EUMETSAT, a European meteorological satellite agency, has installed the first of a series of PUMA-2025 receiving stations in Nairobi.
The new infrastructure will help Kenyan meteorologists use the most accurate and frequent data from the Meteosat-Third Generation (MTG) satellites.
Working in partnership with the African Union Commission, EUMETSAT will set up a network of similar stations in several national weather and climate services across Africa in the following months. This will empower most African meteorologists and scientists with the most recent technology to receive and use MTG data.
EUMETSAT’s Meteosat satellites are the only Earth observation satellites that have a constant view of Africa. MTG will provide higher resolution images of Africa than is possible now and more frequently, every 10 minutes.
The first PUMA station was installed almost 20 years ago, in February 2004, to receive Meteosat-Second Generation (MSG) data within the framework of the Preparation for Use of Meteosat in Africa (PUMA) project. Until now, thanks to the support of various EU-funded programs in Africa such as PUMA, AMESD, MESA, this infrastructure successfully enabled African weather and climate services across the entire continent to receive data from the Meteosat geostationary satellites, to forecast and monitor extreme weather events.
The current installations aim at upgrading the infrastructure for MTG. It will be accompanied by relevant trainings to maximise benefits for meteorologists and enable local maintenance.
Upcoming installations include a station in Cotonou, Benin, where the 16th EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa will take place. The event will provide a platform for African meteorologists to share knowledge and best practices on the use of the Meteosat data and discuss perspectives to improve Early Warning systems.