateverything continued to work. We were greeted by a working
system, but with a display which was in need of some adjustments.
David made changes to the software to improve the display andmake the system easier to use. Because the station is mannedby different members of the Amberley’s Radio Club, the weather
satellite station was made as easy to operate as possible. For the
future, I would like to see their EUMETCast display monitor in amore prominent position: this was discussed by the Amberley RadioClub for possible action in the near future.
I am very pleased with the outcome of this small project, the prime
motivation having been to make EUMETCast images available forviewing by the general public, particularly school groups. My thanks
to all who have contributed to this project.
If you have the time, and are in the area of the Amberly Museumand Heritage site, it’s well worth a visit. You could easily spend
a whole day there. For more details, and information about otherevents held there, visit their web site atwww.amberleymuseum.org.uk

David Taylor (GEO ) and Sandra Grindlay G0KAG (Amberley Radio Club )pictured with amateur radio equipment and the live EUMETCast display.

One issue that immediately came to mind was the site’s view of thesky. Being in a disused quarry with adjacent cliffs, I questioned if
direct satellite reception would be possible. To resolve this issue,
I returned a few days later with my mobile station which I set up
just outside the Radio and Communications building. Good news:
there was an excellent signal from EUMETSAT’s relay satellite at

Francis Bell G7CND successfully established a EUMETCast station on thesteps of the Amberley Museum’s Radio and Communication Building.

www.geo-web.org.uk

5

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Les Hamilton
The unexpected failure of Envisat earlier this year (see page 4) has
left ESA with a major problem. Unlike other satellite programs such
the NOAA and Metop series, there is no Envisat-2: none was everplanned. Perhaps the very longevity of Envisat, where the satellite’s
mission was successfully extended beyond twice its design lifetime,
may have induced a degree of complacency regarding its eventual
replacement. Work had, of course, been progressing on Envisat’s
eventual replacement, the Sentinel missions, for a number of years,
but the earliest launch is not scheduled before mid 2013.
ESA is in fact developing five new missions under the Sentinelumbrella; some of these are satellites in their own right but others
simply packages that will share platforms with future Meteosat
Third Generation and Metop satellites. The ESA Sentinels will
become the first operational satellites to meet the Earth observationneeds of the European Union-ESA GMES (Global Monitoring forEnvironment and Security) programme.
http://www.gmes.info/

The instrumentation that flew aboard Envisat will no longer be
carried by a single satellite, and the operations will be shared
between the Sentinel missions as follows:
Sentinel-1
SAR imaging
Sentinel-2
High resolution optical imaging
Sentinel-3
Low resolution optical imaging + Altimetry
Sentinel-4
Atmospheric Monitoring from geostationary orbit
Sentinel-5
Atmospheric Monitoring from low Earth orbit

robust data sets for GMES Services. The first Sentinel-1 satellite
is expected to be launched during 2013, to be followed by its twinin early 2015. Sentinel-1 will ensure the continuity of C-band SAR
data, building on heritage SAR systems established by ESA and
Canada with ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat and Radarsat.
The Sentinel-1 pair is expected to provide coverage over Europe,
Canada and major shipping routes over a 1–3 day period,
regardless of weather conditions. Radar data will be delivered
to end users within an hour of acquisition, a big improvement
over current SAR systems. Sentinel-1 is being realised by anindustrial consortium led by Thales Alenia Space (Italy) as prime
contractor and Astrium (Germany) who are responsible for the
C-SAR payload, which will incorporates a central radar electronics
subsystem developed by Astrium UK. Sentinel-1 will be launchedon a Soyuz rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Sentinel-2
Sentinel-2, the optical mission segment of the GMES programme,is also a twin satellite system. From 2013 onwards, the first satellite
will circle the Earth in a sun-synchronous polar orbit, fully covering
the planet’s landmasses every ten days. When the second satelliteof the constellation follows it into orbit in 2015, this interval will be
reduced to just five days.

Sentinel-1
The Sentinel-1 mission, the European Radar Observatory, willconsist of a constellation of two polar orbiting satellites devoted toSynthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) applications. These satellites will
follow sun-synchronous orbits at an altitude of 693 kilometres with a
12-day repeat cycle. Sentinel-1 is a C-band radar imaging mission
aimed at providing continuity for ERS and Envisat data products to
be used for operational services. The mission will benefit numerous
services, particularly those relating to• the monitoring of Arctic sea ice extent, including routine sea
ice mapping,• surveillance of the marine environment, including oil-spillmonitoring and ship detection for maritime security,• monitoring land-surface for motion risks,• mapping for forest, water and soil management,• mapping to support humanitarian aid and crisis situations.

Sentinel-2
Image: Astrium GmbHSentinel-1
Image: P Carril - ESA

The C-band radar is unhindered by cloud and will make continuous
all-weather imagery possible by day and night, while the twin
satellites will fulfil revist and coverage requirements to provide

6

Sentinel-2 will carry the multispectral instrument (MSI), which will
generate wide-swath, high-resolution optical images in 13 spectral
channels in both the visible and short-wave infrared ranges, witha swath width of 290 km. Sentinel-2 is intended to image Earth’s
landmasses from its 800 km sun-synchronous polar orbit for at least
7 years, thus securing continuity of optical Earth observation as a
successor to the Spot and Landsat satellites currently in operation.
This will provide a lasting supply of comprehensive data that willserve as a basis for operational services in:

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation• land monitoring, providing imagery of vegetation, soil andwater cover, inland waterways and coastal areas,• land cover, usage and change-detection-maps• creating geophysical variable maps (such as: leaf chlorophyll
content, leaf water content, leaf area index)• forestry,• fast imaging for disaster control and humanitarian relief
programmes.
Sentinel-2 will also be able to observe natural disasters such as
floods, volcanic eruptions, subsidence and landslips.
Sentinel-3
The main objectives of the Sentinel-3 spacecraft are themeasurement of sea-surface topography, sea- and land-surface
temperature and colour with high-end accuracy and reliability insupport of ocean forecasting systems, and for environmental andclimate monitoring. The mission will also provide measurementsof elements of atmospheric chemistry at high temporal and spatial
resolution. The Sentinel-3 instrumentation includes:• A Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR)
based on Envisat’s Advanced Along Track ScanningRadiometer (AATSR). This will determine global sea-surface
temperatures to an accuracy of better than 0.3°C. The SLSTR
improves the along-track-scanning dual-view technique of
AATSR and provides advanced atmospheric correction.
SLSTR measures in nine spectral channels and two additional
bands which are optimised for fire monitoring. The SLSTR
has a spatial resolution in the visible and shortwave infrared
channels of 500 m, and 1 km in the thermal infrared channels.
• An Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) basedon heritage from Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging
Spectrometer (MERIS). With 21 bands, compared with the
15 of MERIS, the design has been optimised to minimise sunglint and provide a resolution of 300 metres over all surfaces.
OLCI marks a new generation of measurements over theocean and land.
• A dual-frequency (Ku and C band) advanced Synthetic
Aperture Radar Altimeter (SRAL) based on CryoSat heritage,
which will provide along-track measurements at a resolution of
approximately 300 metres in SAR mode. SRAL is supported
by a microwave radiometer for atmospheric correction and a
DORIS receiver for orbit positioning.

GEO Quarterly No 35

Near-realtime data will be provided for ocean forecasting, sea-ice
charting, and maritime safety services—who require accurate andtimely measurements of the state of the ocean surface, including
surface temperature, ocean ecosystems, water quality and pollution
monitoring.
Land services—to monitor land-use change, forest cover,photosynthetic activity, soil quality and fire detection—will also
benefit significantly from Sentinel-3.
Sentinel-4 is a payload that will be flown on a Meteosat Third
Generation-Sounder (MTG-S) satellite in geostationary orbit,
provisionally scheduled for launch in 2019. Sentinel-4 is dedicated
to atmospheric monitoring and covers the needs for continuous
measurement of the atmosphere’s chemistry at high temporal andspatial resolution from geostationary orbit. The main data products
will relate to O3, NO2, SO2, formaldehyde (HCHO) and aerosol
optical depth. These will be generated hourly to support air quality
monitoring and forecast over Europe.
Sentinel-4’s UVN instrument is a high resolution spectrometercovering the ultraviolet (305-400 nm), visible (400-500 nm) andnear-infrared (750-775 nm) bands. The spatial sampling is 8 km
at a spectral resolution ranging between 0.12 nm and 0.5 nm(depending on the band).
Sentinel-5 is a payload that will be flown aboard a Metop Second
Generation satellite, likely to be launched in 2020. Dedicated toatmospheric monitoring, Sentinel-5 will increase the frequencyof cloud-free observations required for the study of troposphericvariability.
Five years prior to this, a Sentinel-5 Precursor mission is expectedto launch on an Astrobus L 250M space platform from Astrium toprovide measurements of ozone, NO2, SO2, CO and aerosols. Thismission is designed to bridge the inevitable gap between NASA’s
current EOS Aura Mission and Sentinel-5. The precursor payload
is a UV-VIS-NIR-SWIR spectrometer derived through tailoring
the Sentinel-5 specifications to give priority to spectral resolution,
coverage, spatial sampling distance, signal-to-noise ratio and only
high priority bands.
Acknowledgements and Further Reading
Thanks to ESA, Astrium and USGS for making the following
illustrated documents available. These proved invaluable incompiling this article, and contain a wealth of further information.
Overview of the Sentinel Programme
http://landsat.usgs.gov/documents/10_Martimort_Sentinel2.pdf

Astrium Sentinel Datasheets
http://www.astrium.eads.net/media/document/sentinel_data_sheet_1.pdf
http://www.astrium.eads.net/media/document/sentinel_2_data_sheet.pdf

ESA Sentinel Datasheets
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/S1-Data_Sheet.pdf
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/S2-Data_Sheet.pdf
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/S3-Data_Sheet.pdf
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/S4-Data_Sheet.pdf
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/S5-prec_Data_Sheet.pdf

Sentinel-3
Image: J Huart - ESA

MSG-3 Launch

The combined topography package will provide exact
measurements of sea-surface height, essential for ocean
forecasting systems and climate monitoring. SRAL will also provide
accurate topography measurements over sea ice, ice sheets, rivers
and lakes.
The first Sentinel-3 satellite is expected to launch into its 815 km
sun-synchronous orbit in 2013, eventually to be followed by its twin.
The Sentinel-3 duo will enable a short revisit time of less than twodays for OLCI and less than one day for SLSTR at the equator. The
satellite orbit provides a 27-day repeat for the topography package.

The latest weather satellite in Europe’s highly successful Meteosat
second-generation series was successfully orbited by an Ariane 5
rocket on July 5. The launch took place from Europe’s Guiana
Space Centre in Kourou in French Guiana.
MSG-3 is the third in a series of four satellites which carry the
SEVIRI imager, which focuses on Europe and Africa to deliver
weather coverage, scanning Earth’s surface and atmosphere every
15 minutes in 12 different wavelengths.
It is planned to launch MSG-4 in 2015www.geo-web.org.uk

7

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Francis BellThe afternoon of July 8, 2012 was certainly
a date to be remembered, both from theperspective of meeting GEO friends and for
visiting the UK’s latest satellite assembly
facility, owned and run by Surrey Satellite
Technology Limited (SSTL), a leading
UK company in the satellite and Earthobservation arena.
SSTL’s roots hark back to the days of theamateur radio satellites built and operated
by Surrey University. In those early‘Operational Satellite Carrying AmateurRadio’ (OSCAR) days, both the technologyof operating in space and the format of theradio signals were in an experimentallystage. In the late 1970s, the orbiting
OSCAR 8 satellite ran into unexpected
problems and it was the expertise ofSurrey University’s amateur radio groupwhich led to this satellite being rescued.
Shortly afterwards, at short notice, NASA
recognised Surrey’s achievement andoffered to launch one of their satellites
as a secondary payload on the launch of
the Solar Mesosphere Explorer satellite in
October, 1981.
The University responded by designing andbuilding a small amateur radio satellite,
74 × 42 × 42 cm, within the six months
deadline they were given. Universityof Surrey Satellite 1 (UoSAT 1), also
designated OSCAR 9, proved a great
success and operated in space for exactly
eight years before its re-entry. UoSAT 1
was followed by UoSAT 2 (OSCAR 11) in
1982. Although well beyond its operational
design life, signals from this satellite canstill be detected today. It was in fact mypersonal involvement with the UoSATs andtheir Packet Radio facilities which ‘launched’
my lifetime interests in Earth observation
satellites.

The SSTL satellite assembly building
Photo: David Taylor

The GEO visitors pictured outside the SSTL satellite assembly building
Photo: Baz Omidi

These successes built upon the skills
and experiences learned at Surrey
University led to the department becoming
a commercial business, constructing andoperating satellites for others. No longer
a mere department within the university,
a commercial company, Surrey Satellite
Technology Limited (SSTL) was born. The
facilities necessary to support this rapidly
expanding venture demanded a newbuilding next to the university’s existing
electrical engineering department, and thiscame to fruition in the 1990s.
Within a mile of Surrey University’s campus
is a research park where a number of hightechnology businesses are located. The
logical expansion of SSTL has resulted
in new facilities, consisting of a satellite

8

A chance meeting of old friends, Francis Bell (left) andProfessor Craig Underwood of Surrey University
Poto: Arne van Bellewww.geo-web.org.uk

Arne van Belle making his presentation
on software defined radio
Photo: David Taylor

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observationassembly building with a separate office and administration building, being built
in this research park rather than expanding over the university campus. This new
assembly building was officially opened last year, and must be the most advanced
satellite assembly building in the UK: it was this facility which we had come to see.

GEO Quarterly No 35
Continued from page 3

Future Events

The Visit

September 28-29, 2012

SSTL were very flexible and hospitable with our visit, which was split between theirlarge meeting room and a tour of the adjacent satellite assembly building. There
were twelve GEO members present which, for a weekday afternoon visit, wasclose to what had been expected.

