For more than 40 years, geostationary GOES spacecraft have provided continuous and accurate imagery and data about Earth’s atmospheric conditions, solar activity, and weather systems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES system of satellites, operated jointly with NASA, is a critical element of the nation’s weather forecasting and severe storm tracking operations, and of meteorology research.

The GOES-15 spacecraft is equipped with the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), which will provide enhanced imaging of Earth’s radiant and reflective solar energy at moderate spatial, spectral, and radiometric resolution. In addition, GOES-15 is equipped with the Space Environment Monitor (SEM), which provides near-real-time data on the Sun’s influence on Earth’s solar-terrestrial electromagnetic field and atmosphere.

Until recently, only Japan, Korea and China had communities of professional Go players. In those countries, a top player is considered to be of national importance and has the same status as a professional athlete or sportsman. In the past, strong players from China and Korea tended to move to Japan to pursue their careers as professionals. Today, a growing number of Chinese and Korean professionals are returning to their home countries to become leaders in their fields.

In Europe, Go is played in many countries and has a significant following. The standard of play in Europe is far below that of Japan, Korea and China, but the gap is closing. Some of the strongest European players spend time studying Go in Japan, Korea or China and return to their own countries to become professional. There are now several major tournaments in Europe, and a European Go Centre opened in Amsterdam in 1992 with support from the great Iwamoto Kaoru.

The DCS onboard GOES relays environmental data transmissions from remote automatic Data Collection Platforms (DCPs) that are in radio view of the GOES satellite. The DCPs are designed to function either as self-timed reporting DCPs or interrogated reporting DCPs. The self-timed reporting DCPs have a pre-programmed schedule for reporting to GOES.

The interrogated DCPs have the ability to send a signal to a DCP that has reached a specific condition or event threshold, causing the DCP to report over a different frequency than its normal reporting cycle.

These features will help improve the accuracy, timeliness, and reliability of GOES data transmissions. Ultimately, they will lead to a more timely and complete weather picture, enabling the National Weather Service to better serve the public by reducing the number of false alarms and alerts issued during severe weather events.