Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites—R Series

A collaborative NOAA & NASA program

GOES-R Series News | 2014

December

December 17, 2014:The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training has announced the release of the GOES-R Satellites Orientation Distance Learning Course. This course consists of three self-paced lessons, “GOES-R: Benefits of Next-Generation Environmental Monitoring,” ”GOES-R ABI: Next Generation Satellite Imaging,” and “GOES-R GLM: Introduction to the Geostationary Lightning Mapper,” that introduces forecasters, students, researchers and other interested learners to the capabilities, products and applications anticipated with the next-generation GOES-R satellites. The course will also help prepare the learner for future exploration and use of GOES-R products in meteorological analysis and forecasting and in other disciplines that involve environmental monitoring and prediction. The course includes imagery, graphics, photographs, video, audio narration and companion print versions. English | Spanish

December 11, 2014: The GOES-R Science Seminar on December 1, 2014, featured Mike Pavolonis (NOAA/NESDIS/STAR). Pavolonis’ presentation, “Utilization of GOES-R and JPSS for Quantifying the Horizontal Extent of Hazardous Low Clouds,” explained how the effects of the weather hazard of low cloud ceiling and visibility and the importance to forecasters at the National Weather Service, Aviation Weather Center and Ocean Prediction Center. The presentation also highlighted an approach that fuses satellite, Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) analyses, and other data sets (e.g. digital surface elevation maps, surface emissivity maps, and surface type maps) to determine the probability that Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) conditions are present. Finally, Pavolonis highlighted the positive feedback received from forecasters who have evaluated the Fog and Low Stratus products that have been made available through the Satellite Proving Ground. 2014 GOES-R Science Seminar Abstract

November

November 24, 2014: The GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar on November 19, 2014, featured Kim Slack (GOES-R Mission Operations Support Team). Slack’s presentation, “Advanced Baseline Imager Radiometric Calibration Methodology: Pre-Launch Calibration Activities and Flight Hardware, explained calibration of the ABI instrument and how calibration coefficients are updated to account for instrument changes over time.

November 17, 2014: The GRB Simulator Software Release Notes document has been revised to provide APID configuration updates. Field Update 5.

October

October 31, 2014: The GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar on October 29, 2014, featured William Anderson (GOES-R Flight Project). Anderson’s presentation, “GOES-R Series Flight Data System,” explained how data from the GOES-R spacecraft will be managed and the improved reliability the GOES-R on-board and space-to-ground communications will provide to reduce data errors and loss. Abstract |

October 24, 2014: The GOES-R Quarterly Newsletter for the time period July–September 2014 is now available. With the delivery of the full suite of instruments, the successful mating of the spacecraft core and system modules, and the completion of key program reviews, the GOES-R satellite officially entered its integration and testing phase this quarter. On the ground segment, the initial applications of the product generation system for the GOES-R series were installed and integrated. Efforts to prepare the user community for GOES-R data continued with GOES-14 providing forecasters with special one-minute imagery in August.

October 22, 2014: A new series of fact sheets detailing each of the Advanced Baseline Imager channels is now under development. These ABI Bands Quick Information Guides are designed as quick reference guides to provide National Weather Service forecasters with information on each of the GOES-R series Advanced Baseline Imager’s 16 spectral bands. Each fact sheet will cover what the band measures and how this is operationally relevant. Each sheet will also include links for more information. Currently, a Band 1 (“Blue” visible) fact sheet is available.

October 9, 2014:The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instrument that will fly on the GOES-R satellite has completed the development and testing phase and is ready for integration with the spacecraft. GLM has the potential to improve severe storm warning while reducing false alarms, provide early warning of lightning ground strike hazards, and better detection and short range forecasts of heavy rainfall and flash flooding, including weather events that could affect aviation safety. The GOES-R satellite will be the first flight of this sophisticated lightning mapping instrument in geostationary orbit. GLM is the final GOES-R instrument to be delivered. Feature Story | Fact Sheet

October 9, 2014: The Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET) released a new training module, "GOES-R GLM: Introduction to the Geostationary Lightning Mapper. The first part of the lesson describes the need for real-time lightning information and introduces the capabilities of the GLM, which will fly on the GOES-R series satellites. The second section lets users explore the life cycle of a typical lightning flash, how it is observed by space and ground-based detection systems, and how lightning flashes translate into GLM observations. The final section explores some of the many applications that will benefit from GLM observations including convection and severe weather nowcasting, warning of lightning ground strike hazards, aviation, atmospheric chemistry, quantitative precipitation estimation, tropical cyclones, fire ignitions, numerical weather prediction, and climate and global studies.

