GOES-R is coming (H. Michael Mogil, CCM, CBM, DMS)
NOTE: This is the first of a series I will be writing this week about GOES satellites, specifically the launch of GOES-R. I’m on assignment at the Kennedy Space Center attending a four-day satellite workshop and will be here on Sat., Nov. 19, 2016 to view the launch. As of late Wed., Nov. 16, 2016, Air Force weather forecasters (who provide launch support 365-24-7) have indicated a 90 percent chance of favorable weather conditions at launch time.
On Apr. 1, 1960, a polar orbiting satelliteTIROS-I (Television InfraRed Observation Satellite), transmitted its first image. The image showed clouds across parts of New England and the Canadian Maritimes (Fig. 1). To say that the image was “fuzzy,” would be an understatement. To say that this satellite (and others launched by both the U.S. and other nations in the 1960’s) began a journey in which weather satellites became an integral part of the global weather forecasting system.
Now, five and a half decades later, the sixteenth in a series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) – GOES-R (Fig. 2) – is ready to move toward center stage (tentative launch date is this coming Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016 within a launch window from 5:42 p.m. E.S.T to 6:42 p.m. E.S.T.). From the initial GOES A-C series, launched in the 1974-1978 time window, satellite sensors, operational requirements and data transmitting and processing advances (among other things) have evolved to a point that GOES-R is going to be providing unparalleled data gathering for Earth, space and Sun forecasting and research.
Geostationary means that the satellite, positioned some 22,000 miles above a point on the Equator, moves fast enough to remain in position above that fixed point. As a result, the satellite does not see a moving Earth, but rather a stationary one. This is the reason that we get to see satellite clouds and water vapor imagery in motion.
The Advanced Baseline Imager – ABI (just one of several instrument packages onboard – Fig. 2) – will view the Earth with 16 different spectral bands (compared to five on the current GOES). Of the 16 bands, there will be two visible channels, four near-infrared channels, and ten infrared channels.
GOES-R will provide three times more spectral information, four times the spatial resolution, and more than five times faster temporal coverage than the current GOES satellites.
These satellites will provide continuous multi-spectral imaging and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere, total lightning mapping, and space weather monitoring (Fig. 3).
Simply stated, the GOES-R series, will be a game changer on many fronts.
According to the GOES-R program brochure, “The GOES-R Series Program is a collaborative effort between NOAA and NASA to develop, deploy and operate the satellites. The GOES-R series is a four-satellite program (GOES-R, S, T and U) that will extend the availability of the operational GOES satellite system through 2036…”
© 2016 H. Michael Mogil
Originally posted 11/17/16