The First Satellite in the New Meteosat Constellation Has Launched to Boost Weather Forecasting

EUMETSAT, the European operational satellite agency for weather, climate, and environmental monitoring, has announced the successful launch of the Meteosat Third Generation — Imager 1 (MTG-I1), a next-generation weather satellite it claims "heralds the start of a new era for weather forecasting."

"MTG-I1 will generate images of Europe and Africa every 10 minutes, faster than has been possible up until now, and in higher resolution, more precise detail," explains EUMETSAT director-general Phil Evans of the new satellite. "This data will help meteorologists meet one of their main challenges — timely and accurate forecasts of rapidly developing severe weather events — so that citizens, first responders and civil authorities can take appropriate action. The satellite’s lightning imager will continuously map lightning flashes between clouds and from clouds to the ground, which is a first for Europe with significant community and aviation industry safety benefits."

The new Meteosat satellite was launched on an Ariane-5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, and is to reach orbit at around 22,000 miles above the Equator. It's the first in the Meteostat Third Generation constellation, which when complete will include two imaging satellite and the organisation's first infrared sounding satellite — MTG-Sounder 1 (MTG-S1), scheduled for launch in 2024.

Built by Thales Alenia Space under contract from the European Space Agency (ESA), MTG-I1 includes a lightning imager that will provide data for the detection and "nowcasting" of storms through continuous monitoring of lightning activity across the full Earth disc. The satellite also includes a flexible 16-channel combined imager, which provides a full scan of the Earth every 10 minutes and a rapid scan of Europe ever two and a half minutes.

The upcoming MTG-S1, meanwhile, will use its infrared sounder to provide a vertical profile of temperature and moisture levels in the skies above Europe every 30 minutes, while an ultraviolet and near-infrared sounder will measure aerosols, O₃, NO₂, and SO₂ over Europe and North Africa every hour.

More information on the Meteosat Third Generation constellation is available on the EUMETSAT website; MTG-I1 is expected to begin operations in one year, with the full operational capacity of the constellation awaiting the launch of MTG-I2 and MTG-S1.