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EUMETSAT: responding to
climate monitoring challenges
EUMETSAT
E
UMETSAT will continue its all-important and well-
established mission delivering operational satellite data,
products and services in support of meteorology while
at the same time addressing the two greatest challenges facing
humankind in the 21st century. The first is global warming
and the climate change associated with it. The second chal-
lenge faces EUMETSAT alone; namely how to strategically and
tactically align its tremendous capabilities, ranging from space
systems to end users, to address the urgent requirements needed
to understand, mitigate and adapt to the potential devasta-
tion caused by global change. It is clear that EUMETSAT’s
mandate embraces both challenges. EUMETSAT’s vision is to
be the leading operational satellite agency for European Earth
observation programmes that are consistent with
its objectives. Its primary objective is to establish,
maintain and exploit operational European mete-
orological satellite systems, taking into account as
far as possible the recommendations of the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO).
A further objective of EUMETSAT is to contribute to
the operational monitoring of the climate and the detec-
tion of global climatic changes. Being ‘operational’ is key
and means EUMETSAT must maintain continuing series
of satellites with a guaranteed replacement policy. This
distinguishes EUMETSAT from its other European space
O
bserving
, P
redicting
and
P
rojecting
C
limate
C
onditions
The negative impacts of climate change are manifold
Image: EUMETSAT