Meteor 3M

Description

Meteor 3M is a joint Russian-US environment/atmosphere monitoring meteorological satellite. The spacecraft is an advanced model of the Meteor spacecraft that was developed in the 1970s. The payload consists of the NASA SAGE III and other instruments designed to measure temperature and humidity profiles, clouds, surface properties, and high-energy particles in the upper atmosphere.

The satellite is in a sun-synchronous orbit with an ascending node time of about 9 a.m. The orbit yields solar measurement opportunities between 50-80 degrees north latitude and 30-50 degrees south latitude. The high northern latitude coverage provides insight into the processes leading to ozone depletion during boreal winter and provides coverage that complements the mid- and low-latitude coverage provided by SAGE II and other SAGE III missions.