EUMETSAT
From Free net encyclopedia
EUMETSAT is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by 19 European Member States: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. These States fund the EUMETSAT programs and are the principal users of the systems. EUMETSAT also has eleven Cooperating States. Cooperation agreements with Iceland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, Poland, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Romania have entered into force whereas the Agreements with Serbia and Montenegro and the Czech Republic are to be ratified in the near future.
Image:Eumetsat-members-map2.png
EUMETSAT's primary objective is to establish, maintain and exploit European systems of operational meteorological satellites. EUMETSAT is responsible for the launch and operation of the satellites and for delivering satellite data to end-users as well as contributing to the operational monitoring of climate and the detection of global climate changes.
The activities of EUMETSAT contribute to a global meteorological satellite observing system coordinated with other space-faring nations.
Satellite observations are an essential input to numerical weather prediction systems and also assist the human forecaster in the diagnosis of potentially hazardous weather developments. Of growing importance is the capacity of weather satellites to gather long term measurements from space in support of climate change studies.
EUMETSAT is not part of the European Union.
Contents |
Satellite programmes
Geostationary satellites
See Meteosat.
Polar satellites
EUMETSAT Polar System
Image:EUMETSAT headquarter.jpg While geostationary satellites provide a continuous view of the earth disc from an apparently stationary position in space, the instruments on polar orbiting satellites, flying at a much lower altitude, provide more precise details about atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, although with a less frequent global coverage.
The lack of observational coverage in certain parts of the globe, particularly the Pacific Ocean and continents of the southern hemisphere, has led to the increasingly important role for polar orbiting satellite data in numerical weather prediction and climate monitoring.
From 2006, the continuous view of the Earth provided by Meteosat-8 is expected to be complemented by data from the first operational European meteorological satellite flying in the lower orbit - Metop.
Positioned at approximately 850 km above the Earth, special instruments on board this spacecraft will be able to deliver far more precise details about atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles than a geostationary satellite.
EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) satellites will also ensure that the more remote regions of the globe, particularly in Northern Europe as well as the oceans of the Southern hemisphere will be fully covered.
The three Metop satellites form the space segment of EPS, with the launch of the first Metop currently scheduled to be launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur with a launch window of April to June 2006.
External link
de:EUMETSAT fr:EUMETSAT nl:EUMETSAT sk:Európska organizácia pre využívanie meteorologických satelitov fi:EUMETSAT