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GNSS Water Vapour Observations

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9 March 2025 Cerjak jef new

Why do we need GNSS Water Vapour Observations?

Water vapour plays a pivotal role in atmospheric processes, making its accurate measurement and distribution essential for both weather forecasting and climate monitoring. This invisible gas is fundamental for the formation of clouds and precipitation that directly impact our daily weather. Indeed, about half of the energy driving atmospheric processes originates from the latent heat released when water vapour condenses into liquid water droplets. Water vapour is also the greenhouse gas with the largest impact on the Earth’s surface radiation balance. Despite its importance, water vapour has not been the subject of comprehensive observations.
The radio waves emitted by satellites within the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) are highly sensitive to atmospheric conditions, causing them to experience delays and bending in their travel path. Among the various atmospheric constituents, water vapour has a particularly significant impact on these signals. This impact can be exploited to obtain valuable additional information on the water vapour content of the atmosphere.

How does EUMETNET contribute to GNSS Water Vapour Observations?

The EUMETNET GNSS Water Vapour programme (E-GVap) leverages GNSS technology, including the well-known GPS, to provide information about atmospheric water vapour content, thus addressing the gap in water vapour observations. By using data from ground-based GNSS receivers that interact with orbiting satellites, E-GVap enhances our understanding of water vapour distribution in the atmosphere and, therefore, improves weather and climate model predictions.

The E-GVap programme collects data from ground-based, high-quality GNSS receivers—primarily owned by geodetic institutions. They were originally installed for precise positioning. The Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) is estimated from the received satellite signals, which implicitly include information about the integrated water vapour in the atmosphere. The ZTDs are then forwarded to E-GVap, which distributes them for meteorological use in near real-time and conducts quality monitoring. The ZTDs serve as direct input to weather forecast models, alongside numerous other types of observations, enhancing forecast accuracy. In addition, from the ZTD one can derive integrated water vapour, which is invaluable for on-duty weather forecasters, as this integration of GNSS data into meteorological practices significantly improves our ability to predict weather patterns and understand atmospheric dynamics.

Who’s leading this EUMETNET activity?

The E-GVap Programme is led by the National Meteorological Service (NMS) of Denmark (DMI) in partnership with the NMSs of the UK (Met Office) and the Netherlands (KNMI).

Programme manager: Henrik Vedel, DMI
Email address: henrik.vedel[at]eumetnet.eu

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E-GVap coverage

Participating GNSS Analysis Centers

Vertical Profile Observations

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Cerjak jef new

Why do we need atmospheric vertical profile observations?

Atmospheric vertical profile observations in meteorology are crucial as they provide essential information about the atmosphere’s structure and composition at different altitudes. These measurements allow meteorologists to understand how temperature, humidity, wind speed, and other atmospheric variables change with altitude. These vertical data, in turn, are vital for accurate weather forecasting, as they help identify important features such as temperature inversions, wind shear, and moisture layers. Vertical profiles are also important for assessing atmospheric stability, which is critical for predicting the formation of clouds, precipitation, and severe weather events. By incorporating these observations into numerical weather prediction models, forecasters can significantly improve the accuracy of their weather forecasts and high-impact weather warnings, ultimately enhancing public safety and supporting numerous sectors that rely on precise weather information.

How does EUMETNET contribute to vertical profile observations?

The EUMETNET E-Profile programme collects, processes and disseminates vertical profiles of atmospheric properties such as wind, temperature, humidity, and the presence of aerosols including volcanic ash. This centralised data processing and extensive quality monitoring adds value to the collected data in terms of standardisation, quality, timeliness and availability. E-Profile data are used in numerical weather prediction, air quality, volcanic ash advisories, and research projects.

The E-Profile networks consist of surface-based remote sensing instruments such as radars (radio detection and ranging), lidars (light detection and ranging), and microwave radiometers, which are operated by EUMETNET members or partners—typically universities with a commitment to perform long-term measurements. The E-Profile centralised processing performs data management such as calibration, aggregation, inversion, and formatting to generate uniform meteorological data that are disseminated through the Global Telecommunication System (GTS) or the WMO Integrated Global Observing System (WIGOS) information system (WIS). The methodology used has been mostly developed within the European Collaboration in Science and Technology (COST) actions (i.e. ES0702 (EG-CLIMET), ES1303 (TOPROF) and CA18235 (PROBE))
E-Profile Data visualisation is available at the following links:
https://e-profile.eu
https://vprofiles.met.no

Who’s leading this EUMETNET activity?