The RSGB and Lincoln Short Wave Club are
hosting the National HamFest on the Newark
showground. This is a large two-day event and
GEO will be present on both days with a standdemonstrating live weather satellite reception. For
more details go to

Our afternoon commenced at 1.30 pm, in the meeting room, when we enjoyed apresentation relating to radio receivers and software defined radio from Arne van
Belle of the Dutch Werkgroep Kunstmanen. Personally, I was on a sharp learning
curve with this subject area as I have never used software define radio, but I havesubsequently attended a lecture on the subject. Familiarising myself with thissubject is a personal project for the coming year. I did not fully understand all Arne
presented to us but his message seemed to be that the future of radio reception
will become ever more reliant on sophisticated software rather than hardware.
Next came a 30-minute illustrated talk from Ian Stotesbury of SSTL, detailing thecompany’s history and business rationale. He also presented examples of SSTL’s
current and past satellite programmes, and we were all impressed by the qualityof imagery produced by SSTL’s satellites. I asked if it were possible to receive
such images directly at home but was gently reminded that these are commercial
images and, unless published by SSTL, they are not generally accessible to usergroups such as GEO.
GEO members who are interested in SSTL are strongly advised to visit theirwebsite, which comprehensively covers all aspect of their business and also
reflects the close ties which still exist between SSTL and Surrey University.

www.nationalhamfest.org.uk

October 16-18, 2012
The second Meteorological Technology World
Expo in Brussels, Belgium. Entry is free if you
preregister. For more details see
www.MeterologicalTechnologyWorldExpo.com

November 11, 2012
The busy West London Radio and Electronic
Show takes place at Kempton. GEO will havea stand demonstrating live weather satellite
reception. GEO will also be giving a publicpresentation on the subject of amateur receptionof Earth observation and weather satellites. For
more details go to
www.radiofairs.co.uk

www.sstl.co.uk

An illustrated summary of Ian Stotesbury’s talk appears on page 26.
The Assembly Building Tour
Although I had no particular expectation of the Satellite Assembly building, thisdid not prevent me from being surprised by the scale of the main assembly room.
The two-story frontage of the building consisted of distinct rooms where wesaw component modules for satellites being assembled by hand. We could notenter these ‘clean’ rooms because of the potential contamination we might haveintroduced. However, large windows allowed us to view the activities within eachroom. Throughout the tour, guides Ian Stotesbury and Jordi Barrera-Aars explained
which satellite modules were being constructed and tested.
From the viewing area on the second level, the main assembly hall could be seen
stretching from one end of the building to the other, three stories tall and filled withsatellites under construction. A photograph of the hall can be seen on page 26. On
enquiring why such a high and spacious hall was needed, our guides explainedthat this was needed not only for construction but also for manoeuvring fully built
satellites. For example, a three metre tall satellite would need to be lifted verticallyto place it into a container, which could require headroom of up to six metres.
Additional space for manoeuvring and room for lifting equipment in the roof results
in a very tall assembly hall. At the time of our visit some six or eight satellites
were under construction, some of them Galileo satellites for the European Uniln’ssatellite navigation programme. Security meant that we could not take photographs
inside the assembly building but there are some photographs on SSTL’s web siteatTornadoes hit Poland
On July 15, a wave of unusually powerful
tornadoes ripped through northern Poland,
wrecking houses, uprooting trees and downing
power lines. Ten people were injured and theewas a single fatality, a 60-year-old man who
was crushed to death when his summer cottage
collapsed.
Some 1,200 rescuers worked to remove fallentrees, unblock roads and restore utilities in thehardest hit Baltic region of Pomerania.
There was a miraculous survival by a family of
three when their caravan was sent flying throughthe air with them still inside it. Although thecaravan smashed into pieces upon landing, noneof its occupants suffered serious injury.

www.sstl.co.uk/media-gallery/images

showing the inside of the assembly building and some example satellite images.
SSTL have made an archive of some fifty of their images and photographs
available for download athttps://dl.dropbox.com/u/84436143/SSTL%20Gallery.zip

Back in the meeting room I thanked Ian and Jordi for their time, their skilfulpresentation and for the fascinating tour of their assembly building.
GEO Group Photo
Those pictured in the group photograph opposite are, left to right:
Arne van Belle, Donald Martin, David Taylor, John Green, Baz Omidi, Francis
Bream, Vaughan Cherry, John Tellick, Francis Bell, David Bland, Paul le Feurve,David Anderson.

www.geo-web.org.uk

9

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Francis Bell

Like all other members of the Envi-Ham project I was desperately
disappointed with the loss of Envisat’s downlink signals in early
April 2012. Reports about the loss of the satellite will haveappeared elsewhere so I will not dwell on the details here.
However, there was a tiny mitigation in the disappointment
because, instead of the fresh daily satellite images, the Envi-Ham
project did continue—by sending previously unreleased archived
Envisat images until May 1, when the project closed. During thesethree weeks it was not known whether Envisat could be recovered
but it gave a buffer at least to keep part of the programme running.
During this period, I received two images which attracted myattention. One showed the Gulf of Oman and a dust storm being
blown over the sea; the other was of southern Spain, showing thecoastal areas adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean
Sea which, I thought, showed the presence of marine algal blooms.
I speculated that the two processes—dust being blown over thesea and marine algal blooms—might be related. In order for algal
growth to take place via photosynthesis, not only must there belight, water and carbon dioxide present but also other minerals,albeit in trace amounts. If these minerals are not present, there will
be no algal growth no matter how favourable other factors may be. I

felt that dust blown over the sea and then washed out by rain might
be like adding a marine fertiliser, hence stimulating algal growth.
The terrestrial analogy here would be a farmer adding fertiliser to acrop to stimulate its growth.
As a slight digression here I may mention that the UK sometimes
experiences Saharan dust. This can be readily recognised by bright
red dust deposited on light coloured cars and other light surfaces.
This dust is transported by the same air stream which occasionallybrings locusts to the UK: although not necessarily at the same timeas the dust.
As an undergraduate at university, I spent one of my years
studying oceanography. In those days, a branch of the UK National
Oceanographic Centre was located just few miles from home. I took
advantage of this and not only progressed my academic studies
but, on a number of occasions, was able to visit the land-based
research facilities of our National Centre with its practical studies.
Unfortunately, the Centre has been relocated from my area of
Surrey to Southampton where it is co-located with Southampton
University. However, to progress my interest in the two Envisat
images I had received, I contacted the Centre and asked about

This false colour Envisat image, originally acquired at 07:10 UT on August 29, 2010, shows dust being blown over the Gulf of Oman.
Image: ESA

10

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

This Envisat image dating from 10:33 UT on November 2, 2010 shows southern Spain and Gibraltar
with what appears to be an algal bloom off Spain’s Atlantic coastline.

GEO Quarterly No 35

A sad sight, Francis Bell’s Envi-Ham
dish put out to grass.

Image: ESA

any connections between dust storms over the sea and algal
blooms. As a result of my enquiries I was contacted by Jason
Hopkins, a PhD research student at the Centre who is researching
the dynamics of marine phytoplankton production. As a result ofour discussions, Jason agreed to write the article that appears on
page 31 of this issue. Jason wrote:

image at the top of this page is indeed an algal bloom withoutsome type of sea truthing, or looking at the chlorophyll productfrom the same time-frame—as we often see a variation in ocean
colour around the coasts from coloured dissolved organic matter
which can be mistaken for a bloom in ‘true’ colour images.’‘I would be happy to write something about my PhD thesis
which is looking at the dynamics of phytoplankton calledcoccolithophores. These form highly reflective patches acrosslarge areas of the ocean that can only be viewed by satellite andcreate some quite beautiful true colour images.

For readers who have issue No 2 of GEO Quarterly, you canfind an article (pages 25 - 28) that I wrote which touches on
marine phytoplankton production and its role in the carbon
cycle. The article is illustrated by some electron micrographs ofcoccolithophores and foraminifera which are small marine algal
cells.

‘Your images certainly look interesting. There is a variety ofliterature that appears to show a connection between iron
input to the surface ocean (perhaps from aeolian dust) andphytoplankton blooms in certain areas of the global ocean. It’sdifficult to confirm whether the variation in ocean colour in theFootnote
If, like the author, you are now the proud owner of a defunctEnvi-Ham dish, there is a happier note. With just half a degree ofrotation, these dishs can deliver a massive EUMETCast signal: sothey have a future.

Fred van den Bosch
While the June 6 transit of Venus across the face of the sun was
obscured by cloud across almost the entire UK, Fred van den
Bosch, now living in Vietnam, was more fortunate.
Fred used a 25-inch Newtonian telescope with a Hyperion zoom
lens. A layer of Baader sunfoil placed over the end of the tube
made it safe to view the sun directly. Fred takes up the story:“Here sunrise was 5:17, but it was cloudy. Around 6:30 the sun
appeared behind the clouds and I was able to make the first
photo. The second was made around 9:15 and shortly after thatit completely clouded over. “I made the photos with my iPhone
by holding it close to the eyepiece. A lot of trial and error was
involved because even slight movement of the iPhone—as
when pressing the shutter—tended to throw the image offscreen; so I took lots of photos, and just a few turned out moreor less OK.
“Back in Holland, the weather was very bad. Just a few people
in the very north of Groningen saw a bit of the transit. Eight diehards drove more than 500 kilometres overnight to Travemunde
on Germany’s Baltic coast, where they were rewarded withgreat views.”

www.geo-web.org.uk

11

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Francis Bell
Most GEO members will know thatthe Head Quarters of EUMETSAT
are located in Darmstadt, Germany.
The HQ building accommodates
administration and satellite operations
together with data services and storage.
However, the main radio dishes—which
are in direct communication withEUMETSAT’s geostationary satellites—
are located at Usingen, about 50 km
away.

it’s tempting to think these dishes
remain in a fixed position but, as I wasstanding next to one dish, it moved
several times on its circular rails. I
hadn’t quite realised how accurately
these so called geostationary satellites
are continuously tracked.
The EUMETSAT dishes and their control
equipment had a small number of staff
on duty while we were visiting, but I
understand that the operations can becontrolled remotely from Darmstadt andperhaps elsewhere. The site tour was sointeresting, with much to see, we could
have spent more time there. But we had
to depart for a pressing engagementin Darmstadt for a scheduled visit to
the European Space Operations Centre(ESOC), so we had to thank our hosts
and leave with just time enough tomake it to ESOC. In the back of mymind I was so pleased to have seen
for myself the ground station whichhandles all the EUMETCast data I
receive at home on a daily basis.

EUMETSAT HQ
In the early days of European weather
satellite operations, the administration
was based within the European
Space Operations Centre (ESOC)
in Darmstadt. Back in the 1980s,
with the success and growth of theirweather satellite undertakings, it wasdetermined that EUMETSAT needed
their own purpose-designed building:accordingly, their new headquarters
were built just 2 kilometres from ESOC
in Darmstadt, and EUMETSAT staff
occupied their new premises in 1994.
Since the opening of their new HQ,
EUMETSAT has continued to expand,
and a large new technical operations
centre built adjacent to their HQ, wasopened in May 2012. It will be fullycommissioned in due course. Even
with their new building, the HQ isstill located on a crowded Darmstadt
site with restricted space for massive
satellite dishes. Consequently, theground station for linking directly with
their satellites remains in Usingen.
UsingenUsingen, located about 30 km north ofFrankfurt, is an ancient town with ahistory going back at least 1500 years.
Some of the town’s medieval buildings
are to be found in its picturesquecentre but the satellite communications
facility, with its associated collectionof very large dishes, is located about
2 km farther west. This satellite site
occupies an old WW2 airfield with nourban or industrial buildings nearby,at an altitude of about 400 metres,
thus giving a good all-round view of thesky. The area has stable geology andprovides plenty of room for deploying
several hundred satellite dishes.
The site is run by Media Broadcast
GmbH which, I believe, is a subsidiaryof T-Systems who are based inFrankfurt.
I have visited the Usingen site twice,in 2007 and 2011, on each occasion

12

Later I asked EUMETSAT to briefly
comment on their communication links
with Usingen. This is the response I
received from one of their technicalstaff.
This radio tower provides microwave links
between the ground station and MCC in Darmstadt

with a visiting GEO party. During our2011 visit, we were given VIP treatment
by our hosts, Media Broadcast. I did
gently ask them if all visitors were givensuch treatment and was flattered to be
told that, because we were EUMETSAT
guests, we were special, hence the red
carpet treatment. My thanks at thispoint to Harriet Locke of EUMETSAT
who organised the visit for us, and to
Media Broadcast for allowing us accessto their high-technology and securitysensitive site.
Our visit in 2011 lasted a full morning,
during which we were given a
presentation by three Media Broadcast
staff followed by a comprehensive tourof the site. I’m not sure how manysatellites, with their multitude oftransponders, were being controlledfrom this site, but I suspect that manysatellites and hundreds, perhaps
thousands, of TV and data channels
were being processed. During our tour
we visited the two giant EUMETSAT
dishes and their control room, locatedin a small building at the bottom of
one of the dishes. From their sizewww.geo-web.org.uk“The Primary Ground Station
supporting the Meteosat Second
Generation(MSG) satellites is in
Usingen, Germany, about 30 km
north of Frankfurt. This groundstation is the main channel ofcommunications between the Mission
Control Centre (MCC) and theMeteosat Second Generation (MSG)
satellites.
“The ground station at Usingenis usually unmanned and can beremotely monitored and controlledfrom the MCC in Darmstadt.
“The prime transmission channel
between the MCC and the Primary
Ground Station (PGS) is a 34 Mbit
microwave link with a terrestrialbased back-up link. These links
support all traffic to and fromthe PGS, including image data;
Telemetry, Tracking and Command(TT&C), and disseminated data.
To reliably accomplish these vitaltasks a considerable amount of
redundancy is incorporated in thestation design, hence its ability tofunction completely automaticallymost of the time.”

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

EUMETSAT’s near circular HQ building In Darmstadt canbe seen near the centre of this aerial photograph.

This aerial photograph shows the Usingen satellite dishes, with thewhite, square-shaped operations building in the centre of the view.

Image: GoogleEarth

Image: GoogleEarth

The old mediaeval centre of Usingen, viewed from a coach window.

The visiting GEO party inside Media Broadcast’s visitor centre.

Outside the Visitor Centre.

One of the EUMETSAT disheswith its control room at the base.

A collection of small dishes on theroof of the operations building.

A group photo of the visiting GEO party.

www.geo-web.org.uk

13

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

to our equipment, the problem disappeared. I suspect that
continued handling of the original lead had resulted in its
damage. We thanked our unnamed visitor for his expertiseand kindness in providing this new lead.

GEO paid it’s twelfth visit to the West London Radio andElectronics Show at Kempton last April which, with the
exception of the annual National Radio HamFest at the
Newark showground, must be one of the best attended rallies
which overlaps with the interest areas of GEO members. Ourstand was well place in the exhibition area, in a location moreor less dictated by our needs to access mains electricity andfeed coax to our stand to support live satellite reception.
We ran live EUMETCast signals on one computer anddisplayed slide shows of Envisat and APT images on two
laptops. You have to be well organised to set all this up in
about an hour. Securing the position and direction of thedish on the roof is critical for signal acquisition, and David
Simmons aligned our 60 cm dish with the aid of his signal
meter.
The day was busy with visitors to our GEO stand, all showing
a genuine interest in our display. Some GEO memberships
were renewed and several new members joined on the day.
Interestingly, it has been reported back to me that there is asmall but encouraging peak of new membership applications
following these shows, so the time and effort devoted toestablishing and manning a stand may be judged worthwhilefrom this perspective. However, it must be recognised that

I think GEO’s presence at the show was appreciated by theorganiser because I have been asked to make a presentation
about GEO’s activities, and amateur satellite reception inparticular, at the next Kempton show, to which I have agreed.
Please note the date in your diary: Sunday November 11,
2012.
Finally, my thanks to David Simmons, who manned thestand with me and looked after the EUMETCast live reception.