September

September 25, 2014:The GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar on September 24, 2014, featured Mike Pavolonis (NESDIS/STAR). Pavolonis’ presentation, “How GOES-R will help mitigate aviation-related volcanic hazards,” highlighted the hazard of volcanic ash, its economic impacts, and the improvements the GOES-R series satellites will bring to ash cloud forecasts. Abstract | Presentation

September 18, 2014: On September 6, 2014, the GOES-R Satellite System Module and Core Module were successfully mated at Lockheed Martin’s facility near Denver and now form the GOES-R spacecraft. This is an important milestone in the development of the satellite, as it merges together the two primary subassemblies that form the "brain" and the "body" of the satellite. With the core spacecraft now complete, instrument installation will begin.

September 11, 2014:The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument that will fly on the GOES-S satellite is now complete! The instrument successfully concluded its Pre-Shipment Review on September 10, 2014, at instrument developer Exelis in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was shipped to Exelis’ facility in Rochester, New York, where it will remain in storage until it is integrated with GOES-S. This is an important milestone in the continued development of the GOES-R series of satellites.

August

August 27, 2014: The GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar on August 27, 2014, featured Jaime Daniels (NESDIS/STAR). Daniels’ presentation, “Deriving Atmospheric Winds from GOES-R ABI Measurements,” highlighted atmospheric motion, the importance of satellite wind observations, the strength of geostationary satellite imagery, and how the GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) will improve wind products.

August 13, 2014:The GOES-R program participated in the annual Outside Conterminous United States (OCONUS) Satellite Proving Ground Technical Interchange Meeting jointly organized by GOES-R, JPSS, National Weather Service (NWS), and NOAA’s Cooperative Institute partners held July 29-August 1, 2014, at the Inouye Regional Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Presentations focused on the capability and product demonstrations with NWS forecasters in the Pacific and Alaska Region where meteorological satellite data is of particular utmost importance. The GOES-R algorithm demonstration plans with the Himawari imager, product distribution to direct broadcast users, and current Proving Ground demonstrations were major topics of discussion. Side visits with forecasters/end users were also held at the Honolulu NWS Forecast Office and at the Navy-Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

July

July 30, 2014: The GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar on July 30, 2014 featured Larry Carey (University of Alabama, Huntsville). Carey presented, “Identification and Forecasting of High Impact Weather with Total Lightning: Future Opportunities in the GLM Era.” The presentation is now available for download.

July 30, 2014:The GOES-R Series Program System Integration Review (SIR) was successfully held July 22-24, at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Corporation in Littleton, Colorado. The SIR determines if the flight and ground segments and components are available and ready to be integrated into the overall system. It also reviews whether the facilities, support personnel and integration plans and procedures are ready for integration. The Standing Review Board (SRB) assessed the program on six success criteria. The SRB noted that the instruments have all been delivered and are performing well, the Ground System is planned to be ready to support Integration and Test (I&T), and the available budget is adequate to support I&T and the launch commitment date.

July 21, 2014:Save the date! The 2015 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite Conference for Direct Readout, GOES/POES, and GOES-R/JPSS Users will be held April 27–May 1, 2015 in Greenbelt, Maryland. The conference offers an extension of the inaugural 2013 conference which merged past Satellite Direct Readout and GOES Users’ Conferences along with POES, Suomi NPP, JPSS customers and users into one event. This gathering will include government, public, private, and academic attendees, along with national and international associates. The NOAA Satellite Conference 2015 (NSC 2015) will bring together users and providers of polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite data, products and applications from the public, private and academic perspectives. Participation is expected from 40 countries and will include members of NOAA, NASA, Department of Defense, Environment Canada, EUMETSAT, and the Hydrometeorological Services of countries in North, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Asia. This conference will provide a venue and opportunity for greater collaboration between and among environmental satellite users.

July 21, 2014:The GOES-R Quarterly Newsletter for the time period April–June 2014 is now available. The GOES-R Series Program marked a number of significant achievements this quarter. The GOES-R spacecraft system module and solar array were delivered. Ground segment development continues to progress, with the majority of the hardware and software that forms the network infrastructure now installed. In June, the program completed its Mission Operations Review, the largest review of the program to date. The GOES-R Proving Ground was part of a successful spring experiment at NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed, sponsoring broadcast meteorologist participation for the first time. GOES-14 provided special Super Rapid Scan Operations one-minute imagery for forecaster assessment of the utility of the types of imagery that will be routinely available from the GOES-R series satellites. Download the newsletter.

July 15, 2014:The Magnetometer instrument that will fly on NOAA's GOES-R satellite when it is launched in March 2016 has completed the development and testing phase and is ready to be integrated with the spacecraft. The Magnetometer will monitor magnetic field variations around the Earth and enable forecasters at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center to better predict the consequences of geomagnetic storms. These storms pose a threat to orbiting spacecraft and human spaceflight. In addition, the measurements taken by the Magnetometer will aid in providing alerts and warnings to power companies and satellite operators due to the potential damage a change in magnetic flux can have on electric power grids and satellite systems.

July 7, 2014: The GOES-R Concept of Operations (CONOPS) document has been revised. + GOES-R CONOPS Ver. 2.7.

July 7, 2014: It's said that a picture represents a thousand words. NESDIS speaks satellites and their products. Now we are telling the NOAA Satellites story on Flickr. View current satellite imagery, photos from conferences and events and the Satellite Proving Ground, and all things GOES-R at https://www.flickr.com/photos/noaasatellites/sets/.

June

June 30, 2014:The annual GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) Science Team Meeting was held June 21, 2014, following the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences Conference on Atmospheric Electricity (ICAE), at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The meeting was held to inform the international community of the program status, calibration and validation plans, and user readiness activities for GLM. More than 60 scientists from 20 countries attended, including NOAA, InPE (Brazil), JMA (Japan), CMA (China), and EUMETSAT (Europe). CMA and EUMETSAT will be hosting lightning mapper instruments on their next-generation geostationary satellites and are interested in collaboration in the GLM on-orbit post launch testing validation activities.

June 19, 2014:The GOES-R Series Program successfully conducted its Mission Operations Review (MOR) June 16–18. This was the largest review of the program to date and focused specifically on GOES-R’s operational readiness and progress toward launch. An integrated independent review team assessed the program’s concept of operations, project management, operations and sustainment plans, safety and mission assurance, system design, technical management, training and product validation along with other aspects of the program. The GOES-R Series Program will next undergo a System Integration Review (SIR) in July which determines if the flight and ground segments and components are available and ready to be integrated into the overall system. It will also review whether the facilities, support personnel and integration plans and procedures are ready for integration.

June 17, 2014:Progress continues on the GOES-R satellite series ground system, with the first phase of installation and testing of the ground segment infrastructure complete. Harris Corporation, the ground segment contractor, has installed and integrated a majority of the hardware and software that forms the network infrastructure for the GOES-R ground segment. Harris also delivered the Release Mission Management software, which represents a significant incremental increase in capability needed for satellite and operational readiness. The software significantly improves ground system capabilities including enhanced, real-time command and control of satellites; complete mission planning and scheduling; and a telemetry archive system. Harris Press Release

The 2014 NOAA Satellite Proving Ground/User Readiness Meeting was held June 2–6 at the National Weather Service (NWS) Training Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The overarching goal of the meeting was to determine the path for operational forecasters to achieve GOES-R/JPSS user readiness. User readiness will be achieved when operational NWS meteorologists have the skills, competencies and ability to use GOES-R/JPSS data in the forecast process once the data are available. Agenda | Final Report

May

Why is forecasting space weather important? Space weather can cause geomagnetic storms which may disrupt power utilities, communication and navigation systems and cause radiation damage to spacecraft, orbiting satellites and the International Space Station. “Living with Space Weather,” a new video from NASA Goddard Multimedia, explains how the GOES-R series satellites will advance space weather observations and warnings.Video

Two of the six instruments that will fly on the GOES-R satellite have completed integration with the spacecraft. SUVI and EXIS were installed on the sun-pointing platform of the GOES-R spacecraft in April. They will observe the sun and space weather, including coronal mass ejections, solar flares and ion fluxes that can disrupt power grids, communication and navigation systems and create radiation hazards. Installation of the SUVI and EXIS instruments moves the program another step closer to the launch of the GOES-R satellite in March 2016.

