The first of three huge polar-orbiting MetOp (Meteorological Operational) satellites is to be fired into space on Monday from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

MetOp-A, weighing more than four tonnes, is the most complex satellite of its kind, boasting around a dozen instruments for measuring weather patterns and transmitting back data.

It will be the first of three MetOp satellites to be launched roughly five years apart over the coming years at a cost of 2.4 billion euros (3 billion dollars). Of that total 1.8 billion will come from EUMETSAT, the organisation that operates Europes system of meteorological satellites. Most of the remainder will be provided by the European Space Agency.

The ESA says the MetOp satellites promise "data of unprecedented accuracy and resolution on a host of different variables, such as temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction over the ocean, ozone and trace gases".

That will make "a huge contribution to global weather forecasting and climate monitoring capabilities", it said.

Being able to predict the weather reliably can help mitigate the effects of extreme weather conditions -- which appear to be on the increase -- and therefore save lives.

The huge MetOp-A satellite -- 17.6 metres (58 feet) long once its power-producing solar panels are deployed -- is designed to complement EUMETSAT's Meteosat satellites, which have been beaming weather data back to Earth since 1978.

Meteosats circle the Earth above the Equator at very high altitude -- 36,000 kilometres (22,000 miles) -- and in geostationary orbit. They afford scientists a wide-angle view of the Earth but are unable to see certain portions of the planet.

By contrast, the MetOps will orbit at just 800-850 kilometres (500-525 miles) over the Earth, overflying the North and South Poles 14 times every 24 hours. Thanks to the tilting of the Earth's own orbit, they will cover a different slice of the planet every time.

"The two systems are complementary because there are lots of measurements that can't be done in geostationary orbit," explained Marc Cohen, MetOp programme manager at EUMETSAT.

The launch of MetOp will also mark the start of cooperation between Europe and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The European and US satellites will operate in complementary orbits to give maximum coverage, with the MetOp giving morning information and its US counterpart data collected in the afternoon.

Until the launch of MetOp, only the United States was able to provide the kind of data that polar-orbiting satellites gather.

The prime use of the MetOp satellites, the first of which will travel into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket, lies in its instruments. These will provide high-resolution images, temperature and humidity measurements, and monitor both the ozone levels and ocean winds.

Five are new European instruments. The others are provided by NOAA and the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).

The most sophisticated of all is the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometre (IASI), which ESA says should offer meteorologists data "of unprecedented accuracy and resolution on atmospheric temperature and humidity, with which to improve weather prediction".

The launch of MetOp is particularly timely given the apparent increase in extreme weather conditions, from devastating droughts in Africa and floods in Europe to Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami.

"If we had had the IASI instrument, we could have forecast that there would be severe damage in the UK and France from the 1993 Hurricane Floyd," Cohen said.

Data from MetOp may also help settle some of the raging debates on climate change, at a time of warnings from conservationists that the Arctic ice cap is melting so fast that polar bears may disappear from the wild this century.

The launch of MetOp-A, scheduled for 10:28 pm (16:28 GMT) on July 17, will be broadcasted live on EUMETSAT's website.

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