Cover and Full Page Images
Front CoverThis vision of Earth is a composite image created from dataacquired during fifteen passes made by the Suomi-NPP satellite
on May 26 this year. You can read more about this in the article‘View from the Top’ on page 34.
Image by Norman Kuring, NASA/GSFC/Suomi NPP

Inside Front CoverDavid Taylor sent in this amazing NOAA-19 AVHRR image showing the
UK and western Europe basking in hot sunshine on May 25, 2012, asan anticyclone kept cloud fronts at bay.
Image © EUMETSAT 2012

Inside Back Cover (upper image)
Top: An Envisat MERIS image dating from August 31, 2011 sent
to us by Mike Stevens, showing the Canary Islands.
Image: ESA

Inside Back Cover (lower image)This Meteosat-9 image from Mike Stevens highlights
thunderstorms moving through central France towards England at
13:00 UT on June 21.
Image © EUMETSAT 2012

Back CoverOn July 21, 2012, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and
Reflection Radiometer ( ASTER) on NASA’ s Terra satellite captured
this image of an ice island, newly calved from Greenland’s Peterman
glacier. You can read a report on this significant Arctic melting event on
page 25 of this issue.
The GEO stand at a quiet moment during a busy day. David
Simmons can be seen talking to a visitor about our faulty USB lead.

running a show stand is a major commitment of time andeffort by those involved.
On the technical side it was ‘first’ for taking my new
Technisat EUMETCast receiver to a show. This is a receiver
I purchased in addition to the DVBWorld box that I havebeen using for several years and I’m pleased to report thatit performed perfectly in its new temporary surroundings. A
photograph showing the two receivers appears on page 3.
However, we did suffer one technical glitch when,unaccountably, we experienced intermittent loss of the
EUMETCast signal. A knowledgeable visitor to the standsuggested that there was a problem with our USB2 lead andkindly bought a replacement from a nearby stand. Once fitted

14

NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen andRobert Simmon, using data from NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS
and the U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.

Page 32
This is a composite from two Terra MODIS image segments
acquired on May 22, 2010, showing a prominent algal bloom off
southwest Ireland.
Image: NASA/GSFC, Rapid Response Team

Page 35
This Metop-A AVHRR channel-2 image acquired on June 1 thisyear shows the island of Greenland with a swarm of icebergs
and brash ice streaming southwards along much of its eastern
coastline. Also prominent are Iceland, with its icecaps sparkling inthe sunshine, and, to its north, Jan Mayen Island.

www.geo-web.org.uk

Image: NOAA CLASS ArchiveSeptember 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Les Hamilton
Mark Drapes recently reported on the GEO-Subscribers forum that
Metop-A images of the Antarctic on June 20 appeared to show a plume ofsteam venting from Mount Siple, a 3110 metre shield volcano just off thecoast of Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica (73°26’ S, 126°40’ W). The volcano
has a bulk similar to Mount Erebus, and has a summit caldera measuring
4 × 5 kilometres. The mountain is named after Paul Siple (1908–68), an
American explorer and geographer who visited Antarctica six times. The
plume is also noted on the Volcano Discovery website at
http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/siple/news.html

The Metop-A image below, dating from 12:36 UT on June 20, provides an
exceptionally fine view of the Antarctic peninsula. The plume describedabove is clearly visible as a comet-like artefact, near the foot of theimage on its left hand side. Mark interpreted the image as indicatingthat the volcano was about -22°C, about 6° warmer that the surrounding
landscape, while the base of the plume was at about -55°C. Images
showing the plume in greater detail can be seen on page 16.

Aerial view of Mount Siple taken in 1958
Photo: US Navy/Wikimedia

Figure 4 - This channel-5 AVHRR image was acquired during the 12:26 UT Metop-A pass over Antarctica on June 20, 2012.
Image: NOAA Class Archivewww.geo-web.org.uk

15

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

Figure 1 - Temperature profile of the Mount Siple plumeFigure 2 - Metop channel-5 image of the Mount Siple plumeFigure 1 is an enlargement of the region surrounding the plumeas revealed by the ‘temperature’ tab of David Taylor’s HRPT
Reader software, which shows it, coloured blue, at around -50°C,

significantly colder than its surroundings, which register in therange -25° to -30°. Figure 2 is the same scene, as revealed by thechannel-5 sensor aboard Metop-A.

Francis Bell
Although I have reviewed ESA’s Bulletin before, the most recent
issue, May 2012, deserves a special mention because it’s the 150th
issue of this publication. Celebration of this milestone resulted ina special issue of the Bulletin, with 96 pages of reports and highquality colour photographs, some of which are in 3D, taken inspace: a pair of glasses to view these photographs is included. The
content of the Bulletin is worth reading from cover to cover. The
celebration cover of the 150th Bulletin shows how the publication
has evolved over the years.
There is a foreword by Jean-Jacques Dordain which gives aperspective on the rationale behind this regular publication whichstarted in 1975.
‘The Bulletin is a window on the universe: it portrays ESA’s activities
almost day by day and it exists because of the ESA specialists whose
written contributions reach out to the international space community ofdecision-makers, industry, academics, students and the space-interested
general public. As well as a wide range of in-depth articles on various
disciplines, from space science to telecommunications, from satellite
navigation to earth observation, from launchers to human space flight,
from operations to technology, every issue provides an overview of ESA’s
ongoing programmes and is a useful tool to keep abreast of the status ofmajor space projects within ESA’.

I remind those who read this review that the ESA Bulletin isavailable free of charge if you apply to be included on the
distribution mailing list. If you don’t action this point then that’s yourloss.
To receive a regular copy, write to Distrimail, Postbus 122,
2370 AC Roelofarendsveen, The Netherlands, and ask to be puton their regular mailing list. Or email to info@distrimail.nl making aclear concise request to be placed on the ESA Bulletin mailing list:
remember, this is a mailing company dealing with many customers,
not just ESA, so be brief and specific with your request. Also givethe reason for your request: perhaps a single word may cover yourrequest: research, personal, education or other. This will enable
ESA to know who is receiving their publication.

16

September 2012www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Rob Denton G4YRZRob Denton demonstrated the versatility of the WXtoImg software
when he created this HVC composite image on April 29, 2012.
Rob writes:‘This image made using WXtoImg capturing only four northbound,
daytime passes from NOAA-19. The program does everything
automatically once you have decided which palette selection(s) you
require. It’s amazing what can be obtained on simple equipment. I
used just a Dartcom System II VHF receiver and a Wimo sloping
crossed dipole antenna—with no added extras. Even though I’m
now in a location further east than my previous home in Worksop,
I have managed to image further west. The image was captured
at my new home which is at the Windmill in North Leverton with
Habblesthorpe, the longest village name in England. No wonder
the locals simply call it ‘Leverton’. By the way, I’m living off-grid—nomains gas or electricity here: my power is produced by a generator
and batteries. It’s such fun but a lot harder and more expensive
having to buy diesel for the generator and bottled gas. I hope
eventually to write an article describing my new life at Windmill
Cottage. The windmill will be 200 years old next year, a cause forgreat celebrations. It’s still fully functional.
‘This just shows that APT can be received anywhere.
‘This particular image captured the severe storms that caused flash
flooding in much of the UK. Surprisingly, the rain didn’t seem toattenuate the signals on 137.100 MHz, allowing a clear image ofwhat was happening despite the torrential downpours at the time.
The local River Trent (2 km away), burst its banks, resulting inflooding to low-lying areas.’www.geo-web.org.uk

17

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Ron Hahn
In my last article [1], I gave an overview of the hardware andsoftware required to successfully receive APT images. Here I will
go more in-depth into the software setup, operations and somepotential problems to be looking out for.
For the last several years, I have been using WxToImg as myautomatic solution to receiving APT weather images. This software
supports the fully automatic recording, decoding, editing, andviewing of received images. It offers so many options that the
newcomer may be overwhelmed by the choices. It runs on allmodern versions of Windows (XP, Vista, and Windows 7), as wellas on Mac OSX and Linux. My installation runs on Windows XP, so
I will be concentrating on the setup for that platform.
As I mentioned in my previous article, there are a few prerequisitesthat are required for successful operation of a fully automaticweather station. A stable operating system, accurate time, acomputer-controllable receiver, and a software suite capableof unattended operation. So, I have my Intel Atom PC, running
Windows XP, NTP (network time protocol) provided by my local
network, the excellent R2ZX receiver (available from the GEOshop) and WXtoImg software.
Although the freeware version of WXtoImg offers useful options,
I recommend purchase of a license to unlock its full potential.
There are two levels for this: Standard Edition at €47.95 and theProfessional Edition at €69.95. Most of the basic features are thesame between the latter two version but the Professional Edition
includes extras like an on-image temperature scale, additional
contrast and filter controls, selectable resampling algorithms and acommercial license. I have the Professional Edition and will focus
on it for this article. The software is available fromhttp://www.wxtoimg.com/downloads

and the Windows package is approximately 8.5 MB in size. Whenyou purchase the license, the author both emails and posts a paper
copy of the license key. Also included in the envelope is a set of
3D glasses for viewing the stereoscopic images, a nice touch.
To get the program up and running, you need to input your license
key, and your receiving station’s latitude, longitude and altitude.
The program only accepts decimal values for latitude and longitude
so, if your GPS or other position source uses degrees, minutes,
and seconds, you will have to convert these. I have found a usefulon-line converter at
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html

It is essential to have the correct position of the station or all
position-based calculations, such as pass start and end times, will
be incorrect. I used my Garmin GPS reading and converted it todecimal using the above link.
When the program is started, it first asks for the station location. In
my situation, I entered my city (Rosslare Strand), country (Ireland),latitude (52.25), longitude (-6.23), and altitude (29 m) in theirrespective boxes, and pressed ‘OK’.
When this is completed, the program opens up a calibration
dialogue explaining all the steps. First step: setting the groundstation location (done in the previous paragraph). Second step:
update the Keplers. This is easily done by going to the main
WXtoImg menu and selecting File→Update Keplers. Third step:
adjusting the volume. This requires patience because you have18

to be actually receiving a satellite signal to set this. The audio
tones from the satellite are sent from the receiver to the computer
soundcard as an audio signal, and must be at the correct level
to be decoded properly by the software. Too little signal andthe images lack contrast, too much signal and the soundcard isoverloaded and the images are terrible. So setting the correct input
level for the soundcard is exceptionally important. The WXtoImg
page explains this exactly:‘Set the volume control on the receiver to a low to moderatelevel, then select Mixer Control from the File menu. Configure themixer to take input from the source the receiver is plugged into
(normally the Line In). Set the Line level at about the mid-point.
It’s better for the volume and line levels to be too low than toohigh to start with’.
Select Record from the File menu, and click on Auto Record.
Wait for a satellite to arrive. WXtoImg will indicate when thesatellite is expected (in UTC) and on what frequency the satellite istransmitting in the status bar. WXtoImg will record the pass, during
which an image should be shown. Do not be concerned with thebrightness or darkness of the image, or other problems, such as it
slanting across the screen. When setting the volume, never use thisimage as a guide—use only the volume setting discussed below.
After recording is complete, WXtoImg will build a map and decode
the image again to produce the best possible results.
Avoid using the scrollbars to scroll the image while a recording istaking place as this can cause the resulting image to be split.
The program volume (vol) will be displayed while the signal is being
recorded. If a satellite is passing overhead, and the status line
indicates that the program is still waiting for a signal, this can meanthat the receiver volume is too low or that the mixer input levelmay be set too low. Slowly increase either or both until the statusline indicates that the signal is being recorded. The volume on thereceiver (or the recording level on the mixer) can then be easilyadjusted during the pass to set a volume between 50.0 and 75.0. If
the receiver has no volume control or the volume control does notaffect the speaker output, then adjust the mixer settings (recording
or input line level) until the displayed volume is between about 50.0
and 75.0. The volume bar should be green when a signal is being
received: red or yellow indicates the volume is too high or too low,
as shown in figure 4.
At this stage it is important to check that the pass has sufficientsignal. Signals from a satellite at low elevation will not fully ‘quiet’the satellite receiver and produce a false volume input setting. I
always listen to the pass during this process to ensure that no noiseis present on the signal before I make any volume adjustment.
The image will be re-decoded after the satellite has passed, andwhen this is complete the overall volume will be shown on the righthand side of the status line below the image. The overall volume
should be between about 40.0 and 85.0. Higher numeric values ofvolume (e.g. 90.2) indicate that the volume should be decreased,
lower numeric values of vol (e.g. 24.7) indicate that the volume
should be increased.
My current receiving station indicates a volume level of 79.5 on themost recent pass, which is well into the green category. If I set thevolume too high, clipping occurs and detail is lost in the white areas

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observationof the image. If I set the volume too low, detail is lost throughout
the image, which turns out dark. Except for this calibration, I foundthere is no need to adjust the volume when the satellite is passing
overhead. Adjusting the volume during a pass produces bands inthe final image and adversely affects the temperature calibration.
Once this calibration is completed I found that only some small
adjustment was required on a subsequent pass. I have not touched
it since.

Figure 1 - Satellite Volume Level

In figure 1, the input volume is set to 79,5, the received signal is
low at this point in the pass, and the pass is 4% complete.
A problem that I discovered when I was first setting this up was
images slanting across the screen. My current reception computer,based on an Asus Atom D525 (AT5NM10-I) motherboard,experienced this problem but my previous reception computer (anIBM Thinkpad T41) did not. So I had to perform a ‘slant correction’to overcome this problem with the sound card.
Image Slant Correction
Start by selecting Disable PLL from the Options menu, which allows
you to properly set the sampling rate. Next, select a recording todecode. Select Open Audio File from the File menu, and choose arecording, preferably one from a satellite making a high overhead
pass for best results. Wait for the image to be decoded anddisplayed; it will appear bent slightly from top to bottom as a resultof the Doppler shift, which is normal when the PLL is disabled.

GEO Quarterly No 35

Figure 5 on the following page shows a full screen shot of thisreception in progress. As you can see, the reception is 52% throughthe NOAA 19 pass at this stage. Everything about the reception isshown on the display in real time: the date, time, satellite name,elevation, azimuth, volume level and pass start time, so that theoperator can see exactly what is going on.
When the reception is finished, the program will store the dataas an audio file on disk (as a WAV file in Windows) then start the
automatic processing. This takes several minutes with an AtomCPU but a CPU with greater processing power will take less time.
But the Atom works fine for me and has no CPU fan to fail fromcontinuous operation. Once the processing is finished, the programwaits for the next satellite pass to occur.
Further Processing
There are many, many processing and post-processing options in
WXtoImg and I will now focus on some those that I use.
Under Options→Active APT Satellites, I have NOAA 19 ticked as priority
No 1, NOAA 18 as priority No 2 and NOAA 15 ticked as priority
No 3. I have unticked NOAA 17 because this satellite no longer
produces images.
Under Options→Recording Options, I use the settings in figure 4.

