SATELLITE, A MILESTONE IN U.S.-EUROPEAN COOPERATION, SENDS FIRST IMAGES
NOAA Instrument Aboard Satellite is Switched On

Oct. 26, 2006 — The European polar-orbiting satellite, MetOp-A, is being heralded as a major milestone in the U.S.-European Initial Joint Polar System. The agreement between NOAA and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, or EUMETSAT, coordinates respective polar satellite launches to improve coverage of weather and climate conditions. On Wednesday, the NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, or AVHRRR, was successfully switched on and the first images sent to Earth. (Click satellite image for larger view of first images sent by the new European polar-orbiting satellite, MetOp-A, with a NOAA instrument onboard. The two images to the left correspond to the visible channels 1 and 2, while the image to the right shows the infrared channel 3A. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “EUMETSAT / NOAA.”)

The AVHRR instrument detects reflected solar energy and radiated thermal energy from land, sea, clouds and the atmosphere. The primary purpose of AVHRR is to provide global cloud imagery for meteorological purposes, although many other applications have developed around the use of this versatile instrument previously flown on NOAA satellites, such as mapping of sea ice and sea surface temperatures, vegetation mapping and land surface analysis. The AVHRR instrument is provided to EUMETSAT by NOAA.

Clearly visible in the first images from the NOAA instrument aboard the satellite are the coasts of Italy, Greece, Turkey and North Africa, including the Nile Delta, the Sinai Peninsula and the Red Sea. The high albedo (the fraction of incident electromagnetic radiation reflected by a surface) of the Lybian desert, used frequently to calibrate spaceborne instruments, is also apparent.

"The NOAA-EUMETSAT partnership is absolutely crucial to the continuous flow of environmental data captured from space," said Greg Withee, assistant administrator for the NOAA Satellite and Information Service. "Launching MetOp-A is a milestone for NOAA and the U.S. because of the value and applications of data it will provide for monitoring sea-surface temperatures, drought and other climate conditions."

Lars Prahm, director-general of EUMETSAT, said, "The agreed partnership between the United States and Europe will jointly ensure a continuous flow of vital data from polar orbit." MetOp-A was launched from the Baikonur Space Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 19.

The MetOp satellite series consists of three spacecraft, including MetOp-A, which are designed to provide operational data until 2020. Under the IJPS, the MetOp satellites, flying in a morning polar orbit of the globe, carry key NOAA instruments. NOAA's polar-orbiting satellites, the current NOAA-18 and the future NOAA-N Prime, carry a EUMETSAT instrument in an afternoon orbit. Together, EUMETSAT's MetOp, NOAA's polar satellites and the Defense Meteorological Satellites Program series satellites will provide global data for improving forecasts of severe weather, disaster mitigation and monitoring of the environment.

In 2007 NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. Starting with the establishment of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. The agency is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Environmental Satellites

NOAA Polar Orbiting Satellites

NOAA Satellite and Information Service

Media Contact:
John Leslie, NOAA Satellite and Information Service, (301) 713-1265