Building the Operational System: Engineering and Technology in the MultiMissionMultiOrganisation Era

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Building the Operational System Engineering and
Technology in the Multi-Mission/Multi-Organisation
EraMTSAT Image Data Acquisition and Control
System (IDACS) Jim Barton, James Bass, Martin
Milnes LogicaCMGSpaceOps 2004, Montreal, May
2004presented by Pat Norris
pat.norris_at_logicacmg.com
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Introduction

• Japans Multi-functional Transport SATellites
  (MTSAT) are new generation meteorological
  satellites aimed to replace the GMS series
• LogicaCMG is involved in development of part of
  the ground system for MTSAT, specifically
• the Image Data Acquisition and Control System
  (IDACS)
• IDACS receives raw image data from the satellite,
  creates output products and disseminates these to
  users
• currently 2 MTSAT satellites are under
  development, both with multi-national teams of
  contractors

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Contents

• Introduction to LogicaCMG
• MTSAT background and overview
• Main functionality of the MTSAT IDACS (Image
  Acquisition and Control System)
• IDACS algorithms and their functionality
• IDACS automated approach and system redundancy
• Multi-national project development
• Multi-national project support
• Conclusion

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Introduction to LogicaCMG

• Formed December 2002 from merger of Logica and
  CMG

• Leading global force in IT services and Wireless
  Networks

• 21,000 staff employed in 34 countries over 5
  continents

• leading European quoted IT services group

• Group revenue (year end June 2002) 3.1 billion

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MTSAT Background and Overview

• end client is Japan Meteorological Agency
• designed to deliver meteorological products to
  Australasia / East Asia
• IDACS builds upon technology we developed in
  Europe
• the 3-axis stabilised MTSAT replaces the GMS-5
  spinner satellite
• LogicaCMG started work late in 1996
• delivered MTSAT-1 IDACS in August 1998 (launch
  failure of MTSAT-1 in Nov 1999)
• image processing system
• delivered MTSAT-1R IDACS in July 2002 (launch
  late 2004)
• image processing system
• delivered MTSAT-2 IDACS in October 2003 (launch
  2005)
• image processing system
• IF reception and transmission
• contracted MTSAT consortia are different for each
  project but involve companies from Japan, US and
  UK

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MTSAT
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IDACS Overview

• main functions
• reception of raw meteorological imagery and
  satellite telemetry
• generation of meteorological products
• product dissemination (via MTSAT)
• quality monitoring
• main processing
• radiometric correction
• landmark extraction
• Earth-edge detection
• HRIT ranging
• geometric correction
• product creation and dissemination
• special features
• fully automated operation
• full hardware and software redundancy

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HiRID / HRIT / LRIT Data Flows

• reception of raw data from MTSAT via CDAS ground
  station
• image pre-processing generates HiRID, HRIT LRIT
  data formats
• HiRID data sent to existing GMS-5 users
• HRIT and LRIT data is sent to new users
• HRIT data also sent to the JMA data processing
  centre in Kiyose
• reference reception of disseminated imagery

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Data Processing
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Landmark Extraction
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Earth Edge Detection
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Attitude and Orbit Prediction

• landmark extraction and Earth edge data are fed
  to the attitude and orbit determination /
  prediction system
• satellite ranging measurements are also supplied
• after every observation the prediction system
  uses the latest data to create a table of
  attitude / orbit predictions for a user defined
  period into the future
• prediction data used to geometrically correct the
  incoming image data
• prediction data also used to forecast the
  positions of the landmarks and Earth edges for
  the next observation
• continuous cycle of prediction, extraction and
  prediction correction

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Digital Signal Processing

• two main functions
• smooth anomalies in the raw imagery by applying
  user defined enhancement filters to the data
• use the latest orbit and attitude prediction data
  to geometrically correct the image using rotation
  and translation - resulting data can be
  geo-referenced
• HiRID and HRIT imagery are produced by this
  process
• HiRID production also involves field-of-view
  conversions on the imagery data is resampled to
  match characteristics of the GMS-5 data
  resulting resolution is 1.25km for VIS data
• HRIT VIS data is at full resolution of 1km
• IDACS output imagery is that supplied to the end
  user

