The perennial conference cornerstone themes of weather, ocean, atmospheric composition and climate observations from space will be addressed by dedicated sessions focussing on new satellite products and climate records and their applications.
Discussions will also continue on the use of satellite data in very high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) models for short range forecasts and on user preparedness for even faster and more accurate observations expected from Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) and other next generation geostationary satellites.
In addition, the 2017 conference will address two specific topics. One will be the new opportunities for monitoring weather and climate over the Indian Ocean arising from geostationary imagery of unprecedented quality available since 1 February 2017 from Meteosat-8, the first Meteosat Second Generation satellite, after its re-location from 0° to 41.5° East.
The second topic will be the use of satellite products in support of the operational coordination of hydrology and water resources management. Dedicated talks will reflect on the utilisation of precipitation, soil moisture and snow products delivered by the Satellite Application Facility on Hydrology (H-SAF), which is led by the Italian Air Force-Meteorological Service.