The GOES-14 Super Rapid Scan Experiment for GOES-R risk reduction concluded a successful Phase 1 2014 campaign May 8-25. Phase 2 will take place August 14-28 2014, during the out-of-storage test period for GOES-14. Numerous GOES-14 one-minute data sets were collected across the country of severe and high impact weather phenomena beginning with tornadic storms the first day of operations on May 8. Imagery loops are available at http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/srsor2014/GOES-14_SRSOR.html. The special data sets were provided to select National Weather Service (NWS) national centers, Weather Forecast Office forecast offices, and NOAA Testbeds in real-time for forecaster assessment of the utility of the 1-min data that will be routinely available from the GOES-R series satellites. Forecasters will have the option with the GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) to operate in Mode 4 (5 minute continuous full disk cloud and moisture imagery) or in Mode 3 (flex-mode allowing 15 min full disk, 5 min CONUS, and 30 sec mesoscale 1000 km x 1000 km imagery). The unique data set collected in concurrence with other satellite and ground-based observations of severe storms this May provides a rich data set for research and operational assessment, and algorithm refinement. The GOES-R program acknowledges the contributions of NESDIS operations and research as well as the Office of Atmospheric Research and NWS participants from across NOAA for their support of this cross-organization project. Initial results and plans for further analysis will be discussed at the upcoming Satellite Proving Ground and Training Technical Interchange Meeting with NWS June 2-6 at the Training Center in Kansas City.

The 2014 GOES-R Proving Ground Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) Spring Experiment is taking place May 5 – June 6. GOES-R products being evaluated this year include: Synthetic Satellite Imagery, NearCast System, Convective Initiation, Probability of Severe Model, Overshooting Top Detection, PGLM Total Lightning products, Tracking Tool and Lightning Jump Algorithm. For the first time, television broadcasters were invited to the HWT under the sponsorship of the GOES-R program with the goal of understanding future capabilities and products from GOES-R and preparing for the production and dissemination of the new high-resolution information to the public. Details of the experiment can be found on the GOES-R Proving Ground at the Hazardous Weather Testbed Blog.

May 2, 2014: The GOES-R spacecraft propulsion module and system module have been delivered and are residing in the cleanroom at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Littleton, Colo. Preparations are underway for the modules to undergo the integration phase in the development of the GOES-R satellite. The system module and propulsion module will be mated in July, then proceed with payload integration, functional testing and environmental testing, in preparation for a early 2016 launch.

April

The second GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar took place on April 30, 2014 with a talk by Istvan Laszlo of the NOAA/NESDIS Center for Satellite Applications and Research. Laszlo explained the nature of atmospheric aerosols, why they’re important, and how the GOES-R ABI will detect and monitor these particles. A presentation from the April 30, 2014 GOES-R Brown Bag Series Seminar is now available for download.

The Critical Design Review for the High Rate Information Transmission/Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (HRIT/EMWIN) was conducted on April 17. The review board chair rated the project as Green to proceed with development. The schedule is dependent on the overall Product Distribution and Access system development with August 2015 as the operational readiness date for HRIT/EMWIN.

The GOES-R spacecraft system module Pre-Shipment Review was held April 11 at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Newtown, Pa. The system module was shipped on April 14 and arrived at Denver International Airport via C-17 large military transport aircraft late on April 15. It then safely completed its journey to Lockheed Martin’s Littleton, Colo., facility by convoy on April 16.

Select GOES-R science team members participated in the 2014 European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Convection Working Group workshop held April 7–11 in Zagreb, Croatia. Topics included the use of geostationary satellite data for understanding the pre-convective storm environment, early convection, mature convection, rapid update imagery (such as Meteosat 2.5-minute imagery and GOES-14 one-minute imagery),and combining data sets for storm diagnostics and nowcasting severe storms.

2014 European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT Convection Working Group workshop members

Select GOES-R algorithm and risk reduction science team members participated in a joint Warn on Forecast-High Impact Weather Workshop held April 1–3 at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla., co-organized by the National Severe Storms Laboratory, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center, and the GOES-R Program Science Office. This Technical Interchange Meeting addressed the state of the science for storm-scale Numerical Weather Prediction, and new and on-going collaborations between the research and operational communities and among the NOAA weather radar, satellite and mesoscale weather forecasting communities. The program Senior Scientist held a technical interchange meeting with managers of the Hazardous Weather Testbed to review planned GOES-R product demonstrations at the Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) spring experiment from May-June and future demonstrations that will be planned throughout the year. For the first time TV broadcasters are invited to the HWT under the sponsorship of the GOES-R program with one broadcaster attending the spring experiment demonstration each week. The goal for broadcast meteorologist participation is for the broadcasters to understand the future capabilities and products from GOES-R (and dual-polarization radar) and to prepare for the production and dissemination of the new high-resolution information to the public.

The Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) instrument was successfully installed on the GOES-R spacecraft Sun Pointing Platform in early April. SUVI is the first instrument to be integrated with the GOES-R spacecraft.

March

The GOES-R Ground Segment Project Functional and Performance Specification (F&PS) (pdf) document was made available on March 28. This document, together with all GOES-R Ground Segment Interface Requirements Documents (IRDs), specifies the functional and performance requirements with which the Ground Segment shall comply.

The Vaisala International Lightning Detection and Meteorology Conference was held March 18-21 in Tucson, Ariz., with 180 attendees representing customers, industry, government and university scientists. NOAA participants included scientists and managers from The National Weather Service (NWS) Office of Science and Technology (OS&T), Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs), GOES-R (including Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) science team members), and the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Topics included lightning physics, lightning location system technologies, performance, and enhancements, utility and forensic applications, meteorology, climatology, severe storms, aviation weather, chemistry and lightning safety. The GOES-R Program Senor Scientist gave an invited presentation on the Geostationary Lightning Mapper and discussed research collaborations between the GLM science team and the United Kingdom Meteorology Office as well as other university and industry partners (Vaisala, Earth Networks) during post-launch calibration/validation of GLM.

NOAA Satellite Science Week was held March 10-14, 2014 at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies in Madison, Wis. NOAA Satellite Science Week is a joint web-based, virtual meeting and on-site review of the GOES-R Algorithm Working Group (AWG), GOES-R and JPSS risk reduction science activities, and calibration/validation. The meeting promoted a dialogue between product developers and user communities, ensuring a path for the transition of research to operations and user readiness.

In March 2014, the GOES-R Risk Reduction Science Program Executive Board completed the review and award selection of Risk Reduction new starts for fiscal year 2014.The selection was based on peer reviews and guidance from the GOES-R Science and Demonstration Executive Board. Letters of Intent (LOI) were requested last fall. Of the 70 LOIs received, 29 were recommended for step two full-proposal submission. Of the 29 full proposals received, 19 were selected for awards in FY14. An additional 5-7 new starts will be awarded in FY15 depending on the availability of funding as prior year projects are completed. FY14 New Starts | FY15 New Starts

In March 2014, the GOES-R Series Program received the President’s Award for exceptional performance in support of NOAA’s 2013 Combined Federal Campaign, achieving the highest participation rate within NESDIS and surpassing the number of pledges made in 2012.

In March, Eric Bruning, Ph.D., GOES-R GLM algorithm team member and Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Department of Geosciences at Texas Tech University, was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER grant. The five-year project, titled “Thunderstorm Electrical Energy Structure, Dissipation, and Visualization, will support two years of field observations in 2015 and 2016. A comparison of turbulence data from high-resolution doppler radar with lightning flash rate and extent will test the hypothesis that turbulent convective motions are the source of electrical energy in storms, and that those motions are a primary control on the size of lightning flashes as they organize a thunderstorm’s charge.

February

The GOES-R spacecraft propulsion core module successfully passed its Pre-Shipment Review (PSR) on February 26, signaling the completion of development work at Lockheed Martin’s facility at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The propulsion core module was delivered to Lockheed Martin’s integration facility in Littleton, Colo., on March 4.

Four of the six instruments that will fly on GOES-R were delivered to Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colo. for integration with the spacecraft bus. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) and the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) arrived in early February from their developers. NESDIS and NASA featured articles on February 26 to mark the new phase in the development of the GOES-R satellite.

January

The GOES-R Ground Segment reached a critical milestone with the completion of the Enterprise Infrastructure (EI) System by Harris Corporation. The EI consists of the hardware and software that will form the network infrastructure of the GOES-R Ground System. The equipment is being installed at Wallops Command and Acquisition Station (WCDAS) in Wallops, Va., NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, Md., and the Remote Backup (RBU) facility in Fairmont, W.Va. Harris issued a Press Release on January 30 to mark the first delivery of EI equipment.

The GOES-R Trifold Brochure was redesigned and updated in January.

The GOES-R Algorithm Working Group (AWG) held a Calibration/Validation Workshop January 9–10 at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction in College Park, Md. Meeting topics included the GOES-R program’s plans for post-launch validation activities, potential synergies with the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) calibration/validation activities, status of AWG teams’ ongoing and planned efforts for the development of tools and capabilities for GOES-R Level-2 baseline product validation activities, and planning for calibration/validation field campaigns for GOES-R.