The 16th EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa is organised in collaboration with the Agence Nationale de la Météorologie du Bénin, (Météo Bénin) under the Ministry of Living Environment and Transport, in charge of Sustainable Development, of the Republic of Benin.
This user forum, held every two years in a different country in Africa, has proven to be an excellent opportunity for constructive exchanges between EUMETSAT and those in Africa who use our data.
The event will provide a platform for African meteorologists to share knowledge and best practices on the use of data from Meteosat geostationary satellites. The next generation of these satellites, Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), will improve predictions of fast developing, severe weather events, such as convective storms. It will empower African national meteorological services to provide more precise, faster warnings and predictions of severe weather events to their populations, first responders and civil authorities. The Forum will also discuss preparations in Africa for this new generation of satellites.
A memorandum of understanding signed in May this year, between EUMETSAT and the African Union Commission (AUC), reaffirms the willingness of the AUC and EUMETSAT to work together in ensuring that African environmental and meteorological services and other users continue to benefit from EUMETSAT’s data from both its current and next-generation satellite systems. It provides the framework for EUMETSAT and the AUC to co-design future projects and cooperate on deploying new infrastructure for data reception, and to provide educational materials and expertise to ensure the biggest possible impact from the satellite data.
To this end, receiving stations specifically designed to capture MTG data are being installed in several national weather and climate services across the entire continent: one of them will be set up in Cotonou before the event and used for a “live” demonstration.
During conference week, an original work of art produced by three African artists will be handed over to the African Space Agency. A version of this artwork, which represents the link between space, Africa and climate change, was reproduced on the nose cone of the Ariane 5 rocket which launched the first MTG Earth observation satellite into space in December 2022.
In addition to the conference itself, the forum will feature a youth competition during which participants will share their ideas and experience on developing potential new applications for satellite data.
Participation at the forum is upon invitation only.
