On May 9th, 2024, the Central Weather Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications signed a memorandum of understanding with the Taiwan National Space Organization (TASA) on the collaboration of their meteorological and space monitoring data and expertise. Director Cheng Jiaping of the Weather Bureau stated that the collaboration between Taiwan’s self-developed weather satellites, “Hunter” and “Formosat-7”, will enhance the accuracy of weather forecasting, benefiting the public’s daily life needs and disaster prevention and relief efforts.
“Hunter” utilizes the scientific principle of atmospheric refraction to provide vertical profile data of the atmosphere, including temperature, humidity, pressure, and more. Particularly focusing on tropical regions roughly within 45 degrees latitude north and south, it effectively supplements observational data in tropical areas, which is very helpful in providing information on typhoons, heavy rains, and related events in Taiwan.
Through past comparisons and analyses of numerical simulations, the data from “Formosat-7” has been shown to improve weather forecasting accuracy by 6 to 10% and enhance the prediction capability of typhoon paths, reducing the forecast error of typhoon paths by approximately 5% on average.
Director Wu Zongxin of TASA mentioned that “Hunter” collects navigation satellite signals reflected by the sea surface, providing data on parameters such as wave heights, surface wind speeds, and even the ability to measure typhoons. As meteorological observation data on the sea surface is limited, such observational information helps improve the accuracy of marine weather forecasts and the understanding of severe weather conditions.
Since its launch on October 9th last year, “Hunter” has been operating smoothly, continuously transmitting back data and undergoing calibration. The data quality has been assessed as good, and it is expected that relevant data will be released in June. It is anticipated that integrating the sea surface wind observation data produced by the “Hunter” satellite into the operational forecast model of the Weather Bureau will enhance the accuracy of weather forecasting.
Director Wu Zongxin pointed out that Taiwan has gradually established self-developed technologies such as the Global Navigation Satellite System-Reflectometry (GNSS-R). “Formosat-3” and “Formosat-7” provide stable and abundant observational data. By combining data from the “Hunter” satellite and ground observation, more meteorological and societal essential information can be further provided in the future.
Furthermore, Wu Zongxin expressed that Taiwan will further develop GNSS-RO instruments, and future space missions will collaborate with the Weather Bureau to plan for the provision of occultation reflectivity and sea surface reflection signal observation data, continuously advancing weather forecasting and meteorological scientific research.