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125-543: The Fucino Space Centre is the largest teleport in the world for civilian uses used for the control of artificial satellites , for telecommunications and for hosting , television and network services multimedia . Located in the Fucino plain in Abruzzo within the municipal area of Ortucchio , near Avezzano ( AQ ), central-east Italy, it is named after the engineer Piero Fanti, first director of Telespazio , and managed by

250-591: A Diamant A rocket launched from the CIEES site at Hammaguir , Algeria . With Astérix, France became the sixth country to have an artificial satellite. Early satellites were built to unique designs. With advancements in technology, multiple satellites began to be built on single model platforms called satellite buses . The first standardized satellite bus design was the HS-333 geosynchronous (GEO) communication satellite launched in 1972. Beginning in 1997, FreeFlyer

375-787: A Lissajous orbit ). Earth observation satellites gather information for reconnaissance , mapping , monitoring the weather , ocean, forest, etc. Space telescopes take advantage of outer space's near perfect vacuum to observe objects with the entire electromagnetic spectrum . Because satellites can see a large portion of the Earth at once, communications satellites can relay information to remote places. The signal delay from satellites and their orbit's predictability are used in satellite navigation systems, such as GPS. Space probes are satellites designed for robotic space exploration outside of Earth, and space stations are in essence crewed satellites. The first artificial satellite launched into

500-414: A catalyst . The most commonly used propellant mixtures on satellites are hydrazine -based monopropellants or monomethylhydrazine – dinitrogen tetroxide bipropellants. Ion thrusters on satellites usually are Hall-effect thrusters , which generate thrust by accelerating positive ions through a negatively-charged grid. Ion propulsion is more efficient propellant-wise than chemical propulsion but its thrust

625-745: A pulse Doppler weather radar is used then wind speed and direction can be determined. These methods, however, leave an in-situ observational gap in the lower atmosphere (from 100 m to 6 km above ground level). To reduce this gap, in the late 1990s weather drones started to be considered for obtaining data from those altitudes. Research has been growing significantly since the 2010s, and weather-drone data may in future be added to numerical weather models. Commerce provides pilot reports along aircraft routes, and ship reports along shipping routes. Research flights using reconnaissance aircraft fly in and around weather systems of interest such as tropical cyclones . Reconnaissance aircraft are also flown over

750-456: A standardized bus to save cost and work, the most popular of which are small CubeSats . Similar satellites can work together as groups, forming constellations . Because of the high launch cost to space, most satellites are designed to be as lightweight and robust as possible. Most communication satellites are radio relay stations in orbit and carry dozens of transponders, each with a bandwidth of tens of megahertz. Satellites are placed from

875-409: A transponder ; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth . Communications satellites are used for television , telephone , radio , internet , and military applications. Many communications satellites are in geostationary orbit 22,236 miles (35,785 km) above the equator , so that the satellite appears stationary at

1000-420: A 24-hour cable network devoted to national and local weather reports. Some weather channels have started broadcasting on live streaming platforms such as YouTube and Periscope to reach more viewers. The basic idea of numerical weather prediction is to sample the state of the fluid at a given time and use the equations of fluid dynamics and thermodynamics to estimate the state of the fluid at some time in

1125-591: A Satellite Vehicle", by R. R. Carhart. This expanded on potential scientific uses for satellite vehicles and was followed in June 1955 with "The Scientific Use of an Artificial Satellite", by H. K. Kallmann and W. W. Kellogg. The first artificial satellite was Sputnik 1 , launched by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 under the Sputnik program , with Sergei Korolev as chief designer. Sputnik 1 helped to identify

1250-453: A U.S. Scout rocket from Wallops Island (Virginia, United States) with an Italian launch team trained by NASA . In similar occasions, almost all further first national satellites were launched by foreign rockets. France was the third country to launch a satellite on its own rocket. On 26 November 1965, the Astérix or A-1 (initially conceptualized as FR.2 or FR-2), was put into orbit by

1375-416: A daily average temperature of 65 °F (18 °C). Cooler temperatures force heating degree days (one per degree Fahrenheit), while warmer temperatures force cooling degree days. In winter, severe cold weather can cause a surge in demand as people turn up their heating. Similarly, in summer a surge in demand can be linked with the increased use of air conditioning systems in hot weather. By anticipating

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1500-470: A difficult technique to use is that there is rarely a perfect analog for an event in the future. Some call this type of forecasting pattern recognition. It remains a useful method of observing rainfall over data voids such as oceans, as well as the forecasting of precipitation amounts and distribution in the future. A similar technique is used in medium range forecasting, which is known as teleconnections, when systems in other locations are used to help pin down

1625-442: A finite differencing scheme in time and space could be devised, to allow numerical prediction solutions to be found. Richardson envisioned a large auditorium of thousands of people performing the calculations and passing them to others. However, the sheer number of calculations required was too large to be completed without the use of computers, and the size of the grid and time steps led to unrealistic results in deepening systems. It

1750-525: A given day. Since outdoor activities are severely curtailed by heavy rain, snow and wind chill , forecasts can be used to plan activities around these events, and to plan ahead and survive them. Weather forecasting is a part of the economy. For example in 2009, the US spent approximately $ 5.8 billion on it, producing benefits estimated at six times as much. In 650 BC, the Babylonians predicted

1875-408: A line of thunderstorms could indicate the approach of a cold front . Cloud-free skies are indicative of fair weather for the near future. A bar can indicate a coming tropical cyclone. The use of sky cover in weather prediction has led to various weather lore over the centuries. The forecasting of the weather for the following six hours is often referred to as nowcasting. In this time range it

