The On-Orbit Performance of FY-3E in an Early Morning Orbit

Abstract The polar-orbiting meteorological satellites operating in an observing system composed of early morning (EM), midmorning (AM), and afternoon (PM) orbits are extremely important to global numerical weather prediction (NWP). Following the proposal of World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) launched Fengyun-3E ( FY-3E ), the world’s first EM-orbit meteorological satellite for civil use, on 5 July 2021. With 11 scientific instruments on board, FY-3E is capable of providing atmospheric sounding, low-light imaging, sea surface wind detection, and space weather monitoring. Six months after launch, we have finished the postlaunch test for all the payloads. This paper presents the FY-3E data obtained during the 6-month test period, their performance, and key geophysical products driven ready for downstream applications. Experiments have been conducted to better disseminate the sounding data within the 6-h NWP assimilation window. Further efforts have been made to benefit data application for severe weather monitoring, diurnal cycle of Earth data, quasi-continuous sun monitoring for space weather, and climate research.