10th EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa
The 10th EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa will take place at the UN-ECA conference centre in Addis Ababa from 1-5 October 2012. The forum is organised in collaboration with the National Meteorology Agency of Ethiopia, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union Commission.
The purpose of the EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa is to reinforce the well established dialogue between EUMETSAT and the African user community in order to facilitate the use of EUMETSAT satellite data throughout the continent. The Forum also provides the opportunity to identify actions and initiatives that could be taken by EUMETSAT and its partners to meet the requirements of its African users.
Over 180 participants from more than 60 countries representing the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, African regional institutional bodies, government agencies and regional scientific and technical institutions will attend the forum in Addis Ababa.
This 10th edition of the biennial EUMETSAT User Forum in Africa marks two decades of the exploitation of meteorological satellite data in Africa.
The number of African users has grown from a few in the 90’s to hundreds in 2012. In the same period, the number of Earth observation applications multiplied from the initial weather forecasting to environmental and climate monitoring in support to disaster risk reduction, food security, water management, health, energy, marine resources, etc.
This evolution accelerated in 2000 thanks to projects funded by the European Development Funds (EDF) and implemented under the aegis of the African Union Commission. In period, a total of about 70M€ has been invested in EO applications in Africa through EDF, complementing continuous efforts from EUMETSAT and various partners.
During the forum a special session will celebrate the successes of the past 20 year’s use of Earth Observation data in Africa and look ahead to the next 20 years. Eminent figures from national, regional and international institutions and space agencies will share their thoughts and experience and look ahead to the future.
The forum will also include a “Climate Day”, which is jointly organised with the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the UN‐ECA on 3rd October 2012. The day aims at presenting how African stakeholders could structure and strengthen their existing capacities to respond to the decision makers’ needs in terms of climate information by implementing at regional and national level the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).
The five day programme of the forum will be preceded by a high level meeting where representatives of the African Union Commission, the African Regional Communities and the ACP Secretariat will endorse a Position Paper on implementation of the GFCS in Africa at regional level.
About EUMETSAT
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites is an intergovernmental organisation based in Darmstadt, Germany, currently with 27 European Member States (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom) and four Cooperating States (Bulgaria, Iceland, Lithuania, and Serbia).
EUMETSAT operates the geostationary satellites Meteosat-8, -9 and -10 over Europe and Africa, and Meteosat-7 over the Indian Ocean.
Metop-A, the first European polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, was launched in October 2006 and has been delivering operational data since 15 May 2007.
The Jason-2 ocean altimetry satellite, launched on 20 June 2008, added ocean surface topography to the missions EUMETSAT conducts.
The data and products from EUMETSAT’s satellites make a significant contribution to weather forecasting and to the monitoring of the global climate.