Estonia to Join European Weather Satellite Agency
Estonia will become full member of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) as of 2012. The Ministry of the Environment signed the accession memorandum today.
The main tasks of EUMETSAT are to monitor the atmosphere, ocean and land surface and provide climate-related data all year around with the help of high-tech meteorological satellites.
Becoming a member of the organization gives Estonia access to the satellite data, contributing to the accuracy of weather prediction. Member states also have a say in the shaping of the methodology and policies in European meteorological studies, ETV reported.
Director General of Meteorological and Hydrological Institute Jaan Saar said that full membership of EUMETSAT is a particularly important step for Estonia's meteorological science as the nation will now be included in the so-called satellite family.
So far, Estonia had only cooperational status within EUMETSAT.
Ingrid Teesalu