Work in Progress: Automatic Satellite Image Receiver System for NOAA Weather Satellites

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an office of the USA government, has deployed low-orbiting satellites in the sky for weather forecasting purposes since the end of XX century. These satellites continuously transmit images of the Earth using a protocol called Automatic Picture Transmission (APT). Many documents are available on the Internet explaining how to receive images from NOAA weather satellites. It is a significant challenge because it requires diverse knowledge in areas such as hardware, software, electronics, and signal processing. It is a multidisciplinary task. To receive an image, you need to know when the satellite passes over your location. At that moment, you have to receive the signal and process it. Typically, these are manual jobs. But, automating the process adds a new level of difficulty. It is necessary to orchestrate or link several processes. This paper describes the advances made in implementing an automatic satellite image receiver system for NOAA weather satellites.