Aerospace HRIT/EMWIN Prototype

In 2009, NASA/NOAA contracted work to Aerospace to design and build a HRIT/EMWIN prototype software-based radio receiver that can process the received downlink frequency signal from an antenna and demodulator. This prototype would be open-sourced to the public that would display how one could download the software and assemble a ready to receive ground station at a low cost.

The GOES Software Defined Radio (GOESSDR) supports most Intel-based personal computers and tablets by creating a live USB image. The live USB image is actually a self-contained, bootable Ubuntu Linux operating system with all the software necessary to run the GOES-R receiver application. Users can follow the included directions to create a Live USB thumb drive from this image and use this receiver with minimum configuration and support. The Linux software does not actually install on a user’s PC, but runs from the USB device. This method was selected for simplicity and avoids the user having to find the necessary software libraries and drivers if one were to install it directly on a Windows operating system. An alternative downloadable package can be directly loaded on a LINUX operating system without a USB memory stick.

To use the USB image, a user at the minimum would need a 4 GB USB drive, though a 16GB USB 3.0 is recommended. The process uses free software to create the live USB drive. Once the user has created the bootable USB drive, the PC would need to be restarted and booted from USB drive itself at start-up (via BIOS menu). Depending upon the PC or operating system, you either have to press the ESC key at boot time to access the computer’s BIOS configuration and select the booting priorities (make sure the USB drive is selected before the computer’s hard drive) or press the F9 key to select the device (e.g., USB drive) to boot the PC. Please check with your personal computers manufacturer on the correct process of getting to the BIOS configuration. Note that boot up from USB drives is currently not available on the Apple Mac Operating System (OS). The current instruction assumes you are not using a MAC OS.

Use the links below to download the software and instructions for the prototype:

• ATR-2010 Document
  • A Flexible Software Based EMWIN/HRIT Prototype Solution for The GOES-R Transition


• NOAA GOES-R LRIT/HRIT & EMWIN Software Radio Receiver User's Guide
  • NOAA GOES LRIT/HRIT & EMWIN Software Radio Receiver


• Creating a Live USB Thumb Drive On Windows to Run the GOES-R HRIT/EMWIN Software
  • Creating a Live USB Thumb Drive on Windows
  • Bootable ISO image with the GOES-R HRIT/EMWIN Prototype SDR Receiver Software

For all questions or feedback concerning the links above, please contact hrit.manager@noaa.gov, for inquiries about the software content itself, please contact Aerospace.