China Meteorological Administration (CMA)

China has been actively involved in space since the 1960s, performing a vast amount of successful satellite launches since 1970. CMA is the largest Meteorological Service in the world, and its National Satellite Meteorology Centre, located in Beijing, operates China’s Feng-Yun meteorological polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite programmes . China published a White Paper on space activities in 2011 which recalled activities achieved to date and also stated the plans for the next five years. Once implemented, China will make a major contribution to the Global Observing system and users on a global level will benefit from the activities.

EUMETSAT and CMA have established a mutually beneficial cooperation since 1998, which initially focussed on operational scientific and training activities, and has been strengthened in recent years to include satellite data and product exchange, as well as satellite data calibration and validation activities. The EUMETSAT collaboration was explicitly mentioned in the China 2011 White Paper on space activities.

Operational data exchange covers data from Meteosat, Metop, Jason and the Chinese geostationary and polar orbiting satellites, FY-2 and FY-3 respectively. The cooperation has also been extended to cover re-broadcasting EUMETSAT data over the Chinese distribution system CMACast (formerly FENGYUNCast). The CMACast system enables the redistribution of EUMETSAT data and products to all countries in the Asia-Pacific area. EUMETCast and CMACast both contribute to the global satellite dissemination system GEONETCast.

The Cooperation with CMA is very useful in the European context, particularly with regard to the provision of CMA data to the GMES services. This cooperation would reinforce the role of EUMETSAT as the main data provider for a number of GMES services: oceanography, atmosphere and climate monitoring.

Through the dialogue with CMA, EUMETSAT also coordinates positions in international contexts, such as CEOS, CGMS, GEO and WMO Space Programmes.