Cloud and Radiation Satellite Products generated by EUMETSAT’S Network of Satellite Application Facilities (SAF Network)

The European Space Agency for Meteorological Satellites established distributed development and operations centres called “Satellite Application Facilities (SAF)” with the objective to provide users (research and operations) with satellite based products and information tailored for specific application areas. The SAF Network is an integral part of the Ground Segment of EUMETSAT. Currently, eight SAFs are generating hundreds of satellite products for specific areas of applications and services. The network includes the Climate Monitoring SAF (CM SAF) with its suite of long-term satellite data records related to the radiation budget and water cycle including clouds. Also in other SAFs, several climate relevant data records could have been released, due the availability of carefully corrected and reprocessed basic satellite observations (Fundamental Climate Data Record) and the application of mature and tested retrieval methods and algorithms. The SAFs are ensuring the continuity and evolution of its data services through the development of new products and data records. These new products take into account new satellite data available, developing needs and requirements of the user communities as well as the progress in science and technology. The current development activities of the SAFs are focussed on providing new products of increased coverage (space and time) and quality as well as on the preparation for the next generation of EUMETSAT’s satellites, namely the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and the EPS Second Generation. These new developments are essential for the continuity of climate observations from space. This presentation is intended to provide an overview of the SAFs cloud and radiation portfolio as well as the programmatic evolution of the SAF Network for the next 15 years.