Europe to Tackle Extreme Weather With Next-Generation Satellites

Europe's long-awaited METEOSAT third generation Imager-I (MTG-I) satellite is waiting to be launched in Thales Alenia Space clean room. It will be sent to its French Guiana launch site by ship where it is scheduled for launch by Arianespace in late November. 

When it is in orbit, it will scan the full earth's disk to monitor and forecast the weather. In the process, it will image the earth in 16 wavelength bands ranging from ultraviolet to long-wave infrared. Imagers on board will send data every 2 1/2 minutes over the European region and every 10 minutes over the African region. It can zoom in to deliver images of selected regions, allowing to issue timely warnings for air traffic safety. 

The satellite will be able to scan inside cumulus clouds and determine the composition and direction, which can then be combined with wind direction in an integrated way, enabling more accurate weather prediction. Therefore, this new generation satellite will allow weather casting to be near real-time, better, and faster weather prediction. This will be very helpful to us because extreme weather events can impact everybody.