Last Updated
27 January 2023
Published on
17 December 2021
EUMETSAT’s Nowcasting Satellite Application Facility (NWC SAF) provides operational services to ensure the optimum use of meteorological satellite data in nowcasting and very short-range forecasting. The NWC SAF does this by developing and maintaining software packages for fast data processing at the user’s premises. EUMETSAT’s Numerical Weather Prediction Satellite Application Facility (NWP SAF) develops satellite data processing modules for implementation at NWP centres.
Additionally, software and tools from Third Party providers are also included below.
| Title | Description | Resources | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1D-Var Retrieval Packages - Multimission | The NWPSAF 1D-Var package is a stand-alone system for doing 1D-Var retrievals with user-provided files of observation and background error covariances. The package is configured to support ATOVS, AIRS, IASI, ATMS, CrIS and SSMIS sensors, and is capable of supporting any nadir-sounding sensor for which a suitable radiative transfer model is available. The code is written in Fortran-90, using many of the intrinsic features. It is tailored to be flexible for research purposes and for portability rather than being streamlined for operational running within an NWP model. Users who require the code to run efficiently within their NWP system should expect to do some optimisation of the code for their platform. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| ATOVS and AVHRR Pre-processing Package - Multimission | As its main output, AAPP produces files of quality-controlled brightness temperature or radiance data for each instrument - either separately or mapped to a common field of view. If profiles of atmospheric variables are required the AAPP can be used in conjunction with an inversion package. AAPP radiance data are also used directly as input to variational data assimilation systems at several leading centres for Numerical Weather Prediction. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| CVIIRS 2 | The EARS-VIIRS service disseminates VIIRS M-Band and Day-Night Band products to users in a compacted format known as Compact VIIRS (CVIIRS). A corresponding software tool, CVIIRS, is used to compact and expand these products. CVIIRS 2 can be used to expand EARS-VIIRS M-Band and Day-Night Band data from NOAA-20 and Suomi-NPP (S-NPP). | Compact VIIRS SDR Product Format User Guide CVIIRS - Software User Manual |
Download CVIIRS 2 (Windows 64-bit) Download CVIIRS 2 (Windows 32-bit) Download CVIIRS 2 (Linux 32-bit) Download CVIIRS 2 (Linux 64-bit) Download CVIIRS 2 (Linux 32-bit RPM) Download CVIIRS 2 (Linux 64-bit RPM) |
| Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software - Multimission | The Cloud and Aerosol Detection Software uses observed and NWP model background brightness temperature information to identify infrared sounder channels that are affected by cloud or aerosol at each observation location | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| Data Centre Download Tool | The Data Centre Download Tool provides users a convenient way to download their orders made using the Data Centre Archive Ordering Application (http://archive.eumetsat.int/). Please refer to the documents for installation and usage. |
Data Centre Download Tool Installation Guide Data Centre Download Tool User Guide Data Centre Archive Ordering Application |
Data Centre Download Tool v1.8 (Windows) Data Centre Download Tool v1.8 (Unix) Data Centre Download Tool v1.8 (Mac OS) |
| Data Tailor | The EUMETSAT Data Tailor provides format conversion and basic product customisation capabilities for a set of EUMETSAT products. The following functionalities can be applied on input products; not all the functionalities may be available for a given product: • Format conversion • Aggregation • Layer filtering • Extraction of a region of interest (ROI) • Reprojection • Resampling • Generation of a Quicklook The functionalities can be applied in sequence, by specifying the configuration of a customisation chain. Configurations may be saved for reuse. The specific configuration of a functionality (e.g. the extent of a ROI) can also be saved for later use; a saved configuration can be referred by name in the chain configuration. |
See our Data Tailor page |
Download from the Gitlab Repository |
