Overview of EUMETSAT Satellite Programmes

The paper summarizes status and progress of current and future satellite programmes of EUMETSAT. The paper will report on the successful launch of MSG-3 on 5th of July 2012. MSG-3 will be named Meteosat-10 and starts its operational services in early 2013 after the finalization of commissioning. The last satellite of the Meteosat Second Generation series, MSG-4, is planned for launch in 2015. The MSG programme will be followed by the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) programme which consists of a series of four imaging satellites with an advanced Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) and a lightning imager (LI) and two sounding satellites with a an infrared hyperspectral sounder (IRS) and a spectrometer measuring trace gases and aerosol in the UV, visible and near-infrared part of the spectrum (UVN). Progress will also reported on the evolution of instrument processors and toward the applications ground segment; the latter benefits from the close cooperation with partner agencies within CGMS (Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites). Noteworthy is that future multi-channel geostationary imagers to be launched by various satellite operators provide an excellent basis for the development of common science and applications which in turn will benefit the global user community. Examples are winds from feature tracking, cloud analysis and volcanic ash detection/tracking. The new instruments on MTG do require development of new science and applications and results from pertinent studies on the IRS and the LI will be reported. During the time of writing this abstract preparations to launch Metop-B from Baikonur are ongoing. The launch is foreseen for mid September 2012. It is expected that some early results (e.g. from the micro-wave sounders AMSU-A and MHS) will be available for the AMS annual meeting 2013. The current Metop satellite programme will followed by the future EPS/Metop Second Generation programme; this EPS-SG programme has made substantial progress toward the approval of the programme. The presentation briefly addresses ocean missions in which EUMETSAT is involved as operator: i) the Sentinel-3 mission where ESA is the lead and development agency while the mission as such is part of the European initiative for the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), and ii) the Jason altimeter missions measuring sea-level where EUMETSAT contributes to an international partnership including the CNES and NASA and NOAA. Finally the paper addresses EUMETSAT's contribution to climate observations where specific contributions from the Satellite Application Facilities (SAF) and the international cooperation play an important role.