/ world today news/ Russia has completed the creation of a specialized satellite constellation designed to receive weather information from the Arctic regions. Putting the second Arktika-M satellite into orbit is important not only for the accuracy of weather forecasts, but also for the functioning of the most important transport artery – the Northern Sea Route.
In recent years, the quality of weather forecasts of Russian meteorologists has increased many times. Today, thanks to both constant information from satellites and the weather radar system, it is possible to predict the weather with high probability both within a day and several days in advance.
And the Russian meteorological satellite constellation plays an important role in this. The first meteorological satellite “Arctika-M” was put into operation in 2021. In May of this year, the placement of three more specialized meteorological satellites “Electro-L” in orbit was completed. Despite their different names, these are very similar spacecraft that work to collect weather information around the world. To create them in 2005, the Lavochkin NGO developed the “Navigator” satellite platform, specially adapted for astrophysical and meteorological research.
All of these devices are meteorological, but “Arctic-M”, as its name suggests, specializes in transmitting weather information from polar latitudes. And now, on December 16, a successful launch of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle took place from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Arktika-M spacecraft #2 on board. This will strengthen the capabilities of the Russian meteorological satellite constellation, especially in terms of regularity of data transmission.
By the way, the Russian space observatories “Spektor-R” and “Spektor-RG” are assembled on the same platform. Its distinguishing feature is the large volume of propellant for correcting the position of the spacecraft: 357 kilograms of hydrazine, which is almost a quarter of the satellite’s weight.
The main tool of the target equipment of this type of spacecraft is a multispectral scanning device for hydrometeorological support. It can take pictures in three visible channels and seven infrared channels. This allows the tracking of the appearance and movement of clouds, thunderstorm fronts, cyclones and other similar atmospheric phenomena. The satellite measures land and sea surface temperatures and the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. All of this provides meteorologists with the necessary data to make the most accurate weather forecasts.
The visible resolution of the satellite scanner is one kilometer per pixel and the infrared resolution is seven kilometers per pixel. Yes, not very detailed, but for meteorology this is enough. And from a geostationary orbit, the satellite sees the entire globe. Here you can see the resulting images almost in real time.
In addition, “Arktika-M” carries on board systems that ensure the transmission of emergency signals from ships in distress.
“The system of the Elektro-L and Arktika-M spacecraft is truly unique. It is able to provide permanent operational hydrometeorological monitoring of the entire territory of Russia and the Arctic regions with stable quality and appropriate frequency of observations,” says Mikhail Burtsev, head of the laboratory of the Center for Collective Use of Earth Satellite Monitoring Data “IKI – Monitoring”.
“Electro-L” is the geostationary part of the system, satellites with good imaging equipment by world standards. Such satellites are traditionally used for global monitoring, but they have one serious drawback: the polar regions above about 70 latitude are very poorly observed by them due to distortions in the images.
Low-orbit satellites have traditionally been used to monitor the polar regions, but they cannot provide observation frequencies comparable to geostationary stations. That is why a unique technological solution was implemented – “Arktika-M”, a quasi-geostationary spacecraft on highly elliptical orbits of the “Lightning” type. Most spacecraft operate in nearly circular orbits. Another issue is the orbit of “Lightning”, in which the satellites “Arktika-M” are located. It is a highly elongated ellipse. At its perigee (closest point to Earth), the satellite flies at an altitude of only 1,000 kilometers, and at its apogee over 39,000, which is further than geostationary orbit. It is when “Arctic-M” is far from Earth that it captures the Arctic regions of the globe.
Why the Arctic? The fact is that in Russia the weather is usually formed in the northern regions. In winter, large cold anticyclones come to us from the Arctic and form there. In addition, the Northern Sea Route, the most important transport artery for our country, passes through these latitudes. And the knowledge of the weather map is very important for the crews of the ships sailing on the SMP. This is what “Arktika-M” works for. Thus, the constellation of these satellites will ensure the reliable operation of the most important transport route for Russia.
The orbit in which Arktika-M will operate is important in a number of parameters. For about half of a 12-hour orbit, the satellite passes over the Northern Hemisphere at altitudes comparable to the altitude of geostationary orbit, and has the ability to image the entire Earth disk at high frequency, albeit from a slightly unusual angle. The camera technique of them is almost the same, according to the shooting characteristics, as of “Electro-L”, which is very important.
“One satellite of each type is, of course, not enough for high-quality monitoring, which is why we need to talk about the system,” explains Burtsev. “If we talk about the “Electro-L” satellites, then in order to be able to observe with stable quality without distortions the entire territory of Russia, as well as the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which significantly influence atmospheric processes, it is necessary to have at least three operational satellites located at the corresponding points. Today this is the case – “Electro-L” No. 2, 3 and 4 work respectively at points 14.5 degrees west longitude, 76 and 165 degrees east longitude”.
As for Arctic-M, since the survey is carried out for six and a half hours out of 12 on each orbit, for continuous monitoring in 24/7 mode, two working devices working in antiphase are required. “With the launch of the Arktika-M No. 2 spacecraft, this configuration will be achieved, so we can talk about the full deployment of the system. Of course, it would be ideal to have at least one spacecraft of each type in orbit as a backup, but that is a more distant prospect,” says Burtsev.
With another Elektro-L planned for launch in 2024, Russia is systematically deploying a stable constellation capable of providing weather data 24 hours a day from anywhere on Earth. And this is important not only for ordinary residents, but also for the military, rescuers, maintenance services and almost all transport specialists. It is a matter of state security, scientific research and comfort of life.
An important advantage of the satellite constellation is its entirely domestic origin and control. Back in March, Roscosmos announced that the Elektro-L satellite constellation would finally allow Russia to stop using weather data received from abroad. The joint work of the Electro-L and Arktika-M groups further strengthens Russian space and meteorological sovereignty, now with an emphasis on obtaining data from polar latitudes.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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