Select Slant Correction... from the Image menu. Scroll to the top of theimage and click on a vertical edge in the image. Continue holding
the mouse button down and drag it down this edge, allowing theimage to scroll, until you reach the bottom of the image, thenrelease the button. A dialogue box will now pop up and display thesuggested sampling rate. WXtoImg can estimate the sampling rates
for all other satellites. Select the Estimate and Set sampling frequencies
for all satellites option if it is not already selected, then click on
Set. Deselect Disable PLL from the Options menu. The image will be
decoded again and this time should be completely straight. If it isbent or jagged, ensure you have deselected Disable PLL. If it is stillslanted, repeat the process, paying close attention to following theimage margin down the screen.
Figure 4 - WXtoIMG Recording Options

While options are supposed to be saved on exit, I ensured that the
sampling frequencies were saved by selecting Save Options from the
Options menu. If the license key hasn’t been installed, now would bea good time to do that, before regular reception is started.
Now that the calibration and slant correction is complete thesoftware is ready to start receiving pictures. Go to File→Record, andmake sure Record and auto process is ticked. Once this is done press
the Auto Record button and wait for the next pass, which will be
indicated on the lower left hand corner of the screen (figure 2).

Figure 2 - Waiting for a Satellite

Remember that all times shown in WXtoImg are in UTC in order toavoid confusion about daylight time or time zones.
If all goes well, I will see the following change once reception of thesatellite has commenced (figure 3).

Figure 3 - Waiting for a Satellite

In my setup, I have made several changes from the defaults. First,
as my reception station is located on a peninsula with excellent
exposure on both north-south and east-west directions, I havechosen to start recording when the satellite is at least 10° elevation(N/S) and 4° (E/W). I make use of the NOAA 2400 Hz carrier
frequency, so do not depend on a guess to start recording. The
common recording options are specific to my equipment, and theazimuth-elevation rotor control is not used. For example, yoursoundcard will show up as something else if you don’t have an IDT
soundcard built into your receiving computer. If you are not getting
any images when the satellite comes overhead then maybe you
have not set the sound card properly. I have made this mistake.
Now is a good time to focus on the Options→Auto Processing Options.
I found this section the most difficult to understand. So I go to
Options→Auto Processing Options and tick Create image(s), then selectthe Image Settings button. I have the following Record Image Settings
selected:• Normal• Pristine• Contrast enhance (NOAA ch A only)• Contrast enhance (NOAA ch B only)• MCIR map colour IR• MSA multispectral analysis MSA with precipitation• HVCT false colour• HVCT with precipitation NO colour IR enhancement

www.geo-web.org.uk

19

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Figure 7 - Record Image Settings PaneThe reader is reminded that not all of these
options are available at all times: it depends
on the specific satellite sensors in use duringa pass. At night time, an enhancement that
depends on the visible channel will not be
available, for example. Figure 7 shows thepanel where you select the images you wish to
be processed.

Figure 5 - Recording a NOAA-19 pass

The more enhancements you select, the longer
it will take to complete the post-processing
after an image is received and decoded. I findthat it takes about 15 minutes to do all the
post-processing of the image with my Atom
CPU. As the post-processing is done you will
see the processed images displayed on thescreen as the work is completed. When it is all
finished you can then go to the Saved Images tabon the menu bar to view them.
Image Processing
WXtoImg provides so many options for image
processing that it is hard to know what willbe the most pleasing to the eye. The ideal
images, of course, would show where thecloud is, country outlines and maybe where
the precipitation bearing clouds are. WXtoImg
achieves all this automatically if it is set up to
do so.
First of all, keep remembering that accurate
time is very important for all of these things
to come out properly. So, make sure that the
Meinberg NTP software
http://www.meinberg.de/english/sw/ntp.htm

is installed and working properly. If the local
PC clock is inaccurate, the country outlines
will be displaced and this will cause a big
headache later. David Taylor has done muchgood work about timekeeping in his web pages
atFigure 6 - The Webpage Options

http://satsignal.eu/ntp/index.html

Enhancement

Use

MSA

Multispectral Analysis enhancement (used for daytime passes). The visible
and IR channels are combined to produce a false-colour image.

MCIR

Map Coloured IR enhancement (used for nighttime passes).

MSA-precip

MultiSpectral Analysis enhancement with coloured estimated precipitation(used with daytime passes).

HVC

False Colour, with or without precipitation.

HVCT

An enhanced false color image for daytime passes (with and without
precipitation) SEA and SEA-Day - Sea temperature (day or night). With thisenhancement, thin clouds will alter the imagery, giving artificial readings.

ANAGLYPH
VEG

3D presentation of clouds (like the 3D movies, you need 3D glasses to seethis).
Vegetation Index.
Table 1 - Some of the WXtoImg Enhancements

20

www.geo-web.org.uk

The WXtoImg site gives good examples of all
the types of enhancements that the software
can provide, at
http://wxtoimg.com/pics/

The main types of enhancements are listed inTable 1 opposite.
It is hard to find detailed information on theseenhancements on the Internet but I have foundthat
http://tiete.be/jo/Noaa/NoaaLast.htm

has some of the best explanations, and somereally good imagery too. In the end, I chosethe enhancements that most appealed to me.
Continued on page 30

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
Zavodovski Island, just five miles wide, uninhabited and thenorthernmost of the volcanic South Sandwich Islands in the far South
Atlantic, is one of the remotest places on the planet. Dominated by Mount
Curry volcano, this tiny island can do compelling things to the sky around
it, as this natural-colour MODIS image acquired from NASA’s Aqua
satellite on April 27, 2012 shows: an interplay between low-level volcanic
emissions, clouds, islands and winds.
Mount Curry is known to emit steady streams of gases and aerosols—
tiny solid and liquid particles. Aerosols are important in the formationof clouds, as they provide the nuclei around which water molecules
accumulate to form droplets, and ultimately clouds.
In the case of Zavodovski Island, sulphate aerosols from the simmering
volcano seed clouds in the air masses passing over the island. Note
how the plume stretching north is brighter than the surrounding clouds,

a result of the small aerosol particle size and the numerous small water
droplets that form around them. The smaller droplets provide more
surfaces to reflect light.
To the southeast, Visokoi Island is also disturbing the atmosphere. It’s
not clear whether gas and aerosols were being emitted from Hodson
Volcano, or if the interesting cloud vortices are being created bytopography. Like ships streaming through water, islands can create wakes
in the cloud patterns above them. Visokoi rises to 1005 metres above
sea level and, as prevailing sea winds push past, the jut of the island into
those low-level marine clouds alters the flow of winds and air masses
enough to affect their shape.

www.geo-web.org.uk

NASA image by Robert Simmon, based on data provided
by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response

21

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Les Hamilton
In the June GEO Quarterly I included brief mention of
the Koksaray Reservoir in the article: Syr Darya Control
and Northern Aral Sea Project [1]. By the most amazing
coincidence, just as your magazines were being distributed,
Ukraine’s Sich-2 satellite transmitted the superb 8 metre per
pixel image of the Koksaray Reservoir, reproduced opposite.

Darya’s winter surges, but also to provide water for irrigation
during the summer. It also includes a 100 MW hydro-electric
plant to provide energy to Kazakhstan. But as Kyrgystan’s
demands for electricity have mounted in recent times, theShardarya reservoir has proved unable to adequately containFor years, there has been friction between Kazahstan andKyrgyzstan over the latter nation’s use of water for hydroelectricity generation. Over the years, Kyrgyzstan constructednumerous dams and reservoirs in the upper reaches of the
Syr Darya river and its tributaries to store the water needed
to operate their hydro-electric power stations.
January and February, the coldest months of winter,create the highest demand for electricity, and this is whenthe volume of water released from the reservoirs is at its
maximum. The outpouring of this water is discarded backinto the Syr Darya, significantly increasing the river’s flow. A
major consequence of this was annual flooding lower down
the Syr Darya in southern Kazakhstan, where the terrain
flattens and the river meanders across an extensive flood
plain between the Shardara reservoir and the Aral Sea.
The Shardara reservoir measures 70 × 20 kilometres, is
6.5 metres deep and has a capacity of 5.5 cubic kilometresof water. It was constructed in 1966, in part to buffer the Syr

22

Figure 1 -A map showing the location of the Koksaray reservoir in
relation to the Aral Sea, Syr Darya and Shardara reservoir.

Figure 2 - The Syr Darya on June 12, 2009, with no sign of the reservoir

Figure 3 - The Syr Darya on June 2, 2012, the reservoir now filled with water

Image: NASA/GSFC Rapid Response Team

Image: NASA/GSFC Rapid Response Teamwww.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Figure 4 - The Koksaray Reservoir, still well filled with winter floodwater, on June 2, 2012.
Image: Dniprokosmos (www.dniprokosmos.dp.ua)

the floodwaters, and Kazakhstan’s winter floods had becomea chronic problem. Two factors conspired to create this
scenario.
The main culprit was Kyrgystan’s Toktogul reservoir, at
215 metres high by 292 metres long, the largest in central
Asia (figure 6). It was built in the mid 1970s, backing up
behind the dam as a lake 65 kilometres long and up to 120
metres deep, capable of holding 18 km3 of water. As a resultof the massive outflow of water from the Toktogul hydroelectric station there have been floods along the lower Syr
Darya every winter in recent decades.
The second factor is the extremely shallow gradient of the
Syr Darya below Shardara. Over the 1200 kilometre stretchof the river between the reservoir and the Aral Sea, the level
drops through a mere 250 metres: from 291 metres above
sea level where the Syr Darya leaves the Shardara reservoir
to 46 metres a.s.l. when it reaches the North Aral Sea. That’s
a mean drop of only twenty or so centimetres per kilometre.
Little wonder then, that the Syr Darya flows sluggishly along
a highly meandering course and that widespread annual
flooding has been such an ever-present problem. The Sich-2
image (figure 4) shows the looping meanders of the Syr Darya
as it flows past the Koksaray reservoir.

Matters really came to a head in the spring of 2008 when
the worst flooding since 1969 destroyed more than three
million homes and cost Kazakhstan the equivalent of atleast $US130 million. This disaster finally led Kazakhstan toembark on a major project to counter this flooding: and thus
was conceived the plan to construct a new reservoir lower
down the Syr Darya, just south of the village of Koksaray.
This would hold excess water from the Shardara reservoir
and protect a population of some 400,000 people who live on
the river’s flood plain.
Koksaray Reservoir
The Koksaray reservoir was constructed in little over two
years, commencing in 2008 as a high-priority project.
During that time, 7500 workers built a 44.7 kilometre longretaining dam 7.7 metres high and 8 metres wide at its crest,
to contain the water (figures 7, 8). The mammoth projectutilised 5.5 million cubic metres of earth and 74 000 cubic
metres of concrete capping. The speed at which the work wasaccomplished can be appreciated from the two Terra MODIS
images opposite. Figure 2 dates from June 2009 when the
project was less than a year old, and shows little sign of thereservoir, although there is evidence of construction work:
specifically, what appear to be the retaining dam and theoutflow channel that would eventually return water to the Syr

www.geo-web.org.uk

23

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Darya. Figure 3, acquired on June 2 this year, clearly shows
the new reservoir, now filled with water collected during the
February/March floods.
Termed the Koksaray Counter Regulator—because it wasconceived to counter excess flow from the Shardara reservoir
and regulate the flow-rate of the river—the reservoir started
storing water on a trial basis in February of 2010, even
before work on it was complete. Over a billion cubic metresof floodwater (a cubic kilometre of water) were abstracted
that spring. Construction was finally completed in December
2011, allowing the storage up to three cubic kilometres offloodwater from the Syr Darya. This water is channelled
into the reservoir along a flume 16 km long, capable of aflow-rate of 500 cubic meters per second. When the timecomes to return water to the river, this is done via a 10.2 km
canal, seen on the left of figure 4, also capable of delivering
500 cubic metres of water per second [2].
The main aim of the Koksaray reservoir was to create afacility for storing excess winter runoff from the Syr Darya,
and it first came into full operation in early 2011, proving
its worth by providing complete flood protection to scoresof villages in southern Kazakhstan. For the first time in ten
years, residents of some 70 towns and villages along the flood
plain from southern Kazakhstan to Kyzylorda experienced aspring without the fear of flooding to their homes and fields.

Figure 6 - The Toktogul Dam in Kyrgystan
Image: Heinerbischkek / Wikimedia

Figure 7 - Construction of the Koksaray Dam in October 2010
Photo: Kazakhstan Ministry of Emergencies Press Service

Figure 5 - The first uptake of water passes through theflood control dam of the Koksaray Reservoir in 2010
Photo: Tengri NewsThe high-resolution colour image (figure 4) shows the
Koksaray Reservoir as was on June 2, 2012. The locationof the reservoir is shown in the map on page 22, over a
thousand kilometres up the Syr Darya from the Aral Sea and160 km north of the Shardara reservoir.
Irrigation
Of course, the Koksaray Counter Regulator was not designed
solely to protect villages from floods. It was also devised to
manage the region’s annual flood-drought cycle by providing
water for crop irrigation during the summers. During theirrigation season, the contents of the Shardara reservoir had
rarely been sufficient to provide for the needs of the hundredsof hectares of cultivated fields in southern Kazakhstan andthe region around Kyzlorda. Now, Koksaray can release
additional water to help irrigate rice fields at Kyzylorda, as
well as some 135 000 hectares on which to grow fruit andvegetables.
In tandem with the preexisting Shardara reservoir, a totalof eight cubic kilometres of water can now be retained
during winter and spring to augment the Syr Darya when its
level drops during the summer. And of course, it is also an
important part of the plan to refill the North Aral Sea.

Figure 8 - The Crest of the Koksaray Dam
Photo: Kazakhstan Ministry of Emergencies Press Service

In the past, Kazakhstan had to negotiate with its neighbours
to release water for summer irrigation; now they have theirown supply. And in the summer of 2011, the water released
for irrigation from Koksaray was instrumental in ensuring arecord rice harvest in the farmlands around Kyzylorda.
Continued on page 34

24

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
The Petermann Glacier grinds and slides toward the sea along thenorthwestern coast of Greenland, terminating in a giant floating ice
tongue. Like other glaciers that end at the ocean, the Petermannn
periodically calves icebergs, and a massive ice island broke from it
in August 2010.
Now, nearly two years later, another large section of its floating
ice tongue has calved into the Petermann Fiord, fracturing along arift that was first identified in 2001, and which had been visible insatellite imagery for several years.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
NASA’s Aqua satellite observed the calving at 10:25 UT on July16, 2012. At this point the iceberg was still close to the glacier, but
by noon that day it had already started drifting northward down thefjord towards Nares Strait. The area of the original ice island wasestimated to be approximately 130 km2, approximately half the sizeof the one that calved in 2010. Ice islands from this glacier drift
southwards into Baffin Bay, and occasionally reach well down the
Labrador coast, sometimes reaching Newfoundland, where theypose a hazard to shipping and navigation.

