Under a license agreement signed with EUMETSAT at the end of 2009, Oman already has access to data from EUMETSAT's Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) service provided by the Meteosat-7 geostationary satellite. These data provide important information on monitoring cyclonic systems, dust storms and other meteorological phenomena in the Indian Ocean region.

Now, the Oman Meteorological Department has been providing High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) data to users of the EUMETSAT Advanced Retransmission Service (EARS) since 27 July.

EARS provides users with quick access to data from EUMETSAT’s Metop and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) polar-orbiting satellites received via a network of local stations that now has been extended to include Muscat. The data provided by EARS include image, sounder and scatterometer data, primarily in support of Numerical Weather Prediction and Nowcasting at National Meteorological Services.

EUMETSAT worked closely with the Oman Meteorological Department office in Muscat on the upgrade of the HRPT reception station in Muscat.

Another area of cooperation with Oman is EUMETSAT’s co-sponsorship and support of a meteorological training centre of excellence for the Middle East region in Muscat specialising in satellite meteorology under the framework of the World Meteorological Organization.

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