Developments in the assimilation of satellite data in numerical weather prediction (NWP), from the first experiments in the late 1960s to the present day, are presented in a two‐part review article. This part, Part II, reviews the progress in recent years, from about 2000. It includes summaries of advances in the relevant satellite remote‐sensing technologies and in methods to assimilate observations from these instruments into NWP systems. It also summarises impacts on forecast skill. Continued progress has been made on the assimilation of passive infrared (IR) sounding data and microwave (MW) sounding and imaging data. This has included data from hyperspectral IR sounders, which first became available during this period. Advances in the use of cloud‐affected radiances, from both IR and MW instruments, have been made. In support of this progress, further developments have been made in fast radiative transfer models and in bias correction techniques, and work has continued to improve understanding and representation of observation uncertainties. Continued progress has also been made on the use of wind information from satellites, including atmospheric motion vectors and scatterometer data. A new source of temperature and humidity information, from radio occultation observations, has become available during the period and has been exploited by many NWP centres. The impact of satellite data on NWP accuracy is continually assessed using a range of methods and metrics. Some results from recent Observing System Experiments (OSEs) and Forecast Sensitivity to Observation Impact (FSOI) assessment are presented and other methods are discussed. The role of satellite data in NWP‐based atmospheric reanalysis systems is also described.

The second-generation exploitation of meteorological satellite polar system (EPS-SG) C-band-wavelength scatterometer instrument (called SCA), planned for launch in 2022, has a direct heritage from the successful advanced scatterometer (ASCAT) flown on the current EPS satellites. In addition, SCA will represent three major innovations with respect to ASCAT, namely: 1) Cross polarization and horizontal copolarization; 2) a nominal spatial resolution of 25 km; and 3) 20% greater spatial coverage than ASCAT. The associated expected science and application benefits that led the SCA design are discussed with respect to ocean, land, and sea ice applications for near-real time, climate monitoring, and research purposes. Moreover, an option to implement an ocean Doppler capability to retrieve the ocean motion vector is briefly discussed as well. In conclusion, the SCA instrument innovations are well set to provide timely benefits in all the main application areas of the scatterometer (winds, soil moisture, sea ice) and can be expected to contribute to new and more sophisticated meteorological, oceanographic, land, sea ice, and climate services in the forthcoming SCA era.