The objective of EARS-ATOVS is to provide the European meteorological community with sounder data covering data-sparse areas, within 30 minutes of the instrument observations.
Sounder data is produced by a set of the instruments known as ATOVS, Advanced TIROS Operational Vertical Sounders.
This set, comprising the Advanced Microwave Sounding Units A and B (AMSU-A and AMSU-B) and complemented by the High Resolution Infra-red Sounder (HIRS/3) instruments, is used to obtain information about the vertical profiles of temperature and humidity in the atmosphere.
The radiation measurements from the ATOVS instruments can be assimilated directly in numerical atmospheric models using advanced techniques, developed for operational use over the last decade. This vertical profile information is vital to the performance of all numerical forecasting model systems.
More about the HIRS instrument
More about the AMSU-A instrument
More about the MHS instrument
EARS-ATOVS Service Specification
Geographical coverage
Satellites supported
N18, N19, Metop-A, Metop-B, as shown on the tables on the Regional Data Service/EARS webpage.
Product Processing
AAPP as provided by the NWP SAF, configured and run by EUMETSAT.
Product Segmentation
One file per station pass, instrument and processing level.
Products via EUMETCast Europe
- Level 1c per ATOVS instrument, data on original instrument grid, BUFR format.
- Level 1d ATOVS product including AVHRR derived cloud mask, data on HIRS instrument grid, bzip2 compressed.
Timeliness via EUMETCast
30 minutes.
Products via RMDCN/GTS
Level 1c per ATOVS instrument, data on original instrument grid, BUFR format.
Archived in EUMETSAT
None.
Further information
For more information on EARS-ATOVS see TD 14 - EUMETSAT Advanced Retransmission Service Technical Description (PDF,2 MB)
Full details on products can be found in the Product Navigator:
ATOVS Regional Data Service – Multimission