The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites – Eumetsat – formally became the newest member of the International Charter ‘Space and Major Disasters’ on 5 July. Eumetsat operates a constellation of meteorological satellites, monitoring the atmosphere, oceans and land surfaces to deliver weather and climate-related satellite data, images and products. As the charter’s newest member, Eumetsat will act as a coordinator for securing access to Eumetsat data for the members and beneficiaries of the Charter and the redistribution of products of the Charter via GEONETCast.
Founded by ESA and the French and Canadian space agencies, the Charter is an international collaboration between the owners and operators of Earth observation missions to provide rapid access to satellite data to help disaster management authorities in the event of a natural or man-made disaster.