The chance of heavy rain showers and thunderstorms increases as the Earth warms further. To keep a close watch on this, the European organization EUMETSAT launched another important weather satellite this evening.
The satellite is the second of this generation; the first was launched in December 2022. It will orbit at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers above the equator. There it moves with the Earth and monitors, among other things, clouds, severe weather, water vapor, dust, and smoke over Europe and Africa.
Eyes of Europe
It is a big one, says researcher Jos de Laat from the KNMI. "It is the size of a small delivery van." The new satellite can send images to Earth every 2.5 minutes, making weather calculations even more accurate.
"They are the eyes on Europe." The resolution of the images is better and the satellite is an important backup in case another one breaks down.
Thunderstorms are also detected faster. For example, information about lightning now reaches meteorologists earlier. "This allows us to warn people sooner that dangerous weather is approaching," says De Laat.
Lightning Flashes
"Thunderstorms begin inside the cloud," explains Michiel Severin from weather service Infoplaza. "99 percent of the discharges occur mainly inside the clouds." Thunderstorms were previously mainly detected with measurements on the ground. With this generation of satellites, the KNMI can now already anticipate thunderstorms inside the cloud.
The satellite launched at the end of 2022, for example, captured these lightning flashes during the severe thunderstorms on June 27 (2026). The bright spots are the lightning discharges.
Infoplaza supplies this weather data to various companies, for example Circuit Zandvoort and the Efteling. "Here too, it is important that we can warn earlier," says Severin.
With the Gondoletta attraction in the Efteling, visitors are on the water for at least 20 minutes. "We therefore need to warn 30 minutes in advance if there is going to be a thunderstorm," says Severin. "Because then the Efteling can ensure that no one is on the water when the severe weather starts."
At Schiphol, weather information is important to prevent traffic jams in the air, says meteorologist Christian Wentink from the KNMI. He monitors the weather specifically for the airport. "Schiphol wants to use the runways as optimally as possible."
Into Space
In the long term, these satellites can also improve climate models because they store much more information. "But we have to wait about 20 years until the series is long enough and we can draw conclusions from it," says De Laat from the KNMI.
The satellite launch takes place in French Guiana, on the northern coast of South America, at 22:10 our time. However, it will take a while before the satellite really works. "The plan is that data will be available in about half a year," says De Laat from the KNMI.
One of the satellites from the previous generation remains available for now as an extra safety net in case other satellites do not work.
"At some point, such a satellite is simply done." Then the satellite is moved higher to the so-called graveyard orbit, says De Laat. Satellites in that graveyard orbit have completed their mission.