2000-469: A range of two weeks or more cannot definitively predict the state of the atmosphere, owing to the chaotic nature of the fluid dynamics equations involved. In numerical models, extremely small errors in initial values double roughly every five days for variables such as temperature and wind velocity. Essentially, a model is a computer program that produces meteorological information for future times at given locations and altitudes. Within any modern model

2125-418: A satellite's lifetime. Resource use is difficult to monitor and quantify for satellites and launch vehicles due to their commercially sensitive nature. However, aluminium is a preferred metal in satellite construction due to its lightweight and relative cheapness and typically constitutes around 40% of a satellite's mass. Through mining and refining, aluminium has numerous negative environmental impacts and

2250-399: A short time into the future. The equations are then applied to this new atmospheric state to find new rates of change, which predict the atmosphere at a yet further time into the future. This time stepping procedure is continually repeated until the solution reaches the desired forecast time. The length of the time step chosen within the model is related to the distance between the points on

2375-567: A small parabolic antenna, began on 28 June, 1965 9.14 meters in diameter, which could only operate on weekends also due to the limitation of the first commercial satellite sent into orbit, the Intelsat I . In 1966 the first large 27-meter satellite dish was erected in the Fucino and entered service in August 1967, a few days before the official inauguration of the space center on 28 September, which

2500-517: A spring freeze. Orange groves can suffer significant damage during frosts and freezes, regardless of their timing. Forecasting of wind, precipitation and humidity is essential for preventing and controlling wildfires . Indices such as the Forest fire weather index and the Haines Index , have been developed to predict the areas more at risk of fire from natural or human causes. Conditions for

2625-411: A surge in demand, utility companies can purchase additional supplies of power or natural gas before the price increases, or in some circumstances, supplies are restricted through the use of brownouts and blackouts . Increasingly, private companies pay for weather forecasts tailored to their needs so that they can increase their profits or avoid large losses. For example, supermarket chains may change

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2750-449: A thin cable called a tether . Recovery satellites are satellites that provide a recovery of reconnaissance, biological, space-production and other payloads from orbit to Earth. Biosatellites are satellites designed to carry living organisms, generally for scientific experimentation. Space-based solar power satellites are proposed satellites that would collect energy from sunlight and transmit it for use on Earth or other places. Since

2875-600: A thought experiment by Isaac Newton to explain the motion of natural satellites , in his Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687). The first fictional depiction of a satellite being launched into orbit was a short story by Edward Everett Hale , " The Brick Moon " (1869). The idea surfaced again in Jules Verne 's The Begum's Fortune (1879). In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935) published Exploring Space Using Jet Propulsion Devices , which

3000-400: Is a commercial off-the-shelf software application for satellite mission analysis, design, and operations. After the late 2010s, and especially after the advent and operational fielding of large satellite internet constellations —where on-orbit active satellites more than doubled over a period of five years—the companies building the constellations began to propose regular planned deorbiting of

3125-585: Is a set of equations, known as the primitive equations, used to predict the future state of the atmosphere. These equations—along with the ideal gas law —are used to evolve the density , pressure , and potential temperature scalar fields and the velocity vector field of the atmosphere through time. Additional transport equations for pollutants and other aerosols are included in some primitive-equation mesoscale models as well. The equations used are nonlinear partial differential equations, which are impossible to solve exactly through analytical methods, with

3250-611: Is being made (the range of the forecast) increases. The use of ensembles and model consensus helps narrow the error and provide confidence in the forecast. There is a vast variety of end uses for weather forecasts. Weather warnings are important because they are used to protect lives and property. Forecasts based on temperature and precipitation are important to agriculture, and therefore to traders within commodity markets. Temperature forecasts are used by utility companies to estimate demand over coming days. On an everyday basis, many people use weather forecasts to determine what to wear on

3375-610: Is currently unclear. The visibility of man-made objects in the night sky may also impact people's linkages with the world, nature, and culture. At all points of a satellite's lifetime, its movement and processes are monitored on the ground through a network of facilities. The environmental cost of the infrastructure as well as day-to-day operations is likely to be quite high, but quantification requires further investigation. Particular threats arise from uncontrolled de-orbit. Some notable satellite failures that polluted and dispersed radioactive materials are Kosmos 954 , Kosmos 1402 and

3500-399: Is dependent on rocket design and fuel type. The amount of green house gases emitted by rockets is considered trivial as it contributes significantly less, around 0.01%, than the aviation industry yearly which itself accounts for 2-3% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. Rocket emissions in the stratosphere and their effects are only beginning to be studied and it is likely that

3625-473: Is deployed for military or intelligence purposes, it is known as a spy satellite or reconnaissance satellite. Their uses include early missile warning, nuclear explosion detection, electronic reconnaissance, and optical or radar imaging surveillance. Navigational satellites are satellites that use radio time signals transmitted to enable mobile receivers on the ground to determine their exact location. The relatively clear line of sight between

3750-411: Is due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere; the massive computational power required to solve the equations that describe the atmosphere, the land, and the ocean; the error involved in measuring the initial conditions; and an incomplete understanding of atmospheric and related processes. Hence, forecasts become less accurate as the difference between the current time and the time for which the forecast

3875-424: Is known for a Minute-Cast, which is a minute-by-minute precipitation forecast for the next two hours. In the past, human forecasters were responsible for generating the weather forecast based upon available observations. Today, human input is generally confined to choosing a model based on various parameters, such as model biases and performance. Using a consensus of forecast models, as well as ensemble members of