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Image Dissemination

• HiRID and HRIT imagery are combined with
  associated documentation data to produce data
  in the HiRID, HRIT and LRIT formats
• documentation includes navigation and calibration
  information, image quality indicators and
  timestamps, etc.
• all formats meet global data standards and JMA
  mission specific requirements
• HiRID one line of data transmitted at regular
  intervals
• HRIT LRIT images divided into segments
  (groups of lines) which are encoded and
  transmitted as individual files
• encoding involves file multiplexing, inclusion of
  check bytes and the addition of pseudo-random
  noise to enhance transmission reliability
• disseminated data is received back at CDAS where
  it is decoded - this simulates a user station and
  allows operators to check the integrity of the
  space link

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Image Dissemination

• HRIT image resolution is
• 1 km (vis)
• 4 km (IR)
• HiRID image resolution is
• 1.25 km (vis)
• 5 km (IR)
• LRIT image resolution is
• 5 km (vis)
• 5 km (IR)

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IDACS Automation

• fully automated system
• data driven
• no operator intervention required
• event reporting
• critical
• alarm
• warning
• information
• hardware/software duplication
• live
• hot-standby
• IDACS monitoring terminals
• process monitoring
• image monitoring
• reference comparison

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IDACS Redundancy

• failover mechanism
• every unit has a partner
• live or standby mode
• dual socket connections
• dual data flows
• buffering on standby side of system

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Automated Failover Mechanism
IPPE1 (live)
HRIO1 (live)
IPPE2 (standby)
HRIO2 (standby)
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Automated Failover Mechanism
IPPE1 (live)
HRIO1 (live)
IPPE2 (standby)
HRIO2 (standby)
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Automated Failover Mechanism
IPPE1 (live)
HRIO1 (live)
IPPE2 (standby)
HRIO2 (live)
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Automated Failover Mechanism
IPPE1 (live)
IPPE2 (standby)
HRIO2 (live)
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Automated Failover Mechanism
IPPE1 (live)
HRIO1 (standby)
IPPE2 (standby)
HRIO2 (live)
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Automated Failover Mechanism
IPPE1 (live)
HRIO1 (live)
IPPE2 (standby)
HRIO2 (standby)
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International Team

• MTSAT End client Japanese Met Agency
• MTSAT-1
• prime SS/Loral, USA
• LogicaCMG contracted to Toshiba, Japan
• MTSAT-1R
• prime SS/Loral, USA
• LogicaCMG contracted to NTspace, Japan
• MTSAT-2
• prime MELCO, Japan
• LogicaCMG contracted to MELCO, Japan
• subcontractor Carr Astronautics, USA
• subcontractor ERA Technology, UK
• international development and support team
• both projects have contractors spread across 3
  different continents

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Multi-National Project Delivery

• time difference issues
• Japan 8 hours ahead of UK which is 8 hours ahead
  of US west coast
• staff unavailable for many hours of the day,
  solutions take longer to be communicated
• all-party conference calls are difficult to
  schedule
• solutions
• excellent forward planning (who, what, when, how)
• multi-tasking is essential - allows work on other
  issues when awaiting correspondence for something
  else
• flexible working hours out of hours work
• truly operational 24 hours a day!

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Multi-National Project Support

• lack of proximity to delivered equipment can be
  an issue
• frequent trips to client site are not cost / time
  effective
• solutions
• maximum productivity from available visits is
  essential
• on-site staff are well trained so can solve
  problems themselves or identify the important
  information to pass back to the support team
• remote access from support office is very useful
• all hardware, software and associated data can be
  accessed directly
• support staff can login to the system during
  specific system tests / problem cases
• small amounts of data can be copied back to the
  local site for analysis offline
• local support environment which mirrors (or
  accurately models) the delivered system is
  essential for reproducing and analysing errors
  offline

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Remote Support

• secure lines of communication
• Unix workstations connect using simple telnet
  and ftp services giving direct terminal access
• PCs various remote control solution software
  available for emulation of remote desktop display
  on local machine

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Equipment at CDAS
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Conclusion

• the MTSAT Image Data Acquisition and Control
  System is one the world's most advanced systems
  of its type
• effective communication between multi-national
  contractors is one key to the successful
  development and integration of the system
• we look forward to the successful launch of
  MTSAT-1R in 2004 and MTSAT-2 in 2005 when the
  IDACS system will prove itself operationally