Himawari 8

Himawari 8 was launched atop a H-IIA rocket flying from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex Pad 1 at the Tanegashima Space Center.{{cite web|url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/h2a/f25/141007launch/|title=H-2A rocket boosts Japanese weather satellite into orbit|last=Clark|first=Stephen|publisher=Spaceflight Now|access-date=7 October 2014}} The launch occurred at 05:16 UTC on 7 October 2014 and reached its operational geostationary orbit in October 2014, at 35,786 kilometers{{Cite web|url=https://www.wmo-sat.info/oscar/satellites/view/167|title=Satellite: Himawari-8|website=OSCAR}} and 140.7 degrees East.{{cite web|url=http://www.data.jma.go.jp/mscweb/en/himawari89/index.html|title=JMA/MSC: Himawari-8/9|publisher=Japan Meteorological Agency|access-date=7 October 2014|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923230041/http://www.data.jma.go.jp/mscweb/en/himawari89/index.html|url-status=dead}}

Himawari 9, which is identical to Himawari 8, was launched on 2 November 2016 and placed in a stand-by orbit until 05:00 UTC by 13 December 2022, when it succeeded Himawari 8.{{cite web |url=https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/press/2211/11a/20221111_sat_kirikae.html |language=Japanese |script-title=ja:衛星観測は「ひまわり８号」から「ひまわり９号」へ |publisher=Japan Meteorological Agency |date=11 November 2022 |access-date=11 November 2022}}{{cite web |title=Meteorological Satellite Center (MSC) {{!}} Switchover of the Operational Satellite |url=https://www.data.jma.go.jp/mscweb/en/oper/switchover.html |website=www.data.jma.go.jp |publisher=Japan Meteorological Agency |access-date=12 November 2022}}

The role of Himawari 8 is to provide typhoon, rainstorm, weather forecast and other related reports for Japan, East Asia, and Western Pacific region. It is also responsible for ensuring the safety of ships, aviation and observing the environment of the earth.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/kishou/books/himawari/201507_leaflet89.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519002003/http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/kishou/books/himawari/201507_leaflet89.pdf |title=New geostationary meteorological satellites — Himawari-8/9 — |url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-05-19|date=2016-05-19|access-date=2020-02-27}}

Its temporal and spatial resolution enables it to observe disastrous events in remote places, such as volcanic eruptions. The Himawari satellite was able to capture the Tianjin explosions in 2015,{{cite news | title = Tianjin explosions visible from space | newspaper = The Guardian | url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/13/tianjin-explosions-visible-from-space-china | date = 2015-08-13 | access-date = 2019-03-28 }} and the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption in 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUrPKUpZVYc|title = Tsunami hits Tonga after massive volcano eruption seen from space|website = YouTube}}

Data recorded from the Japanese Himawari 8 will be made freely available for use by meteorological agencies in other countries. For example, it is currently in use by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, providing infrared imaging.{{cite web |url=http://media.bom.gov.au/releases/207/spectacular-new-era-in-satellite-meteorology-unveiled/ |title=Spectacular new era in satellite meteorology unveiled |date=30 September 2015 |website=Australian Bureau of Meteorology |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |access-date=30 September 2015}}

The DS2000 satellite bus has a lifespan of 15 years, however the expected operational lifespan of Himawari 8 is expected to be limited by its instruments which are only designed for 8 years of service. At launch, the mass of the satellite was about {{convert|3500|kg}}. Power is supplied by a single gallium arsenide solar panel, which provides up to 2.6 kilowatts of power.

The primary instrument aboard Himawari 8, the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI), is a 16 channel multispectral imager to capture visible light and infrared images of the Asia-Pacific region.{{cite web|url=http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/jma-eng/satellite/news/himawari89/himawari89_leaflet.pdf|title=New geostationary meteorological satellites — Himawari-8/9 — |publisher=Japan Meteorological Agency|access-date=7 October 2014}} The instrument was designed and built by Exelis Geospatial Systems (now Harris Space & Intelligence Systems) and has similar spectral and spatial characteristics to the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) used in the American GOES-16, -17, -T, and -U satellites. The AHI can produce images with a resolution down to 500m and can provide full disk observations every 10 mins and images of Japan every 2.5 minutes. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology CEO Dr Rob Vertessy stated that Himawari 8 "generates about 50 times more data than the previous satellite". A recent study reported that Himawari-8 had acquired cloud-free observations every 4 days, while capturing the seasonal changes of vegetation in the cloud-prone region of Southeast Asia more accurately than before.{{Cite journal|last1=Miura|first1=Tomoaki|last2=Nagai|first2=Shin|last3=Takeuchi|first3=Mika|last4=Ichii|first4=Kazuhito|last5=Yoshioka|first5=Hiroki|date=2019-10-30|title=Improved Characterisation of Vegetation and Land Surface Seasonal Dynamics in Central Japan with Himawari-8 Hypertemporal Data|url= |journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|page=15692|doi=10.1038/s41598-019-52076-x|issn=2045-2322|pmc=6821777|pmid=31666582|bibcode=2019NatSR...915692M}}

