Paris, 26 April 2002
The MetOp satellite now has its own website. MetOp will be Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. It represents part of the European contribution to a new cooperative venture with the United States providing data that will be used to monitor our climate and improve weather forecasting.
A new generation of European instruments that offer improved remote-sensing capabilities to both meteorologists and climatologists will be carried together with a set of 'heritage' instruments provided by the United States. The new European instruments will augment the accuracy of:
temperature and humidity measurements
wind speed and wind direction measurements, especially over the ocean
profiles of ozone in the atmosphere
MetOp is in fact a series of three satellites to be launched sequentially over 14 years, starting in 2005, and forms the space segment of EUMETSAT's Polar System (EPS).
The website covers all aspects of the mission; its history, objectives and progress. An introduction to each instrument explains the basic aims however there is an emphasis on technical and scientific detail covering aspects of manufacture, design, performance, products and calibration/validation. News items are available via a subscriber's list.