Yesterday the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) delivered its first image of the Earth. SEVIRI is an instrument on MSG-3, Europe’s latest weather satellite and third in a series of four satellites introduced in 2002. SERVIRI delivers enhanced weather coverage over Europe and Africa in order to improve very short range forecasts, in particular for rapidly developing thunder storms or fog. It scans Earth’s surface and atmosphere every 15 minutes in 12 different wavelengths, to track cloud development. Besides this, the MSG-3 has two other payloads: the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget sensor measures solar and infrared energy radiated by the Earth system back into the space to better understand climate processes; and a Search and Rescue transponder will turn the satellite into a relay for distress signals for emergency beacons.
