pete_c
Guru
GOES-16
January 24, 2017
GOES-16 captured this view of the moon as it looked across the surface of the Earth on January 15. Like earlier GOES satellites, GOES-16 will use the moon for calibration. Credit: NOAA/NASA
Since the GOES-16 satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral on November 19, scientists, meteorologists and ordinary weather enthusiasts have anxiously waited for the first photos from NOAA's newest weather satellite, GOES-16, formerly GOES-R.
The release of the first images today is the latest step in a new age of weather satellites. It will be like high-definition from the heavens.
The pictures from its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument, built by Harris Corporation ***, show a full-disc view of the Western Hemisphere in high detail—at four times the image resolution of existing GOES spacecraft. The higher resolution will allow forecasters to pinpoint the location of severe weather with greater accuracy. GOES-16 can provide a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and scans the Earth at five times the speed of NOAA's current GOES imagers.
NOAA's GOES-16, situated in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Earth, will boost the nation's weather observation network and NOAA's prediction capabilities, leading to more accurate and timely forecasts, watches and warnings.
"This is such an exciting day for NOAA! One of our GOES-16 scientists compared this to seeing a newborn baby's first pictures—it's that exciting for us," said Stephen Volz Ph.D. director of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "These images come from the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to predict severe weather on Earth. The fantastically rich images provide us with our first glimpse of the impact GOES-16 will have on developing life-saving forecasts."
*** ==> Ding ding! Winner winner chicken dinner!
January 24, 2017
GOES-16 captured this view of the moon as it looked across the surface of the Earth on January 15. Like earlier GOES satellites, GOES-16 will use the moon for calibration. Credit: NOAA/NASA
Since the GOES-16 satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral on November 19, scientists, meteorologists and ordinary weather enthusiasts have anxiously waited for the first photos from NOAA's newest weather satellite, GOES-16, formerly GOES-R.
The release of the first images today is the latest step in a new age of weather satellites. It will be like high-definition from the heavens.
The pictures from its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument, built by Harris Corporation ***, show a full-disc view of the Western Hemisphere in high detail—at four times the image resolution of existing GOES spacecraft. The higher resolution will allow forecasters to pinpoint the location of severe weather with greater accuracy. GOES-16 can provide a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and scans the Earth at five times the speed of NOAA's current GOES imagers.
NOAA's GOES-16, situated in geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above Earth, will boost the nation's weather observation network and NOAA's prediction capabilities, leading to more accurate and timely forecasts, watches and warnings.
"This is such an exciting day for NOAA! One of our GOES-16 scientists compared this to seeing a newborn baby's first pictures—it's that exciting for us," said Stephen Volz Ph.D. director of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "These images come from the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to predict severe weather on Earth. The fantastically rich images provide us with our first glimpse of the impact GOES-16 will have on developing life-saving forecasts."
*** ==> Ding ding! Winner winner chicken dinner!