The E-Profile programme is led by the National Meteorological Service (NMS) of Switzerland (MeteoSwiss) in partnership with the NMSs of the UK (Met Office) and Norway (MET Norway).

Programme manager: Alexander Haefele (MeteoSwiss)
Email address: e-profile[at]meteoswiss.ch.

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Wind Network

Aerosol and Cloud Network

Temperature and Humidity Network

Focus of the month – March 25

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Géraldine BLONDEAU new

Closing the Early Warning Gap Together

On 23 March, the meteorological community celebrates World Meteorological Day, highlighting the critical role of weather and climate services in safeguarding lives and livelihoods. This year’s theme, “Closing the Early Warning Gap Together”, underscores the collective effort required to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has access to timely and actionable warnings.  
 
As part of EUMETNET, MeteoAlarm plays a central role in making harmonised and easily understandable warnings from European National Meteorological Services (NMSs) widely accessible. By providing a single platform for authoritative warnings, MeteoAlarm enables individuals, businesses, and emergency responders to prepare for hazardous weather.  
 
Aligned with the United Nations’ Early Warnings for All (EW4All) Initiative, MeteoAlarm supports closing the warning gap by:  
Enhancing accessibility by delivering warnings in a standardised and multilingual format to ensure they reach diverse audiences.  
Ensuring interoperability by using the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) to integrate seamlessly with national and international warning systems.  
Reaching the last mile by partnering with redistributors and media to bring warnings directly to end-users, including those on the move.  
Supporting informed decision-making by providing impact-based warnings that indicate not only the severity of an event but also its potential consequences.  
 
Closing the early warning gap requires strong cooperation between NMSs, governments, private sector partners, and international organisations. Through EUMETNET’s coordinated efforts, MeteoAlarm continues to evolve—ensuring that warnings are not only issued but also received, understood, and acted upon.  
 
This World Meteorological Day, we reaffirm our commitment to expanding access to early warnings because informed communities are safer communities.  
 
Visit us at www.meteoalarm.org.

About Us

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8 March 2025 Géraldine BLONDEAU new

What is EUMETNET?

EUMETNET is a collaborative network comprising 33 European National Meteorological Services and was established to foster cooperation in various areas of meteorology. This alliance provides a framework for organising joint programmes among its members that support their fundamental activities by providing collective observation systems, data exchange and processing capabilities, basic forecasting products, research and development, professional training support, and effective exchange of knowledge and experiences.

EUMETNET’s mission is to:
1 – Develop and share members’ individual and joint capabilities through well-established cooperation programmes and promote enhanced networking to effectively address emerging challenges in the changing environment; and

2 – Represent the collective interests of its members to European bodies.

EUMETNET’s structure has evolved significantly since its inception. Originally created as an informal network in 1995, it transitioned to a more formal structure in 2009 when it became an economic interest grouping (groupement d’intérêt économique – GIE) under Belgian law. This transition was completed by December 31, 2009, with 31 founding members signing the original agreement. As of 1 January 2024, EUMETNET’s legal status has further evolved to a general partnership (société en nom collectif – SNC), reflecting its growth and the changing needs of its membership. The organisation now boasts 33 members, all of which are national meteorological (and hydrological) services (NM(H)S) of their respective countries. This expansion underscores the growing recognition of the value of collaborative efforts in meteorology across Europe.

Governance of EUMETNET is carried out through an Assembly of Members which convenes twice a year. Decision-making is informed by recommendations from advisory committees, such as the Science and Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), the Policy and Finance Advisory Committee (PFAC), the Aviation Advisory Committee (AVAC), and the Data Policy Advisory Committee (DPAC). These committees oversee all of EUMETNET’s undertakings, including its various programmes, modules, working groups and task teams, third-party projects, and Secretariat activities.

Since the establishment of EUMETNET, the joint Programmes have been its principal vehicle for efficiently carrying out activities that address our members’ requirements. EUMETNET runs around twenty programmes in the fields of observations, forecasting, climate, aviation, training, and policy support. A coordinating member, supported by a consortium of members if required, delivers a programme on behalf of all EUMETNET members. The Secretariat delivers some of the policy programmes.

Members are engaged in specialised workgroups and expert teams, where experts meet and share experiences and best practices in their fields of expertise.

Therefore, a key principle underpinning EUMETNET’s operations is the power of networking and sharing. This collaborative approach enables European National Meteorological Services to pool resources, share knowledge, and tackle complex challenges that would be difficult or impossible to address individually. Through its structure and activities, EUMETNET plays a crucial role in advancing meteorological science and services across Europe, fostering a more integrated and efficient approach to weather and climate-related challenge.

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Secretariat

Members Map

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