Fengyun Meteorological Satellite Products for Earth System Science Applications

With the progress of satellite data assimilation in the 1990s, a combination of meteorological satellites and numerical models has changed the way scientists understand the earth. With the evolution of the numerical weather prediction models to the earth system models, meteorological satellites will play a more important role in the Earth sciences in the future. As part of the space-based infrastructure, the Fengyun (FY) meteorological satellites have contributed to Earth science sustainably studies through an open data policy and a stable data quality since the first launch of the FY-1A satellite in 1988. The capability of earth system monitoring was greatly enhanced after the second-generation polar orbiting FY-3 satellites and geostationary orbiting FY-4 satellites were developed. Meanwhile, the quality of the products generated from the FY-3 and FY-4 satellites are comparable to the well-known MODIS products.FY satellite data have been utilized broadly in weather forecasting, climate and climate change investigations, environmental disaster monitoring, etc. This article reviewed the instruments mounted on the FY satellites. Sensor-dependent level 1 products (radiance data) and inversion algorithm-dependent level 2 products (geophysical parameters) have been introduced. As an example, some typical geophysical parameters, such as wild fires, lightning, vegetation indices and aerosol products, have been demonstrated and validated by in situ observations and other well-known satellite products. To help users access the FY products, a set of data sharing systems have been developed and operated. The newly developed data sharing system based on cloud technology has been illustrated to improve the efficiency of data delivery.