MetOp-SG-A1 Radio Occultation data

Less than three weeks since the first MetOp Second Generation weather satellite, MetOp-SG-A1, was launched, this remarkable new satellite has already started transmitting data from two of its cutting-edge instruments, offering a tantalising glimpse of what’s to come.

Despite this new satellite only being in orbit for three weeks and the commissioning is at a very early stage, its Microwave Sounder (MWS) and Radio Occultation (RO) sounder are already returning early ‘first glimpse’ data, marking a significant milestone in a new era of European weather and climate monitoring.

The image uses occultations between 20 and 26 August. The smaller plots show vertical temperature and humidity profiles derived from the instrument’s first measurements on 20 August over the Southern Pacific. The curves are plotted alongside the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) forecast data, revealing how RO measurements refine and update temperature structure predictions, particularly in data-sparse regions.

The RO sounder triples the number of radio occultation measurements – providing more than 1600 observations per day. This leap in coverage is made possible by incorporating signals not only from GPS, but also from Europe’s Galileo and China’s BeiDou satellite navigation constellations.

Read full story: New MetOp Second Generation weather satellite returns first data