About CGMS

CGMS provides an international forum for the exchange of technical information on geostationary and polar orbiting meteorological satellite systems.

The Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites (CGMS) came into being on 19 September 1972, when representatives of the European Space Research Organisation (since 1975 called the European Space Agency, ESA), Japan, the United States of America, Observers from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the Joint Planning Staff for the Global Atmosphere Research Programme met in Washington to discuss questions of compatibility among geostationary meteorological satellites.

Since then, CGMS has expanded both in terms of its membership, and its objectives.

CGMS Organisation

As the Secretariat, EUMETSAT is responsible for organising the annual CGMS Plenary meeting with the support of the local host, which is a CGMS Member designated on a rotating basis. During the Plenary meeting, the CGMS Working Groups also come together.

Working Group I is Telecommunications

Working Group II is Satellite Products including Satellite derived Winds

Working Group III is Contingency Planning

Working Group IV is Integrated Strategy for Data Dissemination from meteorological Satellites

Between sessions of the annual CGMS Plenary meetings, the Secretariat is also in charge of facilitating thecommunication between CGMS Members and of ensuring that actions agreed during CGMS Plenary meetings are fulfilled. Finally, the CGMS Secretariat represents CGMS Members in a number of International bodies such as the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and its related Earth Observation International Coordination Working Group (EO-ICWG), Group on Earth Observation (GEO), and the Space Frequency Coordination Group (SFCG).

As the Secretariat, EUMETSAT is responsible for organising the annual CGMS Plenary meeting with the support of the local host, which is a CGMS Member designated on a rotating basis.