EUMETSAT’s contribution to sustained climate monitoring from space

1. EUMETSAT’s contribution to sustained climate monitoring from space Dr. Lars Prahm Director-General European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

2. Introduction: EUMETSAT’s commitment and activities • As stated in its Convention, EUMETSAT is committed to the contribution to the operational monitoring of the climate and the detection of global climate change. • This objective is addressed by EUMETSAT at different levels: • the provision of observational data with its satellites and embarked instruments • the generation of climate products, as well as • the programmatic and organisational activities, with a focus on the various frameworks of the international cooperation.

3. Goals of Climate Monitoring • Identify how the Earth system is changing over decades • Explain why these changes occur • Separate natural from anthropogenic cause and effects • Contribute to improvement in prediction of change

4. Providing data for climate monitoring: Meteosat (1st and 2nd Generation) • The Meteosat programme is the well-established European contribution to the ring of geostationary satellite observations. • The first Meteosat satellite was launched more than 30 years ago by ESA in 1977. In 1995 EUMETSAT took over the operation of the Meteosat satellites. • EUMETSAT currently operates two Meteosat satellite of the first generation and two of the second generation (images in 12 spectral bands every 15 minutes, better spatial resolution and on-board calibration for thermal IR)

5. Providing data for climate monitoring: Metop satellites (EUMETSAT Polar System EPS) • Metop-A launched in October 2006 • EUMETSAT has a polar orbiting satellite system with a long-term operational perspective • Metop provides information on a large number of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) over at least 14 years on a global scale • Part of a joint polar system with NOAA => also cooperation on ECVs

6. Providing data for climate monitoring: Metop satellites (EUMETSAT Polar System EPS) IASI Spectrum • The hyper spectral sounding Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) allows the retrieval of temperature and moisture profiles at high accuracy (1K, 15 %, respectively) over 1km layers. IASI also allows the observation of trace gases relevant for the greenhouse effect and for atmospheric chemistry. • The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) continue the capability to measure Ozone profiles and related trace gases with high accuracy. • The Radio-occultation Atmospheric Sounder (GRAS) provide absolute measurements on the temperature and humidity profiles. • From the other instruments on Metop (AVHRR, ATOVS, ASCAT) long-term climate records can be derived as well, with regard to AVHRR and ATOVS this provides continuity of climate records of NOAA satellites.

7. Providing data for climate monitoring: Jason • Jason-2 will provide essential observational data on the mean sea level (ocean altimetry). • Jason-2 extends mean sea level observations beyond TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 and completes two decades of high-precision altimetry observations. • Follow-on mission studies are currently done by EUMETSAT in cooperation with NOAA to establish the basis for an Ocean Surface Topography Constellation that satisfies the requirements for climate monitoring of sea level and sea state.

8. 6 7 4 3 2 1 5 8 Toward Generating Climate Products and Essential Climate Variables (ECVs) • EUMETSAT’s Application Ground Segment including: • Central Facilities in Darmstadt, Germany • Network of Satellite Application Facilities SAFs (located in its Member States) • continuously generates on an operational basis products of climate relevant parameters.

9. Toward Generating Climate Products and ECVs • Adherence to GCOS Climate Monitoring Principles is key • => the essence is: • calibration, • characterization, • continuity, • consistency and • sustainability. • Operational meteorological satellite systems can provide what is required • EUMETSAT future programmes Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and Post-EPS (Post-Metop) do appropriate the needs for climate monitoring

10. Reprocessing of Meteosat Atmospheric Motion Vectors (AMVs):Important contribution to Re-analyses at NWP Centers => Substantially improved coverage and impact of re-processed winds from Meteosat satellites (C. Desol, ECMWF, 2008) Period corresponds to time when Meteosat-5 was operational at 0º and Meteosat-3 supported NOAA because there was only one GOES satellite. Example of coverage: 19950102 Original Met5 Reprocessed Met3 and Met5

11. Today Launch time Govaerts, Y. M., Clerici M. and Clerbaux N. (2004). "Operational Calibration of the Meteosat Radiometer VIS Band." IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 42(9): 1900-1914. Reprocessing of Meteosat 1st Generation VIS data from Archive:Consistent Calibration using stable desert target areas => A pre-requisiste for the ECV ‘Surface Albedo’

12. EUMETSAT’s partnership in International Initiatives:GSICS (Global Space-based Intercalibration System) • The Global Space-Based Intercalibration System (GSICS) Objective is to create 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 realisation of such an operational system. • GSICS is embedded in the WMO Space Programme and within the CGMS (Coordination Group for Meteorologcal Satellites)

13. Example from GSICS: Intercalibrating MSG with IASI IR13.4 IR10.8 IR8.7 IR12.0 IR9.7

14. Channel T IASI – Meteosat-8 T IASI – Meteosat-9  IR3.9 -0.17 -0.20 WV6.2 -0.24 -0.40 WV7.3 -0.51 -0.14 IR8.7 0.15 0.15 IR9.7 0.17 0.20 IR10.8 0.16 0.07 IR12.0 0.19 0.08 IR13.4 0.44 1.7 IASI is an excellent reference for satellite inter-calibration from Hewison and König, 2008, GSICS Quarterly

15. EUMETSAT’s partnership in International Initiatives:R/SSC-CM (Regional Specialised Satellite Centers on Climate Monitoring) • EUMETSAT supports and contributes to the implementation of the Global Network of Regional/Specialised Satellite Centres on Climate Monitoring (R/SSC-CM), currently defined under the WMO framework. • The main objective of the R/SSC-CM Network is to provide high quality long-term data sets of what GCOS has defined as Essential Climate Variables using observations from space. • Main contributions of EUMETSAT to the R/SSC-CM are the coordinated activities (climate product generation through reprocessing of archived data) of its Central Facility and the SAF Network. • EUMETSAT has also been nominated secretariat of the R/SSC-CM Network.

16. R/SSC-CMRegional Specialised Satellite Centers on Climate Monitoring=> the way toward operational production of ECVs • The R/SSC-CM Network will be: • Based on activities of existing initiatives (GOS, GCOS and GSICS) • Build upon existing operational infrastructures • Serve users and other organisations (e.g. WMO Regional Climate Centres RCC, National Weather Services)

17. Summary of EUMETSAT’s Commitment to Space Based Climate Monitoring: • A clear mandate in the Convention to contribute to Climate Monitoring and detection of Climate Changes • Contribution to the generation and re-processing of long term series of products relevant for climate monitoring (ECVs) • Participation in the Implementation of the Global Space-based Inter Calibration System (GSICS) • Coordinates with international partners for the implementation of the WMO global network of Regional/Specialised Satellite Centres on Climate Monitoring (R/SSC-CM) • Supports to the concept that space based Climate Monitoring could only be organised through international partnerships: CEOS, GEOSS,… • EUMETSAT support the international interactions with users and scientists, i.e. IPCC, GCOS,… • EUMETSAT is willing to serve the world-wide community with a leading role in Europe on Climate Monitoring from space