EUMETSAT’s commitment to the African meteorological community has been matched by delivery. The first PUMA-2025 reception station was installed two years ago; today the full network of 56 stations is in place, and the processing chain that turns MTG data into products ready for forecasters is fully operational.
About 150 meteorologists, scientists and representatives from across the continent are meeting in Eswatini, for the five-day User Forum in Africa, organised by EUMETSAT and the Eswatini Meteorological Service, to share their first operational experience with MTG data.
Weather stations are sparse in many parts of Africa, so satellites are often forecasters’ most complete source of information. MTG delivers a new image of Africa every 10 minutes, compared with every 15 minutes from the previous generation of Meteosat satellites. That means forecasters see fast-changing weather, such as storm development, sooner and in greater detail. MTG also provides lightning observations. These are critical both for alerting communities to extreme weather and for warning where people or infrastructure may be at risk of severe storms and lightning strikes.
The Forum opened as Africa prepares for a potentially very strong El Niño event, with floods, drought and far-reaching impacts on livelihoods expected across the continent. In the opening days, participants welcomed a joint declaration calling for reliable satellite observations, effective early-warning tools, and the infrastructure and expertise to turn data into information that protects lives and livelihoods.
“MTG is no longer a future promise for Africa. It is now in the hands of forecasters across the continent,” said Phil Evans, Director-General of EUMETSAT. “With the PUMA reception station network now fully deployed, every African national meteorological service can access this new generation of observations. This shows what sustained partnership between the African Union Commission, the European Union, EUMETSAT and African meteorological services can achieve.”
How the data reaches users
MTG data and products are distributed through EUMETSAT’s EUMETCast Africa service to 56 reception stations at national meteorological services and regional centres across the continent. The stations were first deployed under the EU-funded ClimSA programme. The Strengthening Early Warning in Africa (SEWA) project as key component of the Africa-EU Space Partnership Programme (AESPP) is building on these investments to further develop African capacity to process satellite images and raise early warnings as approriate. SEWA is funded by the European Union under its Global Gateway Strategy and jointly led by EUMETSAT, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the African Union Commission, working with African regional climate centres and national meteorological and hydrological services.
Shaping future services
During the week, participants are also discussing early warnings for severe weather, climate services, hydrology, air quality, and the use of satellite data in agriculture and renewable energy.
EUMETSAT has worked with African meteorological and hydrological services for more than three decades on satellite data, products and training, and the forum's outcomes will guide the next phase of that cooperation.
See MTG in action: discover in this article how meteorologists in Zambia are using the data to track dangerous storms as they unfold.