Geostationary satellite images - 1: METEOSAT

Eumetsat

Meteosat is the European contribution to the Global Atmospheric Research programme and is a geostationary earth observation platform in orbit at 0° - above the intersection of the Greenwich Meridian and the Equator. From its orbital position, Meteosat 'sees' a whole Earth disk that extends from South America to the Middle East, with Africa below the satellite. Europe is to the top - from this position, Meteosat is ideally placed to observe weather patterns in the Atlantic and across Europe and to assist in the forecasting of European weather. Meteosat is operated by EUMETSAT on behalf of European meteorological agencies.

The Meteosat System: Orbiter, Imaging etc.
Information about the Meteosat system, how images are acquired, the Wefax format etc.
Meteosat - whole Earth disk

Meteosat image segments: WEFAX format images

Meteosat acquires images in 3 bands - Visible light, Thermal Infra Red and 6 micron Water Absorption band (imaged in the infra red band). Original High Resolution images are processed and retransmitted according to a 4 minute schedule in WEFAX (Weather Fax) format.

The image maps are not current segments and are to represent the geographical coverage only - click on a segment or the full Earth disk to download the current image - or go to a text only version.

Visible light band images - Europe, Atlantic, Africa


Images in JPEG format (100k approx), Lat/Long grid and coastline added. Please select an image segment to download
Meteosat Visible band segments Meteosat - full disk: visible

Meteosat full Earth disk in visible light: Image format - CTOT

Two 'zoom' close up WEFAX format images are available to show more detail of weather patterns over Europe. C02 shows Western Europe (west of the Greenwich Meridian), C02 shows Central and Eastern Europe (to the East of the Greenwich Meridian).

C02 C03

For detail, use the Meteosat high resolution visble image taken at 12:00 UTC.

Thermal Infra-Red band images - Europe, Atlantic, Africa


Images in JPEG format (100k approx), Lat/Long grid and coastline added. Please select an image segment to download
Meteosat Thermal IR band segments Meteosat - full disk: Thermal IR

Meteosat full Earth disk in thermal band infra red: Image format - DTOT

6µm IR Water Absorption band - Europe, Atlantic, Africa


Images in JPEG format (100k approx), Lat/Long grid and coastline added. Images cover the same geographical areas as for Visible and Thermal bands but show water vapour in the upper atmosphere. Coastlines etc. are added for identification purposes only. These images do not always give a good indication of ground level conditions.
Meteosat 6 micron IR band segments Meteosat - full disk: 6 micron water absorption band

Meteosat full Earth disk in 6µm water absorption band (infra red): Image format - ETOT

Other Meteosat images and information
[ PDUS Meteosat ] Meteosat primary data high resolution images

Primary data images are the raw images captured by the Meteosat orbiter. Images are captured in several wave bands every 30 minutes. Link to the Dundee Satellite Station archive to access high resolution PDUS images from Meteosat and other satellites around the world

High Resolution Images (HRI) are large - anything from 400k to 1Mb in size. The Dundee service provides access to 6 hourly Meteosat HRI together with an image archive. Full disk images from GOES, GMS and Meteosat Indoex are also available.
Meteosat Administration and other data
[ CTH ]
Cloud Top Height		 [ Admin ]
Eumetsat administration message
False colour meteosat image from Meteo France
Spectrum line

 

Return to Satellite Images index

Page update: January 12th 1999
This version: © St. Vincent College