Ordering FAQ

New users must now register via the Earth Observation Portal (EOP). If you need support registering, send your query to our User Service Helpdesk.

The first time you log in, you may have limited privileges for querying and ordering data from the archive. Nevertheless, you are able to execute a simple query to the catalogue and make a small order. Registration requires manual authorisation, a confirmation email describing your privileges will be sent to you after authorisation. This can only be performed during EUMETSAT working hours Mon-Thu from 08:30 to 17:15 and on Friday 08:30 to 16:00. Please be patient when registering.

This short video provides an introduction on how to use the data centre ordering client: Accessing data from the EUMETSAT data centre.

You can also refer to the Help page of the online ordering client.

If you need further assistance, please contact our User Service Helpdesk.

After registration you should have received an email describing your privileges. To find out if it is possible to upgrade your privileges, contact our User Service Helpdesk.

After registration you should have received an email describing your privileges. To find out if it is possible to upgrade your privileges, contact our User Service Helpdesk.

Your order has failed due to a problem with retrieving the datasets you have requested. The User Service Helpdesk will contact you by email if this happens. In rare instances it is also possible that a planned or unplanned system outage is causing an order to fail. For more information on maintenance see our service status page.

Typically an order is cancelled if there is a problem with the size of the order or there is maintenance being performed in the archive. An email will be sent to you giving you the reason for the cancellation. If you have not received this email or you are unsatisfied with the reason, address your concerns to our User Service Helpdesk.

Depending on the number of orders the archive received; the resources available, and whether scheduled maintenance is being performed, it may take some time to deliver your order. For large orders we will provide an estimate on when the order will be delivered. If you feel your order is taking a substantial amount of time, please contact our User Service Helpdesk, providing your order number, displayed in the order follow-up page.

Please check the order id of the delivery (in the order completion email, or in the name of the downloaded TAR file). If the id contains a dash ("-"), this indicates that the order is big and it has been divided into several sub-orders to simplify its processing.

If your order id has been divided into sub-orders, the rest of products in your order will be delivered as each sub-order is processed.

If your order id does not contain a dash then please contact our User Service Helpdesk.

Your data will remain available to download for seven days. You should receive an order completion email from us, you can then go to the order follow-up page and download your order.

This is a limitation specific to order size estimations based on satellite and product. There is a limitation estimating the product size in different scanning modes, rapid scanning is not distinguished from full earth scanning when orders are submitted.

GERB products cannot be ordered from the data centre, they must be ordered via RAL. Please contact J E Russell for more information.

The search algorithm is rounded up to the next minute, this can result in an extra orbit included in the search results.

To provide a high availability service to our user community, two Meteosat satellites are located at the nominal sub-satellite point of 0 degrees. Nominally, one satellite is in prime mode, the other is in standby mode. Only the prime satellite disseminates operational datasets. These are available in the archive for orders. The standby satellite is switch to prime mode when maintenance is required on the prime satellite which in turn, is switched to standby mode.

Instead of archiving IDS products we offer them as a format of Level 1.5 images. Search for L1.5 images and place them in the 'Shopping Trolley'. In the 'Shopping Trolley' select 'Delivery Options', then the IDS format.

Ordering of IASI level 2 product in BUFR is currently not possible due to a known error. This issue is under investigation, we hope to have this resolved in the near future.

The VOLP product is a bundle of PNGs stored in big-endian form. The following algorithm provides the steps to extract the individual PNGs from the bundle.

• Ignore the first 799 bytes.
• Loop the number_of_PNGs images:
  3.1 Read the next 64 bytes string holding the directory (first 8 bytes of this string) and filename (from 9th byte, next 56 bytes) of the PNG.
  3.2 Read the next 4 bytes integer for the size_of_the_PNG in bytes.
  3.3 Read the next "size_of_the_PNG" bytes corresponding to the PNG itself.
  3.4 Write this out to a file to create the PNG, optionally name it the original filename extracted from 3.1.
  EndLoop

1. Untar the delivered order file (<order_number>-1of1.tar).
2. If compression was selected (in the Data Centre ordering application) uncompress the file.
3. Remove GS Header, that is, first 803 bytes. There are two easy ways to do that:
   a. [UNIX command line] #> dd if=MSG3-SEVI-MSGVOLE-0100-0100-20130403143000.000000000Z-1066608.nc of=MSG3-SEVI-MSGVOLE-0100-0100-20130403143000.000000000Z-1066608_new.nc bs=1 skip=803.
   b. Open a proper text editor, remove first 803 characters and save the file.
4. The resulting .nc file is NOT a netCDF yet. It is a compressed netCDF file. Uncompress the file, and you will get a file without extension, which is indeed netCDF.
5. Open the netCDF with your favourite netCDF reader tool.

• If compression was selected (in the Data Centre ordering application) uncompress the file.


• The resulting .nc file is NOT a netCDF yet. It is a compressed netCDF file. Uncompress the file, and you will get a file without extension, which is indeed netCDF.

EPS HDF5 format for GOME-2 GDS Level 1B has been discontinued due to format inconsistencies.

In the meantime, please order Native format and use the BEAT software to read it. In Section 7 of the GOME-2 Factsheet you will find how to use this software in order to extract the relevant spectral information.

You will need to download and apply the corresponding geolocation file which is not included in the order:

• HDF Geolocation File 0 degree
• HDF Geolocation File 50 degree
• HDF Geolocation File 75 degree
• HDF Geolocation File 57 degree
• HDF Geolocation File 63 degree

Region sub-setting for ASCAT products is currently not possible due to a known error. This issue is under investigation, we hope to have this resolved in the near future.

All service interruptions are announced to users via EUMETSAT’s User Notification Service (UNS). Announcements are made for planned and unplanned service interruptions. To receive information on planned interruptions, users should subscribe to the UNS Weekly Operations Schedule.

• No access to the data centre ordering system.
• No access to latest products stored in the data centre archive.
• No processing of users’ orders.
• No access to latest products stored in the data centre archive.

Users should take note that the delivery of their orders can be delayed when maintenance occurs.

You can download the Adobe PDF Reader free of charge from the Adobe website.

Yes, GEOTIFF and other formats will all be added in the future.

To continually improve the services offers by the archive, user feedback on the application are most welcome. Please send feedback to our User Service Helpdesk.