EUMETSAT furthers ties with international partners to maximise impact of Earth observation data

EUMETSAT’s council, meeting in Darmstadt, Germany, today approved a series of cooperation agreements aimed at fostering international collaboration and the usage of important Earth observation data.

EUMETSAT already has bilateral agreements with many of the key weather and climate services around the world. Today, the organisation renewed and consolidated its ties with two historic partners: the US and Canada.

Building on a consolidated agreement from 2008 with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a new agreement was approved by the EUMETSAT Council reflecting EUMETSAT’s new data policy and granting free and unrestricted access to the Meteosat Third Generation data and products.

A further agreement regarding scientific cooperation with the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) was also approved. This agreement aims to establish a formal framework to enable scientific cooperative activities which are of mutual interest to both EUMETSAT and NRCC.

Within Europe, EUMETSAT is strengthening its cooperation with partners who are also involved in the operational side of the European Union's Earth observation programme Copernicus, to ensure timely and efficient data access for users.

To this end, EUMETSAT and Mercator Ocean International (MOi) have agreed on the split of responsibility for the provision of high-level altimetry products from several altimetry missions including Copernicus ones.

Finally, EUMETSAT and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) extended their agreement on the provision of reprocessed satellite data records in support of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

“Weather and climate have a huge impact on society. They are global issues requiring global action. The agreements approved today highlight the importance that EUMETSAT places on fostering cooperation with European partners and with other agencies around the world covering the exchange of data, scientific expertise and more,” EUMETSAT Director-General Phil Evans said

“They will help to ensure that communities across the globe can get the maximum benefit possible from access to satellite data and key scientific expertise,” he continued.

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