Metop - Second Generation

The EUMETSAT Polar System – Second Generation (EPS-SG) programme will bring global observations of weather and climate from polar orbit to a new standard from the mid-2020s.

EPS-SG will consist of Metop Second Generation (Metop-SG) satellites operating in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude of 823-848km and a comprehensive ground segment, equipped with the facilities required to control the satellites, acquire and process the data, and deliver products to users worldwide.

Metop-SG satellites will provide high resolution observations of temperature, precipitation, clouds, winds, sea ice, aerosols, pollution, soil moisture, volcanic dust, and a multitude of other parameters.

Critical data for forecasts and environmental monitoring

Datasets provided by the mission will be invaluable for numerical weather prediction, with Metop-SG data, continuing the leading role that Metop satellites play in ensuring the accuracy of regional and global weather forecasts. New and enhanced capabilities will improve forecasts up to 10 days ahead in Europe and worldwide.

Metop-SG data will also enhance nowcasting applications, very short-range forecasts that can enable specialists to spot tell-tale signs of early storm development and other high impact weather events, especially at higher latitudes where coverage from geostationary spacecraft is sparser or even non-eistent.

The EPS-SG programme will also support a massive range of other applications, including climate monitoring and services, air pollution forecasting, atmospheric chemistry studies, hydrology and land surface analyses, and oceanography.

The EPS-SG system comprises two types of Metop-SG satellites – Metop-SGA and Metop-SGB, each endowed with different suites of highly-complementary instruments. Three successive pairs of Metop-SGA and Metop-SGB spacecraft will be deployed, enabling full operational coverage of more than two decades, beginning in the mid-2020s.

Metop-SGA satellites will host atmospheric sounding and imaging instruments that will provide optical, infrared, and microwave observations. The payload will provide critical atmospheric data on cloud, temperature, aerosols, and moisture, as well as a multitude of other critical measurements. Metop-SGA satellites will also carry the Copernicus Sentinel-5 spectrometer for observations of trace gases in synergy with other instruments on board the spacecraft. Copernicus is the Earth Observation component of the European Union’s space programme.  

Metop-SGB satellites will host additional technologies including microwave, sub-millimetre, and scatterometer instruments that will deliver observations of ocean surface winds, soil moisture, water vapour, precipitation, ice clouds, vegetation, sea ice, snow cover, and more. Metop-SGB also carries a receiver supporting Argos, a location and data collection initiative that is dedicated to studying and protecting the environment. 

Both satellites will carry a Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation instrument that will provide temperature and humidity measurements at high vertical resolution.

Global collaboration

EPS-SG is Europe’s contribution to the Joint Polar System (JPS) shared with the USA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

EPS-SG is developed in cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA). The Metop-SG satellites are developed under ESA contract by a European industrial consortium led by Airbus Defence and Space.