| EFTS Agents Software | The EFTS Agents is a pure-Java framework providing highly efficient and robust software components (agents) to: • Retrieve remote files from a remote system using various transfer protocols (Poll Agent) • Replicate and optionally process files via a third-party plug-in (Pre-Processor Agent) • Push files to a remote system using various transfer protocols (Push Agent) • Run arbitrary jobs (processes) sequentially or in parallel. Not file driven (Job Agent) • Check remote system connectivity (Checker Agent) • Group other EFTS agents into one runtime process (Group Agent) The agents can be configured to run continually or can be scheduled. They are able to handle flat directory structures or can recurse directory structures, both locally and remotely. Automatic file housekeeping is also provided. The framework also provides: • A high-availability (HA) clustering EFTS Agents server to control the runtime lifecycle of the configured agents offering automatic restart of aborted agents and cron-like scheduling capabilities. Agents can be load-balanced across multiple nodes, each running an EFTS Agents server. • An Interactive Development Environment (IDE) to configure the agents and the EFTS Agents server(s), and deploy the configuration to the server(s). • A local or remote monitoring and control application to manually control agents and to monitor their current or historical status in an intuitive manner. • A command line monitoring and control interface. • A local or remote web 2.0 based monitoring interface avoiding the need for a Java client installation. • Adhoc data flow support A Process Monitoring and Control Utility (PMACU) is also available in the downloads. This is a Linux service interface for starting/stopping and restarting arbitrary processes, and adding high availability. |
EFTS Agents User Manual |
Download EFTS v3.00-25 (Windows) Download EFTS v3.00-25 (Solaris) Download EFTS v3.00-25 (Linux) Download Process Monitoring and Control Utility (PMACU) RPM & setup instructions |
| EPS Tool - EPS Product IDL Readers | IDL, the Interactive Data Language software is ideal for data analysis, visualisation, and cross-platform application development. Many of the built in features of IDL are designed specifically for remote sensing applications. IDL has been selected to read, process, and analyse the EPS products. The EPS Product IDL Readers are able to process multiple versions of the product format, and due to its object-oriented design makes them ideal for application development. | Product Reader User Manual |
Download EPS format OO IDL readers v1.6 |
| EPS Tool - Kai | Kai is a tool used for processing EPS Product Format Specification (PFS) format products. It has several functions: • To split a full sized product into non-overlapping, three minute chunks, simulating the PDUs produced in the EPS Ground Segment. • To combine Product Dissemination Units (PDUs), or other fragments of products, together into a large product. The input pieces may include overlapping ranges, in which case only the last one specified will be kept. • To manipulate products at the record level by selectively adding or removing records, for example removing ranges of MDRs or all records of a certain subclass. • To repair certain format errors in existing products. • As a basic viewer to display the complete MPHR, SPHR, IPR, GEADR, VEADR and VIADR-L0-OBT2UTC records, and the generic record headers for all other records. |
Kai Users Guide |
Download KAI EPS Tool v1.11 |
| EPS Tool - Metopizer | The Metopizer is a collection of tools for manipulating Metop CCSDS, CADU and t-VCDU packets and for generating EPS L0 products. Also included are viewers to display text dumps of all packets, and for extracting images from ATOVS, AVHRR and IASI source packets. The latest version of the Metopizer includes a Python module for reading sensor data from EPS L0 ATOVS and AVHRR products into Python scripts. | Metopizer User Guide |
Download Metopizer 3.57 |
| GEO Software Package - Multimission | The aim of the NWC SAF is the production and provision of a Software for the NRT Generation of a set of Meteorological products to support Nowcasting activities. The GEO Package processes data from Meteosat Second Generation (SEVIRI), GOES-N (IMAGER) and HIMAWARI-8/9 (AHI). | EUMETSAT NWC SAF page NWC SAF |
Download from NWC SAF |
| Ground Based GNSS Package | GBGP is a software package which is intended to help users quality-control and prepare Ground Based GNSS data for assimilation into NWP systems. It contains modules for general utilities (range checking etc) and I/O (to allow the code to read data from a variety of sources, and to write data in COST and BUFR formats) . The software is available free of charge to users who agree to sign a licence for its use. | EUMETSAT ROM SAF page ROM SAF |
Download product |
