Live Satellite Acquisition
The core mission of the Leadville Monitoring Station is to provide real-time, high-resolution meteorological and earth science imaging processed directly from orbit. Operating at 10,152 feet above sea level, the station is uniquely positioned to maintain a high-quality link for the acquisition of L-Band signals and uses local hardware to directly convert those signals into images and data.
Data Streams & Processing
Our primary focus is the direct reception of GOES-18 HRIT (High Rate Information Transmission) data. In addition to direct streams, the station captures secondary meteorological and science data via GOES-18 rebroadcasts, which provide a window into GOES-19 (Atlantic) and Himawari-9 (West Pacific) environmental conditions.
Signal Acquisition Chain
Reliable data capture is facilitated through a dedicated hardware path optimized for the 1.7GHz spectrum. This chain utilizes a high-gain 1.7GHz dish interfaced with an SDRXTR receiver and SAWBIRD LNA. The initial signal acquisition and raw data handling are managed by a custom-configured Raspberry Pi to translate it into a network protocol before being handed off to our local servers, ensuring efficient processing of large data downlinks that can then be hosted on the internet.
Imagery Storage and Special Requests
Aside from our hosted imagery, we also collect and archive GOES 18, GOES 19 and Himiwari 8 downlinks onto a private server which can be retrived upon special request through contacting us.