Launch of Europe’s Most Advanced Meteorological Satellite
The first geostationary third-generation Meteosat satellite (MTG) from EUMETSAT, known as Meteosat-12, is now fully operational, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Wednesday.
“MTG is one of the most innovative and complex meteorological satellite systems ever built,” stated Phil Evans, Director-General of EUMETSAT.
The MTG satellites will provide a continuous flow of data for weather forecasting from geostationary orbit over the next 20 years. This advancement significantly enhances meteorological imaging capabilities and introduces an entirely new measurement feature for near real-time lightning imaging, which is unprecedented among European meteorological satellites.
Innovative satellite technologies, such as Meteosat-12’s ability to capture lightning observations as precursors to severe weather events, “help us achieve the objectives of the international initiative Early Warnings for All,” remarked Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the WMO.
She elaborated that the high resolution and frequent revisit cycle of the Meteosat-12 imager will greatly aid the WMO community in improving forecasts of severe weather phenomena, in addition to long-term climate monitoring, marine applications, and agricultural meteorology.
In addition to significantly enhancing satellite weather imaging in Europe, Meteosat-12 will also improve observational capabilities in Africa, where in situ observations or other remote sensing methods are largely unavailable, according to the WMO.
