Objectives and Applications
Meteorology and environmental monitoring; data collection and redistribution. (Experimental pre-cursor to FY-3C).
Full Name
FY-3B Polar-orbiting Meteorological Satellite
Mission Status
Mission complete
Mission Agencies
Launch Date
05 Nov 2010
Mission Links
EOL Date
01 Jun 2020
Orbit Type
Sun-synchronous
Orbit Period
101 minutes
Orbit Sense
Ascending
Orbit Inclination
98.753 deg
Orbit Altitude
830 km
Orbit Longitude
Orbit LST
14:00
Repeat Cycle
NORAD Catalog #
International Designator
| Category | Parameter | Instrument(s) |
| Atmosphere | Aerosols | MERSI-1 |
| Atmospheric Humidity Fields | IRAS, MERSI-1, MWHS-1 |
| Atmospheric Winds | MWRI-1 |
| Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperature | MERSI-1, VIRR |
| Cloud particle properties and profile | MERSI-1, MWRI-1, VIRR |
| Liquid water and precipitation rate | MWRI-1 |
| Ozone | SBUS, TOU |
| Radiation budget | ERM-1, SIM |
| Atmospheric Temperature Fields | IRAS, MWRI-1, MWTS-1 |
| Gravity and Magnetic Fields | Gravity, Magnetic and Geodynamic measurements | SEM (FY-2) |
| Land | Albedo and reflectance | MERSI-1, VIRR |
| Vegetation | MERSI-1, VIRR |
| Surface temperature (land) | MWTS-1 |
| Ocean | Surface temperature (ocean) | MERSI-1, MWRI-1, VIRR |
| Snow & Ice | Snow cover, edge and depth | MWRI-1 |
| Sea ice cover, edge and thickness | MWRI-1, VIRR |