International, user-driven satellite programmes deliver essential meteorological data

I recently had the honour of visiting the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s (FMI) headquarters in Helsinki and its Arctic Space Centre in Sodankylä. Located in the Arctic Circle, Sodankylä offers a feast for the senses: beautiful lakes and boreal forests, midnight sun and aurora borealis, colourful clothes and roaming reindeer.

But as Director-General of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), I was there to discuss something you cannot directly see or hear, but nevertheless has a huge impact on our daily lives: meteorological satellite data.

Sodankylä is home to a wide array of impressive space-related research and infrastructure, such as a satellite receiving station used to process and distribute observation data – including from EUMETSAT’s satellite missions – as well as crucial equipment for the calibration and validation of that data.

I was in Finland to present EUMETSAT activities, the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and EUMETSAT Polar System - Second Generation (EPS-SG) programmes, and to explore opportunities that EUMETSAT is considering for the future. These include new programmes that can deliver data more often and at higher quality, as well as ways to get the most out of that data in the shortest timescales.

Satellite data keeps societies moving

EUMETSAT is a user-driven international organisation with 30 member states, including Finland. From our headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, we operate spacecraft that provide a wide array of data used for monitoring the weather, climate, and the environment.

Organisations such as the FMI use data collected by EUMETSAT’s operational activities to improve essential public services such as weather forecasts. These activities help to keep societies moving, economies running, and can save lives and livelihoods.

This is the main driver for what we do at EUMETSAT and why we are continuously looking to improve, guided by the needs, expertise, and contributions of our member states.

Some of our satellites missions – such as our Meteosat satellites – are geostationary, meaning they view the Earth in a fixed position, repeatedly making observations of the fast-evolving weather conditions below.

Other spacecraft, such as our Metop satellites, circle the Earth from pole-to-pole, gathering more detailed data on atmospheric conditions such as temperature, humidity, and chemistry, essential for numerical weather forecasts and monitoring climate change.

We also operate several Sentinel satellite missions, focused on observing the ocean and atmosphere and, in future, carbon dioxide and climate.

New programmes into the 2040s and beyond

Thanks to our joint efforts with member states, we are also looking forward to the start of some incredibly exciting new programmes, which will meet much of Europe’s meteorological data needs into the 2040s and beyond.

We are just a few months away from the launch of the initial imager satellite of EUMETSAT’s MTG system, a constellation of geostationary satellites that will help forecasters vastly improve ‘nowcasts’ of fast-developing weather events like severe thunderstorms, storms, fog, and hail.

New satellites will help forecasters improve ‘nowcasts’ of fast-developing weather events.

This will be followed a few short years later by the launch of the first of our next generation of polar-orbiting satellites, Metop Second Generation – part of the wider EPS-SG system.

EPS-SG data will be particularly valuable for countries in northern latitudes, providing a wealth of measurements on everything from sea ice cover to soil moisture, which can be used to enhance numerical weather predictions and climate monitoring.

Finland and other northern countries are very supportive of potential programmes that will further enhance our polar system, including a new doppler wind lidar programme called EPS-Aeolus, and a constellation of microwave sounding microsatellites called EPS-Sterna.

Finland also hosts EUMETSAT’s Atmospheric Composition Satellite Application Facility, a dedicated centre of excellence for processing satellite data to create products and services for monitoring ozone and trace gases.

Working together improves the data

At the end of my trip, I had the opportunity to address the Finnish space committee, and present EUMETSAT’s plans and the role that the FMI plays in them.

By making use of satellite data, the FMI’s work benefits everything from ensuring the safe passage of ships and aircraft, to hydroelectric and wind energy production, to monitoring long-term changes in our environment.

By working together, we can not only improve the amounts and quality of data that support these objectives, but also its relevance, timeliness, and accessibility.

I returned to Darmstadt deeply impressed by the expertise and passion of the FMI and its staff. I was also reminded of the value of a strong research base within an organisation delivering services and very much look forward to seeing what our continued joint efforts will bring in the coming months and years. Kiitos paljon!

Phil Evans

Director-General, EUMETSAT