Formosat-3, a weather satellite constellation jointly developed by Taiwan and the US, is to complete its 10th year of operations next month, and a follow-on program will be launched by the end of this year to replace the aging system, Taiwan’s National Space Organization said.
The system — a constellation of six small satellites — was launched on April 15, 2006, and is the first large-scale space collaboration between Taiwan and the US, where the project is known as the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC).
The constellation has taken more than 10 million soundings — vertical profiles of the atmosphere — since its launch and the data were provided real-time free of charge to more than 3,000 researchers and weather forecasters in 83 nations, the agency said.
According to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Formosat-3 was ranked No. 5 in 2012 among all Earth-observing systems in the world in terms of its ability to help accurately predict weather, reducing the error margin of forecasts by as much as 10 percent, the agency said.
Other than Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, major weather forecast centers and agencies around the world, including those in Canada, the US, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Britain and other European countries, have incorporated the data provided by Formosat-3 into their weather forecasting systems, the agency said.
“Data collected by Formosat-3 are especially useful for forecasting typhoons, which is particularly beneficial for Taiwan. Formosat-3 is able to provide accurate observations of water vapor, the ‘fuel’ that allows typhoons to grow, in high vertical resolution. Hence, Formosat-3 has been called ‘the most accurate space thermometer,’” University Corporation for Atmospheric Research community programs director Bill Kuo (郭英華) said.
In its initial stages, the constellation could provide 2,400 pieces of data every day, but now it can only provide 650 pieces of data, as a satellite failed and was decommissioned in 2010 and other satellites have aged, agency Director Chang Guey-shin (張桂祥) said, adding that he was pleased to see that the system has far exceeded its original planned five-year mission and continues to operate into its 10th year and beyond.
Taiwan and the US are collaborating on a follow-up mission, Formosat-7, or COSMIC-2, which consists of 12 mission-specific satellites plus one agency-built satellite, which should be able to collect five times as much data as Formosat-3, Chang said.
The 12 satellites are to be deployed in two clusters of six satellites, in low and high-inclination orbits, by the end of this year and in 2018 respectively, Chang said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS