The specific characteristics of each type of product are available from the Meteorological Product Extraction and Distribution Service . The table below shows product frequencies for GTS dissemination versus archiving. The following table summarises the typical size, production rate, and volume throughput of each meteorological data product that is archived. It should be noted, however, that the product sizes vary considerably from day to day. The primarily purpose of the Archived Data Retrieval Service is to provide users with access to the data in the Meteosat archive.
Most users request their data encapsulated in a digital product.
It should be noted however, the amount of data delivered using this mechanism is constrained by physical resources, e.g. disk space and band width on the internet. The Archived Data Retrieval Service incorporates high quality graphic printers to facilitate the output of black and white prints in A3 and A4 sizes. As with the digital products, photographic products can be produced for any channel, full disc or a sub-area , and in rectified or unrectified format. The Meteosat Image Bulletin is a publication which was produced on a monthly basis for subscribing users up until July 1997. It included photographic reproductions of the 1200 UTC image data in each of the three channels for each day of the month, along with a printed version of the archive data catalogue for that day showing which images are available and which are missing or have poor quality.