Polar orbiting missions are important for both operational meteorology and climate monitoring as they provide global observations on a regular and consistent basis. The major objectives of the EPS are to support Operational Meteorology and Climate Monitoring.

The Metop satellites ensure continuity, improvement and availability of operational meteorological observations from a morning polar orbit. They also provide Europe with an enhanced capability for the routine observation of the Earth from Space, and in particular, increase Europe's capability for long-term Earth climate monitoring.

Operational meteorology covers a wide range of activities, related to the analysis and prediction of the changing weather elements in time. The main areas within operational meteorology where Metop provides data are:

• Temperature and moisture sounding for NWP
• All weather capability
• Troposphere, stratosphere, and troposphere/stratosphere interactions
• Imagery of clouds and land/ocean surfaces
• Air-sea interactions
  

Activities within climate monitoring are related to the atmosphere, land surface and ocean surface. These activities include:

• Monitor global atmospheric temperatures and humidity data
• Monitor the seasonal variations in ozone and track any developments
• Metop provides data for vegetation indices, displaying the changing vegetation on the surface of the Earth. These indices are used to predict crop yields for economic forecasting and for famine predictions
• Maps of snow and ice cover are used by for example the transport and tourism industries
• Metop monitors the ocean as key indicator of climate changes and is measuring sea surface temperatures and low-level wind vectors over the oceans

Additional EPS missions are:

• Space Environmental Monitoring (SEM)
• Humanitarian service (Search and Rescue)