One day later, at 09:30 UT, Aqua spied a larger
opening between the glacier and the iceberg, as well as somebreakup of the thinner, downstream ice. The current iceberg brokefrom the glacier tongue farther upstream than in the 2010 event, asa result of which the Petermann Glacier has now retreated farther
back the farthest yet recorded.
In the days that followed, the ice island started rotating anddisintegrating, and when imaged by the Advanced Spaceborne
Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard
NASA’s Terra satellite on July 21, the iceberg had an area of
32.3 km2. This image is reproduced on the back cover..
ASTER combines infrared, red, and green wavelengths of lightto make false-colour images that help to distinguish between
water and land. Water shows as blue, ice and snow vary in colour
between pale blue and white, while land areas appear brown.
Clouds in the scene cast dark shadows on to the iceberg surface.
NASA Earth Observatory images on this page by Jesse Allen, using data from the Land
Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE). Instrument:

Aqua MODIS images showing the ice island at image centre: left at 10:25 UT on July 12, centre at 12:00 UT on July 12 and right at 09:30 UT on July 13.

www.geo-web.org.uk

25

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Ian Stotesbury (SSTL)
Surrey Satellite Technology Limited(SSTL) is the world’s leading small satellitecompany, delivering operational space
missions for a range of applications
including Earth observation, scienceand communications. The company
designs, manufactures and operates
high performance satellites and groundsystems for a fraction of the pricenormally associated with space missions,with over 400 staff working on turnkey
satellite platforms, space-proven satellite
subsystems and optical instruments.

SSTL was also selected by ESA to supply
22 navigation payloads for the deployment
phase of the Galileo satellite navigation
system. SSTL is teamed with OHB–System
of Bremen, Germany, for the provision ofthese fully operational Galileo satellites.
The two companies agreed to work together
as a ‘core team’ on Galileo at the end of
2007, with OHB taking the role of prime
contractor and builder of the spacecraft‘bus’ and SSTL taking full responsibility forthe navigation payloads aboard the satellitethat will form the heart of the Galileo
navigation system. Galileo is Europe’s own
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS),
providing real-time positioning, navigationand timing services with unrivalled accuracy
and integrity. It will be interoperable with
the American GPS system and Russia’s
GLONASS system.

NigeriaSat-2(SSTL-300 platform)

A Galileo FOC FM1 payload in the
SSTL clean room for final tests

Credit: SSTL

Credit: SSTL

Since 1981 SSTL has built and launched
36 satellites—as well as providing training
and development programmes, consultancy
services, and mission studies for ESA,
NASA , international governments andcommercial customers, with its innovative
approach that is changing the economics ofspace.

The SSTL satellite assenbly hall, pictured shortly
after its opening in July 2011
Credit: SSTL

SSTL focuses on small satellites (fromapproximately 7 kg up to 600 kg) sold at a
firm fixed price and with short production
time, typically 18 to 24 months. SSTL has
experience as mission prime for 30 satellite
missions with a combined flight time of over
200 years. The highest performance Earth
Observation satellite for SSTL currently
in orbit, NigeriaSat-2, has a resolution of
2.5 metres and was launched in 2011 for
NASRDA. By nature of a proven heritage
evolution of products, the NigeriaSat-2
design is being developed into SSTL’s
next generation, state of the art, satellite
design—a constellation of three satellites
each capable of 1-metre, high-resolution
imagery.

26

A 2.5-metre resolution image of Dubai Airport acquired by NigeriaSat-2
Image © National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) of Nigeria - 2012www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

NigeriaSat-2 captured this 2.5 metre resolution image of Salt Lake City Airport, USA in September 2011.
Image: National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) of Nigeria

www.geo-web.org.uk

27

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

A NASA Earth Observatory Report

The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this natural-colour image of Luizi on June 2, 2012.
It is not perfectly round, but instead fills a semicircular basin where vegetation carpets the complicated topography.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using Advanced Land Imager data from the NASA EO-1 team.

Impact craters can be tough to detect from the ground, especiallywhen they are situated in remote locations and covered byvegetation. First identified in a German geological report in 1919, theLuizi Structure, hidden under grasses and vegetation more than ametre tall, remained unexplored for many decades. It was as recently
as the 1990s that satellite imagery hinted that the structure might bea meteorite impact crater, and a week-long expedition to the Congoin June 2010 to collect rock samples for analysis finally provided theevidence to confirm this.
Microscopic analysis of the rock samples collected from the site
revealed shocked quartz grains, strong evidence of meteorite
impacts. The researchers studying Luizi reported the crater tomeasure about 17 kilometres in diameter, with an intermittent ring
about 5.2 kilometers across and a smaller, central ring 2 km across.
Around the perimeter of the crater rises a rim reaching 300 to 350
metres above the interior: a typical, well-preserved, moderately sized,
meteorite crater.
Exactly when Luizi formed is hard to answer. The researchers
estimate nearby rocks to be 575 million years old, so the crater mustbe younger then this. The meteorite causing the crater must havemeasured close to a kilometre across, and been travelling at aroundseventy thousand kph.

28

www.geo-web.org.uk

A Landsat image of the Luizi Crater
Image: NASA

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
Starting in July 2011, the tiny island of El Hierro in the Canaries
experienced earthquake swarms that numbered in excess of 700 tremors
by the end of the month. By late August, the total number of tremors had
exceeded 4000. It was little surprise when, in late October, an underwater
volcanic eruption was confirmed a mere kilometre south of the island’ssouthern tip.
El Hierro, the farthest south and smallest of the Canary Islands, sits on
a tectonic hot spot in the Atlantic Ocean some 450 kilometres west from
North Africa and Spain. The eruption is believed to be venting from adepth of some 200 meters below the sea surface, warming the water by
as much as 10°C. Two months into the eruption, a significant mass of
new crust had already built up but was yet nowhere near rising above theocean surface and extending the Canary Island chain. Figure 2 shows
milky green swirls of steaming lava fragments, heated gas, and otherdebris being carried to the west and north by currents.
By February 2012, the underwater volcanic eruption was showing nosign of drawing to an end, and figure 3 shows the situation on February
12. Bright aquamarine water indicates high concentrations of volcanic
material and immediately above the vent, a patch of turbulent brownwater indicates where the eruption is strongest.

Figure 2
El Hierro and its offshore eruption on December 16, 2011.

Figure 1
The El Hierro volcanic plume on November 2, 2011

Figure 3
El Hierro and its offshore eruption on February 2, 2012.

All images acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) aboard NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite
NASA images by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, using ALI data from the EO-1 Teamwww.geo-web.org.uk

29

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Despite these problems, I have found WXtoImg to be very stable. It
receives the images, post-processes them, and uploads them to my
web site at
http://www.ei2jp.org/wxtoimg/index.html

Continued from page 20

Living in Ireland, where it often rains, I place a special emphasis on
the MSA-precip and HVCT-precip enhancements. So I encourage
you to experiment with the different enhancements and decide
which you like the best.
WebsiteThese images are nice to look at on the local machine (or via
Remote Desktop Protocol) but to really appreciate these things
I like to have a web page that displays all the latest images.
WXtoImg does this really excellently. Once I have made somesmall settings changes, the software automatically creates a web
page with each new satellite pass and updates the web server.
To set up this option you need to use the Options→Auto Processing
Options settings, with Add images to web page ticked. To set up these,
click on the Web Page Settings button, where this dialogue appears inthe second panel down in figure 6).
This is a simple pane to set up. Select the enhancements you wish
to display on the web page—the name of the index file (HTMLFilename box) and the ftp account details—and the program willautomatically update the web page after every satellite pass. I tickthe Exclude NOAA 17 option because this satellite is no longer able totransmit images, and would just waste space on the web page.
Things to Look Out For
Over the years I have seen several problems occur with mysystem, which affected the unattended reception of images.

mostly without issues. I have been running WXtoImg for the past
three years and am pleased at the results that it achieves.
Wrap Up and Work To Do
I received an email from Laurent Thomin, who has been creatingwide-swath composite images of the Earth using images frommany WXtoImg users, including myself. You can see the results ofLaurent’s work at
http://www.thomin.com/wxtoimg/WCI.html

It was great to see that my images were being used as part of thecurriculum of the Awty International School [2] in Houston, Texas.
Maybe you are thinking that I have nothing left to do with APT
reception before the satellites turn off in some years time. But I still
have a few things on my to-do list, such as getting my receiving
aerial back up to full height, and experimenting with John Silver’s
preamplifier [3], available from the GEO Shop.
I am not completely happy with the quality of my images and canstill see some room for improvement. I think this is what makes thehobby both interesting and a challenge.
I am happy to answer questions about APT reception. You canemail me atron.hahn@dhco.org

and maybe I can help you to get receiving too.
References

Sometimes, WXtoImg raises an error and stops running. The usual
sign of this is that the web images fail to update. Usually, this isan ‘out of memory’ error. Closing the dialogue box and restarting
the program clears this and you can start receiving images
again. Sometimes, reception continues uninterrupted for weeks,sometimes for only a few days. I have not determined the cause of
these errors.

1 APT Weather Satellite Reception, GEOQ 32, page 34 (2011)
2 Awty International School - http://www.awty.org/
3 High Linearity LNA for APT - GEOQ 12, page 17 (2006)

Very occasionally, the auto-ftp to my web server fails and I have tocompletely reboot the computer to clear this. The problem shows
itself by failing to log into the ftp server. Everything looks good but
it just won’t log in. Again, the result is a failure of my web page to
update.

When Rob Denton returned to England from Bulgaria, he set
up home in a windmill at North Leverton with Habblesthorpe,
the village with the longest name in England. Judging bysome of Rob’s satellite images, the location also boasts someof the best horizons for APT reception, as his NOAA-19 image
showing Newfoundland proves.

View from the Windmill

I have had a problem to do with the storage of images. When I
started this automatic reception, I decided that a 20 GB drive forthe system and a 480 GB drive for the data would be enough.
But one day I noticed that my pages were not updating, and, after

Figure 8 - Setting the epiry time for old files

logging on, discovered that my data drive was full. I had not set
any of the expiry options for my files and WXtoImg had completely
filled up my hard drive. The lesson is to make use of the settings to
expire old files (figure 8).
With the Remove images setting set to after 3 months my storage
problem came under control and I have never again had thisproblem.

30

The 15:30 UT NOAA-19 image from March 24, 2012 featuring Newfoundlandwww.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Jason Hopkins
Satellites have revolutionised the way we are able tovisualise the Earth and in particular its oceans. Prior to
the advent of satellite-derived data, oceanographic data
could only be collected during research cruises. These
datasets were usually confined to a relatively small area of
ocean and represented a snapshot of the conditions at a
discrete sampling site. Whilst in situ measurements remain
an important part of marine science, satellites provide
today’s oceanographers with the sort of temporal andspatial resolution that can reveal previously unseen ocean
phenomena, such as the dynamics of algal blooms.
My work concerns the study of a particular type ofalga (commonly referred to as phytoplankton) called acoccolithophore, specifically a species known as Emiliania
huxleyi (figure 1). These are single celled algae, which arecovered with an outer layer of intricately designed calcium
carbonate (calcite) plates called coccoliths (figure 2). Thisparticular species is approximately 5 – 10 μm in size
(approximately one tenth the width of a human hair), so ascanning electron microscope is normally needed to observe
individual cells in detail.

Figure 1
A single coccolithophore

Figure 2
Shed liths from a coccolithophore

Image courtesy of Chris
Daniels, NOC

Image courtesy of Chris Daniels, NOC

Phytoplankton are tiny plant cells that are poorly understood,
but are vitally important to life on Earth as they produce
half of all the oxygen in the atmosphere (land-based plants
produce the rest). Phytoplankton extract carbon dioxide fromthe seawater, which is in equilibrium with the atmosphere,
and convert it to organic carbon and oxygen in a process
known as photosynthesis. The coccolithophore also extracts
carbon—in the form of carbonate—from the water column
to form its calcite coccoliths. The shed coccoliths have thepotential to sink out of the surface ocean into the deep
ocean and, over geological time periods, these can become
compressed into sedimentary layers, sequestering the carbon.
A prime example of this process is the White Cliffs of Dover.
But how do satellites play a part in our understanding of thismicroscopic organism?
Like any photosynthetic organism, coccolithophores require
sunlight and so need to occupy the upper few tens of metresof the water column. When conditions are optimal, their
growth rate increases and they form blooms, similar to thegreening of terrestrial vegetation in spring.
Several mechanisms have been proposed as possible
catalysts for blooms. It is likely that bloom initiation is theresult of a complex interplay of many different environmental
factors, for example, light and nutrient availability, which
may in turn be driven by other environmental variables. The
process is further complicated by evidence that in certain
parts of the world’s oceans, such as the Southern Ocean,even when there are sufficient nutrients available that would
normally promote growth, phytoplankton biomass remains
relatively low. These are known as High Nutrient, Low
Chlorophyll (HNLC) areas, and it is suspected that a lack ofiron may responsible for the unexpectedly low growth rates.
This hypothesis is supported by evidence that indicatesthat wind-blown dust from islands within these HNLC
regions introduces iron to the surface ocean, which in turn
encourages phytoplankton to bloom in these normally barren
areas.
Towards the end of the bloom stage, E. huxleyi starts to
produce multiple layers of coccoliths, which are subsequently
shed into the water column. These tiny coccoliths (~ 2 μm
across) act like mirrors, reflecting a large proportion of theincident light back out of the ocean, turning the ocean amilky turquoise colour and resulting in patches of highreflectance that can be observed by ocean colour sensors
such as the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectrometer(MODIS) sensor onboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites.
Although these ‘white waters’ had previously been observed
during research cruises, the extent of their coverage could
not be fully determined without satellites. The earliest
indications of these high reflectance patches in satellite
imagery came from coastal Landsat imagery. It was theorisedthat these were probably phytoplankton, as they appeared tofollow the course of an oceanic front. However, it wasn’t until
1983, when Professor Patrick Holligan (then at the Marine
Biological Association, Plymouth) set out to investigate thesepatches that it was confirmed that they were indeed causedby coccolithophores. He found that these ‘blooms’ could
extend over an area of up to 250,000 km2 (approximately thesame area as the UK), making the coccolithophore a major
influence on the biogeochemical carbon cycle. Figure 3,
opposite, is a true-colour Terra MODIS image dating fromMay 22, 2010, showing a coccolithophore bloom off thesouthwest coast of Ireland (Image: NASA/GSFC, Rapid
Response Team).
Traditionally, variations in satellite derived ocean colour thathave been converted to estimates of chlorophyll concentration(the green photosynthetic pigment found in plants) havebeen used to monitor long-term, global variations in
phytoplankton populations. However, these data alone do
not enable us to clearly distinguish coccolithophores fromother phytoplankton that contribute to the chlorophyllsignal. The bloom seen in figure 3 is not obvious in the
8-day chlorophyll composite for the area from the sametime period (figure 4), probably due to the relatively low
chlorophyll content of coccolithophores. Fortunately,
because the calcite containing coccoliths affect backscatteredreflectance, oceanographers can utilise this property toinvestigate coccolithophore distributions, via the applicationof a mathematical algorithm that converts the change inbackscattered reflectance caused by the coccoliths into an
estimate of Particulate Inorganic Carbon (PIC). Thereafter

www.geo-web.org.uk

31

GEO Quarterly No 35

32

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Figure 4
MODIS 8-day composite chlorophyll data from May 17-24, 2010. Note that thefeature shown in figure 3 is not clearly defined in the chlorophyll product alone.

