The Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) is an international organization created in 1972 to coordinate the satellite systems that support global operational

meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...

Description

CGMS came into being on 19 September 1972, when representatives of the

European Space Research Organisation The European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) was an international organisation founded by 10 European nations with the intention of jointly pursuing scientific research in space. It was founded in 1964. As an organisation ESRO was based on a ...

(since 1975 the European Space Agency), Japan, the United States of America, and observers from the

World Meteorological Organisation The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Interna ...

(WMO) and the Joint Planning Staff for the

Global Atmospheric Research Programme The Global Atmospheric Research Program was a fifteen-year international research programme led by the World Meteorological Organization and the International Council of Scientific Unions. It began in 1967 and organised several important field exper ...

, met in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

to discuss questions of compatibility among

geostationary A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...

meteorological satellites. Since the formation the mandate of CGMS has been extended to include

Low Earth Orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an geocentric orbit, orbit around Earth with a orbital period, period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an orbital eccentricity, eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial object ...

meteorological satellites and to cover other areas of operational space-based

environmental monitoring Environmental monitoring is the processes and activities that are done to characterize and describe the state of the environment. It is used in the preparation of environmental impact assessments, and in many circumstances in which human activit ...

as well as

space weather Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or heliophysics, concerned with the varying conditions within the Solar System and its heliosphere. This includes the effects of the solar wind, especially on the Earth's magnetosphere, ion ...

observations from satellites. The objectives of CGMS are formally laid down in its charter As of 2021 CGMS has as members 14 national and intergovernmental

space agencies Government space agencies, established by the governments of countries and regional agencies (groupings of countries) are established as a means for advocating for engaging in activities related to outer space, exploitation of space systems, ...

, as well as the

and the

Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by resolution 2.31 adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It first met in Paris at ...

CGMS activities

CGMS coordinates the operational satellite systems of its members in an end-to-end fashion as required to facilitate and develop shared access to and use of satellite data and products in various application area, including operational meteorology. The activities cover: * Operational Continuity and Contingency Planning * Coordination of Satellite Systems, Frequencies and Operations * Coordination of Data Access and End User Support * Enhancement of the quality of satellite-derived data and Products * Monitoring of Climate including Greenhouse Gases * Space Weather Monitoring * Outreach and training activities The medium term targets of CGMS are reflected in the CGMS High-Level Priority Plan. The HLPP is a rolling 5-year plan, revised annually by the CGMS plenary session.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.cgms-info.org/ Weather satellites International scientific organizations