The eight EUMETSAT SAFs provide users with operational data and software products, each one for a dedicated user community and application area.
EUMETSAT Secretariat supervises and coordinates the overall activities of the SAF network, ensuring that the SAFs in operations are providing reliable and timely operational services related to the meteorological and environmental issues.
The SAF Network manages and coordinates interfaces between the SAFs themselves and between SAFs and other EUMETSAT systems, overseeing the integration and operations of SAFs into the overall ground segment infrastructure. During this process EUMETSAT ensures that services are delivered in the most reliable and cost-effective way.
The Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs) are a distributed network of thematic application facilities responsible for necessary research, development, and operational activities not carried out by the central facility. The SAFs are located within the National Meteorological Services (NMS) of EUMETSAT Member States, or other agreed entities linked to a user community.
SAFs deliverables can be a specific piece of software to be made available to users for use in their own environment, or data and products made available in near real-time or offline.
Product validation
Products generated within the Application Ground Segment are subject to a validation process to ensure the correct quality of product has been reached. All products need to meet validation criteria before an 'operational' product status can be applied. Corresponding validation reports are made available at the time of the product release.
Archiving data and products
All data and products generated within the Application Ground Segment are archived and can be retrieved, on demand, by users. The EUMETSAT Data Centre provides the central archive facility and retrieval service. The network of SAF archives provides thematic archive and retrieval services for their products.
SAFs are dedicated centres of excellence for processing satellite data, achieved by utilising specialist expertise from the Member States. SAFs generate and disseminate operational EUMETSAT products and services and are an integral part of the distributed EUMETSAT Application Ground Segment.
Each SAF is led by the National Meteorological Service (NMS) of a EUMETSAT Member State, in association with a consortium of EUMETSAT Member States and Cooperating States, government bodies and research institutes. The lead NMS is responsible for the management of each complete SAF project. The research, data and services provided by the SAFs complement the standard meteorological products delivered by EUMETSAT’s central facilities in Darmstadt, Germany.
EUMETSAT supervises and coordinates the overall activities of the SAF network and the integration of the SAFs into the various operations within the EUMETSAT Application Ground Segment. It manages and coordinates interfaces — between the SAFs themselves and between SAFs and other EUMETSAT systems — overseeing the integration of SAFs into the overall ground segment infrastructure. By overseeing the entire network of SAFs, EUMETSAT ensures that services are delivered in the most reliable and cost-effective way.
SAFs currently use data from meteorological satellites both in geostationary and polar orbit.
The SAFs help deliver a variety of benefits, including:
- Improvements to short-range forecasting of severe weather hazards.
- Support to the aviation, agriculture, construction, gas, water and electricity industries.
- Better understanding of the causes and effects of pollution of the upper atmosphere and the depletion of ozone.
- Early warning of hazards.
- Better data for climate monitoring.
- Improved information for land use, ecology, disaster monitoring and agricultural forecasting.
- Benefits for sea transport, fishing and offshore industries.
- Improved data for input to Numerical Weather Prediction and the availability of user software packages for operational applications.
- Improved software packages and near-real time and offline products.
The main objective of the SAF Visiting Scientists (VS) programme is to allow experts/scientists from the EUMETSAT Member States, other than those involved in a particular SAF development, to acquire expertise in the field of the SAF activities/products. A second objective of the VS scheme is to allow scientists from other institutes to participate in, or contribute to, the SAF activities, in particular the algorithm development and product validation activities.
Types of activities
Depending on whether the VS stay at their home institute or move to the visited institute, two main types of VS can be distinguished:
- Visiting Scientists (VS) who participate in the development activities of the SAF by spending a certain period of time at one of the SAF Consortium Institutes.
- Associated Scientists (AS) who participate in the development activities of the SAF but stay 'at home' (no change of location).
In certain cases it might be necessary to combine the two types of activities, i.e. the VS activity may be carried out partly at the visited institute and partly at home.
Opportunities for Visiting Scientists
Current visiting scientist opportunities can be found at the relevant SAF web pages or acquired through the SAF help desk.
For requesting any additional information on the SAF Network go to Contact Us.
To directly contact the SAF Projects see the details below.
| SAF Project Managers at National Meteorological Services | |
|---|---|
| SAF Project | SAF Project Manager |
| NWC SAF | Pilar Rípodas AEMET, Remote Sensing Department, Leonardo Prieto Castro 8, 28040 Madrid, Spain Phone: +34 915 810 203 Fax: +34 915 819 767 |
| OSI SAF | Cécile Hernandez Météo-France, Centre de Métérologie Spatiale, av Lorraine, BP 50747, 22307 Lannion cedex, France Phone: +33 296 056 796 Fax: +33 296 056 737 Email 1 or Email 2 |
| AC SAF | Seppo Hassinen Earth Observation, Finnish Meteorological Institute, P.O. Box 503, 00101 Helsinki, Finland Phone: +358 9 1929 4675 |
| CM SAF | Martin Werscheck Deutscher Wetterdienst, Abteilung Klima und Umwelt, Postfach 10 04 65 63004, Offenbach, Germany Phone: +49 69 8062 4919 Fax: +49 69 8062 4955 |
| NWP SAF | Samantha Pullen Met Office, Satellite Applications, FitzRoy Road Exeter Devon EX1 3PB, United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)1392 886876 Fax: +44 (0)1392 885681 |
| ROM SAF | Kent Bækgaard Lauritsen Danish Meteorological Institute, Lyngbyvej 100, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Phone: +45 39157 454 Fax: +45 39157 460 |
| LSA SAF | Isabel Trigo Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Rua C ao Aeroporto, 1749-077 Lisboa, Portugal Phone: +351 218 447 000 (Geral), +351 218 447 108 (Directo) Fax: +351 218 402 370 |
| H SAF | Francesco Zauli Italian Air Force Meteorological Service Viale Università, 4 00185 ROMA (Roma), Italy |
| SAF network management office | |
|---|---|
| Role | Name |
| SAF Network Manager | Lothar Schüller |
| SAF Network System Engineer Coordinator | Frédéric Gasiglia |
| SAF Process Management Support Engineer | Cleber Balan |
