Photo: EUMETSAT

Europe’s meteorological satellite agency Eumetsat has awarded Spire Global a contract to provide radio occultation (RO) data. Spire will provide the data in near-real time, and it will be distributed to the Eumetsat user community globally for use in weather forecast modeling.

Eumetsat previously had a pilot program with Spire to evaluate the benefits of Spire’s RO data for weather forecasting accuracy and value. The RO data provides information about the vertical profiles of pressure, humidity and temperature across all points of the globe, including in the remote regions and open oceans. 

The contract is for an initial period of two years, from 2024 to 2026, with three optional, one-year extensions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

“It was important to Eumetsat that the terms of this contract allow us to redistribute the data globally, in line with the World Meteorological Organization’s principle of free and open data exchange,” said Eumetsat Director-General Phil Evans. “Eumetsat is reinforcing the value of this type of commercial arrangement, with the benefits felt by the citizens of our member states, and other communities globally, through more data for weather forecasting models.”