China plans to launch the first satellite of the Fengyun-4 (FY-4) series by 2013, said the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). The FY-4 project involves the country's second-generation of geo-stationary meteorological satellites.

Leading scientists and engineers believe FY-4 could help China more accurately forecast weather, climate, environment and natural disasters, when it is launched. Currently, the project is in the proposal stage.

CMA Vice Director, Yu Rucong, said FY-4, a successor of the FY-2 series, would further boost China's ability to monitor cloud systems and atmosphere temperature and humidity.

China plans to launch another 22 meteorological satellites by 2020. Four are from the FY-2 series, 12 from the FY-3 series and six from the FY-4 series.

Sun Laiyan, vice director of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, said the FY series had become a model of remote sensing satellite operations and civilian satellite services.

No details of just what FY-4 will be able to do have been decided on. However, scientists say it will be more advanced than FY-3 which launched at the Taiyuan satellite center in northern Shanxi Province May 27.

FY-3 worked with the FY-2D to ensure timely weather forecasts during the Beijing Olympic Games. It is equipped with a dozen detectors such as the infrared scan actinograph and a microwave formatter. FY-3 can provide data to forecast between 10 to 15 days of weather in a row.