Metop (Meteorological Operational satellite) is a series of three polar-orbiting meteorological satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). The satellites form the space segment component of the overall EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS), which in turn is the European half of the EUMETSAT / NOAA Initial Joint Polar System (IJPS). The satellites carry a payload comprising 11 scientific instruments and two which support Cospas-Sarsat Search and Rescue services. In order to provide data continuity between Metop and NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES), several instruments are carried on both fleets of satellites.
Metop-A, launched on 19 October 2006, is Europe's first polar orbiting satellite used for operational meteorology. With respect to its primary mission of providing data for Numerical Weather Prediction, studies have shown that Metop-A data are measured as having the largest impact of any individual satellite platform on reducing 24-hour forecasting errors, and accounts for about 25% of the total impact on global forecast error reduction across all data sources.[1]
Each of the three satellites were originally intended to be operated sequentially, however good performance of the Metop-A and Metop-B satellites mean there was a period of all three satellite operating. EUMETSAT lowered the orbit of Metop-A and decommissioned the spacecraft in November 2021 [2]
The successor to the Metop satellites will be MetOp-SG, currently with the first MetOp SG-A satellite expected to be launched in 2025.[3]
Metop
Organization:
EUMETSAT
Mission type:
Meteorology / Climatology
Satellite of:
Earth
Metop-A Launch:
19 October 2006 at 16:28:00 UTC
Soyuz ST Fregat
Baikonur Cosmodrome
Metop-B Launch:
17 September 2012 at 16:28:00 UTC
Soyuz ST Fregat
Baikonur Cosmodrome
Metop-C Launch:
7 November 2018 at 00:47:27 UTC
Soyuz ST Fregat
Guiana Space Centre
Dimensions:
6.2 x 3.4 x 3.4 metres (under the launcher fairing) 17.6 x 6.5 x 5.2 metres (deployed in orbit)
Mass:
4093 kg
Payload Mass:
812 kg
Webpage:
[1]
Orbital elements
Orbit:
Sun-synchronous orbit
Inclination:
98.7° to the equator
Orbital period:
101.0 minutes
Ground Track Repeat Cycle:
29 Days / 412 Orbits
Mean Altitude:
817 km
Local Time of Ascending Node:
21:30
Metop-A International Designator:
2006-044A
Metop-B International Designator:
2012-049A
Metop-C International Designator:
2018-087A
^Joo, Sangwon; Eyre, John; Marriott, Richard (October 2013). "The Impact of Metop and Other Satellite Data within the Met Office Global NWP System Using an Adjoint-Based Sensitivity Method". Monthly Weather Review. 141 (10): 3331–3342. Bibcode:2013MWRv..141.3331J. doi:10.1175/mwr-d-12-00232.1. ISSN 0027-0644.
^"Plans for Metop-A end of life | EUMETSAT". 13 December 2018.
^"EUMETSAT Polar System - Second Generation". EUMETSAT. Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
spacecraft in November 2021 The successor to the Metop satellites will be MetOp-SG, currently with the first MetOp SG-A satellite expected to be launched in...
System (EPS) Metop mission consists of three polar orbiting Metop satellites, to be flown successively for more than 14 years. The first, Metop-A, was launched...
Reports - DB Query for Metop-A". "FPAS Reports - DB Query for Metop-B". Wesley (9 April 2014). "MetOp-A satellite flare". "Video of Metop-A Flaring". 23 March...
onboard GNSS-Radio occultation include CHAMP (satellite), GRACE and GRACE-FO, MetOp and the recently launched COSMIC-2. Atmospheric radio occultation relies...
NOAA-19 (NOAA-N Prime), was launched on 6 February 2009. The ESA-provided MetOp satellite operated by EUMETSAT utilize POES-heritage instruments for the...
generation of Metop satellites (Metop-SG) is in advanced development with launch of the first satellite foreseen in 2025. As with MTG, Metop-SG will launch...
between ESA and EUMETSAT. MetOp: MetOp is Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. MetOp is a series of three satellites...
satellites ERS-1, ERS-2 and Envisat of European Space Agency as well as the MetOp spacecraft of EUMETSAT are all operated at altitudes of about 800 km (500 mi)...
payload of the MetOp series of polar-orbiting meteorological satellites, there are currently two IASI instruments in operation: on MetOp-A (launched 19...
and the European Space Agency's MetOp series starting with MetOp-A launched in October 2006 and continuing with MetOp-B launched in September 2012. The...
2009. ESA and EUMETSAT launched the first C-band ASCAT in 2006 onboard Metop-A. The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), launched in...
ERS-2 satellite. Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 an instrument on the MetOp-A satellite. Guardians of Middle-earth, a video game. This disambiguation...
Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) spectrometers on ERS (GOME) and MetOp (GOME-2). The weaker water vapor absorption lines in the blue spectral range...
the EUMETSAT MetOp series. On these spacecraft, AMSU-B is replaced by similar microwave humidity sounders: HSB for Aqua and MHS for MetOp. The AMSU was...
Explorers such as GOCE, GRACE, Swarm, EarthCARE, Sentinel Missions, MetOp and MetOp-SG. Airbus Defence and Space has manufactured over a hundred communications...
Shuttle Endeavour and commander of the ISS on Expedition 43, wrote in an op-ed on Ars Technica that the Gateway would "shackle human exploration, not...
Rot opmet je milieu (English: Get Lost With Your Environment) is a 2016 Dutch television series by the Evangelische Omroep, presented by Dennis van der...
panoramas of Baikonur Cosmodrome Baikonur: the town, the cosmodrome, the MetOp-A launch campaign "World's Oldest Space Launch Facility: The Baikonur Cosmodrome...
(launched successfully on 13 October 2017) [15] Sentinel 5 (on MetOp-Second Generation- Metop-SG) Sentinel 6 – (also known as Jason Continuity of Service...
Global Information