Of growing importance is the capacity of weather satellites to gather long-term measurements from space in support of climate change studies.

In response to demand for more frequent and comprehensive data, Meteostat Second Generation (MSG) was developed with key improvements in swift recognition and prediction of thunderstorms, fog, and the small depressions which can lead to dangerous wind storms.

The lack of observational coverage in certain parts of the globe, particularly the Pacific Ocean and continents of the southern hemisphere, has led to the increasingly important role for polar-orbiting satellite data in numerical weather prediction and climate monitoring.

[3] Positioned at approximately 817 km (508 mi) above the Earth, special instruments on board Metop-A can deliver far more precise details about atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles than a geostationary satellite.

The satellites also ensure that the more remote regions of the globe, particularly in Northern Europe as well as the oceans in the Southern hemisphere, are fully covered.

EUMETSAT – What We Do – Jason-2 – Launch Description Jason-2 reliably delivers detailed oceanographic data vital to our understanding of weather forecasting and climate change monitoring.

[4] The Jason satellites were succeeded by the Sentinel-6 for the radar altimeter mission, part of the European Union's Copernicus Programme for Earth observation, with the objective of providing an operational service for high-precision measurements of global sea-level.

This mission is implemented as a multi-partner cooperation between the European Commission and EUMETSAT, ESA, NOAA and NASA, with support from the French space agency, CNES.

The mission, implemented through the two Sentinel-6/Jason-CS satellites (Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B), aims to continue high precision ocean altimetry measurements in the 2020–2030 time-frame.