[2-4] Special

Status of Next Generation Japanese Geostationary Meteorological Satellites Himawari-8 and its Applications

K. Bessho (Meteorological Satellite Center)

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has launched Himawari-8, which is a next generation Japanese geostationary meteorological satellites following to the currently operational satellite MTSAT-2 (Himawari-7), on 7 Oct. 2014 and will commence its operation in the middle of 2015.

Himawari-8 carries Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) unit comparable to the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on board GOES-R, which is also the next generation satellite planned to be launched by the United States. The observing functions of AHI will be enhanced from those of MTSAT-2.

Using the multi-channel capacity (16 channels) and high spatial resolution (0.5-1.0 km for visible bands and 1-2 km for infrared bands) of AHI, Himawari-8 will offer high observation potential which will enable users to analyze cloud properties deeply. When combined with fast revisit times (~10 minutes for full-disk and ~2.5 minutes for sectored region), it will provide a new level of capacity to identify and track rapidly changing weather phenomena such as genesis, development and decay of cumulonimbus and contribute to the improvement of prediction of localized heavy rain.

In this presentation, general description of Himawari-8 will be presented, and its products and applications for severe weather analysis and prediction.