| IASI PCA-based compression package | Code to calculate a covariance matrix, based on a set of training data, and derive principal components (PCs). These PCs may then be used to noise-filter other spectra. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| IASI level 1 processor OPS-LRS | IASI level 0 to level 1c processing for direct broadcast applications. The software is an extension to the ATOVS and AVHRR Preprocessing Package (AAPP). | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| MSG Native Image Reader | The MSG Native image reader allows visualisation of MSG native images and works under Windows. Please make sure you read the 'readme' file before use. |
ReadMe |
Download MSG Native Image Reader (Windows) |
| Microwave Imager Pre-processor | Processing package for level 1 radiance data from microwave imagers, with options to perform spatial averaging, map the brightness temperatures to a user-defined grid (e.g. NWP grid), and create output files in BUFR or hdf5 format. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| Navigation Software for MSG Level 1.5 VIS/IR data | The navigation software incorporates source code written in FORTRAN90 and C for the conversion of image coordinates (pixel column and row) into the corresponding geographical coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) of MSG Level 1.5 VIS/IR data. | HRIT Global Specifications (PDF) |
Download software (Fortran 90) Download software (C code) |
| PPS Software Package - Multimission | The aim of the NWC SAF is the production and provision of a Software for the NRT Generation of a set of Meteorological products to support Nowcasting activities. The PPS Package processes data from Metop and NOAA satellites (AVHRR + AMSU/MHS), S-NPP/JPSS satellites (VIIRS) and EOS satellites (MODIS). | EUMETSAT NWC SAF page NWC SAF |
Download from NWC SAF |
| Public Wavelet Transform Decompression | The Wavelet Transform Software is the decompression software used to decompress SEVIRI High Rate Information Transmission (HRIT) and Foreign Satellite data files. The software is compilable on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Solaris Operating Systems, and it works on 32 bits and 64 bits, as well as mixed architectures. On Windows, it can be compiled using Eclipse or Cygwin. | HRIT Global Specifications (PDF) |
Download from the Gitlab Repository |
| RTTOV Radiative Transfer Model - Multimission | RTTOV stands for Radiative Transfer for TOVS and is a very fast radiative transfer model for nadir viewing passive visible, infrared and microwave satellite radiometers, spectrometers and interferometers. It is a FORTRAN-90 code for simulating satellite radiances, designed to be incorporated within users' applications. It supports clear-sky and aerosol/cloud/hydrometeor scattering simulations and provides various other scientific and technical capabilities. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| Radiance Simulator - Multimission | The NWP SAF Radiance Simulator is a tool designed to support pre-launch scientific studies and pre-operational development work for new satellite instruments. It provides a straightforward means of generating simulated radiance datasets from NWP model analysis or background fields using the NWP SAF fast radiative transfer model RTTOV. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software |
Download software |
| SSMIS Pre-processing Package - DMSP | This package processes data from the SSMIS instrument on board the US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) series of satellites. The first SSMIS was launched in October 2003. As its main output, SSMIS_PP produces BUFR files of brightness temperature from the SSMIS instrument. These brightness temperatures are corrected for a number of systematic effects in the SSMIS data stream. The primary application foreseen for this data is direct assimilation in NWP assimilation systems. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF Software The SSMIS Pre-processing Package |
Download software |
| Scatterometer Processing Packages - Multimission | Observation operators for SCAT, ASCAT, SeaWinds, OSCAT, HSCAT and RapidScat. Scatterometer data processors for Ku-band pencil beam instruments (PenWP) and C-band fan beam instruments (AWDP) are supplied and maintained by the OSI SAF and distributed by the NWP SAF. These packages process radar backscatter data to wind vector field solutions featuring: *Local representation of the full wind vector PDF based on the radar backscatter measurement input (Multiple Solution Scheme), State of the art quality control procedures, Two-dimensional variational ambiguity removal. | EUMETSAT NWP SAF page NWP SAF |
