EUMETSAT Meteorological Satellite Conference 2023

This session aims at providing an overview of National and International Programs for Environmental Satellites. We will invite the satellite operational agencies and research institutions to present their present and future horizons for Environmental satellite programmes. At the same time, we intend to organize few high-level round tables and we are seeking for high level contributions on future scientific and technical developments that can reshape the present operational satellite market.

Several recent high-impact events have caused losses to lives, economies and the built environment. In addition, 2022 has seen record heat waves and resulting impacts all over Europe. This session aims to present products and techniques to better predict high-impact weather events at all lead times, with special focus on next-generation MTG data. We invite perspectives on all points of forecast improvement – developers, test best providers, trainers, proving grounds, and operational service providers. Case studies using novel products are equally welcome, using nowcasting, very short range weather prediction and blended techniques. We encourage all contributions to have a strong link to improving and demonstrating improvement to forecasting of severe weather events. A special plenary session will involve NMHS operations and other agencies to discuss how data management is evolving and impacting operational services.

Energy security questions have taken centre stage in the global political discourse in 2022. At the same time climate change mitigation is requiring a leap forward in the deployment of renewable energy sources. The session seeks to explore what contributions energy meteorological applications of satellite date can and should make in the context of renewable energy policy, planning, deployment and operations.

Access to cloud computing is producing a quantum leap in the capabilities and utility of satellite data. This session explores new ways to work together as a community on cloud platforms to solve scientific and operational problems. How does collaboration in the cloud enable efficient use of EO data? Exposing and employing EUMETSAT’s vast data holding in a way that's useful to users in the cloud? What role does AI/ML play? How does the cloud improve access, elasticity, focus, and collaboration?

A special session on Satellite Application Facilities and how to exploit EWC and AI/ML potential will be considered.

The assessment of climate variability at many scales including for climate change has gained strong momentum and is supporting the IPCC assessments as well as climate service bulletins and reports and research activities. This session explores usage of satellite data in various climate application areas including climate data analysis, e.g., for Earth cycles (water, energy, carbon), NWP model-based reanalysis, climate modelling, etc. Presentations defining new needs for satellite data products and new data products in this context are also welcome.

The satellite observational capabilities for atmospheric composition and greenhouse gases has grown in the last years enabling usage of data in science and applications. This will further increase with MTG and EPS-SG and the new Sentinels and CO2M missions that will provide a unique ensemble of data from multiple instrumental techniques increasing their contribution to international assessments, operational air quality applications and integrated monitoring systems. This session welcomes contributions on existing and new instruments and missions addressing atmospheric chemistry and aerosol, validation activities, satellite data analysis for air quality, climate variability and trends. Furthermore, usage of satellite data in sectorial and operational applications and integrated use of satellites, from multi-mission to data assimilation and inverse modelling, are also welcome. A special plenary session will involve NMHS operations and other agencies to discuss the evolution of met-services applications across different sectors.

Remote sensing allows monitoring crop and vegetation status and health at various spatial and temporal scales. In this context, various satellite products are available with the aim of assessing water scarcity and temperature extremes and their effects on vegetation and agricultural production. The purpose of this session is to review food security and hydrological applications, both, available and under development, and discuss how satellite products can contribute to improve the mitigation of drought impacts.

New software tools and workflows are changing the way that we use data products, accelerating the production of downstream products and visualisations, and compressing the time from observation to value. How do these trends change what EO products we use? What new opportunities are unlocked by these developments? What is today’s reality in the weather forecast rooms? What are the effects on the reach that EO-derived information can achieve? How will emerging technologies such as data-driven workflows, and Augmented, Mixed, and Virtual Reality change the way we interact with data? How are tools shifting to accommodate the larger data volumes provided by next-generation satellites? A special plenary demonstration session will involve forecasters to showcase the use of EUMETSAT products in an operational environment.

An understanding of the processes driving ocean-atmosphere coupled system, and of their interactions with each other, is important for meteorological and climate modelling and so predicting any climate change. This session would like to invite studies of the ocean-atmosphere interface and the development of new satellite products, new uses of existing satellite observations in global and regional assimilation systems, validation of satellite products with different type of independent observations.

Advances in CubeSats and SmallSats for Observations and Measurements of the Earth System will become more and more relevant to Improve Climate Monitoring, Weather Forecasting, or Space Weather Prediction in the near future, as small sat constellation will complement the large LEO payloads. We invite papers on the next generation of small/cube sat for meteorology, climatology, air-quality and oceanography and on verification and validation of existing ones. A special plenary panel session would involve NMHS research experts to discuss the evolution of the observational system.