Since 1974, the Geosynchronous Earth Rotation and Transmission (GOES) system of satellites has been a key element in National Weather Service operations, providing a constant stream of weather imagery and quantitative data. The GOES program has a long record of success, spanning more than four decades and providing continuous, reliable information on severe storms and atmospheric conditions.
Each of the two GOES-R Series spacecraft operates in tandem to provide a full-face picture of Earth day and night. GOES-R West covers North and South America, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea; and GOES-R East covers the Eastern Pacific.
The primary instruments on the GOES-R series are the Imager and Sounder, which use multichannel sensors to observe the Earth’s atmosphere and surface to collect critical environmental data. The Imager senses emitted thermal energy and visible reflected solar energy to detect weather phenomena such as clouds, rain, snow, and ice. The Sounder measures the radiated ionization of the atmosphere and the resulting vertical temperature and moisture profiles. The GOES-R satellites also carry the Space Environment Monitor (SEM) instrument which identifies electromagnetic fields produced by the Sun and their impacts on the Earth’s ionosphere and near-Earth space. The Space X-Ray Imager (SXI) on GOES-12 and GOES-15 adds the ability to observe the impact of solar flares on the Earth’s atmosphere and high altitude aircraft, as well as on satellites and power grids.
GOES-R is a collaborative NOAA-NASA program with NOAA managing the program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office in Suitland, Maryland, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center managing the design of the spacecraft and sensor complement as part of the co-located Program and Project offices. Lockheed Martin provides the spacecraft platform, the main instrument payload — the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) — and the ground system. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, launches the satellites.
GOES-R is the latest generation of geostationary weather satellites that will continue to deliver the valuable environmental observations needed to support the mission of NOAA’s National Weather Service. The new spacecraft will be able to operate with a 10 minute temporal cadence, an improvement over the current GOES satellites that have a 20-30 minute cadence, and provide improved spatial resolution. The higher temporal cadence is particularly important for monitoring hazardous weather conditions such as volcanic activity and associated ash plumes, where a faster observational frequency is vital to improving aviation safety by reducing the risk of airplane encounters with the ash. The improved spatial resolution is also beneficial for enhancing the capability of GOES to detect and track polar regions, including northern lights and the arctic ice cap. GOES-R is scheduled to be launched in 2021. This augmented data will allow the National Weather Service to respond rapidly and more accurately to weather events. The improved data will enhance severe weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and environmental monitoring. It will also improve operational services, including search and rescue, ocean surface wind monitoring, and natural disaster prediction and response.