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1959
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Launch of NASA's Vanguard II, which returned the
first photograph from space of Earth's cloud cover
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1960
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NASA launched the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) I, which proved that satellites can observe Earth's weather patterns. Subsequent TIROS satellites improved hurricane-tracking techniques and severe storm warnings, protecting lives and property in coastal areas around the world. |
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1964
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Satellite cloud pictures are used operationally
at Met Office HQ in Bracknell.
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1966
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US Environmental Sciences Services Administration
I and II give the world's first global weather satellite system.
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1975
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The satellites SMS-A, the first spacecraft to
observe Earth from geosynchronous orbit, and SMS-B started producing
cloud-cover pictures every 30 minutes for weather forecasters.
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1977
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ESA's Meteosat 1 launched.
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1978
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Seasat demonstrated techniques for global monitoring
of Earth's oceans.
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Nimbus 7 was launched, carrying a TOMS instrument
that provided 14 years of data on Earth's ozone layer. Data from
TOMS were part of the scientific basis for treaties banning the
manufacture and use of ozone-depleting chemicals.
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1981
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Meteosat-2 launched, the first fully operational
Meteosat launched. Although an ESA satellite, EUMETSAT took control
of its operations in 1986.
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1984
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The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite began its
study of how Earth absorbs and reflects the Sun's energy.
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1988
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Meteosat-3 launched, again an ESA satellite operated
by EUMETSAT
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1989
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EUMETSAT's Meteosat-4 launched, marking the beginning
of the EUMETSAT Meteosat Operational Programme (MOP)
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1991
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Respectively launched in 1991 and 1995, the ERS-1 and ERS-2 satellites for earth observation are an ESA success. Thanks to the quality, reliability and originality of the on-board instruments, many findings related to the Earth environment have been made and many applications derived from them. Meteosat-5, the second MOP satellite launched |
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1992
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Data from the US-French TOPEX/Poseidon satellite
began to detail the links between Earth's oceans and climate.
By 1994, TOPEX data indicated that Earth's average global sea
level had risen in the two previous years.
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1993
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Meteosat-6, the third and final MOP satellite
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1997
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Meteosat-7, the only satellite of the EUMETSAT
Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP), launched to maintain operations
until the first Meteosat Second Generation satellite (MSG-1) is
launched in 2002
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1999
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QuikScat, a satellite mission to monitor ocean
winds, was launched.
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| 2001 | Jason 1 satellite launched as a successor to the TOPEX/Poseidon ocean surface topography mission. | ||
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2002
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ESA's Envisat launched, an advanced polar-orbiting
Earth observation satellite, which will provide measurements of
the atmosphere, ocean, land, and ice over a five-year period.
Envisat data will support Earth science research and allow monitoring
of the evolution of environmental and climatic changes.
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| Meteosat-8, the first of the second generation MSG satellites launched. | |||
| 2005 | Polar ice mission Cryosat launch failure. | ||
| Meteosat-9, the second of the second generation Meteosat satellites launched. This brings the extra functionality of the MSG series into the operational domain. | |||
