The Earth-Observing Satellite Constellation: A review from a meteorological perspective of a complex, interconnected global system with extensive applications

The global Earth-observing satellite constellation (EOSC) is a major international asset that has developed since 1960 with a dramatic growth in size and complexity in the recent past. This high-level review article takes stock and summarizes, from a meteorological perspective, the current constellation's capabilities, in order to increase awareness, document the value chain of satellite data from measurements to decision making, and illustrate the interconnected and evolving nature of those processes. When assessed in terms of application areas, the constellation is highly interdependent, and the observations it provides complement each other.