Figure 5
MODIS 8-day composite Particulate Inorganic Carbon datafrom May 17-24, 2010 showing coccolithophore bloom.

(Data processed using WinBilko v3.3)(Data processed using WinBilko v3.3)

it can be assumed that any variation in the location andmagnitude of the PIC signal corresponds to similar changes
in the underlying coccolithophore population. Figure 5 shows
the PIC composite product for the same time period as thechlorophyll signature in figure 4. In this case the structure of
the bloom is more evident. The NASA Ocean Colour website(http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/) provides a wealth of freely
available data products of parameters, derived from various
algorithms, that affect ocean colour. These data are available
at different levels of processing. The Level 3 products used in
my study are geolocated, spatially and temporally compositeddata obtained from several overpasses that can be easily
processed in analytical packages such as Matlab or WinBilko
to provide insights into the dynamics of this biogeochemicallyimportant phytoplankton.

the causes of which remain undetermined. But why is thisimportant? The use of satellites to identify areas wherecoccolithophores bloom on a regular basis allows scientists
to not only understand the underlying drivers that may
favour growth, but also to monitor any long term variationin this species: for example, in response to climate change.
This is crucial, as changes in coccolithophore populations
may result in the loss of a carbon sink and disruption to thecomplex oceanic food webs. In addition, the application of
our present day knowledge to the distribution of the fossilised
remains of coccolithophores found in sediment cores can help
provide a window on the oceans’ responses to past changes
in climate. It is only with the use of satellite data that we areable to monitor the long-term, global trends of this important
phytoplankton, which will hopefully provide scientists withmore pieces to fit into the climate change puzzle.

Whilst E. huxleyi is typically found in all areas of the global
oceans, it seems to produce its largest blooms in discrete
oceanographic regions. These blooms have a high degree ofboth temporal and spatial variability associated with them,

Jason Hopkins is a PhD student at the
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton

This fascinating Envisat segment shows the island of Crete, enhanced by sunglint and sea surface rippling on January 30, 2012
Image submitted by Mike Stevens - © ESA

www.geo-web.org.uk

33

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Koksaray Reservoir
Continued from page 24

Other benefits are anticipated, such as introducing fish into
the reservoir with a view to establishing a seasonal, commercial
fish catch, and making use of the reservoir basin for growing
forage crops for harvesting and grazing once the waters havedispersed.
Aydar Lake
A glance at the map (figure 1) immediately reveals that there
is another body of water in the region, Adyar Lake (Aidarkul),which is considerably larger than the Shardara and Koksaray
reservoirs combined. Therein lies an interesting tale.
At first sight this would appear to be yet another reservoir butthat is not the case. When the Shardara Dam was built in theearly sixties to create its eponymous reservoir, Aydar Lake did
not exist. All that was present was a dried out salt basin locatedin the Arnasay lowland, a natural depression in the Kyzylkum
desert. In the spring, a small lake sometimes appeared there fora short period, but dried up completely by the summer.
In 1969 there occurred one of the most serious floods ever on
the Syr Darya, so much so that the Shardara reservoir was indanger of overflowing. Between February 1969 and February
1970, the gateways controlling the water level behind the dam
had to be opened to protect the structure, and some 21 km3 ofrunoff from the Syr Darya drained into the Arnasay lowland,
unintentionally creating the Aydar Lake. In the years since, thislake has regularly been fed by excess floodwater from the Syr
Darya when it exceeded the capacity of the Shardara Reservoir.
Over the years, the natural cavity of the Arnasay lowland has
filled up to create the second largest lake in the region (after theremnant Aral Sea). Unfortunately, as it lies at a lower elevation
than the Syr Darya, there is no easy way of returning the watersof Aydar Lake to the river during periods of drought.
Today, Aydar Lake is 250 km long by 15 km wide, has a surface
area of 3000 km2 and contains 44.3 cubic km of water. Thoughslightly brackish, Aydar is basically a freshwater lake, averaging
only two grams per litre of salts. Many species of fish such as
pike, perch, bream and catfish have been introduced into thelake, which nowadays supports a fishing industry providing
catches up to 2000 tonnes annually. In addition, many speciesof water birds, migrating from the Aral Sea, make their homesaround the lake.
2012 ... and the Floods Return
Against all expectations, flooding returned to the lower
Syr Darya valley in 2012 following a particularly high river
flow during the first three months of the year. Because of aparticularly severe winter, the Syr Darya had frozen completely
along the length of its flood plain between Shardara andKyzlorda. The ‘normal’ excess flow from upstream power
stations was augmented when rain and mild conditions in themountains produced unexpected mass melting of snow. With
the Syr Darya frozen, this water could not be channelled away,
and flooding returned to southern Kazakhstan.

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
There have been many images of the full disc of Earthfrom space—a view often referred to as the Blue Marble—
but few have looked quite like the version on the front
cover of this issue. Using natural-colour images from the
Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the
recently launched Suomi-NPP satellite, a NASA scientist
has compiled a new view showing the Arctic and highlatitudes.
Ocean scientist Norman Kuring of NASA’s Goddard Space
Flight Center pieced together this composite image ofEurope, Asia, North Africa and the entire Arctic. It wascompiled from fifteen satellite passes made by Suomi-NPP
on May 26 this year. The spacecraft circles the Earth frompole to pole at an altitude of 824 kilometres and multiple
passes are needed to gather sufficient swaths of data todisplay the entire hemisphere without gaps in the view.
Kuring stitched the image swaths together then set up
this view, looking down from 70°N, 60°E. This is, ofcourse, an artificial view, as the satellite cannot image thefull Earth disc at one time. Kuring was able to show the
Arctic in this image because northern hemisphere spring
spreads enough sunlight over the North Pole to allow a
360° natural-light view.
VIIRS is a scanning radiometer that acquires data in
22 spectral bands which cover visible, near-infrared,
and thermal infrared regions of the electromagnetic
spectrum. It was designed to extend and improve upon
the measurements of land masses, oceans, ice and theatmosphere made over the past two decades by the
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS).
Image by Norman Kuring, NASA/GSFC/Suomi NPP

Launch Date for Metop-B Agreed
Following a lengthy wrangle, Russia and Kazakhstan haveat last come to an agreement over the Metop-B launch from
Baikonur, originally May 23, and which is now slated to takeplace on September 19, 2012.

City Lights on Google Maps
Fred van den Bosch contacted us with details of a new Google
Maps service. Many readers will be familiar with the ‘City Lights’imagery acquired by NOAA’s DMSP satellites.

Hundreds of homes were damaged, roads were washed out andfields and pastures flooded. More than two thousand people
were evacuated to schools, hospitals and mosques. Both theShardara and Koksaray reservoirs were filled to capacity andable to accommodate only around half the excess flow of the
Syr Darya. Although this was recognised to have been a unique
event, unlikely to be repeated, it does now raise the question as
to whether a further reservoir may have to be constructed lower
down the river, in the Oguzsayskoy depression near Mayakum.

There is now a new Google Maps overlay, which, in addition
to the normal ‘Map’ and ‘Satellite’ views, also offers a ‘Night’
option. You can now zoom into any location on Earth and view
the planet by the lights of its cities at

References

In the circuit diagram for Guy Martin’s digital thermometer
project, the inputs and outputs on the voltage regulators aretransposed. For In read Out, and vice versa.

1 Syr Darya Control and Northern Aral Sea Project
GEOQ 34, page 10 (June 2012).
2 gazeta.kz - http://engnews.gazeta.kz/art.asp?aid=356072

34

http://www.blue-marble.de/nightlights/2010

Erratumwww.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 35

35

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

David Taylor, GM8ARV
I had been looking for a way to record a few weather
parameters on a casual basis for some time and had alreadyfound indoor and outdoor temperature probes available on
the Internet; I later discovered an indoor temperature andhumidity probe. However, pressure seemed to elude theChinese makers of these probes so, late last year, I boughta wireless weather station—which would have been ideal
were the software up to the same standard as the hardware.
Unfortunately though, while the indoor display panel worked
most of the time, it was so unreliable when interrogated bysoftware that I sent the unit back for a refund. During myInternet explorations I discovered a low-cost pressure sensor,
which was an add-on hardware to an Arduino compatible
computer. The discovery was the JeeNode from JeeLabs.
http://jeelabs.com/products/jeenodeSeeing Guy Martin’s recent article made me realise that thisalternative approach might be of interest to GEO readers, as
only a very few non-surface-mount components are required,
and the programming model is the widely supported Arduino.
http://www.arduino.cc/

The JeeNode
JeeLabs offer a variety of formats of hardware, all designedfor ‘physical computing’ (i.e. real-world measurements)
and the hardware is designed to be very easy to connect
together. The main computing part is designed aroundArduino compatibility, so there’s plenty of software available,

and there is an extensive library of software to support the
hardware boards you can add to a JeeNode. I wanted to drive
this from a PC, so I chose a JeeNode with a USB port, butthere is quite an interest in battery-powered JeeNodes which
can be interrogated remotely with an 868 MHz RF signal.
The JeeNode can be programmed with the standard Arduino
development environment, which is well described and well
supported. There is forum here where you can get help.
http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Environment

The development environment communicates with the
JeeNode via a USB lead with a serial COM port emulation.
Once your program (in Arduino nomenclature, your sketch) is
running on the JeeNode, the same COM port is available for
the PC to communicate with the JeeNode.
Hardware
For this project, I chose a JeeNode with a USB interface anda Pressure Plug, a small board for their atmospheric pressure
sensor, which is based on a BMP085 chip.
http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wiki/JeeNode_USB
http://jeelabs.net/projects/hardware/wiki/Pressure_Plug

You can get various multi-pin connectors to solder to theboard to adapt the configuration to best suit your own
needs—I used just a single 6-pin header so that I could

Figure 1 - General view of the JeeNode Barometer.

Figure 2 - An elevation view, showing how the Pressure Plus is mounted above the main JeeNode USB board.

36

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

unplug the pressure sensor if required. You
can buy these boards ready-made (as I did),and there are some kit options if you havesurface-mount facilities (which I do not).
SoftwareGetting data from the JeeNode
There is sample code provided to drive
the BMP085 in a JeeNode configuration,
and all I had to do was to provide serial
access to that data. Most of the listing,in Appendix 1, is simply copied from thesample provided. As this is both my first
Arduino and first JeeNode program, I could
probably have done things in a much betterway. The function I wanted was to be able
to send a serial character to the board andget back the pressure data. Line 32 in theexecution loop waits until a character isreceived on the serial line. Any character
will do to elicit a response. Lines 36-45 get
the current pressure (and temperature)reading, and calibrate it into the expectedvalues. Lines 48-56 send the values backto the serial port, including a prefix of thecharacters ‘BMP’ and a carriage returnsuffix so that you could read the data a line
at a time.
Using the Data
As regular readers may recall, I am a fan of
MRTG for simple graphing of data over both
short and long intervals, so I wrote a small
program which interrogates the JeeNodeand returns data in a suitable form for
MRTG. Please contact me if you wish acopy of this program.
You could easily write a program in
Visual Basic, or your favourite language,
to interrogate the data by sending one
character to the COM port, and reading the
response.
An alternative, should you wish a standalone unit such as Guy Martin describedin GEO Quarterly 34, would be to add
a compatible graphics board from the
JeeLabs shop and program it appropriately.
http://jeelabs.com/products/graphics-board

The Photos
Figure 1 shows a general view of the
JeeNode Barometer, looking directly downon the board. The USB connector is on theright and the (unused) RF interface on theleft. The pink wire is the antenna for the RFinterface. The Pressure Plug is the squareboard left of centre, and you can just see
a few of the pins from the surface-mountprocessor to the right of it. The chip right ofcentre is the FTDI serial-to-USB chip. There
are red and green LEDs which flash whenserial data is sent or received.
Figure 2 is an elevation view of the board,and illustrates how the Pressure Plug ismounted above the main JeeNode USB
board. The black item is a multi-way socket
allowing the Pressure Plug to be removed
and different hardware substituted.

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Appendix 1 - Code Listing(0 ) // Ports demo, reads out a BMP085 sensor connected via I2C(1 ) // 2009-02-17 <jc@wippler.nl> http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php(2 )(3 ) // 2010-05-22: added support for all resolution modes(4 ) // 2010-05-25: extended to also broadcast all readings over wireless(5 ) // 2010-06-17: add power saving logic, should reduce consumption by over 90%(6 ) // 2010-06-24: improved power savings, several “hot spots” optimized(7 )(8 ) // see http://news.jeelabs.org/2010/06/20/battery-savings-for-the-pressure-plug/(9 ) // see http://news.jeelabs.org/2010/06/30/going-for-gold-with-the-bmp085/(10)(11) #include <JeeLib.h>(12) #include <PortsBMP085.h>(13)(14) PortI2C two (4);(15) BMP085 psensor (two, 3); // ultra high resolution(16)(17) // This power-saving code was shamelessly stolen from the rooms.pde sketch,(18) // see http://code.jeelabs.org/viewvc/svn/jeelabs/trunk/jeemon/sketches/rooms/(19)(20) void setup() {(21) Serial.begin(57600);(22) Serial.print(“\n[bmp085demo]”);(23)(24) psensor.getCalibData();(25) }(26)(27) void loop() {(28) // sensor readout takes some time, so go into power down while waiting(29) // int32_t traw = psensor.measure(BMP085::TEMP);(30) // int32_t praw = psensor.measure(BMP085::PRES);(31)(32) if (Serial.available())(33)(34) {(35) char ch = Serial.read();(36) psensor.startMeas(BMP085::TEMP);(37) delay(16);(38) int32_t traw = psensor.getResult(BMP085::TEMP);(39)(40) psensor.startMeas(BMP085::PRES);(41) delay(32);(42) int32_t praw = psensor.getResult(BMP085::PRES);(43)(44) struct { int16_t temp; int32_t pres; } payload;(45) psensor.calculate(payload.temp, payload.pres);(46)(47) // this code is not needed for use as remote node, keep it for debugging(48) Serial.print(“BMP “);(49) Serial.print(traw);(50) Serial.print(‘ ‘);(51) Serial.print(praw);(52) Serial.print(‘ ‘);(53) Serial.print(payload.temp);(54) Serial.print(‘ ‘);(55) Serial.print(payload.pres);(56) Serial.print(“\n”);(57)(58) }(59) delay (300);(60) }

www.geo-web.org.uk

37

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Esko Petäjä
We have been reading from newspapers and seeing in TV how weather disasters have been hitting different areas. Indeed, the very cold
conditions in Europe, when many people froze to death, were featured in the previous two issues of this magazine. In Finland and theother Nordic countries we are use to the cold and snow, and it is very seldom that such conditions cause deaths. The main problems
resulting from severe cold are damage to infrastructure and transportation. Below I describe how storm ‘Dagmar’ hit the Nordic countries
and Finland and how amateurs have helped in the field of emergency communications
In Finland, the most typical effect of bad weather (storm, wind,snow or lightning) is that we lose electrical power. In cities,
the electrical network is based on underground cables but incountryside we use overhead wires which are often carried onpylons through narrow breaks in forests. In winter, heavy snowfall
often topples trees on to the power lines, and then we loseelectrical power. During last Christmas, after several storms, there
were wide areas where people were without electricity for two to
three weeks. When storms hit a widearea, electricity supply companies
are not able to fix errors in short time.
When there is a lot snow, repairs will beharder and time consuming.
Today, when regular land line
telephones are not used so much,
we are highly depended on wirelesscommunications. Last Christmas, storm
Dagmar caused such widespread lossof electricity (and for such a long time)that many GSM cellphone base stations
were put out of commission. There wasa widespread loss of communications
and even governmental offices suchas the police and fire services wereunable to operate fully. The photographbelow shows how trees are cut back toprevent them falling on to power lines.