Download from NWP SAF |
| The Radio Occultation Processing Package - Multimission | ROPP is a software package which is intended to help users process, quality-control and prepare RO data for assimilation into NWP systems. It contains modules for general utilities (coordinate conversions, range checking etc), I/O (to allow the code to read data from a variety of sources, and to write data in netCDF and BUFR formats), preprocessing (from excess phase data to bending angles and refractivities, and from refractivities to excess phases by means of wave optics propagators), forward modelling (from model states to bending angles and refractivities) and 1D variational retrievals (which find the best fit to model backgrounds and observations). An applications module includes some diagnostics (such as tropopause and boundary layer heights). A wave optics propagation tool allows users to calculate the excess phases that would be produced by an idealised refractivity field. The software is available free of charge to users who agree to sign a licence for its use. | EUMETSAT ROM SAF page ROM SAF ROPP User Guides |
Download software |
| netCDF Flattener | The netCDF Flattener “flattens” netCDF-4 files while preserving references as described in the CF Conventions 1.8, chapter 2.7. It accepts as input a netCDF-4 file that can contain groups, and moves all items within the groups to the root level while ensuring that all references continue to resolve correctly. The output is a netCDF-4 file that has a “flat” structure, i.e. only one group of dimensions, variables, and attributes. | Download from the Gitlab Repository |
Third Party software and tools
| Name | Description | Download |
|---|---|---|
| brat | The Broadview Radar Altimetry Toolbox is a tool designed to use radar altimetry data. The Broadview Radar Altimetry Tutorial and Toolbox is a joint project between ESA and CNES to develop an open source tool (GPL-3) freely available to all the altimetry community. | Website |
| eccodes | ecCodes is a package developed by ECMWF which provides an application programming interface and a set of tools for decoding and encoding messages in the following formats: WMO FM-92 GRIB edition 1 and edition 2 WMO FM-94 BUFR edition 3 and edition 4 WMO GTS abbreviated header (only decoding). A useful set of command line tools provide quick access to the messages. C, Fortran 90 and Python interfaces provide access to the main ecCodes functionality. |
Website |
| Jason-3 netCDF OGDR reader package | The NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Altimetry group provides a set of C, Fortran and IDL routines, which allows to read in all the fields contained in the Jason-3 netCDF products. Example reading programs are included, which can be easily adapted and integrated in the user software. It requires a netCDF library built and installed netCDF library. This software has been tested using netCDF 4.2. Copyright 2008, 2012 USDOC/NOAA/NESDIS Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry. Jason-3 products handbook |
C Reader (ZIP) IDL Reader (ZIP) Fortran Reader (ZIP) |
| METCAP+ | Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS) has developed the METCAP+ software package to visualise meteorological data, such as observations (Synop, Metar, temp, etc); NWP model data output; RGB imagery products and satellite products, and radar data. The software runs on MS Windows platforms. This software is only available to national meteorological services (NMS). METCAP+ user manual |
Contact TSMS to request software, Email |
| Pytroll project | Pytroll is the name of an open source collaboration which was initiated by SMHI and DMI in 2009. As of today (2014) also the national met services of Romania, Iceland, Norway and Finland are contributing. The objective is to provide different free and open source python modules for the reading, interpretation, and writing of weather satellite data. The provided python packages are designed to be used both in R&D environments and in 24/7 operational production. Pytroll provides about a dozen stand alone python packages, each for a specific use. | Pytroll project website |
| Sentinel-3 toolbox SNAP | The Sentinel-3 Toolbox consists of a rich set of visualisation, analysis and processing tools for the exploitation of OLCI and SLSTR data from the upcoming Sentinel-3 mission. | Sentinel-3 toolbox website |
| netCDF Readers | The contents of a netCDF product can be read with: ToolsUI unidata To visualise netCDF data the following can be used: Panoply McIDas IDV |
