A new European meteorological satellite is set to improve the accuracy and reliability of weather forecasts in Hungary by providing much more detailed and frequent observations of the atmosphere.
The MTG-I2 satellite was successfully launched from French Guiana in late August and is expected to become fully operational within the European meteorological services in 2027. As a member of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Hungary will have direct access to data from the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system, allowing the new observations to be incorporated into daily forecasting.
Zsófia Kocsis, a meteorologist, told MTI that the satellite’s FCI imaging instrument will transmit images of Europe every 2.5 minutes. This will significantly improve the monitoring of rapidly changing atmospheric conditions, including the formation and development of thunderstorms and fog.
The new data will be particularly valuable for very short-term forecasting and for issuing warnings about severe thunderstorms and other hazardous weather events.
Satellite observations will be combined with data from numerical weather prediction models, ground-based monitoring stations and meteorological radars. One of the main advantages of satellite measurements is that they continuously provide information about parts of the atmosphere where no ground-based instruments are available, allowing meteorologists to determine atmospheric conditions more accurately.
The MTG-I2 is the second imaging satellite in the third-generation Meteosat programme. Its launch completes the first three-satellite configuration of the new system, which can monitor the atmosphere over Europe and North Africa significantly faster and in greater detail than previous generations.
The FCI instrument provides more than conventional satellite imagery. Measurements taken at different infrared and visible wavelengths can provide information on water vapour, cloud properties, aerosols, air pollution, volcanic ash and wildfires.
The data could therefore also prove useful beyond weather forecasting, including in climate research, air-quality monitoring, hydrology, agriculture, environmental protection and disaster management.
The MTG-I2 also carries a Lightning Imager, or LI, capable of continuously detecting individual lightning flashes both day and night. This could be particularly important for short-term forecasting. A rapid increase in lightning activity in a particular area can signal the development of an intense thunderstorm, allowing meteorologists to identify the strengthening of a potentially dangerous weather system before it becomes clearly visible through other measurement methods.
The complete MTG programme is planned to comprise six satellites: four imaging satellites, designated MTG-I, and two sounding satellites, designated MTG-S. The system is expected to provide European meteorological observations for more than two decades, with additional satellites scheduled to be launched from 2033 to gradually replace earlier spacecraft.
The long-term goal is to create a continuously updated, multidimensional database of atmospheric conditions. Once fully deployed, the MTG system is expected to generate at least 50 times more data than the previous-generation Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellites.
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