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4000-517: Is most used in archaeology , cartography , environmental monitoring , meteorology , and reconnaissance applications. As of 2021, there are over 950 Earth observation satellites, with the largest number of satellites operated with Planet Labs . Weather satellites monitor clouds , city lights , fires , effects of pollution , auroras , sand and dust storms , snow cover, ice mapping, boundaries of ocean currents , energy flows, etc. Environmental monitoring satellites can detect changes in

4125-581: Is one of the most carbon-intensive metals. Satellite manufacturing also requires rare elements such as lithium , gold , and gallium , some of which have significant environmental consequences linked to their mining and processing and/or are in limited supply. Launch vehicles require larger amounts of raw materials to manufacture and the booster stages are usually dropped into the ocean after fuel exhaustion. They are not normally recovered. Two empty boosters used for Ariane 5 , which were composed mainly of steel, weighed around 38 tons each, to give an idea of

4250-399: Is only feasible in dry weather. Prolonged periods of dryness can ruin cotton, wheat, and corn crops. While corn crops can be ruined by drought, their dried remains can be used as a cattle feed substitute in the form of silage . Frosts and freezes play havoc with crops both during the spring and fall. For example, peach trees in full bloom can have their potential peach crop decimated by

4375-583: Is possible to forecast smaller features such as individual showers and thunderstorms with reasonable accuracy, as well as other features too small to be resolved by a computer model. A human given the latest radar, satellite and observational data will be able to make a better analysis of the small scale features present and so will be able to make a more accurate forecast for the following few hours. However, there are now expert systems using those data and mesoscale numerical model to make better extrapolation, including evolution of those features in time. Accuweather

4500-567: Is run out to 10 days into the future, while the Global Forecast System model run by the Environmental Modeling Center is run 16 days into the future. The visual output produced by a model solution is known as a prognostic chart , or prog . The raw output is often modified before being presented as the forecast. This can be in the form of statistical techniques to remove known biases in

4625-430: Is the chemical propellant used which then releases ammonia , hydrogen and nitrogen as gas into the upper atmosphere. Also, the environment of the outer atmosphere causes the degradation of exterior materials. The atomic oxygen in the upper atmosphere oxidises hydrocarbon-based polymers like Kapton , Teflon and Mylar that are used to insulate and protect the satellite which then emits gasses like CO 2 and CO into

4750-425: Is very small (around 0.5 N or 0.1 lb f ), and thus requires a longer burn time. The thrusters usually use xenon because it is inert , can be easily ionized , has a high atomic mass and storable as a high-pressure liquid. Most satellites use solar panels to generate power, and a few in deep space with limited sunlight use radioisotope thermoelectric generators . Slip rings attach solar panels to

4875-912: The American Rocket Society , the National Science Foundation , and the International Geophysical Year, the Army and Navy worked on Project Orbiter with two competing programs. The army used the Jupiter C rocket , while the civilian–Navy program used the Vanguard rocket to launch a satellite. Explorer 1 became the United States' first artificial satellite, on 31 January 1958. The information sent back from its radiation detector led to

5000-586: The Chinese military shot down an aging weather satellite, followed by the US Navy shooting down a defunct spy satellite in February 2008. On 18 November 2015, after two failed attempts, Russia successfully carried out a flight test of an anti-satellite missile known as Nudol . On 27 March 2019, India shot down a live test satellite at 300 km altitude in 3 minutes, becoming the fourth country to have

5125-717: The Galileo Positioning System , a structure for navigation, control, satellite positioning and management of about 40 earth stations. Satellite This is an accepted version of this page A satellite or artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft , placed into orbit around a celestial body . They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting , navigation ( GPS ), broadcasting , scientific research, and Earth observation. Additional military uses are reconnaissance, early warning , signals intelligence and, potentially, weapon delivery. Other satellites include

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5250-627: The Netherlands , Norway , Pakistan , Poland , Russia , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , Spain , Switzerland , Thailand , Turkey , Ukraine , the United Kingdom and the United States , had some satellites in orbit. Japan's space agency (JAXA) and NASA plan to send a wooden satellite prototype called LingoSat into orbit in the summer of 2024. They have been working on this project for few years and sent first wood samples to

5375-568: The New Testament , Jesus is quoted as referring to deciphering and understanding local weather patterns, by saying, "When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red', and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times." In 904 AD, Ibn Wahshiyya 's Nabatean Agriculture , translated into Arabic from an earlier Aramaic work, discussed

5500-470: The Transit 5-BN-3 . When in a controlled manner satellites reach the end of life they are intentionally deorbited or moved to a graveyard orbit further away from Earth in order to reduce space debris . Physical collection or removal is not economical or even currently possible. Moving satellites out to a graveyard orbit is also unsustainable because they remain there for hundreds of years. It will lead to

5625-576: The White House announced on 29 July 1955 that the U.S. intended to launch satellites by the spring of 1958. This became known as Project Vanguard . On 31 July, the Soviet Union announced its intention to launch a satellite by the fall of 1957. Sputnik 2 was launched on 3 November 1957 and carried the first living passenger into orbit, a dog named Laika . The dog was sent without possibility of return. In early 1955, after being pressured by

5750-457: The Earth's vegetation , atmospheric trace gas content, sea state, ocean color, and ice fields. By monitoring vegetation changes over time, droughts can be monitored by comparing the current vegetation state to its long term average. Anthropogenic emissions can be monitored by evaluating data of tropospheric NO 2 and SO 2 . A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via

