Meteostat-12: Storm forecasts to improve with new European satellite

A new European satellite will be launched, substantially improving the forecasting of sudden, strong storms so we can better prepare for them.

The Meteosat-12 weather satellite will be sent into space by an Ariane rocket to keep an eye on Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

It replaces technology that is more than 20 years old, making it perhaps the most significant European space flight of the year.

"Look at the storm that impacted Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium last year where over 200 people lost their lives. These events are tragic," BBC quoted Phil Evans, the director general of Eumetsat, the inter-governmental organisation that manages Europe's weather satellites as saying.

To produce improved forecasts and alerts that assist us to lessen and minimise the effects of these extreme weather occurrences, more precise, frequent, and pertinent observations from space are critical.

Since 1977, Europe has had a meteorological spacecraft of its own orbiting far above the earth. The third generation of the series' imager will be installed on Tuesday.

Meteosat-12 will send back a complete image of the weather below it every ten minutes. It will be able to view atmospheric phenomena in more light wavelengths and at much smaller sizes, down to 500m across. Consequently, the volume of data received by national forecasting organisations will significantly increase.

'Nowcasting'

A camera that can detect lightning is one of the biggest advancements. The agencies think that this will improve what they refer to as "nowcasting"—the capacity to monitor and alert of impending, dangerous events. This is so because lightning acts as a tracer for strong winds, plenty of rain, and hail.

Even though 90% of lightning strikes are air-to-air or intra-cloud, it has long been possible to follow lightning using its radio frequency emissions.

"The new Meteosat instrument is set to be a game-changer," Simon Keogh from the UK Met Office told the outlet. 

He added: "It will enable us to manage total lightning much more effectively. When forecasting, for instance, helicopter operations in the North Sea, we need to be aware of these things. We also need to know if there is a risk of lightning if hazardous materials, including passengers, are being unloaded from aircraft."

Three spacecraft will eventually operate together in the new generation system.

In order to take faster photographs, a second imager will be launched in 2026. Prior to that, in 2024, a "sounding" spacecraft will be launched in order to collect data on the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere as it descends.

The first functional trio of satellites have replacements already ordered, so Europe will have coverage well into the 2040s.

The European Space Agency (ESA) member states contributed £1.2 billion toward the research and development. The ongoing expenses, which are estimated to be £2.5 billion, are covered by Eumetsat nations.

At 17:30 local time, Meteosat-12 is planned to launch aboard an Ariane rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana (20:30 GMT).