When Dagmar reached Scandinavia, many roads where closed andover 100 000 people in Norway and 200 000 in northern Sweden
lost power; in some places broadcast radio went off the air althoughmost still had phone and cellphone coverage. The Home Guard(reserve military) were called out to assist with damage assessment
and power line inspection.

Figure 3 - Dagmar hits small village on the west coast of Norway
Figure 1
A Helicopter trims trees neara power line
Image © Fortum

Storm Dagmar (December 24-25, 2011)
Starting on Christmas Day, Dagmar moved from northern Scotland
to western Norway, unleashing winds as intense as many
hurricanes. Winds at Sella Ness, Shetland, in the north of Scotland,
produced gusts of up to 162 kph. Still more powerful winds wereclocked on oil rigs west of Norway, where they were about asstrong as those of a Category 3 hurricane (over 178 kph). Figure 2
shows the storm reaching the west coast of Norway.

The worst communications emergency happened in the municipalityof Vågsøy, where they were completely lost. Emergency services
were organised in the city hall, where inhabitants were asked toreport if they needed help. The only communication method wasby the satellite phone of a line fishing boat, MS Frøyanes, which
provided a lifeline to the outside world. Some ‘Simplex’ handsets
were used to communicate with care homes. The governor of
Sogn og Fjordane county asked the military to establish HF
radio links. Amateur radio emergency communications were also
activated.

Figure 4 - A local radio amateur helping with emergency communications
Image © NRRL

Figure 2 - Storm Dagmar approaching Norway

The storm reached Finland on Christmas Day morning and winds
were strongest throughout the morning and early afternoon. On
the southwest and the west coasts, the wind blew at more than
80 kph, felling trees, which caused the power outages. In the Baltic
Sea winds were storm force, and severe storm force in the Gulf ofBothnia.

Image © EUMETSAT 201138

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

Sea level probably increased to dangerously high levels in lowland
coastal areas. The rain came mostly as rain or sleet, but snow in
the north of the land. Wind gusts increased throughout the country
during the evening causing loss of electrical power across large
areas.

Electrical lines downed by Dagmar

The principle of communication during the national power outage exercise

Most of the longest power outages occurred near the city Salo
(where Nokia was established). The Salo region suffered power
outages for ten days and the GSM networks were down for threedays. This raised concerns in the city’s social service authorities
about elderly people living alone. Without means of communication,
they could not be contacted and, also, they had no way to call forhelp in the event of an emergency. For this reason, the authorities
asked radio amateurs to patrol elderly peoples’ homes to checkthat everything was OK, which they did throughout the three days.
A local high-power 2-metre repeater with a range of 50 kilometres(OH1RAD) was used for communications and high power (50 watt)
mobile stations were used in cars.

In the USA. Radio amateurs undertake a lot of emergency
communications work: specifically, during the North America
blackout (2003), Hurricane Katrina (2005). The same was true in
China in the wake of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The goal ofRadio amateurs is to create a voluntary secondary communication
system which can be used when other methods are failing,
thus helping authorities to do their duties. These activities arecoordinated by GAREC (Global Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications) [2].
Hurricane Katrina (September 2005)
Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest and most destructive hurricaneof the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It was the costliest natural
disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in thehistory of the United States. Katrina caused at least 1,836 deaths,
some in the actual hurricane, others as a result of the subsequent
floods. In total, property damage was estimated at $81 billion.
During this hurricane, 1000 amateur radio volunteers served in
the stricken area to provide communications for agencies such as
the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army, and to facilitate
interoperability between agencies.

Location and coverage of the 2-m repeater OH1RAD
used during the emergency

Preparation for Total Disaster
Because wide scale power outages are not uncommon in Finland,
there is held, every second year, an exercise for emergency
communication organised by amateurs. This year’s exercise topic
simulated a major breakdown in the main National Power Grid.
This topic was very well adapted to the effects of storm Dagmar
and the communications exercise was organised by dividing
Finland into security areas, in each of which communication was
effected by VHF radios to the area HQ. From this area HQ, further
communications with the national HQ was done using by HFLINK [1]communication.
Emergency Communication through Amateurs
Even the professional communications equipment used by the
Authorities can sometimes fail during a total disaster. Amateur
systems, by contrast, are not as dependent on terrestrial facilities
that can fail; also, they are dispersed throughout communities, andthey do not have ‘choke points’ that can become overloaded, like
cellphone base stations.

Some of the Montgomery, Alabama Radio Amateur Team in theircommunications centre while helping in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

www.geo-web.org.uk

Image © ARRL

39

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

September 2012

Book details
ISBN 978-92-9110-091-0: Printed in 2011: Published by
EUMETSAT, Eumetsat-Allee 1, 64295 Darmstadt, Germany.
I have just ten copies of this book for distribution to GEO members.
The book itself is free of charge but packing and postage will cost
£8.00 or €10.00. If you would like a copy sent to you, please email,telephone or write to me and I will let you know if I still have stock.

A Book Review by Francis Bell
This substantial new publication from EUMETSAT covers thepast 25 years of their history. A substantial hard-back book with
320 high quality A4 sized pages, this is a comprehensive record of
EUMETSAT’s history and its achievements. It weighs 1.7 kg. The
text is divided equally between English and French: generally, evennumbered pages are in English and odd numbered ones in French,and the photographs, tables and diagrams carrying notes in bothlanguages.
A Preface to the book states:
The success story of satellite meteorology in Europe is closely linked totwo organisations. One is EUMETSAT itself which, in just two decades,
has become one of the world’s pre-eminent meteorological andenvironmental satellite organisations, serving the interests of Europe’s
National Meteorological Services, the citizens of Europe and way
beyond. The other is the European Space Agency (ESA).
ESA research expertise was required for the conception anddevelopment of the first Meteosat back in the 1970s, and ESA wasalso the driving force behind the original formation of EUMETSAT.
Over the past 25 years the relationship between the two organisations
has evolved, and ESA has now become an established and important
cooperation partner and procurement agency for EUMETSAT.

A sample
page fromthe book,
illustrating its
formatYou can download this book in PDF format (21 MB) fromhttp://www.eumetsat.int/groups/cps/
documents/document/pdf_br_history-book.pdf

Weather, Disasters and Emergency
Communication
Continuied from page 39

Kobe Earthquake (Japan 1995)
On January 17, 1995, at 05:46 local time, a magnitude 7.3
earthquake hit the densely populated surrounding the city of Kobe.
The centre of Kobe was heavily damaged, with 6434 fatalities and43,782 injured. Over half a million homes were damaged, and ahundred thousand destroyed. Over 300 000 citizens had to be
evacuated.
In response to an administrative request, JARL (the JapaneseAmateur Radio League) started its Emergency Communication
effort later the same day. They were specially authorised to handle
amateur communications relating to road and traffic conditions,safety and location of residents, names of shops able to provide
water and food, and the availability of Public Services.
Emergency Communications used by Authorities
Authorities such as energy companies and fire brigades use TETRA(Terrestrial Trunked Radio) radio in their communications and there aremany nationwide TETRA radio network. TETRA supports both speechand data transmission, the latter in both packet and circuit switchedmodes. In Europe, TETRA uses the 380-400 MHz and 410-430 MHz
bands.
A TETRA network call can be established very quickly (0.3 seconds)
and provides two-way calls between units. TETRA can also support calls
involving multiple users.

Although the book is well illustrated and contains some satellite
images together with tables, charts and diagrams, it is not a bookdevoted to ‘wow’ factor satellite images, but follows the history andimportant events leading up to EUMETSAT’s 25 year anniversary in
2011.
The first two chapters recount the early activities of Europe
in the field of meteorological satellites and the setting up of
EUMETSAT. Chapter three deals with the expansion of national
memberships and cooperative agreements intended to lead on
to full membership. Chapters four and five record the story ofgeostationary and polar-orbiting satellites, chapter six tells the storyof EUMETSAT’s foray into the world of ocean altimetry with the
Jason programme, while chapter seven deals with EUMETSAT’s
ground segment composition. Chapters eight and nine record
international cooperation and involvement with assistance given todeveloping countries. Chapter ten examines the role of researchand training and helping users exploit EUMETSAT’s products.
Finally, chapter eleven sums up the history and provides additional
information about the internal workings of the organisation.
There are five annexes. I found Annex 2, which covers importantmilestones in the evolution of EUMETSAT, particularly interesting
because of its concise nature.
I would judge this book to be a ‘must have’ for anyone seriouslyinterested in weather satellites and particularly EUMETCast
reception. I received my book as a complimentary copy fromEUMETSAT and I offer my thanks to them for this beautiful andinformative publication.

40

TETRA radios, as used by Authorities
Image: © Fortum

Conclusion
Although we have very high-tech infrastructure with all our
sophisticated communication devices like 3G/4G, these rapidly
become useless following a major power outage. Area infrastructure
is very vulnerable. From case studies, it is clear that VHF
communication provided by amateurs has been very helpful inconditions of severe weather and natural disaster.
References
1 HFLINK - http://hflink.com/
2 GAREC - http://www.iaru.org/garecnet/

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
High-pressure weather systems
often bring fair weather andrelatively clear skies. In early
June 2012, an anticyclone off
the coast of Tasmania did justthis in spectacular fashion.
This MODIS image at right,
from NASA’s Aqua satellite,
displays a spectacular weather
system over the Great
Australian Bight at 05:00 UT
on June 5, 2012. The highpressure region appears as
a 1000 kilometre wide ovalhole in the blanket of marine
stratocumulus clouds.
The cloud hole results fromsinking air associated with theanticyclone. Compared withthe average sea-level pressureof around 1013 millibars, thepressure at the centre of thishigh exceeded 1040 millibars.
The 06:00 UT sea-levelpressure map published by
the Australian Bureau of
Meteorology on the same dayshows the shape of the cloudhole to match the shape of thehigh-pressure area. However,
the respective centres of highpressure and the cloud holedidn’t match precisely. The
centre of the anticyclone was
located near the western edgeof the cloud free zone, some
100 kilometres from the cloudedge.

The 06:00 UT sea-level pressure
map showing the Anticyclone
Credit: the Australian Bureau of
Meteorology

In general, winds blow outward
and away from areas of highpressure, as a result of whichareas of high pressure pull air
downwards. As the air sinks, italso warms, increasing the rateof evaporation of cloud droplets,
thus making it difficult for the air
to sustain clouds. Areas of low
pressure, by contrast, pull air
upwards, generating clouds andstormy weather.

This MODIS image acquired by NASA’s Aqua satellite at 05:00 UT
on June 5, 2012 shows a high pressure system south of Australia.
Image: NASA/GSFC Rapid Response Teamwww.geo-web.org.uk
http://earthdata.nasa.gov/data/near-real-time-data/rapid-response

41

GEO Quarterly No 35

Dear Les,I quite felt for you when you questioned
in the current editorial the efficacy ofcommitting 100 plus hours to produce the
GEO Quarterly to a shrinking audience.
Couple this to a lack of articles to fill thepages and I feel I would be asking similar
questions.
The life of our particular hobby can belikened to a generation game: the first
generation that used mechanical devices
coupled to electronics to get an image; thesecond generation who built frame storesand the third generation using a purely PC
based system.
I have worked my way through each sectorof the generation game and, even though
I still marvel at the quality and reasonably
reliable method of obtaining images,
nothing will ever match the excitement ofdeveloping a sheet of bromide fresh off the
facsimile machine on a Sunday evening.
The ergonomics of owning such a beast asa Muirhead K300, coupled to shift working,meant I was fortunate to get one image aweek.
Keeping up with developments in theweather satellite field as it grew meant
there was no shortage of articles in themagazines of the day. Constant fine-tuningof all components and reacting to thelatest published ‘tweek’ or circuit kept one
very busy. With the reliability of today’s
products, once you are up and running theworld is your visual oyster and little else
needs to be touched (OK, I know that’s asilly thing to say as all my systems will nowstop).

The Group for Earth Observation

The magic of being able to provide an up
to the minute image has never left me, andno young person I have shown an image
to has failed to be enthralled by it. As
amateurs that’s something we do well.

What concerns me is the news that a lot of
people who where members of GEO havedecided not to rejoin the group. This is sadnews indeed, and something that needs tobe addressed urgently.

Please continue, as you and the GEO
Quarterly I am sure, are most appreciatedby all in the field, and who knows what
impact it may have on the scientists of the
future.

Every Group consists of its members:
without them there is no Group, and it issad indeed that more members are notcontributing to the Quarterly to help keep
the interest and the Group alive. I realise
we do not have any new satellites going
into orbit yet, and we lost Envisat just when
it was getting interesting, but that is life—
you get ups and downs but you still carryon regardless.

Peter Stien

Hello Les,GEO Q34 arrived a while ago, and I was
as always happy to receive it. I really
liked the article about the Aral Sea. It isinteresting to note the different ambitions
between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan whenit comes to restoring the sea.
I became a bit sad when I read the editorial
with your question ‘Is there any demandfor GEO to produce an expensive glossy
magazine.’ For me, here in Sweden,
where I feel somewhat alone with myhobby, it is incredibly valuable to receive
the magazine. It gives me a touch of what
happens. And even if I am only receiving
APT, I learn about the possibilities that
EUMETCast and other things give.
And also articles on meteorological andenvironmental matters are very pleasing.
About the ‘glossiness’ of the magazine,
I could well do with lower ambitions. But
I am one of those people who still like tohave a physical paper in hand.

I feel that the unsaid role of the Quarterly is
to keep members abreast of developmentswith the service providers. Our hobby istotally different from the ‘pay for’ services
offered to industry, military and others.
We do not provide them with funds otherthan our taxation allotment via our current
government. Down all the years, with very
few exceptions, all the providers havetreated the amateur weather satellite
enthusiasts with equanimity.

The other question, about how to boost
membership is really difficult. I recognise
the problem from several DX clubs in
Sweden, but I can’t say that any of them
have arrived at a good solution. Radio
amateur clubs seem to be somewhat
luckier in their recruitment. I believe thatyou already have got many proposals towork via Internet, and this may be a way,
but there I believe others can come with
better ideas than I.

The Quarterly’s role is very important andI hope it will continue. It could become
three times a year rather than disappear.
I would not wish you to feel downhearted
at what is achieved in the Quarterly as it issuperbly published with some of the finest
images I have ever set eyes on. Other
professional publications in the field suffera dearth of constructive articles and pad
their pages with far less worthy items thanour publication does.

Best regards, Anders Höök, Sweden

42

September 2012

Les,
Let me first thank you for the excellent
copies of GEO Quarterly that have arrived
at my door, and for assisting me in layingout my articles and pictures. I’m very
pleased with the end results.

www.geo-web.org.uk

The Group Management needs to address
the loss of members as an urgent issue.
GEO needs to advertise more openly in
different Electronic and Radio Magazines.
Going to shows is fine but that needs tochange by attending more in different
regions—not the same shows as last year.
If there is not the budget for this then thatshould be looked at also. And if there areproblems with obtaining material for the
Quarterly, then perhaps reduce the print tothree issues per year and use the money
saved to advertise the Group.
To survive in this extreme financial climate
we have to take bold steps. Perhaps it istime the membership was asked for its
thoughts on the future of GEO. Let’s giveup on complacency and lack of initiativeand look to the progressive future of
GEO, before we have too few members tosustain us.
Keep up the good work Les. We needpeople like you.
Kind Regards, Mike Stevens (G4CFZ)

Dear Editor,
A big Thank You from my side to all who
contributed to the GEO Quarterly 34. I
received my copy today (July 12), thanks
to the special efforts of David Andersonand Francis Bell. Because of my mild
disorganisation and carelessness I had
unwillingly postponed my annual fee
payment too long, but that’s now solved
and sorted out. The ‘Thank You’ extends
also specially to the authors and everyone
else who contributed time and work
towards the Quarterly: also, I assume toseveral very understanding and patient
spouses, if I can extrapolate from my
own environment. Cheers, Ulrich Kliegis,
Germany.

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

had not been maintained into the New Year, and he was faced withsourcing/producing a large proportion of the content in both the
March and June issues himself. It’s a worrying and disappointing
trend that so few readers seem willing to support the Quarterly bymaking contributions these days.

Summarised from minutes compiled by John Tellick

GEO held its Annual Meeting at SSTL following the tour of the
facility (see page 6), when all present were provided with a packcontaining the agenda, balance sheets and reports from themembership secretary and editor.
Director’s Report
Francis Bell opened by briefly recounting the rationale for GEO’s
company status and liability, then voiced his worries about GEO’s
declining membership. He wondered whether we were missing out
on means of attracting new blood to the group, as new members
were not coming forward as he would like. He also touched upon
GEO Quarterly, and whether the balance of articles directed
towards beginners and experts was right. Interestingly, Arne
van Belle, representing the Dutch organisation De Kunstmaan,reported that they faced similar problems to GEO, with an ageing
membership and few new young newcomers joining.
This problem was discussed and, in particular, how GEO might
attract new members. There was a suggestion from the floor that
GEO needed to raise its profile through increased publicity both in
the UK and abroad.

Other Matters
Over the years, GEO has been pleased to welcome several
members of Werkgroep Kunstmanen to our Symposiums, when
they have set up interesting displays. It would be a nice touch if
GEO could reciprocate in kind. The Dutch Group are holding ameeting in Utrecht on Saturday, September 8 this year, and David
Taylor and Les Hamilton have already made plans to attend.
Perhaps some other GEO members would like to join them in the
Netherlands.
Everyone voiced thanks to Alan Banks for his efforts in creating the
new-look GEO website, and for his continuing efforts in updating it.
Time restrictions at SSTL truncated the meeting, but discussions
continued over an evening meal when a number of action points
were agreed: to request a quote from our printers regarding ashorter print run for the Quarterly; contacting a sample of members
to establish their views about the Quarterly in electronic format;
progressing the devolvement of shop responsibilities from Clive
and Caron Finnis to a willing member; promoting the advertising of
GEO Shop on the web site; to maintain four annual issues of theQuarterly even if shortage of copy meant fewer pages.

Membership ReportDavid Anderson informed that overseas membership had fallen
by 38, although USA members had been increasing for several
years. It was suggested that the latter might be as a result of
Ed Murashie’s articles in the Quarterly and posts on the GEOSubscribers Internet forum.
A considerable number of new members stay with GEO for only asingle year, probably to obtain advantageous prices on equipment.
And of course, they can, thereafter obtain the support they requirefrom the GEO Subscribers Internet forum.
There was a suggestion from the floor that an automatic renewal
system for membership subscriptions might help the situation,
avoiding the loss of members by default. It was agreed that the
Director and Membership Secretary would look into this.
GEO Accounts
Based on last year’s figures, GEO is only just breaking even.
Costs continue to rise, and an increase in subscriptions may beneeded. There was some discussion about the merit of a two-tiermembership: full membership, with the printed Quarterly and areduced price membership to receive a downloadable version. But
there were problems with this, most notable of ensuring security:
preventing copying and sharing by non-members. Also discussed
were the possibility of engaging a cheaper printing firm andconsulting the membership on their preferences.
GEO ShopFrancis Bell proposed a vote of thanks to Carol and Clive Finnis
for running the GEO Shop, along with David Simmons. It continues
to be a success and adds considerably to GEO’s funds. Carol andClive have given notice that they wish to retire from running the
Shop at the end of this year so, with David Simmons continuingin his support role, GEO now needs someone to take care of thestock holding, ordering, despatch and financial operations.
Editor’s Report
Les Hamilton reported that, after some initial doubts over resuming
as editor, things had gone really well in compiling the December
Quarterly. Article submissions from members had arrived regularly
making the task relatively straightforward. Alas, this momentum

www.geo-web.org.uk

43

GEO Quarterly No 35

The Group for Earth Observation

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
A layer of stratocumulus
cloud over the Pacific
Ocean served as the
backdrop for this rainbowlike optical phenomenon
known as a glory. Glories,
which form when water
droplets within clouds
scatter sunlight backtoward the source of
illumination, often appear
as concentric rings ofcolour in mist or fog.
Although glories may
resemble rainbows, they
are formed differently.
Whereas rainbows areformed by refraction
and reflection, glories
are formed by backward
diffraction. The mostvivid glories form whenan observer looks downon thin clouds containing
droplets between 10 and
30 microns in diameter.
The brightest and mostcolourful glories also form
when droplets are roughly
the same size.
This this MODIS image
captured by NASA’s Aqua
satellite on June 20, 2012shows a glory over the
Pacific Ocean. In thiscase the, glory does notappear circular because
MODIS scans the Earth’s
surface in narrow swaths
perpendicular to the pathof the satellite: the swaths
show horizontal crosssections through therings of the glory, which
thus takes the form of
two elongated bands ofcolour.
Another notable feature inthis image is the streamof swirling von Karman
vortices to the right of
the glory. The alternating
double row of vortices
form in the wake of an
obstacle, in this instancethe eastern Pacific islandof Guadalupe.
NASA image courtesy Jeff
Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid
Response

44

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

GEO Quarterly No 35

A NASA Earth Observatory Report
For several months each year, Russia’s
Lake Baikal is covered by a thicklayer of ice. Formation begins in late
December, and by mid-January theentire lake is usually blanketed. Comespring, the lake begins its long, slow
melt. Patches of open water usuallyappear in the southern part in early May
and move progressively northward, but
it’s usually late June before the lastremnants of ice disappear from Baikal’s
northern reaches.
This Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image
from NASA’s Aqua satellite shows ice
breaking up in the central part of thelake in early May. Ice cover remains
solid in the north but drifting ice andlarge patches of open water are visible
throughout the southern part. The image
also shows ‘fast ice’ along the coasts—
this is ice that is anchored to the shoreand does not move with winds orcurrents. It usually persists longer than
ice that forms over deeper water.
A monitoring station at Listvyanka, about
70 kilometres southeast of Irkutsk on
the southeastern coast of Lake Baikal
has kept uninterrupted records of ice
formation and melting dating back to1869. These reveal some interesting
trends related to the timing of ice breakup, most notably that it is occurring
earlier nowadays than in the past.
In the 1870s, thawing began aroundMay 10; now it often begins in late April.
In general terms, the onset of the thaw
has advanced by half a day per decade
between 1869 and 1999.
Events at Listvyanka don’t necessarily
apply to Lake Baikal as a whole,
however. Satellite data acquired
between 1992 and 2004 by NASA’s
Jason-1 and Europe’s Envisat showed
that, over the central and northern partsof the lake, ice had been forming later,
but also breaking up later and lasting
longer overall. For the southern part ofLake Baikal, the satellite data showedthat although ice was again forming laterin the winter, the timing of the spring
breakup remained fairly constant.
The reasons for the changes are still
being debated. Air temperatures playa leading role in how long ice persists,and recent decades have seen Siberian
winters become colder in response to
the Arctic Oscillation. Other factors that
can affect how long Baikal’s ice lasts,
include wind patterns, lake currents,
clouds, snowfall, and the volume of riverwater discharged into the lake.

This image was acquired on May 4, 2012, by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response

www.geo-web.org.uk

45

GEO Quarterly No 35

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

GEO Helplines

The Group for Earth Observation

Weather Satellite Reports
If there is a single Internet Forum that isrelevant to all weather satellite enthusiasts,
it must surely be Douglas Deans’ Weather
Satellite reports.
Here you will find every conceivable type of
information about weather satellites, whether
polar or geostationary, APT, HRPT, LRIT orwhatever.
Absolutely everything is covered, and theinformation is updated every week. Special
additional bulletins may be issued if an
important change takes place mid week.

Douglas Deans

You can read the bulletins from this URL

Dunblane, Perthshire, SCOTLAND.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/
weather-satellite-reports/
or, even better, elect to have the reports sent
to you by email every Monday.

All aspects of weather satellites from APT,
HRPT to Meteosat-9 DVB/EUMETCast
systems.
• telephone:(01786) 82 28 28• e-mail: dsdeans@tiscali.co.uk
John Tellick
Surbiton, Surrey, ENGLAND.
Meteosat-9 advice: registering for the various
MSG services, hardware and software
installation and troubleshooting. John will
also field general queries about any aspect ofreceiving weather satellite transmissions.
• telephone: (0208) 390 3315
• e-mail: info@geo-web.org.uk
Geoff Morris GW3ATZ
Shotton, Flintshire, NE WALES.
Geoff has lots of experience with aerial,coax,connectors, mounting hardware etc. andhas also done a lot of work with the orbiting
satellites. Geoff has been a EUMETCast
Meteosat-9 user for some time and is familiar
with David Taylor’s MSG software. He
should be able to share his experiences with
newcomers to this branch of the hobby.
• Tel: (01244) 818252• e-mail: gw3atz@btopenworld.com
Mike Stevens
Portland, Dorset, England.
Advice and assistance offered on EUMETCast(MSG and Metop) and Envi-Ham (including
ESA’s Visat software for decoding the images).
• email: mike1g4cfz@msn.com
Guy Martin G8NFU
Biggin Hill NW Kent, ENGLAND
Guy is prepared to advise anyone who wishing
to receive MSG/Metop using Windows 2000 or
XP. Can also help with networking and ADSL
router setup.
• gmartin@electroweb.co.uk
Hector Cintron
San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
Hector is prepared to field enquiries on HRPT,
APT, EMWIN and NOAAPORT• Phone: 787-774-8657• e-mail: n1tkk@hwic.net
Email contact can of course be made at any
time, but we would ask you to respect privacy
by restricting telephone contact to the period
7.00-9.00 pm in the evenings.

46

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

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

Copy Deadline for
GEO Quarterly No 36 is
Sunday, November 4
The Editor is always delighted to receive
articles and images for inclusion in
GEO Quarterly. These can relate to any
aspect of Earth Imaging, especially• Technical articles concerning relevant
hardware and software• Construction projects• Weather satellite images• Reports on weather phenomena• Descriptions of readers’ satellite imaging
stations• Activities from overseas readers• Letters to the Editor• Problems and Queries for our experts toanswerContributions should of course be original
and, where possible, should be submitted
to the editor in electronic format (e-mailattachment, CD, DVD). But of course, wewould also accept handwritten or typed copy.
Please note, however, that major articles
which contain large numbers of satellite
images, photographs or other illustrations
should be submitted as early as possible,
so that they can be prepared and made up
into pages in time for publication.
Images and Diagrams
Images can be accepted in any of the major
bitmap formats: JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF etc.
Images in both monochrome and colour are
welcomed. Line drawings and diagrams are
preferred in WMF, EPS or postscript formats.
We can also scan original photographs,
negatives and slides.
Gridding, Overlays and Captions
Please note that readers’ satellite images
should be provided without added grid lines,
country outlines or captions unless these areconsidered essential for illustrative purposes
within an article.
If your article submission contains embedded
images and diagrams, please note that you
must also submit copies of the original
images in one of the formats describedabove: these are essential for page make-up
purposes.
Submission of Copy
Materials for publication should be sent to
the editor,
Les Hamilton
8 Deeside Place
Aberdeen AB15 7PW
ScotlandThe most efficient way to do this is by email
attachments to the following address
geoeditor@geo-web.org.uk
Particularly large attachments (8 MB andabove) can be transmitted via YouSendIt
www.yousendit.com_________________________
And finally . . .
if you do have material ready for the next
issue of GEO Quarterly, please submit it
as soon as it is ready—do not wait till thedeadline above: this will simply create an
editorial log-jam and delay publication.

September 2012

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

GEO Quarterly No 35

47

GEO Quarterly No 35

48

The Group for Earth Observation

www.geo-web.org.uk

September 2012

Mike Stevens sent us this terrific Envisat MERIS image dating from August 31, 2011, featuring the Canary Islands and part of western Africa.
Image: ESA

Mike Stevens captured a cluster of highly active thunderstorms tracking through central France towards Englandin this high-resolution Meteosat-9 image, received via EUMETCast at 13:00 UT on June 21, 2012.
Image © EUMETSAT 2012