Gain insight on... EUMETCast ?

You want to access EO data and products? The objective of this post is to draw your attention to EUMETCast, the primary dissemination mechanism of EUMETSAT for the near real-time delivery of satellite data and products.

Access to Earth observation data has long been a real problem in Africa, with all the consequences that this can have in terms of a better understanding of what is happening on the ground, particularly with regard to natural resource management. 

However, this situation is enhancing rapidly as infrastructures are being developed to provide access to these data. In this regard, it is worth noting the important role that EUMETCast, which is managed by EUMETSAT, the European meteorological organization, has played and continues to play. 

The EUMETCast multicast service transports a stream of near real-time data to user reception stations within a guaranteed timeliness. This stream is transmitted to the user via satellite networks EUMETCast Satellite (EUMETCast Europe and EUMETCast Africa) or terrestrial networks, EUMETCast Terrestrial. Through it, a single user reception station can receive the full complement of data collections provided on EUMETCast, which depending upon the EUMETCast service selected, currently exceeds 350 collections daily.  

The GMES and Africa eStation, like the MESA eStation, are EUMETCast user reception stations that were modified by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (JRC) to specifically deal with environmental monitoring. Continue developing (and maintaining) the eStation network that was started by GMES and Africa precursors (PUMA, AMESD, MESA) is one important action of the Programme, along with others to give access to data (the Copernicus Hubs). Those eStations will be presented more in details in a further article.

You are looking for data and products ? Discover what EUMETCast can do for you through their dedicated Website, https://www.eumetsat.int/eumetcast, how it works, if it is available in your region, the data you can receive via EUMETCast, and the equipment you need. The site offers access to easy to understand documents, a EUMETCast Knowledge base, and a User Community support, which is a good way as well to become familiar with this system. 

Today's post is the first of a series of articles about the GMES and Africa pillars: access to data, education and training, products and services.