The CSG Weather Station

The specific nature of the atmospheric phenomena that can develop over French Guiana, especially in poor weather conditions, can endanger the launcher on its launchpad or in flight by exposing it to a number of risks. Some of these risks are calculated and monitored at the CSG Weather Station.  As the launcher follows a vertical trajectory before it 'turns over', the conditions within 10 km of the launcher have to be evaluated with extreme precision by meteorologists. Although the weather unit's main mission is to estimate and monitor the meteorological criteria for all Ariane 5 launches, it must also provide everyday weather forecasts, which are used for managing hazardous operations at the launch base, and conduct continuous climatological readings like any other weather station.

Transmitting its data to several key contacts, the CSG weather station serves all parts of the Space base on a daily basis.  A dynamic team enables it to come through each of its missions with flying colours.  Soon it will also be meeting the needs of Soyuz, as ever in partnership with Météo-France and with the help of a succession of constantly-evolving tools.

Meteorology, a complex science and a strategic service for the Space base. Permanent monitoring, reinforced during launch and satellite campaigns, is required to avoid exposure to risk, the most serious of which are lightning strikes and toxicity hazards.  Whether on the ground during transfer operations, while waiting for a launch window, or in the air when the launcher is speeding through the atmosphere, numerous base operations are constrained by weather criteria.  With eyes on the skies when they are not glued to their control screens, the meteorologists at the base, like weather traffic lights, are relied upon to give operations the 'green' (or sometimes 'red') light. A team of nine is at the controls: three CNES engineers seconded to Météo-France and six technicians from the Antiope industrial service contract (from Telespazio, to be precise). For everyday weather forecasts, these technicians have similar roles.  However during countdown operations, their responsibilities become quite distinct.  The team then reduces to five: two CNES engineers (a Weather and a Forecasting Deputy: the latter is responsible for environmental logistics, thus freeing the former to concentrate on the launch) and the indispensable services of a radiosonde operator responsible for balloon measurements, a visual observer in the tower processing data and a maintenance engineer, available immediately in the event of a fault or failure.