GOES-R Rapid Refresh Imagery Advancements for the Earth and Space Weather Enterprise

Abstract:

The next generation of GOES, the GOES-R series, with planned launch in early 2016 offers improved spacecraft and instrument technology to provide more accurate, detailed and timely detection of high impact environmental phenomena, and at the same time significant opportunities and challenges in quickly creating, updating, and disseminating data and products in near real-time to produce more accurate forecasts and warnings. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) will provide three times more spectral information, four times the spatial resolution, and more than five times faster temporal coverage than the current system with rapid scan imagery of severe storms, tropical cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and fires potentially as often as every thirty seconds in mesoscale mode and at least every 5 min or 15 min (as opposed to the 7.5, 15 or 30 min data from today’s imager). Additional advancements over current GOES capabilities include continuous total lightning detection and mapping of in-cloud and cloud-to-ground flashes from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) with only twenty second latency or less, and increased dynamic range, resolution, and sensitivity imaging solar activity with the Solar UV Imager (SUVI) every ten seconds. The total lightning is very useful for identifying hazardous and severe thunderstorms, monitoring storm intensification and tracking evolution. Used in tandem with radar, visible satellite, and surface observations, total lightning data has great potential to increase lead time for severe storm warnings and improve public safety. The space weather instruments provide more detailed observations of coronal mass ejection, solar flares, and energetic particles to produce more accurate forecasts and warnings of solar storms. The data from the ABI, GLM and space weather instruments will have a wide-range of uses and multiple societal benefits in areas such as severe weather, energy, transportation, and commerce. This presentation will highlight the new capabilities that GOES-R will provide using recent examples of simulated and other proxy imagery.