NOAA's next-gen weather satellite GOES-S launched

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — With the scheduled launch of the GOES-S in March, NASA is set to double the vision of NOAA’s next-generation satellites working as steadfast lookouts for severe weather on Earth.

GOES-S is the second spacecraft in NOAA’s GOES-R series of geostationary satellites designed to replace older versions, developed in the mid-1980s, that are currently in orbit.

“What we’re seeing here is a revolutionary step forward in performance,” said Tim Walsh, GOES-R’s acting system program director.

Walsh says these advanced spacecraft send four times better imagery, and it's five times faster than previously possible. The older version of GOES satellites can send five images an hour, while GOES-S can send 12 higher-quality images in the same amount of time.

After reaching its orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth, GOES-S will be redesignated as GOES-17. Its sister satellite, GOES-16, was launched from Cape Canaveral in 2016 and is already giving scientists better data to track severe weather activity.

GOES-16 keeps a watchful eye over the full U.S. Eastern Seaboard. GOES-17 will extend this advanced coverage to the west as far as Japan and north to Alaska.

The primary instrument on GOES is the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), which collects data and imagery from light summer showers to hurricanes. The ABI data is combined with ground based radar and other data to build a more complete model of storms in action.

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In addition to tracking severe weather from storm clouds, NOAA officials said GOES’ ABI can help meteorologists track tornadoes, ice coverage over rivers, flooding events, forest fires, smoke and volcanic ash.

The next generation of GOES spacecraft is also equipped with a Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), which NOAA scientists use to measure lightning strikes on the ground and other activity in clouds and the upper atmosphere.

GOES-S, a new weather eye soon to be in orbit launching from Cape Canaveral March 1.

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NOAA officials said this data impacts major industries including sea transportation, communication systems and aviation.

This satellite data is used along with the radar systems and helps fill the gaps to paint a global picture of severe weather events.

Dave Sharp, a science officer with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, points to last year’s hurricane season as a critical test of GOES-16. “With Maria and the extreme winds over Puerto Rico, the radar was blown off the top of the mountain in Puerto Ric. GOES-16 was used to issue extreme wind warnings for the remainder of the event,” Sharp said.

GOES-S launched from a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on March 1 and should start beaming information back to Earth sometime by the start of hurricane season. Once operational, it will extend the over 42-year-old GOES satellite program through 2036.

Cox Media Group