What meteorological satellites are there in China?

Since 1970s, China has started to develop meteorological satellites. After more than 40 years of development, it has become one of the few countries with both polar orbit meteorological satellites and geostationary orbit meteorological satellites. Among them, polar orbit meteorological satellite series includes Fengyun-1 and Fengyun-3, and geostationary orbit meteorological satellite series includes Fengyun-2 and Fengyun-4.

The polar-orbiting meteorological satellite has an orbital altitude of 800- 1000 km and passes through the north and south poles of the earth. According to reports, they can circle the earth 14 times a day, that is, they can observe the earth twice without covering. At the same time, scientific instruments carried on the satellite can observe geophysical parameters around the world, including changes in atmospheric humidity and temperature, which plays an important role in climate change.

The geostationary meteorological satellite has an orbital altitude of about 36,000 kilometers. Because it runs synchronously with the earth's rotation, the satellite is stationary to people on the ground. It can observe a fixed area at high frequency, that is, watch real-time weather. China launched its first Fengyun-4 satellite on 20 16. As the second generation geostationary satellite, Fengyun-4 has greatly improved its performance and played a greater role in weather forecasting and other fields. The Fengyun-2 H satellite launched this time is the last satellite in the first generation geostationary orbit Fengyun-2 series. Its successful launch means that the upgrading of China geostationary meteorological satellite has started in an all-round way. Source: CCTV news client