1. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 1 MSG PROGRAMME STATUS Presentation to the GIST-21 meeting

2. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 2 CURRENT SITUATION (as of 26th March 2004) MSG-1 Orbit inclination reduced to 0.81 deg (March 2004) Entry into operational service after SEVIRI decontaminated and satellite relocated to 3.4°W (+/-0.25) in Jan 2004. Eclipse season operations 26/02/04 to 13/04/04 MSG-2 Launch window February to April 2005

3. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 3 CURRENT SITUATION (as of 26th March 2004) Ground Segment (GS) and Operational Readiness Start of EUMETCast dissemination over Africa (C-band), 21/11/03 MSG-1 System handed over for Routine Operations, following System Commissioning Results & Routine Operations Readiness Reviews 18/12/03 SEVIRI Image and Product Validation Review successful, 04/03/04 All SEVIRI products now routinely disseminated

4. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 4 GERB OPERATIONAL DETAILS (as of 26th March 2004) GERB-2 operations since the last GIST 24 November 2003 TSOL Patch Upload 14 December 2003 GERB placed in SAFE mode following OOL flag errors 16 December 2003 establish default configuration in EEPROM 14 January 2004 GERB placed in SUNBLOCK during two start drift manoeuvre burns (~1 h 45 mins and ~2 hours 15 mins). GERB remained imaging during the drift manoeuvre. 27 January 2004 GERB placed in SUNBLOCK during two start drift manoeuvre burns (~2 h and ~2 hours 15 mins) 14 February 2004 Sun Avoidance season starts. GERB operated in NORMAL mode except for 20:35 to 02:00 when it is placed in SUNBLOCK 15 March 2004 GERB place in SUNBLOCK 75 minutes late due to ground segment outage.

5. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 5 GERB OPERATIONAL DETAILS (as of 26th March 2004) GERB-2 operational precautions & outages The GERB-2 pixel threshold function and the MSG platform software have been updated to allow GERB to operate safely in NORMAL mode during the sun avoidance season. During the sun avoidance season GERB is placed in SUNBLOCK mode between 20:35 to 02:00 to cover ground segment contingency operations. GERB is be placed in SUNBLOCK mode for MSG sensor swaps performed during the sun avoidance season. Outside the sun avoidance season no specific action will be performed, although a brief (a few minutes) data outage will occur when the sensors are swapped. GERB will be placed in SUNBLOCK mode for thruster burns during MSG manoeuvres.

6. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 6 GERB OPERATIONAL DETAILS (as of 26th March 2004) TSOL Investigations Three effects have been observed on the E-W earth centring of the GERB and SEVIRI images: –Daily oscillations –Midnight oscillations –Jumps when switching between north and south earth sensors These effects are thought to be due to a combination of satellite diurnal longitude drift, earth sensor behaviour, satellite spin axis orientation and satellite inclination. The jumps between the earth centring of north and south earth sensors have been reduced by adjustment of TSOL algorithm timing parameters. Midnight oscillations have been reduced by selecting the earth sensor least affected by solar stray light. Implementing this strategy results in the occasional moon blinding of the selected sensor, giving a smaller, less frequent oscillation in TSOL.

7. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 7 GERB OPERATIONAL DETAILS (as of 26th March 2004) TSOL Investigations (continued) Following investigations with the Image Processing Facility (IMPF) an interim solution has been implemented to transfer TSOL correction data to the GGSPS via an ftp site. A more permanent solution, to transfer the TSOL correction data directly with the GERB data packets, is under investigation.

8. GIST-21 Meeting 31 March-02 April 2004 8 OTHER GERB INSTRUMENTS (as of 26th March 2004) GERB-1 Emergency power modifications made and tested, replacing battery present in GERB-2. GERB-3 Satellite testing completed. Instrument to be returned to RAL for emergency power modifications and storage in the near future. GERB-4 Under manufacture.