New users - getting started

If you are new to EUMETSAT data, the variety of data access options and terminology used may seem daunting. With this 'Getting Started' section, we aim to help you find the data you are interested in and the data access services that work best for you. If you don’t know where to start, we suggest the EUMETview service.

Which data would you like to access?

Our Product Navigator is the catalogue of all products available from EUMETSAT, including our Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs). It provides:

• Short description of the collection entry, this could be Level 1 data, a geophysical product or an item of software, e.g. IASI GDS Level 1C - All Spectral Samples from Metop, the Fire Radiative Power Pixel from Meteosat Second Generation or the GEO Software Package from the Nowcasting Satellite Application Facility.
• Information on how you can access the data (which data access mechanism can be used to receive each data collection, e.g. Near real-time High Rate SEVIRI Image data can be accessed via EUMETCast, via the EUMETSAT Data Store and can be viewed using EUMETView.
• Links to useful resources, such as user handbooks and validation reports.
• Other related collection metadata.

You can learn more about our satellite data via our satellite series section:

• Meteosat series – capable of scanning a full disc image of the Earth in 15 minutes or Europe within five minutes, when in rapid scan mode, the Meteosat satellites provide a constant flow of data from geostationary orbit. These data primarily support the monitoring of rapidly developing high-impact weather.
• Metop series – provide global and regional observations about ocean, land and atmospheric parameters measured from low altitude orbits. Metop delivers data much less frequently than Meteosat, but provides quantitative observations as input to the numerical models used to forecast weather.
• Sentinel series – ocean colour, sea surface temperature and altimetry observations to support sea state monitoring. Copernicus Sentinel-3 also provides two products to support fire detection and air quality monitoring.
• Jason series – altimetry observations to support sea state monitoring.

You can learn more about what our satellites monitor by exploring:

• Weather – how our data are used to help monitor severe weather events and support weather forecasting.
• Climate – the contribution our climate data records make to climate monitoring from space.
• Ocean – how our satellite data are used to support biological, biogeochemical and physical ocean state and sea ice monitoring for forecasts, research and industry applications.
• Land – the contribution our satellite data make to agrometeorology, forestry and wildfires and seasonal hazards such a heatwaves.
• Atmosphere – how our satellite data are used to support the monitoring of air quality, hazards such as fires and dust and atmospheric composition and climate impacts.

Still not certain if we have the data you are looking for? Contact our user helpdesk.

How to receive our data

Read our brief introduction to our different data access services to decide which service best suits your needs:

• View and animate Meteosat, Metop and Sentinel-3 satellite imagery – Go to EUMETView.
• Download data via a web user interface (Web-UI) and/or Application Programming Interface (API) – Go to the EUMETSAT Data Store to download the following data. If the data you are looking for are not in the Data Store you can likely download it from the EUMETSAT data centre (our long-term archive) using the data centre ordering client
• Sentinel-3 data can additionally be access via the WEkEO data information and access service.
• Receive a multicast stream of near real-time data from all of EUMETSAT’s satellite missions, including some third-party data, with a guaranteed operational timeliness – Go to EUMETCast.
• Receive locally instrument readout data from the Metop satellites – Go to Metop direct dissemination.
• Receive EUMETSAT data via the Global Telecommunications System (GTS) – Contact your local Global Information System Centres (GISCs) for access information.

Our Product Navigator is the catalogue of all products available from EUMETSAT (see above).

Remember you will need to create an account in our Earth Observation Portal in order to download data via the EUMETSAT Data Store and EUMETSAT data centre, to receive data via EUMETCast, and and to save your favourite views in EUMETView. The same login credentials will work for all services, see our registration information below.

Still not worked out which data access service to choose? Contact our user helpdesk.

How to register for and access our data

Follow our basic registration steps, create an Earth Observation Portal account and accept data licensing terms and conditions, and you are there.

• Visit our data access services knowledge base to get started with using EUMETView, EUMETSAT Data Store, the Data Tailor transformation software and EUMETCast. The knowledge base provides simple instructions on using the web user interfaces, creating Application Programming Interface (API) calls and information on how to set up a EUMETCast reception station.
• Visit our gitlab repository, EUMETlab, to download and use supporting data access API code snippets.
• For a brief introduction, we provide a range of ‘How To’ videos via our YouTube channel.
• If you need support from a manufacturer to set up a reception station, we provide a list of known equipment providers. We also have a set of software tools to support some aspects of data acquisition and processing.

Still not found the assistance you need? Contact our user helpdesk.

Learn more about how our data are used

• Our case studies library provides imagery and explanations of weather and environmental events observed by EUMETSAT's fleet of weather satellites.
• To improve quality and respond to end user needs, we conduct a range of scientific studies for the evolution of our operational products suite and for the development of new products. These studies provide insight into some of the current and future applications of our data.
• Our science blog includes examples of how are data are being used.
• Our user stories provide insight into the use of our data, by our users. Become a user and provide us with your feedback.

How to seek assistance in using our data

• Our case studies library provides useful insights into how to use satellite imagery to observe and track weather and environmental events.
• We provide a range of training materials and courses to support users in using our satellite data. Explore these further via our training section.

Still not found the assistance you need? Contact our user helpdesk.