Satellites project could help ‘save lives' and give extreme weather warnings
The Metop Second Generation project aims to make weather forecasting more accurate by providing more detailed information for prediction models which will feed into Met Office data.
The first satellite, Metop-SG A1, will be launched from French Guiana on Wednesday and start collecting data on weather patterns next year.
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMetSat) and the European Space Agency are leading the project, which will see six satellites sent into a low-earth orbit.
The project hopes to improve short-range and long-term forecasts, which will also help scientists monitor increasingly extreme weather across the world.
Phil Evans, director general of EUMetSat, said the new satellites would help to save lives by predicting increasingly extreme weather before it happens.
He said: 'Extreme weather has cost Europe hundreds of billions of euros and tens of thousands of lives over the past 40 years — storms like Boris, Daniel and Hans, record heatwaves and fierce wildfires are just the latest reminders.
'The launch of Metop-SG A1 is a major step forward in giving national weather services in our member states sharper tools to save lives, protect property and build resilience against the climate crisis.'
Once in use, the satellites could see improved forecasts for up to 10 days ahead in Europe and worldwide.
The data can also help short-range forecasts and enable experts to spot tell-tale signs of early storm development and other high-impact weather events, especially those at higher latitudes.
On the satellite will be a tracker called the Copernicus Sentinel 5 mission, which will primarily be used for monitoring air quality and long-term climate monitoring.
The satellite will station itself about 800km above the Earth and complete one full orbit every 100 minutes, passing close to the north and south poles – enabling it to take images of the entire globe over the course of the day.
As well as imaging, the satellite will use other equipment like sounders in order to collect data on temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, pollution and other factors to predict weather.
This information will be fed back to stations such as the newly-installed satellite tracking dish at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter.
This will be 'absolutely vital' for weather forecasters, said Simon Keogh, head of space applications at the Met Office.
He said: 'We know how important satellite data is for forecast accuracy, with around a quarter of existing accuracy coming from this source.
'The next generation of these satellites is important not only for maintaining existing accuracy as old systems go offline, but also for enhancing observations for the next generation of weather forecasts.
'This project is absolutely vital as we make sure we can continue to deliver more accurate forecasts for the next five days and beyond.'
UK science minister Lord Vallance said: 'Our weather is becoming more extreme and more unpredictable. This launch is the latest result of the UK investing with European partners to bolster weather predictions so we can keep up with our changing climate.
'Harnessing the world-class insights from this satellite will improve our ability to predict high-impact weather events even earlier. This will protect our infrastructure, our economy and save lives, keeping our plan for change on track.'
On Tuesday, the fourth heatwave of the summer was announced, with organisations issuing amber health warnings and a possible risk to life from the high temperatures.
The world experienced its third-warmest July on record this year, experts said, with heat and deadly floods throughout the month.
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