Introduction

About two thirds of the data used by the UK Meteorological Office (Met Office) in its weather forecasting comes from satellites – the global coverage of satellite data underpins the gradual improvements in forecasting achieved in the past 30 years. Initially dependent on American satellites, Europe has for more than 20 years operated geostationary satellites covering the Eastern Atlantic and Western Indian Ocean regions – the Meteosat series (since 2002 in its enhanced second generation form). In October 2006 this fleet was augmented with Europe's first low orbiting weather satellite, the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS), which is now in operation.

Background

EUMETSAT is an intergovernmental organisation formed in 1986 to serve a current total of 30 states. EUMETSAT is responsible for establishing, maintaining and exploiting Europe's systems of operational meteorological satellites. A further objective is to contribute to the operational monitoring of the climate and the environment as well as the detection of global climatic changes.

For an address by Mr Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA to EUMETSAT on the occasion of EUMETSAT's 20th Anniversary on 19 July 2006, click here..

Dr Lars Prahm became the Director-General of EUMETSAT in August 2004. Born in Denmark in 1944, Dr Prahm's interest in meteorology began in 1972 with his first job at the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI). He initially undertook research into air quality, contributing with numerical methods and remote measurement to a European-wide study on the causes of acid rain. Among his other achievements was to introduce supercomputing to the Institute, making it possible to host the first international High Resolution Limited Area Model (HIRLAM) group, which developed the HIRLAM weather model. He later took over the post as Chief Executive Officer at the DMI, leading the Institute from 1987 to 2004. His involvement with European programmes includes serving as President of the Council of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).