29 – 31 May 2017 / Santos, Brazil
In cooperation with National institute for the semi-arid (INSA), Laboratory for image processing in the University of Alagoas (LAPIS) and the LSA SAF, EUMETSAT serviced a stand in this symposium. Information was provided, mainly on land and weather applications of EUMETSAT data, always highly valuable in the region.
Catarina Buriti from INSA, Carla Barroso from LSA SAF, Humberto Barbosa from LAPIS, and Jose Prieto from EUMETSAT answered many questions and requests. The symposium was attended by 700 scientists and professionals in hydrology, geology and related fields, mainly from Brazil, Argentina and America.
Following the cessation of the EUMETCast-Americas service, some users are now exploring using the antennas for the equivalent African service, which is still powerful from the north of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Cuba and the Caribbean. INPE (National institute for space research) is technically ready for the terrestrial EUMETCast solution, which would service many users through an internet portal. Geonetcast-Americas, in spite of offering GOES-16 imagery,is not being adopted by many users with former EUMETSAT equipment. They find the conversion procedure complicated and expensive. In any case, GOES-16 at 75 °W is the optimal position for users not wishing to only rely on internet data. Meteosat cannot be spared according to Luiz Machado (INPE), due to its essential Atlantic coverage, margin for cross-calibration and comparisons, and access to other satellites linked to EUMETSAT.
“Thirty years of cooperation between INPE and EUMETSAT cannot finish now”, he said.