Spain’s meteorology service, which acts as the state meteorology authority as well as the aeronautics meteorology authority, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. This organization, dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, is responsible for developing, implementing and providing state-level meteorology services and supporting other public policies and private activities.

Since 1998 GMV has been supporting Spain’s meteorology service in the development and maintenance of its operations for the acquisition, transformation, use, distribution and filing of meteorology data. The main activities also include development of complex data processes for generating high-level products to help in daily weather-forecasting activities.

GMV is also participating in the development of the space-based meteorology missions: MSG (Meteosat Second Generation), MetOP (Meteorological Operational satellite programme) and , MTG (Meteosat Third Generation), which will provide crucial information for the purposes of weather forecasting and drawing up climatology models.

Ever since its creation the Meteorology Service has been carrying out its activity under different names. The initial name was followed in 1911 by the “Observatorio Central Meteorológico” (Central Meteorology Observatory), which then changed into the “Servicio Meteorológico Español” (Spanish Meteorology Service) in 1920 and the “Servicio Meteorológico Nacional” in 1933. This name then remained unchanged until 1978 when it became the “Instituto Nacional de Meteorología” (National Meteorology Institute), finally transforming into the State Meteorology Agency (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología: AEMET) in 2008.

Over the last 25 years the service has continually renewed its technology in line with the major breakthroughs in weather-forecasting and observation techniques as new satellite and radar systems were developed and meteorological models and computers were improved. It has also had to keep pace with the ongoing communications revolution that is part and parcel of today’s information society.

To fulfil its obligations and responsibilities the Agency currently has a 1400-strong staff working throughout the whole of Spain in the various offices and observatories of the 17 Regional Authorities and the Central Headquarters in Madrid.

To celebrate this 125th anniversary the Madrid municipality of Boadilla del Monte is hosting an exhibition, due to remain open until 31 December 2012. This exhibition, sponsored by GMV, runs through the whole history of meteorology in Spain, from the beginnings with rudimentary measuring techniques to the state-of-the-art satellite systems that are continually honing and improving forecasting performance today.