Europe's most advanced weather satellite begins operations

Europe's most advanced weather satellite begins operations
by Erica Marchand
Paris, France (SPX) Dec 05, 2024
EUMETSAT's Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellite, now renamed Meteosat-12, has officially become operational. Equipped with cutting-edge instruments, this satellite is poised to transform weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

The satellite's two primary instruments, the Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) and the Lightning Imager (LI), are key to its capabilities. These tools enable meteorological services to predict severe weather with unprecedented accuracy, safeguarding communities and critical infrastructure.

Meteosat-12's data is now being disseminated to national meteorological services and other users, marking a major step forward in weather prediction. According to EUMETSAT Director-General Phil Evans, "MTG is one of the most innovative and complex meteorological satellite systems ever built. We have been working with our member states' meteorological services to ensure they can make the best use of the data, which is essential for one of the main challenges they face - the rapid detection and forecasting of severe weather so that citizenry, civil authorities and first responders receive timely warnings."

Once the MTG satellite constellation is complete, it will offer an unparalleled ability to track the full lifecycle of convective storms, from the earliest cloud formation to lightning detection.

Meteosat-12's advanced capabilities will also play a central role in the EU-funded Space for Early Warnings in Africa initiative. Set to begin in January 2025, this project will enhance Africa's ability to access and process Earth observation data, improving early warning systems and bolstering resilience to extreme weather events.

Beyond its imaging instruments, Meteosat-12 is equipped with the Data Collection and Retransmission Service (DCS) and the Geostationary Search and Rescue Relay (GEOSAR) transponder. These systems support ground-based data collection and enable rapid response to distress beacon signals, respectively.

Meteosat-12's path to operational status was not without challenges. An anomaly in the FCI module delayed commissioning after the satellite's launch in December 2022. "A great deal of hard work, dedication and ingenuity went in to overcoming the anomaly while the satellite was already in orbit 36,000km above the Earth," Evans noted. "I pay tribute to the EUMETSAT teams, supported by ESA and the industry, that achieved that feat and enabled us to reach this important milestone today where we are confident of the quality and reliability of the data we are providing to those who need it."