The Space Environmental Data Acquisition Monitor (SEDA) is the second instrument aboard Himawari 8, and it consists of two sensors: SEDA-e for detecting high energy electrons and SEDA-p for detecting high energy protons.{{cite journal | doi=10.1186/s40623-017-0659-6 | title=Space environment data acquisition monitor onboard Himawari-8 for space environment monitoring on the Japanese meridian of geostationary orbit | year=2017 | last1=Nagatsuma | first1=Tsutomu | last2=Sakaguchi | first2=Kaori | last3=Kubo | first3=Yûki | last4=Belgraver | first4=Piet | last5=Chastellain | first5=Frédéric | last6=Muff | first6=Reto | last7=Otomo | first7=Takeshi | journal=Earth, Planets and Space | volume=69 | issue=1 | page=75 | bibcode=2017EP&S...69...75N | s2cid=54863699 | doi-access=free }} SEDA-e is a single element with 8 stacked charge collecting plates.{{Cite journal|last1=Jiggens|first1=P.|last2=Clavie|first2=C.|last3=Evans|first3=H.|last4=O'Brien|first4=T. P.|last5=Witasse|first5=O.|last6=Mishev|first6=A. L.|last7=Nieminen|first7=P.|last8=Daly|first8=E.|last9=Kalegaev|first9=V.|last10=Vlasova|first10=N.|last11=Borisov|first11=S.|date=2019|title=In Situ Data and Effect Correlation During September 2017 Solar Particle Event|journal=Space Weather|language=en|volume=17|issue=1|pages=99–117|doi=10.1029/2018SW001936|bibcode=2019SpWea..17...99J|issn=1542-7390|doi-access=free}} It has an energy range of 0.2-4.5 MeV and a field of view of ±78.3°. SEDA-p consists of 8 separate proton telescope elements. In total, SEDA-e has an energy range of 15-100 MeV and a field of view of ±39.35°. Both sensors have a time resolution of 10 seconds. The data from this instrument is transmitted to a ground station in Saitama, Japan with a Ka-band signal and is ultimately provided to the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) for use monitoring space weather events along the Japanese meridian.{{Cite journal|last1=Bessho|first1=Kotaro|last2=Date|first2=Kenji|last3=Hayashi|first3=Masahiro|last4=Ikeda|first4=Akio|last5=Imai|first5=Takahito|last6=Inoue|first6=Hidekazu|last7=Kumagai|first7=Yukihiro|last8=Miyakawa|first8=Takuya|last9=Murata|first9=Hidehiko|last10=Ohno|first10=Tomoo|last11=Okuyama|first11=Arata|date=2016|title=An Introduction to Himawari-8/9— Japan's New-Generation Geostationary Meteorological Satellites|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jmsj/94/2/94_2016-009/_article/-char/en|journal=Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan |series=Series II|volume=94|issue=2|pages=151–183|doi=10.2151/jmsj.2016-009|bibcode=2016JMeSJ..94..151B|doi-access=free}}

File:H-IIA F25 launching Himawari-8.jpg|Liftoff of the H-IIA rocket carrying Himawari 8 on October 7, 2014

File:Himawari-8 true-color 2015-01-25 0230Z.png|The first true-color PNG image from Himawari 8 on January 25, 2015

File:Himawari 8 Full Disk Aug 21 2015 0210Z.jpg|Example of a Rayleigh-corrected, true-color full disk image created from the AHI sensor

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{{Reflist|34em}}

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

• {{commons category-inline|Himawari 8 images}}
• [https://www.jma.go.jp/jma/jma-eng/satellite/index.html Meteorological Satellites of JMA]
• [https://www.jma.go.jp/bosai/map.html#5/34.5/137/&elem=ir&contents=himawari&lang=en JMA Satellite Imagery], providing infrared, vapor and true-color Himawari 8 imageries every 30 minutes
• [https://himawari8.nict.go.jp Himawari-8 Real-time Web] from NICT, providing full-disc pictures of true color and all 16 bands every 10 minutes
• [http://re.ssec.wisc.edu RealEarth] including imageries from all 16 bands of Himawari 8
• [http://agora.ex.nii.ac.jp/digital-typhoon/himawari-3g/index.html.en Himawari-8 - Third-Generation Weather Satellite] from Digital Typhoon
• [http://www.asahi.com/special/rocket/himawari/ Himawari 8 3D model] from Asahi Shinbun
• [https://glittering.blue/ Glittering Blue] Time lapsed imagery from Himawari 8
• {{vimeo|342333493|title=A Year Along the Geostationary Orbit}}. An animation made from visible and infrared images taken by Himawari 8 from December 21, 2015, to December 21, 2016.

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{{Orbital launches in 2014}}

Category:2014 in Japan

Category:Earth imaging satellites

Category:Himawari satellite series

Category:Satellites using the DS2000 bus

Category:Spacecraft launched in 2014

Category:Satellites made by Mitsubishi Electric