| Spacecraft |
Type |
Europe |
Non Europe |
| Meteosat-9 |
Channels |
1h |
3h |
| RGB Composites |
1h |
1h |
| MPEF Products |
15min |
15min |
| Meteosat-7 |
Channels |
3h |
3h |
| METOP-2 |
Channels |
3min |
3min |
How to Download the Latest Imagery
The following are some guidelines
for writing programs that automatically download imagery from the EUMETSAT
web site:
1. Don't connect more often
than necessary
The satellites only scan the
earth every 30 minutes so there's no point in looking on our server more
often than that. Idelly a program should be written so that it only connects
once per run, and is run automatically every 30 minutes (i.e. using the
UNIX 'crontab' or Windows NT 'at' commands).
| GOOD |
OK |
BAD |
AWFUL |
BEGIN
connect
download
END |
WHILE (true)
connect
download
sleep for 15min, 1h or 3h
END WHILE |
WHILE (true)
connect
download
sleep for 5 minutes
END WHILE |
WHILE (true)
connect
download
END WHILE |
|
2. Don't retry too many times
after failing to establish a connection
| GOOD |
BAD |
number_of_retries = 3
i = 0
DO
response = connect
IF (response = "connected")
download
ELSE
i = i + 1
sleep 30 seconds
END IF
WHILE (response <> "connected"
AND i < number_of_retries) |
DO
response = connect
WHILE (response = "not connected")
download |
|
Users
should be aware that EUMETSAT reserves the right to refuse or restrict
access to Meteosat imagery to those users who regularly choose to ignore
the above guidelines.
How to Bookmark
Imagery Pages
If you wish to bookmark any
imagery type available via the main 'Meteosat Images' page, please
first select the type of imagery you wish to bookmark and then simply follow
the instructions on the page that contains the imagery that you wish to
bookmark. Please note that if you follow the instructions you won't bookmark
the image itself, but rather the type of imagery that is displayed,
and each time you visit the bookmark you'll be shown the latest available
image of that type! (Ofcourse, depending on how often you visit the bookmark,
you may need to 'Reload' or 'Refresh' the page).
|
