13 June 2023
20 May 2020
In the MTG era, for fulfilment of official duties of NMHS for safety-critical nowcasting and high-impact forecasting, EUMETSAT continues to rely on the EUMETCast technology to support its 4000+ user base in the footprint of the EUMETCast Europe service. Additionally, the EUMETCast Terrestrial service which uses broadband terrestrial networks (GEANT/NREN) is also available. The EUMETCast Terrestrial service complements the EUMETCast Satellite service with its ability to support the end-users outside the footprint of the satellite service, and to handle some high-volume data and products which will only be available in the terrestrial service. The EUMETCast Terrestrial service is also a backup for the EUMETCast Satellite service, with similar timeliness and completeness specifications.
Multicast technology and dissemination logic of the EUMETCast service remain the same in the MTG era. EUMETCast users should be able to seamlessly transition to high rate acquisition of high volumes of MTG data and products, provided they upgrade their reception and processing systems to cope with the data rates available as of 2023, after launch and commissioning of the first MTG satellite (MTG-I1).
Data rate evolution
The MTG era will see satellite data rates growing at least tenfold compared to current MSG services — to be acquired, processed and distributed to users by the MTG system ground segment; on their part, users need to assess whether their data acquiring and processing systems are capable of accessing and handling MTG data, to ensure smooth access to the new data streams and continuity of data services.
On top of this step change induced by MTG, the 2020s will see the addition of data from other missions operated by EUMETSAT, such as the polar-orbiting EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation (EPS-SG) and the Copernicus Sentinel missions operated by EUMETSAT on behalf of the European Commission. This leads to further increases in total data volumes and rates of EUMETSAT data services. Users of these services are advised to take these changes into account when designing their future data access and processing infrastructure.
The multi-channel near real-time data distribution baseline using EUMETCast services is provided in the table below.
NRT baseline evolution EUMETCast services
| Mission/Service | Products | Daily Data Rate Average in Mbps | restor able | non-restor able | Terrestrial | Date (indicative) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTG-I1 | FDSS images, products incl. SAFs | 32.6 | starting | starting | Q4 2022 | |
| MTG-I1 | FDSS 4 HR channels | 22.3 | starting | Q4 2022 | ||
| MTG-S1 | L1 and L2 data | 26.6 | starting | starting | Q4 2024 | |
| MTG-I2 | RSS data, except HR channels | 22.3 | starting | starting | Q1 2026 | |
| MTG-I2 | RSS 4 HR channels | 22.3 | starting | starting | Q1 2026 | |
| Metop-SG A Global Data | METImage, MWS, RO, IASI-NG L2 (L1 PCI TBC), MSP-02-AER | 27.1 | starting | starting | Q1 2025 | |
| Metop-SG A Global Data | Global data: IASI-NG L1, 3MI L1/L2 | 58 | starting | Q1 2025 | ||
| Metop-SG A Regional Data | METImage, MWS, RO, IASI-NG L1/L2 | 5.6 | starting | starting | Q1 2025 | |
| Metop-SG A Regional Data | 3MI L1/L2 | 5.2 | starting | Q1 2025 | ||
| Metop-SG | SAF data | 10.8 | starting | starting | Q1 2025 | |
| Metop-SG B | Global and regional data: MWI, ICI, SCA, RO, MSP-02-LIW | 13.2 | starting | starting | Q4 2025 | |
| Sentinel-4 | L2 data | 7.2 | starting | starting | Q4 2023 | |
| Sentinel-4 | L1 data | 25.2 | starting | Q4 2023 | ||
| Sentinel-5 | L2 data | 15.6 | starting | starting | Q1 2025 | |
| Sentinel-5 | L1 data | 33 | starting | Q1 2025 |
User impact
The primary dissemination mechanisms for the MTG satellites data and products are the EUMETCast Satellite and EUMETCast Terrestrial systems.
Details on how to set up and use EUMETCast systems can be found on the EUMETCast page.
Details on receiving MTG-I data via the EUMETCast Satellite and EUMETCast Terrestrial can be found on the MTG Data Reception page.
A list of manufacturers can be found on the Equipment manufacturers page.
