<title>Characteristics of the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) radiometer/imager: SEVIRI</title>

The Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) program consists of a series of 3 satellites, the objectives of which were defined by the European meteorological community led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). The development and procurement of the MSG satellite is under the responsibility of ESA. The corresponding ground segment will be procured by EUMETSAT, and they will operate the overall system. Aerospatiale of France leads an industrial consortium of more than 50 European companies that develop and manufacture the spacecraft. The objective of the MSG program is to provide a continuous and reliable collection of environmental data in support of weather forecasting and related services. A major element of this objective is fulfilled by the imaging mission, which corresponds to a continuous image taking of the Earth using 12 channels with a baseline repeat cycle of 15 minutes, including the on-board calibration and the retrace. The imaging tasks are performed by the spinning enhanced visible and infrared imager (SEVIRI), which is being developed by Matra-Marconi Space, France. Provision is also made for the satellite to carry as an experimental payload the so-called geostationary Earth radiation budget (GERB) instrument. This paper focuses on SEVIRI and its radiometric and imaging mission performances.