The Satellite Application Facility for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP SAF) aims to improve and support the interface between satellite data/products and European activities in NWP.
The NWP SAF is one of several EUMETSAT SAFs (Satellite Application Facilities). Utilising specialist expertise from the Member States, SAFs are dedicated centres of excellence for processing satellite data and form an integral part of the distributed EUMETSAT Application Ground Segment. Further information about SAFs is available on the EUMETSAT web site.
The SAF for NWP interacts, where appropriate, with related work in other SAFs and in other EUMETSAT activities in order to enhance collaboration and to minimise duplication of effort.
Recent News and Updates
- FY-3E HIRAS and FY-4B GIIRS Monitoring Update - July 7, 2025
The monitoring of the Chinese hyperspectral infrared sounders HIRAS on board the LEO platform FY-3E and GIIRS on board the GEO platform FY-4B are now available from the NWP SAF monitoring page: https://nwp-saf.eumetsat.int/site/monitoring/nrt-monitoring/ - AAPP update 8.15 has been released - July 1, 2025
This release includes a bug fix for Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) processing to l1c and the addition of a new python script aapp_BUFR_quicklook.py to plot AWS BUFR data (as well as other microwave sounder BUFR data). Additionally amsua_clparams.dat has been updated, new satellites added into ‘get_tle’ script, and use of the gcc14 gfortran compiler is now supported. For details, see the Release History. - Discontinuation of DMSP SSMIS - June 27, 2025
Dear NWP SAF users, Please note, due to the service changes, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) will discontinue the ingest, processing, and distribution of all DOD DMSP and Navy Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) data no later than Monday, 30 June 2025. NOAA Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC) interfaces will not receive DMSP data and all data products will be suspended. Users should expert all FINE, SMOOTH, and HOUSEKEEPING data from Operational Linescan System (OLS), Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS), and all Near-Earth Space Weather instruments will be terminated. This service change and termination will be permanent. As a consequence, […] - New NWP model dataset of 100,000 atmospheric profiles from CAMS - June 5, 2025
A new extra-large set of diverse atmospheric profiles has recently been compiled by the NWP SAF and is now available to the scientific community for the first time in nearly 10 years. Comprised of a year of ECMWF Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) forecast data on 137 levels, the profiles represent one of the most up-to-date estimates of the vertical structure of several significant meteorological variables, atmospheric gases, and aerosols. Each subset of 5000 thermodynamically consistent profiles is meticulously selected to form a microcosm of the full model, optimised for 20 important atmospheric variables. The dataset can be used to […] - 11th Analysis Report of the NWP SAF AMV monitoring - April 1, 2025
The 11th Analysis Report (AR11) of the NWP SAF AMV monitoring has been released and is available from the Analysis Reports section of the AMV monitoring webpages. The analysis reports identify features from the monitoring statistics and document how these evolve over time. The status of existing features identified in the monitoring has been updated to reflect changes in the past two years. Several new data sets have been added to the monitoring since AR10. The assessment looks at NOAA-21 VIIRS AMVs, and the inclusion of DWD model data. Alongside these new data sets there have been changes in derivation […]