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On October 1st 1958 President Eisenhower
created NASA and declared “that it is the
policy of the United States that activities
in space should be devoted to peaceful
purposes for the benefit of mankind”
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In August 1960 the National Geographic
magazine carried a story “Our Earth as a
Satellite Sees It” a story about Tiros 1
launched on April 1st 1960
By now America had said that “Weather
Satellites are free for all mankind”
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What is a Private Individual User ?
•A weather enthusiast
•A golfer
•Someone with a small private plane
•A yachtsman
•Some one interested in the technology
for self training
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The ‘Remote Imaging Group’ is largely
dormant but has 1,600 members, the
biggest group of its type.
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What might a PIU expect from the World’s
governments?
•Encouragement in line with the original
ethos in 1960
•Free use of the data
•Easy transitions between satellites and
systems
•Continuity
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The data a PIU might reasonably expect to
receive
•Frequent local images
•Preferably from a geostationary satellite
•Resolution isn’t that important
•Animation is important
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How does a PIU use this data?
• Usually by leaving a computer on and
looking at an animation sequence or the
latest image
•Determining if bad weather is coming
towards them.
•Deciding to take a boat out for the day
•Whether to go and play golf
•To get extra confidence
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Life in 2004!
• WEFAX was operational
•Small antennas in use (smaller than a domestic cat)
•Everyone happy!
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Changes since the 2004 conference
•There were an estimated 10,000 private
individual users of weather satellites in
Europe, now maybe just 2,000?
•There were an estimated 5,000 private
individual users of weather satellites in
the USA, now maybe just 1,000?
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Changes since the 2004 conference
• WEFAX no longer available (except over India)
• No small antenna systems
• Equipment so difficult that only computer
boffs can get it to work
• Last year the Meteosat internet group had
2,624 messages from people
• Reliance on the internet that isn’t really up to it
• No real future at all?
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How Third World Countries and disaster
zones benefit from the PIU community
•Easy to set up systems using amateur
based technology
•Access to amateur user groups
•Low cost amateur systems
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The aspirations and needs of the PIU community
• Some sort of low cost system
• An easy to use system
• A system that can use a small antenna
• A system that is broadly analogue based and
does not require any specialised technology
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The future of the PIU community
•Is it bleak?
•Or could the world’s satellite operators
consider re-introducing a WEFAX type
service?
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