The first of a new generation of European weather satellites is set to launch from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana at 2330 GMT on Tuesday.
The Meteosat Second Generation 1 (MSG-1) will deliver better images more frequently than existing weather satellites. This should mean more accurate short-term weather forecasts for Europe and Africa, says John Eyre, head of satellite systems at the UK鈥檚 Met Office.
鈥淚t will allow you to see severe conditions more frequently, with higher resolution and through increased spectral bands, to better understand what鈥檚 going on,鈥� Eyre told New Scientist.
Advertisement
Other data from the satellite will also help scientists monitor long-term environmental change.
MSG-1 has been developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
The design will supersede the current generation of Meteosats, the first of which was launched in 1977.
New vision
The new satellite is fitted with an instrument called the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-red Imager (SEVIRI). This will return images of the Earth鈥檚 surface and cloud cover in 12 different wavelengths every 15 minutes.
The current Meteosat satellites capture images in three wavelengths every 30 minutes.
MSG-1 will also have a resolution of 1 kilometre compared to 2.5 kilometers with current Meteosats.
Unlike the existing Meteosats, the new generation will be able to track fog at night and distinguish volcanic ash, which is important for spotting volcanic activity.
Global warming
And another instrument, the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB), will take precise measurements of heat absorbed and emitted by the Earth鈥檚 surface. This will help scientists monitor environmental change such as global warming.
A second MSG will be launched 18 months after MSG-1, and another satellite is planned for launch as MSG-1 nears the end of its seven-year operational lifespan.
Weather forecasters are also benefiting from another satellite launched on 4 May by NASA, called Aqua. This uses infrared, radio and microwave instruments to monitor the Earth鈥檚 water cycles, in particular.