5875-417: The Earth's orbit was the Soviet Union 's Sputnik 1 , on October 4, 1957. As of December 31, 2022, there are 6,718 operational satellites in the Earth's orbit, of which 4,529 belong to the United States (3,996 commercial), 590 belong to China, 174 belong to Russia, and 1,425 belong to other nations. The first published mathematical study of the possibility of an artificial satellite was Newton's cannonball ,

6000-500: The Earth, called remote sensing . Most Earth observation satellites are placed in low Earth orbit for a high data resolution, though some are placed in a geostationary orbit for an uninterrupted coverage. Some satellites are placed in a Sun-synchronous orbit to have consistent lighting and obtain a total view of the Earth. Depending on the satellites' functions, they might have a normal camera , radar , lidar , photometer , or atmospheric instruments. Earth observation satellite's data

6125-468: The Fucino plain in the locality of Cintarella, in the municipality of Ortucchio. Following the positive outcome of the experimental phase, the first antenna was established in 1964 which became the symbol of modern industry at a time when the historic sugar refinery in Avezzano was progressively dismantled, which represented the first industrial-type initiative launched in territory of Marsica . In 1965

6250-499: The Fucino space station was opened to satellite communications with the modification of the first small experimental antenna which was adapted for primary telemetry and remote control services. On 6 April 1965, the first commercial telecommunications satellite was launched with which the commercial telephone and television service between the Andover station in the United States and the newly formed Fucino station, still equipped with

6375-553: The Moon and the Sun. Satellites utilize ultra-white reflective coatings to prevent damage from UV radiation. Without orbit and orientation control, satellites in orbit will not be able to communicate with ground stations on the Earth. Chemical thrusters on satellites usually use monopropellant (one-part) or bipropellant (two-parts) that are hypergolic . Hypergolic means able to combust spontaneously when in contact with each other or to

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6500-538: The atmosphere will change at a given place. Once calculated manually based mainly upon changes in barometric pressure , current weather conditions, and sky conditions or cloud cover, weather forecasting now relies on computer-based models that take many atmospheric factors into account. Human input is still required to pick the best possible model to base the forecast upon, which involves pattern recognition skills, teleconnections , knowledge of model performance, and knowledge of model biases. The inaccuracy of forecasting

6625-455: The atmosphere. Given the current surge in satellites in the sky, soon hundreds of satellites may be clearly visible to the human eye at dark sites. It is estimated that the overall levels of diffuse brightness of the night skies has increased by up to 10% above natural levels. This has the potential to confuse organisms, like insects and night-migrating birds, that use celestial patterns for migration and orientation. The impact this might have

6750-603: The atmosphere. For example, SpaceX Starlink satellites, the first large satellite internet constellation to exceed 1000 active satellites on orbit in 2020, are designed to be 100% demisable and burn up completely on their atmospheric reentry at the end of their life, or in the event of an early satellite failure. In different periods, many countries, such as Algeria , Argentina , Australia , Austria , Brazil , Canada , Chile , China , Denmark , Egypt , Finland , France , Germany , India , Iran , Israel , Italy , Japan , Kazakhstan , South Korea , Malaysia , Mexico ,

6875-400: The aviation industry is especially sensitive to the weather, accurate weather forecasting is essential. Fog or exceptionally low ceilings can prevent many aircraft from landing and taking off. Turbulence and icing are also significant in-flight hazards. Thunderstorms are a problem for all aircraft because of severe turbulence due to their updrafts and outflow boundaries , icing due to

7000-447: The capability to destroy live satellites. The environmental impact of satellites is not currently well understood as they were previously assumed to be benign due to the rarity of satellite launches. However, the exponential increase and projected growth of satellite launches are bringing the issue into consideration. The main issues are resource use and the release of pollutants into the atmosphere which can happen at different stages of

7125-468: The computational grid, and is chosen to maintain numerical stability . Time steps for global models are on the order of tens of minutes, while time steps for regional models are between one and four minutes. The global models are run at varying times into the future. The Met Office 's Unified Model is run six days into the future, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model

7250-504: The condition of the sky is one of the more important parameters used to forecast weather in mountainous areas. Thickening of cloud cover or the invasion of a higher cloud deck is indicative of rain in the near future. High thin cirrostratus clouds can create halos around the sun or moon , which indicates an approach of a warm front and its associated rain. Morning fog portends fair conditions, as rainy conditions are preceded by wind or clouds that prevent fog formation. The approach of

7375-444: The conditions to expect en route and at their destination. Additionally, airports often change which runway is being used to take advantage of a headwind . This reduces the distance required for takeoff, and eliminates potential crosswinds . Commercial and recreational use of waterways can be limited significantly by wind direction and speed, wave periodicity and heights, tides, and precipitation. These factors can each influence

7500-551: The density of high atmospheric layers through measurement of its orbital change and provided data on radio-signal distribution in the ionosphere . The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1's success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the so-called Space Race within the Cold War . In the context of activities planned for the International Geophysical Year (1957–1958),

7625-481: The depth of the troposphere and well into the stratosphere . Data from weather satellites are used in areas where traditional data sources are not available. Compared with similar data from radiosondes, the satellite data has the advantage of global coverage, but at a lower accuracy and resolution. Meteorological radar provide information on precipitation location and intensity, which can be used to estimate precipitation accumulations over time. Additionally, if

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7750-400: The development of harmful insects can also be predicted by forecasting the weather. Electricity and gas companies rely on weather forecasts to anticipate demand, which can be strongly affected by the weather. They use the quantity termed the degree day to determine how strong of a use there will be for heating ( heating degree day ) or cooling (cooling degree day). These quantities are based on

