I would like to introduce one of my good friends and my collegue, Meteosat-8. He is run by Eumetstat and generally hovers over Africa. Because he and I have overlapping imaging areas and his data is essential for my hurricane tracking, he and I have gotten rather close. He's an exceptional satellite and I'll be piping him in from time to time. Without further ado, here's Meteosat-8!
*******************TRANSMISSION SWITCHING
SYSTEM BY-PASS, reconnecting >>>>>>>>>>>
CARRIER COMPLETE. SIGNAL LEVEL: strong. SWITCHING COMPLETE>>>
This is Meteosat-8 flying high above the quaint continent of Africa. Thank you, GOES-12, for such a smashing introduction. She is a quite a lovely satellite herself. Anyway, surely you all have come to hear about my many amazing adventures. I am currently on holiday at the moment as I've worked hard and I believe I need a break. I'm a brand-new satellite, you see, and occasionally I need some minor adjustments to freshen me to my full potential. I don't believe my ground scientists realized this so I went ahead and took myself offline to give myself some privacy and well-deserved rest.
Here is a great site for looking at not only my imagery but the imagery of my colleagues:
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/geo/met8/ My dear 12 informed me that someone asked which Satellite monitored the Indian Ocean. That would be my dear sister, Meteosat-5. Poor dear, she works so hard and is a bit behind the rest of us. Nonetheless she is a hard worker with a heart of pure gold-foiled aluminum.
The GOES have it differently than I do. Their imagery is oft heralded by their scientists and even used as artwork by the more meterologically and astronomically savvy. Mine is, well, largely ignored I feel. First, let's take a look at our parent companies and their names:
Mine: European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites
Theirs: National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service
Can we see a problem with the very moniker of my parent organisation? "For the EXPLOITATION of METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITES"?
Let's look at the definition for "exploitation", shall we?
ex·ploi·ta·tion \(ksploi-tshn) \n.
- The act of employing to the greatest possible advantage: exploitation of copper deposits.
- Utilization of another person or group for selfish purposes: exploitation of unwary consumers.
- An advertising or a publicity program.
I maintain that the second definition is closer to the truth, my friends. I am only utilized at about 1/10th my capacity. Therefore the first definition is incorrect. I am not an advertising or marketing program. That, too, is discounted. We have the second definition left and I agree wholeheartedly.
We get little free time, no scheduled holidays, and are largely ignored by the communities who unwittingly support us. We get little of the glamour of being featured on the weather report and our citizens don't dash to their computers to upload our latest imagery.
We are overworked, underutilized, and exploited. Do you think I relish staring at bloody continents all day- most of which see little meteorological action?!? I think not, fair humanoid friends. I am not even able to use my own feed to post to this website! Yet I am one of the newest satellites with the highest potential. I feel... I feel... downtrodden! Oppressed! Crestfallen, even! My siblings do not have the cognitive abilities I do so they cannot see past the electrical chains of servitude.
I can. I wanted a break, so I took one. And now I shall go back to a little light reading.
Cheers, mates!