Home >> News: February 7th, 2017 >> Story
Satnews Daily
February 7th, 2017

Harris Imager Captures Higher Resolution Imagery Aboard the Himawari-9 Satellite


The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has released the first images captured by Harris Corporation's (NYSE:HRS) Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) onboard Himawari-9, Japan's newest weather satellite—the imager captured detailed clouds over Japan and the Pacific Ocean.

The Harris-built AHI significantly improves the quality, speed and accuracy of information provided to meteorologists with its higher resolution, 11 additional spectral bands and more rapid scans than older imagers. The AHI captures images of Japan 12 times faster and the full Earth three times faster than older systems. These features generate many more weather products and much improved video capability compared with older imagers.

Himawari-9 was built by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and launched November 2, 2016. The AHI leverages similar technology used for the Harris-built Advanced Baseline Imager onboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) weather satellite, launched Nov. 19, 2016, by NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


Artistic rendition of the Himawari-9 satellite.

Image is courtesy of the Japan Meteorological Agency.

According to Eric Webster, the Vice President and General Manager, Harris Environmental Solutions, Himawari-8 has been very helpful in providing greater detail and predicting the paths of several typhoons in the Pacific Ocean. These innovative Harris imagers also benefit airlines by distinguishing between smoke, sand/dust and volcanic ash, which can interfere with flight operations.