7875-519: The development of programmable electronic computers. The first ever daily weather forecasts were published in The Times on August 1, 1861, and the first weather maps were produced later in the same year. In 1911, the Met Office began issuing the first marine weather forecasts via radio transmission. These included gale and storm warnings for areas around Great Britain. In the United States,

8000-546: The discovery of the Earth's Van Allen radiation belts . The TIROS-1 spacecraft, launched on April 1, 1960, as part of NASA's Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) program, sent back the first television footage of weather patterns to be taken from space. In June 1961, three and a half years after the launch of Sputnik 1, the United States Space Surveillance Network cataloged 115 Earth-orbiting satellites. While Canada

8125-484: The earth's climate. After deorbiting 70% of satellites end up in the ocean and are rarely recovered. Using wood as an alternative material has been posited in order to reduce pollution and debris from satellites that reenter the atmosphere. Space debris pose dangers to the spacecraft (including satellites) in or crossing geocentric orbits and have the potential to drive a Kessler syndrome which could potentially curtail humanity from conducting space endeavors in

8250-420: The exception of a few idealized cases. Therefore, numerical methods obtain approximate solutions. Different models use different solution methods: some global models use spectral methods for the horizontal dimensions and finite difference methods for the vertical dimension, while regional and other global models usually use finite-difference methods in all three dimensions. The simplest method of forecasting

8375-419: The final rocket stages that place satellites in orbit and formerly useful satellites that later become defunct. Except for passive satellites , most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Most satellites also have a method of communication to ground stations , called transponders . Many satellites use

8500-718: The first public radio forecasts were made in 1925 by Edward B. "E.B." Rideout, on WEEI , the Edison Electric Illuminating station in Boston. Rideout came from the U.S. Weather Bureau , as did WBZ weather forecaster G. Harold Noyes in 1931. The world's first televised weather forecasts, including the use of weather maps, were experimentally broadcast by the BBC in November 1936. This was brought into practice in 1949, after World War II . George Cowling gave

8625-821: The first weather forecast while being televised in front of the map in 1954. In America, experimental television forecasts were made by James C. Fidler in Cincinnati in either 1940 or 1947 on the DuMont Television Network . In the late 1970s and early 1980s, John Coleman , the first weatherman for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)'s Good Morning America , pioneered the use of on-screen weather satellite data and computer graphics for television forecasts. In 1982, Coleman partnered with Landmark Communications CEO Frank Batten to launch The Weather Channel (TWC),

8750-444: The further pollution of space and future issues with space debris. When satellites deorbit much of it is destroyed during re-entry into the atmosphere due to the heat. This introduces more material and pollutants into the atmosphere. There have been concerns expressed about the potential damage to the ozone layer and the possibility of increasing the earth's albedo , reducing warming but also resulting in accidental geoengineering of

8875-461: The future. Weather forecasting Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th century. Weather forecasts are made by collecting quantitative data about the current state of the atmosphere, land, and ocean and using meteorology to project how

9000-566: The future. The main inputs from country-based weather services are surface observations from automated weather stations at ground level over land and from weather buoys at sea. The World Meteorological Organization acts to standardize the instrumentation, observing practices and timing of these observations worldwide. Stations either report hourly in METAR reports, or every six hours in SYNOP reports. Sites launch radiosondes , which rise through

9125-428: The generations to produce weather lore . However, not all of these predictions prove reliable, and many of them have since been found not to stand up to rigorous statistical testing. It was not until the invention of the electric telegraph in 1835 that the modern age of weather forecasting began. Before that, the fastest that distant weather reports could travel was around 160 kilometres per day (100 mi/d), but

9250-646: The globe, to provide accurate and timely weather and oceanographic information to submarines, ships and Fleet Air Arm aircraft. A mobile unit in the Royal Air Force , working with the Met Office, forecasts the weather for regions in which British and allied armed forces are deployed. A group based at Camp Bastion used to provide forecasts for the British armed forces in Afghanistan . Similar to

9375-504: The granting of the exclusive license by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications , the construction of the first plants used for the experimentation of satellite telecommunications between Europe and the United States was started, in a favorable territory from an orographic and electromagnetic point of view. The experimentation began at the end of 1962 through some small antennas of the radio link installed on three mobile vans parked in

9500-497: The ground). Some imaging satellites chose a Sun-synchronous orbit because they can scan the entire globe with similar lighting. As the number of satellites and space debris around Earth increases, the threat of collision has become more severe. A small number of satellites orbit other bodies (such as the Moon , Mars , and the Sun ) or many bodies at once (two for a halo orbit , three for

9625-417: The heavy precipitation, as well as large hail , strong winds, and lightning, all of which can cause severe damage to an aircraft in flight. Volcanic ash is also a significant problem for aviation, as aircraft can lose engine power within ash clouds. On a day-to-day basis airliners are routed to take advantage of the jet stream tailwind to improve fuel efficiency. Aircrews are briefed prior to takeoff on

9750-412: The impact of regulated ozone-depleting substances. Whilst emissions of water vapour are largely deemed as inert, H 2 O is the source gas for HO x and can also contribute to ozone loss through the formation of ice particles. Black carbon particles emitted by rockets can absorb solar radiation in the stratosphere and cause warming in the surrounding air which can then impact the circulatory dynamics of

9875-462: The impacts will be more critical than emissions in the troposphere. The stratosphere includes the ozone layer and pollutants emitted from rockets can contribute to ozone depletion in a number of ways. Radicals such as NO x , HO x , and ClO x deplete stratospheric O 3 through intermolecular reactions and can have huge impacts in trace amounts. However, it is currently understood that launch rates would need to increase by ten times to match

10000-568: The intensity changes of such storms relative to physics-based models. Such models use no physics-based atmosphere modeling or large language models . Instead, they learn purely from data such as ERA5. These models typically require far less compute than physics-based models. Microsoft 's Aurora system offers global 10-day weather and 5-day air pollution ( CO 2 , NO , NO 2 , SO 2 , O 3 , and particulates) forecasts with claimed accuracy similar to physics-based models, but at orders-of-magnitude lower cost. Aurora

10125-629: The location of another system within the surrounding regime. An example of teleconnections are by using El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related phenomena. Initial attempts to use artificial intelligence began in the 2010s. Huawei 's Pangu-Weather model, Google 's GraphCast, WindBorne's WeatherMesh model, Nvidia 's FourCastNet, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ' Artificial Intelligence/Integrated Forecasting System, or AIFS all appeared in 2022–2023. In 2024, AIFS started to publish real-time forecasts, showing specific skill at predicting hurricane tracks, but lower-performing on

10250-482: The loss of the Royal Charter inspired FitzRoy to develop charts to allow predictions to be made, which he called "forecasting the weather" , thus coining the term "weather forecast". Fifteen land stations were established to use the telegraph to transmit to him daily reports of weather at set times leading to the first gale warning service. His warning service for shipping was initiated in February 1861, with

10375-616: The media, including radio, using emergency systems as the Emergency Alert System , which break into regular programming. The low temperature forecast for the current day is calculated using the lowest temperature found between 7   pm that evening through 7   am the following morning. So, in short, today's forecasted low is most likely tomorrow's low temperature. There are a number of sectors with their own specific needs for weather forecasts and specialist services are provided to these users as given below: Because

10500-400: The mid-2000s, satellites have been hacked by militant organizations to broadcast propaganda and to pilfer classified information from military communication networks. For testing purposes, satellites in low earth orbit have been destroyed by ballistic missiles launched from the Earth. Russia , United States , China and India have demonstrated the ability to eliminate satellites. In 2007,

10625-442: The model to add information to the forecast. While increasing accuracy of forecasting models implies that humans may no longer be needed in the forecasting process at some point in the future, there is currently still a need for human intervention. The analog technique is a complex way of making a forecast, requiring the forecaster to remember a previous weather event that is expected to be mimicked by an upcoming event. What makes it

10750-404: The model's mathematical algorithms (usually an evenly spaced grid). The data are then used in the model as the starting point for a forecast. Commonly, the set of equations used to predict the physics and dynamics of the atmosphere are called primitive equations . These are initialized from the analysis data and rates of change are determined. The rates of change predict the state of the atmosphere

10875-452: The model, or of adjustment to take into account consensus among other numerical weather forecasts. MOS or model output statistics is a technique used to interpret numerical model output and produce site-specific guidance. This guidance is presented in coded numerical form, and can be obtained for nearly all National Weather Service reporting stations in the United States. As proposed by Edward Lorenz in 1963, long range forecasts, those made at

11000-443: The more rapid dissemination of warnings, a national observational network was developed, which could then be used to provide synoptic analyses. To shorten detailed weather reports into more affordable telegrams, senders encoded weather information in telegraphic code , such as the one developed by the U.S. Army Signal Corps . Instruments to continuously record variations in meteorological parameters using photography were supplied to

11125-725: The most potent scientific tools of the Twentieth Century." The United States had been considering launching orbital satellites since 1945 under the Bureau of Aeronautics of the United States Navy . Project RAND eventually released the report, but considered the satellite to be a tool for science, politics, and propaganda, rather than a potential military weapon. In 1946, American theoretical astrophysicist Lyman Spitzer proposed an orbiting space telescope . In February 1954, Project RAND released "Scientific Uses for

11250-474: The national weather services issue in the case that severe or hazardous weather is expected. This is done to protect life and property. Some of the most commonly known of severe weather advisories are the severe thunderstorm and tornado warning , as well as the severe thunderstorm and tornado watch . Other forms of these advisories include winter weather, high wind, flood , tropical cyclone , and fog. Severe weather advisories and alerts are broadcast through

11375-516: The observing stations from Kew Observatory – these cameras had been invented by Francis Ronalds in 1845 and his barograph had earlier been used by FitzRoy. To convey accurate information, it soon became necessary to have a standard vocabulary describing clouds; this was achieved by means of a series of classifications first achieved by Luke Howard in 1802, and standardized in the International Cloud Atlas of 1896. It

11500-557: The older satellites that reached the end of life , as a part of the regulatory process of obtaining a launch license. The largest artificial satellite ever is the International Space Station . By the early 2000s, and particularly after the advent of CubeSats and increased launches of microsats —frequently launched to the lower altitudes of low Earth orbit (LEO)—satellites began to more frequently be designed to get destroyed, or breakup and burnup entirely in

11625-439: The open oceans during the cold season into systems that cause significant uncertainty in forecast guidance, or are expected to be of high impact three–seven days into the future over the downstream continent. Models are initialized using this observed data. The irregularly spaced observations are processed by data assimilation and objective analysis methods, which perform quality control and obtain values at locations usable by

11750-550: The possible use of communications satellites for mass communications. He suggested that three geostationary satellites would provide coverage over the entire planet. In May 1946, the United States Air Force 's Project RAND released the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship , which stated "A satellite vehicle with appropriate instrumentation can be expected to be one of

