EUMETSAT visit

As part of the Remote Sensing Applications in Weather and Climate Observation module, students from Department 13 and staff from the Institute of Geodesy went on an excursion to EUMETSAT's headquarter on 31 January 2024, which is located directly in Darmstadt. The European organisation EUMETSAT is responsible for operating the European weather satellites and for distributing the data from these satellites. EUMETSAT also contributes to operational climate monitoring.

The excursion was led by Mr Dieter Just, a former employee at EUMETSAT, who has been giving the lectures for the module since 2022 and shares his experience with the students in his course. The excursion consisted of many exciting, fascinating and entertaining elements. Participants learnt how clouds, aerosols and trace gases are determined using satellite measurement data and what plans there are for the future CO2 monitoring mission. The excursion was rounded off with a tour of the control centre, which operates around the clock and receives new meteorological data from the satellites every 15 minutes.