Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




WEATHER REPORT
Europe's second polar-orbiting weather satellite is aloft
by Staff Writers
Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX) Sep 18, 2012


Metop-B was launched 17 September, from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz rocket lifted off at 18:28 CEST. Carrying a suite of sophisticated instruments, Metop-B will ensure the continuity of the weather and atmospheric monitoring service provided by its predecessor Metop-A, which has been circling the globe from pole to pole, 14 times a day, since 2006. Credits: EUMETSAT. For a larger version of this image please go here.

The second Metop satellite was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, atop a Russian Soyuz launcher. Metop-B will ensure the continuity of the weather and atmospheric monitoring service provided by its predecessor Metop-A, which has been circling the globe from pole to pole, 14 times a day, since 2006 and has now exceeded its design lifetime.

The Soyuz-Fregat vehicle lifted off at 16:28 GMT on Monday, 17 September. The Fregat upper stage manoeuvred to release the satellite into a polar orbit at an altitude of 810 km some 69 minutes later, over the Kerguelen Archipelago, in the Indian Ocean.

Metop-B, developed for EUMETSAT's polar satellite system, is now under the control of ESA's Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

In the coming days, its systems will be tested before it is handed over to EUMETSAT, also based in Darmstadt, for six months of commissioning of its payload before entering routine service with Metop-A.

For ESA's Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain: "The launch of this second Metop satellite has taken place about two and a half months after that of MSG-3; this is a perfect illustration of the vitality of Europe's weather satellite programmes developed in cooperation between ESA and EUMETSAT.

"The fact that the next generation satellites in line are already being prepared by ESA shows the strong commitment of Member States of both organisations to continue and improve collecting data that are supporting not only weather-forecasting but also monitoring and understanding of climate change. Such services are demonstrating daily the economical and societal value of investing in space infrastructure."

Volker Liebig, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, commented: "Metop-B will become operational while Metop-A is still active and performing well.

This will ensure the continuity of the service without any risk of interruption in the data feed. Meanwhile, we are working with EUMETSAT to prepare the future with the second generation of European polar satellites."

Unlike the Meteosat satellites, which are watching about half of our planet from a fixed vantage point almost 36 000 km above the Gulf of Guinea, Metops work at lower altitude and fly over the whole globe to provide additional data on the atmosphere.

Beyond weather monitoring, the Metop and Meteosat satellites are part of ESA's effort on climate watch, which includes the experimental Earth Explorer satellites, to probe Earth and its atmosphere.

Three Earth Explorers have been launched since 2009 - the GOCE gravity mapper, the SMOS water satellite and the CryoSat ice satellite - and more are in preparation.

In 2013, ESA will start launching Sentinel satellites to monitor our environment and climate under the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative with the European Commission.

.


Related Links
Metop-B
EUMETSAT
Astrium
Starsem
Weather News at TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WEATHER REPORT
Last look at weather satellite
Paris (ESA) Sep 14, 2012
As preparations for the launch of Europe's latest weather satellite continue on track, the team in Kazakhstan has said farewell to MetOp-B as it was sealed in the Soyuz rocket fairing. Liftoff is set for 16:28 GMT (18:28 CEST) on Monday. Encapsulation is an important and somewhat emotional milestone on the road to launch as it is the last time MetOp-B will be seen. The launch campaign team ... read more


WEATHER REPORT
Norway supplies $168M for famine relief

Haunting 'Land of Hope' part shot on location in Fukushima

Japan slams brakes on $63 billion in spending

25 killed in ammunition depot blast in western Turkey: army

WEATHER REPORT
The most stable laser in the world

S. Korea's LG Electronics launches new smartphone

European industry develops space safety radar

Boiling Water Without Bubbles

WEATHER REPORT
Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited

Amazon's flying water vapor rivers bring rain to Brazil

Summer rain more likely over drier soils

Parched soils trigger more storms

WEATHER REPORT
Brazil to begin rebuilding its burned Antarctic base

How fast can ice sheets respond to climate change?

Himalayan glaciers retreating at accelerated rate in some regions but not others

Surviving without ice

WEATHER REPORT
New gene could lead to better bug-resistant plants

Italian architect designs world's biggest vertical garden

Farmers accuse Madagascar mining giant of killing bees

Food industry's high-quality co-streams used effectively as raw material for new products

WEATHER REPORT
Powerful Typhoon Sanba pounds South Korea

Nicaragua ups volcano response as San Cristobal rumbles

India landslide death toll jumps to 45: minister

Eruptions weaken at Guatemala's Volcano of Fire

WEATHER REPORT
Moroccan ex-POWs from W. Sahara conflict hold sit-in

No peace of mind for war-weary South Sudanese

Toll rises to 40 in S. Sudan military boat sinking: army

ECOWAS defence ministers meet on Mali, G.Bissau: official

WEATHER REPORT
Some gains but many mysteries as Alzheimer's epidemic looms

Stress breaks loops that hold short-term memory together

How early social deprivation impairs long-term cognitive function

Mapping a genetic world beyond genes




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement