FMI to provide info via satellite data centre

The Arctic Space Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute will provide information on the status of ice and snow and the Aurora Borealis (Northern Light) through expanding a satellite data centre in Sodankylä, said an official press release.

Sodankylä’s Arctic Space Centre has expanded from a satellite data centre to a place where the entire chain is handled from the reception of satellite data, to processing and distribution and then the utilisation of data. The data can be utilised, for example, by environmental and security authorities.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute’s Arctic Space Centre’s infrastructure was expanded again on 5 April, when a new, approximately 15-metre high, SOD03 satellite data receiving antenna was taken into use.

“The antenna is the third receiving antenna in the area. However, this antenna is only one part of the centre that has been established in Sodankylä over the years," FMI’s Arctic Research Unit Head Jouni Pulliainen said.

The Arctic Space Centre is tasked with producing important data from the Arctic regions utilising the newest satellite and space technology. The centre also produces services that are of importance to the Arctic region’s security. Data transmitted by satellites can be utilised, e.g. in meteorological services, flood prediction systems, ice services, and shipping. One of its key applications is the monitoring of the Baltic’s ice situation for the needs of winter-time maritime transport.

The service is based on the radar satellite materials produced in Sodankylä.

Satellite data will be received real-time from satellites flying over Sodankylä. After this, the data will be processed into the end product, which will be transmitted immediately to the bridge of an icebreaker operating in the Baltic Sea.

The Arctic Space Centre will also combine Arctic expertise and space technology in a more diverse way than in the past. The long-time series obtained from satellite observations can also be used, e.g. in climate change research. The data is important, especially in the Arctic regions where the effects of climate change are already particularly evident.

“The Arctic Space Centre is a concrete investment that will help Finland achieve the objectives it has set for its chairmanship of the Arctic Council. As chairman, Finland must also be able to react to the environmental development of the Arctic regions, as climate change will impact on the future of the entire Arctic region,” said Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner.

Sodankylä also processes, distributes and archives observations that satellites transmit nearly in real-time from Finland, Europe and the entire northern hemisphere. Sodankylä produces, e.g. unique satellite-based data on the northern hemisphere’s snow cover and soil freezing as services financed by the European Union, EUMETSAT, and the European Space Agency.

Participation in the Copernicus Collaborative Ground Segment network is also an essential part of Sodankylä’s activities. The European Union’s enormous Copernicus Programme’s Sentinel satellites form a service network for the EU’s environmental data.

The centre is also well-equipped with a variety of observation instruments that can help in verifying the accuracy of various satellite measurements.

“Without these reference measurements, the observation data produced by satellites would be qualitatively unusable,” Pulliainen said.