Radio-Telecommunication Link between MTSAT and the earth

The Command and Data Acquisition Station (CDAS), located at Hatoyama in Saitama Prefecture, is a facility for direct communication with MTSAT. Installed in the set-up are a pair of Cassegrain antennas, a transmitter-receiver, a spacecraft monitor, a variety of control equipment, and an imager data-acquisition control system. The CDAS is connected to the MSC by a wide-area network (WAN) to exchange information between the MSC, JMA headquarters and other facilities.

Using this equipment, the CDAS receives telemetry data to monitor the status of MTSAT and transmits control commands to the satellite, while MTSAT operation plans are generated by the Operational Information Generation Equipment (OIGE) at the MSC. Earth images observed by MTSAT are also received by the CDAS, and are processed at the CDAS and the MSC. Low-resolution cloud images (see LRIT) and high-resolution digital cloud images (see HRIT) are then uplinked from the CDAS to MTSAT and disseminated to data utilization stations (SDUSs/MDUSs) from the satellite.

Observational data measured by Data Collection Platforms (DCPs), which consist of automated remote weather stations, tide/tsunami gauges and ships, are collected by MTSAT and relayed by the CDAS to the MSC. In addition, JMA-issued information on earthquakes and tsunamis is relayed by the CDAS and MTSAT, and is disseminated to local governments throughout Japan for use as quickly as possible.