11875-639: The press at the time, their work gained scientific credence, was accepted by the Royal Navy, and formed the basis for all of today's weather forecasting knowledge. Beaufort developed the Wind Force Scale and Weather Notation coding, which he was to use in his journals for the remainder of his life. He also promoted the development of reliable tide tables around British shores, and with his friend William Whewell , expanded weather record-keeping at 200 British coast guard stations. Robert FitzRoy

12000-499: The pressure tendency (the change of pressure over time) have been used in forecasting since the late 19th century. The larger the change in pressure, especially if more than 3.5  hPa (2.6  mmHg ), the larger the change in weather can be expected. If the pressure drop is rapid, a low pressure system is approaching, and there is a greater chance of rain. Rapid pressure rises are associated with improving weather conditions, such as clearing skies. Along with pressure tendency,

12125-400: The primary outlets for presenting weather forecast information to the public. In addition, some cities had weather beacons . Increasingly, the internet is being used due to the vast amount of specific information that can be found. In all cases, these outlets update their forecasts on a regular basis. A major part of modern weather forecasting is the severe weather alerts and advisories that

12250-404: The private sector, military weather forecasters present weather conditions to the war fighter community. Military weather forecasters provide pre-flight and in-flight weather briefs to pilots and provide real time resource protection services for military installations. Naval forecasters cover the waters and ship weather forecasts. The United States Navy provides a special service for itself and

12375-516: The public to protect life and property and maintain commercial interests. Knowledge of what the end user needs from a weather forecast must be taken into account to present the information in a useful and understandable way. Examples include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's National Weather Service (NWS) and Environment Canada 's Meteorological Service (MSC). Traditionally, newspaper, television, and radio have been

12500-412: The quantity of materials that are often left in the ocean. Rocket launches release numerous pollutants into every layer of the atmosphere, especially affecting the atmosphere above the tropopause where the byproducts of combustion can reside for extended periods. These pollutants can include black carbon , CO 2 , nitrogen oxides (NO x ), aluminium and water vapour , but the mix of pollutants

12625-753: The rest of the federal government by issuing forecasts for tropical cyclones across the Pacific and Indian Oceans through its Joint Typhoon Warning Center . Within the United States, the 557th Weather Wing provides weather forecasting for the Air Force and the Army. Air Force forecasters cover air operations in both wartime and peacetime and provide Army support; United States Coast Guard marine science technicians provide ship forecasts for ice breakers and various other operations within their realm; and Marine forecasters provide support for ground- and air-based United States Marine Corps operations. All four of

12750-476: The safety of marine transit. Consequently, a variety of codes have been established to efficiently transmit detailed marine weather forecasts to vessel pilots via radio, for example the MAFOR (marine forecast). Typical weather forecasts can be received at sea through the use of RTTY , Navtex and Radiofax . Farmers rely on weather forecasts to decide what work to do on any particular day. For example, drying hay

12875-672: The same company consisting of two joint ventures, the Italian Leonardo (Finmeccanica) for 67% and the French Thales for the remaining 33%. The beginning of the history of Telespazio Spa coincides with the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the company and NASA which took place in January 1962 and made it possible to participate and develop projects relating to the Telstar 1 and Relay satellites. With

13000-427: The same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite. Others form satellite constellations in low Earth orbit , where antennas on the ground have to follow the position of the satellites and switch between satellites frequently. When an Earth observation satellite or a communications satellite

13125-409: The satellite; the slip rings can rotate to be perpendicular with the sunlight and generate the most power. All satellites with a solar panel must also have batteries , because sunlight is blocked inside the launch vehicle and at night. The most common types of batteries for satellites are lithium-ion , and in the past nickel–hydrogen . Earth observation satellites are designed to monitor and survey

13250-404: The satellites and receivers on the ground, combined with ever-improving electronics, allows satellite navigation systems to measure location to accuracies on the order of a few meters in real time. Astronomical satellites are satellites used for observation of distant planets, galaxies, and other outer space objects. Tether satellites are satellites that are connected to another satellite by

13375-540: The space in 2021 to test the material's resilience to space conditions. Most satellites use chemical or ion propulsion to adjust or maintain their orbit , coupled with reaction wheels to control their three axis of rotation or attitude. Satellites close to Earth are affected the most by variations in the Earth's magnetic , gravitational field and the Sun's radiation pressure ; satellites that are further away are affected more by other bodies' gravitational field by

13500-458: The special conditions of space could be useful for scientific experiments. The book described geostationary satellites (first put forward by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky ) and discussed the communication between them and the ground using radio, but fell short with the idea of using satellites for mass broadcasting and as telecommunications relays. In a 1945 Wireless World article, English science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke described in detail

13625-546: The stocks on their shelves in anticipation of different consumer spending habits in different weather conditions. Weather forecasts can be used to invest in the commodity market, such as futures in oranges, corn, soybeans, and oil. The British Royal Navy , working with the Met Office , has its own specialist branch of weather observers and forecasters, as part of the Hydrographic and Meteorological (HM) specialisation, who monitor and forecast operational conditions across

13750-459: The stratosphere. Both warming and changes in circulation can then cause depletion of the ozone layer. Several pollutants are released in the upper atmospheric layers during the orbital lifetime of LEO satellites. Orbital decay is caused by atmospheric drag and to keep the satellite in the correct orbit the platform occasionally needs repositioning. To do this nozzle-based systems use a chemical propellant to create thrust. In most cases hydrazine

