FY-3 Series

Introduction

FengYun-3, or FY-3 satellites, are China's second generation polar-orbiting meteorological satellites, with substantively enhanced functionalities and technical capabilities. They are designed to enhance China's three dimensional atmospheric sounding capability and global data acquisition capability, in an effort to collect more cloud and surface characteristics data, from which meteorologists may infer out atmospheric, land surface and sea surface parameters that are global, all-weather, three-dimensional, quantitative, and multi-spectral.

FY-3 meteorological satellites have their applications mainly in the following four aspects:

  • Provide global meteorological parameters with a balanced resolution to numerical weather prediction.
  • Provide diverse meteorological and geophysical parameters to global change studies, including climate variation studies, and to climate projections.
  • Monitor large-scale natural disasters and surface ecological environment.
  • Provide weather information on any part of the world for specialized activities, including aviation, marine activities among others, and provide meteorological support for national defense.

Status

Satellite Launch End of Service Status ECT

Development

FY-3 satellites are developed and manufactured in three groups. FY-3A and FY-3B in the first group were launched on May 17, 2008 and November 5, 2010, respectively. With a further enhanced remote sensing capability. The second group of FY-3 satellites were launched in 2013 andd 2017, with a life expectancy for 15 years. The third group of FY-3 satellites were launched from 2021.

Instruments

Type Purpose Name FY-3A/B FY-3C FY-3D FY-3E (EM) FY-3F FY-3G (RM) FY-3H
Optical Imagery MERSI (I) (I) (II) (LL) (III) (RM) (III)
VIRR
Passive microwave Imagery MWRI (I) (I) (I) (II) (RM) (II)
Sounding MWTS (I) (II) (II) (III) (II) (III)
MWHS (I) (II) (II) (II) (II) (II)
Active microwave Sounding WindRAD
PMR
Occultation Sounding GNOS (I) (I) (II) (II) (II) (II)
Hyperspectral Sounding IRAS
HIRAS (I) (II) (II) (II)
Trace gases GAS
SBUS
TOU
OMS (N / L)
Radiation Earth radiation budget ERM (I) (I) (II)
SIM (I) (II) (II) (II)
SSIM
Space weather SEM (I) (I) (I) (II) (II) (II) (II)
WAI
IPM Tri-IPM
X-EUVI

Products

Satellite Datasets
FY-3G FY-3G datasets
FY-3E FY-3E datasets
FY-3D FY-3D datasets
FY-3C FY-3C datasets
FY-3B FY-3B datasets
FY-3A FY-3A datasets
FY-3G

FY-3G

FY-3E

FY-3E

FY-3D

FY-3D

FY-3C

FY-3C

FY-3A/B

FY-3A/B