SA to benefit from world’s most advanced weather satellite
The Bureau of Meteorology has unveiled spectacular vision from a new weather satellite, which it say is the most advanced in the world.
The satellite – Himawari-8 – vastly increases the resolution of images, the amount of data fed into the bureau’s supercomputer and the frequency at which images are sent.
According to the bureau, the impact of switching to the Japanese satellite will be enormous for the community, improving the capability of emergency services and weather forecasting into the future.
It will also be nirvana for the many weather-watchers in the general public.
“Himawari-8 is one giant leap in satellite meteorology: it’s like switching from black and white TV to high definition colour in one jump,” said bureau CEO Dr Rob Vertessy.
You might like
“Or you could compare it to switching from the grainy images of the silent era to IMAX.
“You can see unfolding weather in detail we’ve only dreamed of in the past. But it’s more than just eye- candy for our forecasters.”
“Himawari-8 generates about 50 times more data than the previous satellite. Our forecasters now have access to 16 observation wavebands that capture important detail from many layers of the atmosphere.
Stay informed, daily
“Previously we received a satellite image just once every hour, now we get a detailed scan of our part of the globe every 10 minutes.
“It brings the conditions on earth to life.
“It’s very much like putting on a pair of glasses, and suddenly things are coming into focus.”
SA Bureau Director John Nairne told InDaily the new satellite would be a huge help for emergency services, particularly during bushfire season.
“That sort of data, updated on a ten minute basis will be incredibly valuable to the community in terms of determining fire as it’s evolving.
“Can you imagine the Sampson Flat fire thumping away, and a Southern Ocean cool change is coming up to the fire.
“You (would be able to) see where that change is and time it’s coming, down to the minute virtually.
“(Firefighters) can see this imagery on their mobile devices.
“Any time we can improve people’s understanding and appreciation that an event is unfolding and really impacting them, they will make better decisions.”
Want to see more stories from InDailySA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDailySA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDailySA". That's it.
