Monitoring weather and climate from space

Metop
EUMETSAT Polar System

The EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) is Europe’s first polar orbiting operational meteorological satellite system, and it is the European contribution to the Initial Joint Polar-Orbiting Operational Satellite System (IJPS).

Metop
Mission Overview
Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. It represents the European contribution to a new co-operative venture with the United States, providing data to monitor climate and improve weather forecasting.
Instruments
The Metop satellites carry on board a set of state-of-the-art sounding and imaging instruments, that offer improved remote sensing capabilities to both meteorologists and climatologists and improved atmospheric soundings; as well as measuring atmospheric ozone and near-surface wind vectors over the ocean.
Services
Metop has brought about a new era in the way the Earth's weather, climate and environment are observed. It significantly improves operational meteorology, in particular Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). The new instruments augment the accuracy of temperature humidity measurements; readings of wind speed and direction, and atmospheric ozone profiles.
Resources
A collection of technical and scientific documentation relating to the EUMETSAT Polar System.
Why Metop-B is important (YouTube video)
Watch Alain Ratier, Director-General of EUMETSAT, explaining the importance of the launch of the Metop-B polar orbiting satellite to the organisation, our European Member and Cooperating States, and our international partners.
Overview of EPS (YouTube video)
Watch Marc Cohen, Head of the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Programmes division, discuss the EUMETSAT Polar System Programme.

  

Related Info

[Internal link]Metop-B successfully launched

Press Release

[Download link]EUMETSAT/ESA Scatterometer Science Conference - Darmstadt, Germany April 11-13, 2011

Presentations and detailed information on the EUMETSAT/ESA Scatterometer Science Conference.

[Download link]Scatterometer Science Conference Report

Conference report by the programme committee

[Internal link]Metop-A monitors marine life

EUMETSAT’s Metop-A polar-orbiting satellite has helped transmit data from thousands of animals, oceanographic buoys, weather stations, and other platforms around the world with its on-board Argos-3 instrument.

[Internal link]An Introduction to the EUMETSAT Polar System

An interactive webcast produced by the COMET® program in collaboration with EUMETSAT

Related Links

[link]Metop-B lift-off (YouTube)

[link]Metop-A Launch

[link]Metop Animations (ESA)

[link]NOAA-18 Instrument Calibration and Validation

[link]IJPS (US Component)

 
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