Metop-A Mission

Objectives and Applications

Meteorology, climatology. Metop-A is in a drifting LST orbit since August 2017 and LTAN is drifting from the original 09:30 to expected 07:30 by end-of-life.

Mission Summary

Full Name
Meteorological Operational Polar Satellite - A
aka Metop-2
Mission Status
Mission complete
Mission Agencies
Launch Date
19 Oct 2006
Mission Links
EOL Date
15 Nov 2021
EO Portal Info

Orbit Details

Orbit Type
Inclined, non-sun-synchronous
Orbit Period
101.4 minutes
Orbit Sense
Descending
Orbit Inclination
98.5 deg
Orbit Altitude
824 km
Orbit Longitude
Orbit LST
8:40 (Snapshot)
Repeat Cycle
29 days
NORAD Catalog #
International Designator

Mission Instruments

A-DCS3 - Argos Advanced Data Collection System3
AMSU-A - Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A
ASCAT - Advanced Scatterometer
AVHRR/3 - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/3
GOME-2 - Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment - 2
GRAS - Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding
HIRS/4 - High Resolution Infra-red Sounder/4
IASI - Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer
MHS - Microwave Humidity Sounder
S&R (NOAA) - Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking
SEM (POES) - Space Environment Monitor

Mission Measurements

CategoryParameterInstrument(s)
AtmosphereAerosols AVHRR/3, GOME-2, IASI
Atmospheric Humidity Fields AMSU-A, GOME-2, GRAS, HIRS/4, IASI, MHS
Atmospheric Winds IASI
Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperature AMSU-A, AVHRR/3, GOME-2, HIRS/4, IASI, MHS
Cloud particle properties and profile AMSU-A, MHS
Liquid water and precipitation rate AMSU-A, AVHRR/3, MHS
Ozone GOME-2, HIRS/4, IASI
Radiation budget AMSU-A, AVHRR/3, GOME-2, HIRS/4, IASI
Trace gases (excluding ozone) HIRS/4, IASI
Atmospheric Temperature Fields AMSU-A, GRAS, HIRS/4, IASI
LandAlbedo and reflectance AVHRR/3
Soil moisture AMSU-A, ASCAT
Vegetation AVHRR/3
Surface temperature (land) AMSU-A, AVHRR/3, HIRS/4, IASI
Multi-purpose imagery (land) AVHRR/3
OceanOcean surface winds AMSU-A, ASCAT
Surface temperature (ocean) AVHRR/3, HIRS/4, IASI
Multi-purpose imagery (ocean) AVHRR/3
Snow & IceSnow cover, edge and depth AMSU-A, AVHRR/3
Sea ice cover, edge and thickness AMSU-A, ASCAT, AVHRR/3

Featured Datasets

NOAA POES and METOP Local Area Coverage Imagery
Jan-2019
This collection is composed of AVHRR Level 1B products (1.1 km) reprocessed from the NOAA POES and Metop AVHRR sensors data acquired at the University of Dundee and University of Bern ground stations and from the ESA and University of Bern data historical archive. The data collection covers Europe and the neighbouring regions in the period of 1 January 1981 to 31 December 2019. Access is provided through the ESA TPM scheme. - Read more
AVHRR L1B 1981-2020 European Collection
Sep-1987
This collection is composed of AVHRR L1B products (1.1 km) reprocessed from the NOAA POES and Metop AVHRR sensors data acquired at the University of Dundee and University of Bern ground stations and from the ESA and University of Bern data historical archive. - Read more
AVHRR 1989-1997 1km out of Europe
Sep-1987
This collection is composed of AVHRR L1B products (1.1 km) reprocessed from the NOAA POES and Metop AVHRR sensors data acquired at the University of Dundee and University of Bern ground stations and from the ESA and University of Bern data historical archive. - Read more

OpenSearch Datasets

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