Frequently asked questions
How are the films produced?
The videos are created by sequencing of single images, just like in a thumb movie. The images are
received every quarter of an hour from the satellites. They comprise several spectral bands in
order to assess water vapour content, vegetation, and other aspects. The raw images are
processed by EUMETSAT and are send back to the fleet of
of Eutelsat satellites for world-wide transmission. Our receiving station in Kiel-Rönne
receives the single images and converts the images of the past few days into video sequences.
How often are the films updated?
Normally all films are updated every quarter of an hour, which is whenever a new
image is transmitted by EUMETSAT.
Why are the images always 1 to 2 hours late?
Normally, they are not! The displayed date and time refers to Universal Time (UTC/GMT).
In summer this time is 2 hours behind Central European Summer Time (CEST = MESZ), in
winter it is 1 hr behind Central European Time (CET = MEZ).
Why are the images about 1/2 to 3/4 hours old?
Consider an example:
The image '12:00' was taken at UTC 12.00. Between 12:00 and 12:15 it is transmitted
from EUMETSAT to our station in Kiel-Rönne. Storing and conversion of the image
to the format necessary for the video sequence takes about 5 min. Since the computer
has to process several video sequences, this may take another 10 min. Hence, the image
is on display in the website at about UTC 12:30.
How much hard and software is involved?
- Receiver: Pentium IV 2.4 GHz, 1GB Ram, "tq-Tellicast" (T-Systems)
- Data filter: Pentium IV 2.4 GHz, 256 MB Ram, "MSG Data Manager" (David Taylor)
- Image format conversion: Pentium III 1.3 GHz, 512 MB Ram, "GeoSatSignal" (David Taylor)
- Film encoder: Dual Pentium 1 GHz, 256 MB Ram, Linux/Gentoo, transcode, DivX 5.0.5 (free)
Which Codec and Bitrate are used?
- Preview video: DivX 5.0.5, 128 kB/s
- Normal video: DivX 5.0.5, 800 kB/s
What is particularly worth noting in the films?
Europe in infrared: The changes in temperature in northern Africa at the rim of the
Sahara desert are noticeable: extremely cold (in green) nights are followed by extremely high
(yellow) day time temperatures. These changes are much stronger than in central Europe.
World in visible light:
at 00:00 UTC - in summer the North Pole is bright, in winter
the South Pole is bright.
06:00 UTC, 18:00 UTC - Note that the border line between night and day varies with
the season.
What if you can't play the films?
If Windows Media Player gives this message:
'Windows Media Player Error: Video data could not be displayed. No appropriate decoding
program could be found'
Please install the DivX-Codec of version 5.0.5 or higher. This codec you may download free of
charge from www.divx.com.
You'll need only the simple version, not 'Dr. DivX' or 'DivX Pro'
More information about Meteosat
