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Music Starts
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Narrator: When NOAA’s GOES-U satellite is launched in 2024,
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it will be the final satellite in a heralded NOAA satellite program
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and a bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology.
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For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and
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advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of the most sophisticated
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weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather
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monitoring satellite system in the world.
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When GOES-U reaches orbit, it will be the culmination of nearly five
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decades of state-of-the-art geostationary Earth-observing satellites.
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It all began back in October 1975...
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--Retro Music from Aeronautics and Space Report begins--
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Narrator: ...for the launch of NOAA’s GOES-1 satellite
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which monitored our weather and space weather.
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-- Indecipherable radio chatter--
Aeronautics & Space Report Narrator: We’ve come a long way in weather
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forecasting, since the early balloon launching days
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thanks mainly to weather satellites.
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With each succeeding one, these weather sentinels have become more and
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more sophisticated.
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Here, the synchronous meteorological satellite.
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Two are already in orbit with a third scheduled for launch this Fall.
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The synchronous meteorological satellite pictures are made into film loops daily.
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Meteorologists are hopeful this kind of information will give them clues
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to the weather conditions that, for instance, cause tornadoes and
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other fast moving weather systems.
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Narrator: As groundbreaking as it was, it had limited capabilities and only
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viewed Earth about ten percent of the time.
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By 1980, a new series of GOES satellites went into orbit.
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These satellites had the capability to obtain vertical profiles of temperature
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and moisture throughout the various layers of the atmosphere.
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This added dimension gave forecasters a more accurate picture of the
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intensity and extent of storms, and allowed them to better monitor rapidly
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changing events and make more accurate predictions.
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In 1994, GOES-I was launched and with it came significant improvements
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in the resolution, quantity, and continuity of GOES imagery and data,
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thanks to a new three-axis method of stabilization.
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Once it reached orbit, it was renamed GOES-8, and gave forecasters more
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accurate information to pinpoint locations of storms, wildfires, and other hazards.
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--Hip early-aught music plays and fades away--
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Narrator: By the mid-2000s, GOES-N, GOES-O, and GOES-P further improved the
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imager and sounder resolution to better pinpoint the locations of intense storms
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This satellites series also had improved optics, better batteries, and more
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power, allowing for more continuous imaging.
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--Countdown: Three...two...one... (roar of rocket ignition)--
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Narrator: Then in 2016, (Countdown: And liftoff...)
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Narrator: the current generation of geostationary satellites was launched.
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The GOES-R Series. With this series came new advancements that
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included state-of-the-art instruments like the Geostationary Lightning Mapper
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and the Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI.
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Ken Graham: I’ll tell you what, when we got the GOES-R, I remember
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sitting at the forecast desk and seeing some of the earliest data and it was,
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it was a game changer. Absolute critical part of our forecast process.
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To see that ABI and actually track cloud movements and track how much
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moisture is in clouds. It was amazing.
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And it enables us to look at phenomena like atmospheric rivers and being
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able to help us with the, the forecast for the flooding, the amount of rainfall.
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And on the front lines of the National Weather Service, we provide decision support and so to have that
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information from GOES-R, it really enabled us to communicate
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information to decision makers for them to make really tough decisions.
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Pam Sullivan: Well, we knew the technology was going to be game
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changing. We knew the ABI with its capabilities and then, the
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geostationary lightning mapper, which was a brand new instrument.
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You know, we knew that it was going to be revolutionary.
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We even thought it’s so new that there’s probably going to be new
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applications, but the range of new applications that people have found
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have really surprised me.
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We found over time that ABI can detect turbulence, so it can really look at
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a patch of sky and see when there’s going to be turbulence for aircraft
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flying through it. We’ve recently found that ABI can actually detect
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large methane leaks. So it can tell when, you know, something is going
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wrong in a plant or a refinery, and be able to track that feature.
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Narrator: Space weather monitoring has also been part of the GOES
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mission since its inception, and continues on today’s GOES-R satellites.
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So, after Goes-U, what’s next for NOAA’s geostationary satellites?
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Its planned successor will be a state-of-the-art satellite series called
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Geostationary Extended Observations, or GeoXO.
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The first GeoXO satellite is expected to launch in the early 2030s
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as the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational lifetime.
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Like GOES-R, GeoXO will continue NOAA’s five decades of critical
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Earth-observing data. However, GeoXO will have new technology onboard.
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One of the new instruments will be an infrared sounder, which will allow
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weather forecasters to see the atmosphere in extremely fine detail.
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Pam Sullivan: It really looks at very fine slices of the atmosphere across a
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wide area, so that it builds up sort of a 3D view of what the atmosphere
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looks like. And forecasters can use that information to very precise
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about their forecasts.
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Where a storm is going to be, how severe a storm is going to be.
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They can even do predictions of, uh, how much water. You know, what the
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precipitation levels are going to be. So that’s one new capability that our
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forecasters are really looking forward to.
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Narrator: The sounder will also help detect quickly changing wind speeds
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and direction, which will assist in everything from hurricane prediction
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to aviation forecasts.
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Ken Graham: It’s a big part of the National Weather Service mission is to
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forecast for aviation. For safety, and and also looking at that fuel economy,
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looking at detecting the direction of the wind. So that capability
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is just going to be absolutely amazing for aviation and earlier detection
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and quicker detection of tropical systems when
it comes to rapid intensification.
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Narrator: There will be two other new instruments on GeoXO as well.
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One will be an air quality instrument that will monitor and track harmful
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air pollutants, including wildfire smoke and volcanic gasses.
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It will provide continuous observations and measurements of atmospheric composition which will help improve
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air quality forecasts and alerts across the U.S.
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Another instrument will measure ocean color, which helps detect and track
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threats to our lakes and ocean, such as harmful algal blooms and oil spills.
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Perhaps, most critically, NOAA’s GeoXO will also meet new needs for the
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data-user community, including forecasters, researchers and others, who
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depend on receiving crucial environmental information across the
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Western Hemisphere. Data from GeoXO will contribute to weather
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prediction models and drive short-term weather
forecasts and severe weather warnings.
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Pam Sullivan: These users are looking for advanced capabilities.
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And they’ve told us what they want to see in this next generation, which is
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going to start observing in the 2030s, but continue into the 2050s.
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And with the changes on our planet and with the society’s increased
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reliance on environmental information, it’s really important to be able
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to serve this wider variety of needs.
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Narrator: GeoXO observations will allow scientists to better monitor
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environmental conditions and will complement observations from other
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satellites from NOAA, NASA, and our international partners.
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This will help them to address emerging environmental challenges,
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respond to the effects of Earth’s changing climate, and improve forecasting
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and warnings of severe weather and environmental hazards.
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GOES-U Mission Logo
GeoXO Mission Logo
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NOAA Logo
NASA Meatball