Observation of Weather and Climate with the Meteosat and Metop Satellites

摘要

[ABSTRACT]The paper provides an overview of the meteorological satellite systems operated by EUMETSA T: Thefirst generation of European geostationary Meteosat satellites started with the launch ofMeteosat-1 in 1977under the responsibility of ESA (European Space Agency). A series of seven satellites provided acontinuous service acquiring half-hourly images in three spectral bands. Meteosat-7 is now still used forobserving the Indian Ocean area. The advent of the first Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite in2002, renamed to Meteosat-8 with the start of operations, marked a major step forward in terms of observingcapability. MSG satellites take images in twelve spectral channels every 15 minutes. The operationalproducts derived from MSG data provide essential information for numerical weather prediction (NWP) andN owcasting. The MSG system is now a dual satellite system with Meteosat-9 as prime satellite andMeteosat-8 providing rapid imaging services. Two more MSG satellites will be launched before the nextgeneration (Meteosat Third Generation: MTG). The first polar orbiting meteorological satellite ofEUMETSAT, named Metop-A, was launched in October 2006. Metop provides advanced observations oftemperature and humidity profiles, wind, ozone and trace gases. The instrumentation is based on a continuityof known instruments and novel techniques. Notable are the hyperspectral thermal infrared observationswith IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) which also plays a key role for the observation ofclimate parameters and as reference instrument for satellite intercalibration . Two more Metop satellites arescheduled for launch.