EUMETSAT’s commitment to the African meteorological community has been matched by delivery. The first PUMA-2025 reception station was installed two years ago; today the full network of 56 stations is in place, and the processing chain that turns MTG data into products ready for forecasters is fully operational.
About 150 meteorologists, scientists and representatives from across the continent are meeting in Eswatini, for the five-day User Forum in Africa, organised by EUMETSAT and the Eswatini Meteorological Service, to share their first operational experience with MTG data.
Weather stations are sparse in many parts of Africa, so satellites are often forecasters’ most complete source of information. MTG delivers a new image of Africa every 10 minutes, compared with every 15 minutes from the previous generation of Meteosat satellites. That means forecasters see fast-changing weather, such as storm development, sooner and in greater detail. MTG also provides lightning observations. These are critical both for alerting communities to extreme weather and for warning where people or infrastructure may be at risk of severe storms and lightning strikes.
