Climate Sense

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provide continuity of climate records from US National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites dating back

to the 1970s. The continued contribution to ECVs with satellite

data benefits from observations from operational meteorologi-

cal satellites in a polar orbit, because such satellites provide the

required continuity in time and global coverage. The post-EPS

satellite series planned after EPS/Metop will provide the neces-

sary continuity for atmospheric ECVs, as well as for terrestrial

and oceanic ECVs.

The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM/Jason-2)

provides essential observational data on mean sea level ECVs.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports on the accel-

eration of global mean sea-level rise beyond 1993 are essentially

based on satellite altimetry. Low-inclination orbiting satellite

altimetry missions are unique instruments for addressing the

spatial requirements on mean sea level observations. A particular

goal of OSTM/Jason-2 is to extend the existing mean sea level ECV

data set beyond Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1 to complete the first

two decades of high-precision altimetry observations.

EUMETSAT will also play a pivotal role in the space segment

of the European GMES programme, in which it will operate the

Sentinel-3 series of oceanographic satellites. Sentinel-4 and -5

instruments for monitoring atmospheric composition constituents

from geostationary and polar-orbiting platforms are planned to be

included on related follow-on EUMETSAT missions. The future is

bright when considering EUMETSAT follow-on missions; it will

further increase its capabilities with Meteosat Third Generation

and Post-EPS by carefully assessing climate monitoring require-

ments within these two new programmes.

Ground segment

EUMETSAT’s application ground segment, which consists of the

central facility in Darmstadt as well as the distributed network of

Satellite Application Facilities (SAFs), is used for processing climate

data records from its satellite data at various levels.

Reprocessing of archived data is currently ongoing, target-

ing Meteosat First Generation calibration and the generation of

surface radiation products and atmospheric motion vector (wind)

products.

EUMETSAT’s network of SAFs consists of eight facilities, some

of which are using data from meteorological satellites both in

geostationary and polar orbit. EUMETSAT’s nowcasting and very

short range forecasting, numerical weather prediction, land surface

analysis, ocean and sea ice, hydrology and water management,

ozone and atmospheric chemistry monitoring and – of course

– climate monitoring SAFs provide products and services on an

operational basis that are extremely relevant to climate monitor-

ing, in addition to the dedicated climate-related activities of the

GRAS SAF.

On an international level, EUMETSAT currently supports two

activities relevant to the production of information in support

of climate monitoring: the WMO Global Space-Based Inter-

Calibration System (GSICS) and the Sustained Coordinated

Processing of Environmental Satellite Data for Climate Monitoring

(SCOPE-CM).

SCOPE-CM, led by WMO and strongly supported by EUMETSAT,

as secretariat, addresses GCOS requirements in a cost-effective and

coordinated manner, capitalizing on existing expertise and infra-

structures. Its overall objective is the continuous and sustained

provision of high-quality satellite products for the deri-

vation of ECVs on a global scale. Efforts are made with

other satellite operators worldwide.

GSICS was established by leading satellite operating

agencies with the overall goal of creating an operational

system that monitors and evaluates the calibration of

the global meteorological satellite observing system in

a coherent and systematic manner. EUMETSAT is one

of the founding members of GSICS and very actively

pursues the realization of such an operational system.

Implementation plans are reviewed and updated by

the GSICS executive panel and the implementation

activities are now underway.

Operational EUMETSAT inter-calibration activities

have concentrated on the instruments of geostation-

ary satellites: Meteosat Visible and Infrared Imager

and MSG’s Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared

Imager. So far, this has been based on inter-calibra-

tion with the High Resolution Infrared Radiation

Sounder instruments on NOAA satellites. A major

recent step was the inter-calibration with the IASI

instrument on Metop; IASI is considered an in-orbit

reference for thermal infrared calibration because of

its excellent on-board performance. It is also note-

worthy that a longer-term comparison with Meteosat

First Generation (Meteosat-7) has been done, which

is important for the recalibration of first genera-

tion Meteosat satellites; which is in turn important

for reprocessing in support of reanalysis activities at

numerical weather prediction centres. EUMETSAT has

already reprocessed more than 30 years of Meteosat

First Generation data. Additionally, since the begin-

ning of Metop, EUMETSAT has been reprocessing

ASCAT and GOME-2 data.

Engaging the climate community

EUMETSAT’s strength emanates from its primary

focus on the end users. The organisation maintains

a close dialogue with the Member States’ National

Meteorological Services (NMSs), its foremost custom-

ers. This close dialogue helps to understand the

evolving requirements of the meteorological user

community and to translate these into facilities

capable of providing relevant data, products and serv-

ices. This strong focus on maintaining user dialogues

is now being extended to the wider climate monitoring

user community with similar successful results.

Through the dialogue with the NMSs and interna-

tional collaboration, EUMETSAT is now establishing

itself as an operational satellite agency providing

sustained observations that deliver the satellite data

necessary for climate change monitoring. Those

needs are incorporated in the requirements for

current and future operational satellite missions.

Furthermore, the value of the long-term satellite

data records delivered by EUMETSAT is enhanced

through continuous reprocessing activities, ensuring

the generation of consistent climate-relevant satellite

data records.