The 83rd meeting of the EUMETSAT Council took place in Darmstadt, Germany, on 23 and 24 June.
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
The Council successfully concluded the approval process for the EUMETSAT Polar System Second Generation programme with all 30 Member States having now firmly committed themselves. Based on this decision, the EUMETSAT Council authorised the Director-General to prepare and sign programme-related agreements with the European Space Agency (ESA), the French space agency CNES, and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
EPS-SG is the mandatory programme required to deliver observations from polar orbit in the 2021-2042 timeframe. It will improve and expand the observation capabilities of the first generation EPS, required to further improve operational weather forecasting up to 10 days ahead.
The meeting achieved progress in the approval process for the optional Jason-CS programme: 77.83% of the financial envelope of the programme is now covered by Participating States and further progress is expected during the summer.
The
EUMETSAT
optional
Jason-CS
programme
is
the
proposed
EUMETSAT
contribution
to
the
development
and
implementation
of
the
Copernicus
Sentinel-6
mission,
in
partnership
with
ESA,
the
European
Union
and
the
United
States
(NASA).
The
mission
will
extend
until
2030
the
climate
record
of
sea
level
measurements
accumulated
since
1992
by
the
Topex-Poseidon,
Jason,
Jason-2
and
Jason-3
missions.
It
will
also
support
the
development
of
operational
oceanography
and
seasonal
forecasts
in
Europe.
Regarding
Meteosat
Third
Generation
(MTG),
the
Council
approved the
contract
with
Arianespace
for
the
first
three
launch
services
(MTG-I1,
MTG-S1
and
MTG–I2).
MTG will continue and enhance the services currently delivered by the Meteosat Second Generation series in support of nowcasting and very short-range forecasting of high impact weather in the 2020-2040 timeframe.
The Council also confirmed Alain Ratier as the Director-General of EUMETSAT for a further period of four years, until 31 July 2020. Ratier has served the organisation since 2011.
