London, Aug 10 - More accurate global weather forecasts and a better understanding of climate change are in the offing, thanks to a breakthrough by engineers.

Queen's University Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) team in Belfast has developed a high performance electronic device -- known as a dual polarized Frequency Selective Surface filter -- that will be used in future European Space Agency (ESA) missions.

The filters will be installed in instruments being developed by ESA for meteorological

satellites it plans to launch between 2018 and 2020.

The ESA instruments are used to detect thermal emissions in the earth's atmosphere. The data measures temperature, humidity profiles, and gas composition, which are in turn entered into operational systems and used to forecast weather and pollution.

Lead ECIT engineer Raymond Dickie said: 'Measuring just 30 mm in diameter and 1/100mm

thick, the devices will help provide a much more comprehensive analysis of conditions in the earth's atmosphere than has been possible previously.