It has long been known that the weather is notoriously difficult to predict accurately, with users of weather apps experiencing changes to the forecast every hour. While it may seem like a sunny day when you set off from home, you can frequently find yourself stuck in a downpour by the afternoon (especially in the UK!)
Yesterday, the "most important European satellite of 2022" launched from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, on board an Ariane Space rocket.
Meteosat-12, or as it's otherwise known MTG-1 (Meteosat Third Generation Imager-1) will unlock critical capabilities in tracking violent storms developing around the world. Specifically, it will start by imaging the atmosphere over Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
The satellite will be positioned 36,000km above the equator, and initial data from the satellite should flow through to weather forecasting models in the next year. Once this happens, the accuracy of the models is expected to be significantly improved.
One of the key new pieces of tech on the satellite is a camera which will be used to detect lightning, enabling "nowcasting" of imminent weather-related threats, as lightning is frequently followed by wind gusts and heavy precipitation. While it has been possible to track lightning with existing technology, this has been done via radio frequency emissions, which occur when lightning strikes the ground. However, 90% of lightning strikes within the clouds themselves and never reaches the ground, so can't be picked up.
While Europe has had meteorological satellites in space for many decades, the new MTG-1 will be able to take refreshed pictures of the Earth every 10 minutes, which is five minutes faster than current capabilities. It will also be able to resolve features in the atmosphere down to 500m in length, and measure them in multiple modalities.
Development on the third generation of these satellites has taken multiple years, but additional benefits from improved weather forecasting are expected to be profound, with multiple studies showing that the value added to the economy through better prediction of the weather is in the billions, for example by enabling aviation and shipping sectors to operate more efficiently.
The more data we have on the Earth's atmosphere, the better we can predict weather patterns and longer term climate change. Space has a unique vantage point in providing these insights and allowing us to frequently and accurately measure the atmosphere on a global scale.
More accurate, frequent and relevant observations from space are absolutely essential to provide better forecasts and warnings which help us reduce and mitigate the impacts of these severe weather events