13875-409: The surface to the orbit by launch vehicles , high enough to avoid orbital decay by the atmosphere . Satellites can then change or maintain the orbit by propulsion , usually by chemical or ion thrusters . As of 2018, about 90% of the satellites orbiting the Earth are in low Earth orbit or geostationary orbit ; geostationary means the satellites stay still in the sky (relative to a fixed point on

14000-412: The use of telegraph communications . The first daily weather forecasts were published in The Times in 1861. In the following year a system was introduced of hoisting storm warning cones at the principal ports when a gale was expected. The "Weather Book" which FitzRoy published in 1863 was far in advance of the scientific opinion of the time. As the electric telegraph network expanded, allowing for

14125-435: The various models, can help reduce forecast error. However, regardless how small the average error becomes with any individual system, large errors within any particular piece of guidance are still possible on any given model run. Humans are required to interpret the model data into weather forecasts that are understandable to the end user. Humans can use knowledge of local effects that may be too small in size to be resolved by

14250-475: The weather forecasting of atmospheric changes and signs from the planetary astral alterations; signs of rain based on observation of the lunar phases ; and weather forecasts based on the movement of winds. Ancient weather forecasting methods usually relied on observed patterns of events, also termed pattern recognition. For example, it was observed that if the sunset was particularly red, the following day often brought fair weather. This experience accumulated over

14375-526: The weather from cloud patterns as well as astrology . In about 350 BC, Aristotle described weather patterns in Meteorologica . Later, Theophrastus compiled a book on weather forecasting, called the Book of Signs . Chinese weather prediction lore extends at least as far back as 300 BC, which was also around the same time ancient Indian astronomers developed weather-prediction methods. In

14500-453: The weather, persistence, relies upon today's conditions to forecast tomorrow's. This can be valid when the weather achieves a steady state, such as during the summer season in the tropics. This method strongly depends upon the presence of a stagnant weather pattern. Therefore, when in a fluctuating pattern, it becomes inaccurate. It can be useful in both short- and long-range forecast|long range forecasts. Measurements of barometric pressure and

14625-717: The workers of the world before continuing his Abruzzese visit to the city of Avezzano. Among the most important projects that came into operation in the Fucino space station are the command and control of a segment of the COSMO-SkyMed satellite system, the Argo project, reserved for emergency communications with fixed and mobile stations available to the Department of the Civil Protection to prevent serious accidents or natural disasters and to deal with emergencies and

14750-493: Was also attended by the head of the Government Aldo Moro . This operation was followed by numerous other collaborations in the field of satellite telecommunications and television services with international space agencies and started thanks to the national and international network of space centers and teleports. In March 1985 Pope John Paul II on a visit to Telespazio sent a message of peace from Fucino to all

14875-519: Was appointed in 1854 as chief of a new department within the Board of Trade to deal with the collection of weather data at sea as a service to mariners . This was the forerunner of the modern Meteorological Office . All ship captains were tasked with collating data on the weather and computing it, with the use of tested instruments that were loaned for this purpose. A storm in October 1859 that caused

15000-461: Was later found, through numerical analysis, that this was due to numerical instability . The first computerised weather forecast was performed by a team composed of American meteorologists Jule Charney , Philip Duncan Thompson , Larry Gates , and Norwegian meteorologist Ragnar Fjørtoft , applied mathematician John von Neumann , and ENIAC programmer Klara Dan von Neumann . Practical use of numerical weather prediction began in 1955, spurred by

15125-640: Was more typically 60–120 kilometres per day (40–75 mi/day) (whether by land or by sea). By the late 1840s, the telegraph allowed reports of weather conditions from a wide area to be received almost instantaneously, allowing forecasts to be made from knowledge of weather conditions further upwind . The two men credited with the birth of forecasting as a science were an officer of the Royal Navy Francis Beaufort and his protégé Robert FitzRoy . Both were influential men in British naval and governmental circles, and though ridiculed in

15250-532: Was not until the 20th century that advances in the understanding of atmospheric physics led to the foundation of modern numerical weather prediction . In 1922, English scientist Lewis Fry Richardson published "Weather Prediction By Numerical Process", after finding notes and derivations he worked on as an ambulance driver in World War I. He described therein how small terms in the prognostic fluid dynamics equations governing atmospheric flow could be neglected, and

15375-426: Was the first academic treatise on the use of rocketry to launch spacecraft. He calculated the orbital speed required for a minimal orbit, and inferred that a multi-stage rocket fueled by liquid propellants could achieve this. Herman Potočnik explored the idea of using orbiting spacecraft for detailed peaceful and military observation of the ground in his 1928 book, The Problem of Space Travel . He described how

15500-483: Was the third country to build a satellite which was launched into space, it was launched aboard an American rocket from an American spaceport. The same goes for Australia, whose launch of the first satellite involved a donated U.S. Redstone rocket and American support staff as well as a joint launch facility with the United Kingdom. The first Italian satellite San Marco 1 was launched on 15 December 1964 on

15625-660: Was trained on more than a million hours of data from six weather/climate models. Most end users of forecasts are members of the general public. Thunderstorms can create strong winds and dangerous lightning strikes that can lead to deaths, power outages, and widespread hail damage. Heavy snow or rain can bring transportation and commerce to a stand-still, as well as cause flooding in low-lying areas. Excessive heat or cold waves can sicken or kill those with inadequate utilities, and droughts can impact water usage and destroy vegetation. Several countries employ government agencies to provide forecasts and watches/warnings/advisories to

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