The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s geostationary weather satellites, GOES, provide critical data and imagery on thunderstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes and other severe weather events. GOES is one of the NOAA’s flagship programs and continues to evolve as technological advances improve sensors and computers. The GOES-R series, currently in its fourth phase of development, is the nation’s most advanced fleet of geostationary weather satellites. The GOES-R series will offer improved latency and full hemispheric coverage, even during periods of eclipse, through 2036.
GOES-R spacecrafts will carry an array of sophisticated Earth-sensing, lightning-detecting and solar imaging instruments to provide critical information for forecasters and direct users. These new instruments, compared to those on the GOES-2nd generation series, will include the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), with three times more spectral channels, and four times more spatial resolution than previous GOES, as well as the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS) that detects and monitors solar flares, which can impact communication satellites, GPS systems, high altitude airlines and power grids.
The visible light images produced by GOES satellites are used to identify cloud type, track their movement and provide early warning of developing severe weather events. They also show the parts of the planet that are not covered in clouds—such as snow, ice and light-colored sand. The visible light data is only available during the day.
In addition to the Visible Light Channel, GOES-R will use the Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (EVI) and the High Energy Proton and Alpha Particle Detector (HEPAD). EVI is the primary instrument for monitoring cloud movements and severe weather, while HEPAD provides continuous global coverage of galactic cosmic rays and provides insight into the physical mechanisms involved in space weather phenomena such as coronal mass ejections and the formation of high-energy cosmic rays within the atmosphere.
A new addition to the GOES-R instrument suite will be the Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS). SEISS is a constellation of instruments designed to provide comprehensive observational support for space weather events, and will be available to NOAA and its partners through the GOES-R series. The SEISS satellites are the first to incorporate the Advanced Composition Analysis System (ACAS), a suite of innovative instruments that allows SEISS to continuously monitor the entire magnetosphere from a low Earth orbit. ACAS will be used to observe solar wind and its interaction with the Earth’s magnetic field, to determine the origin and motion of solar flares, and to detect the presence of hazardous particles in the near-Earth environment. SEISS also supports the EMWIN service, which offers local emergency managers real-time access to GOES imagery and other data through a dedicated transponder on each of the two operational GOES East and West satellites.