Imager will provide greater detail to forecasters
– video follows
A key instrument that will fly on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R (GOES-R) spacecraft, NOAA’s next-generation of geostationary satellites, is cleared for installation on the spacecraft.
The Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI, is GOES-R’s primary instrument for scanning Earth’s weather, oceans, and environment and is a significant improvement over instruments on NOAA’s current geostationary satellites. The ABI will offer faster imaging with much higher detail. It will also introduce new forecast products for severe weather, volcanic ash advisories, fire and smoke monitoring and other hazards.
“The United States is home to some of the most severe weather in the world including tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, and wildfires,” said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “The ABI offers breakthrough technology that will help NOAA develop faster and more accurate forecasts that will save lives and protect communities.”
The first satellite in the GOES-R Series is currently scheduled for launch in early 2016. GOES-R’s instruments will also feature improved lightning detection and solar weather monitoring tools, and will provide near real time data to forecasters during severe weather events.
The ABI has two scan modes. It will have the ability to continuously take an image of the entire planet, or a full disk image, every five minutes compared to every 30 minutes with the current GOES imager. It also has an alternative, or flex mode, which will concurrently take a full disk image every 15 minutes, an image of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and smaller, more detailed images of areas where storm activity is present, as often as every 30 seconds. This kind of flexibility and increased frequency of images is a boon for forecasters.
In early 2014 the ABI will be shipped from its developer, Exelis, in Ft. Wayne, Ind., to the spacecraft developer, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. in Littleton, Colo., to be installed onto the first GOES-R spacecraft. Lockheed is building the spacecraft for the GOES-R series.
The remaining GOES-R instruments to be delivered are:
- Geostationary Lightning Mapper, which will provide continuous surveillance for the first time of total lightning activity from geostationary orbit over the western hemisphere;
- Space Environment In-Situ Suite, which consists of sensors that will monitor radiation hazards that can affect satellites, radio communications and navigation systems;
- Solar Ultraviolet Imager, a high-powered telescope that observes the sun, monitoring for solar flares and other solar activity that could impact Earth by disrupting power utilities communication and navigation systems and causing damage to orbiting satellites and the International Space Station; and
- Magnetometer, which will provide measurements of the magnetic field surrounding Earth that protects the planet from charged particles released from the sun. These particles can be dangerous to spacecraft and human spaceflight. The geomagnetic field measurements will provide alerts and warnings to satellite operators and power utilities.
A sixth instrument, the Extreme X-Ray Irradiance Sensor (EXIS), was completed in May 2013 and was the first of GOES-R’s instruments to be ready for integration. EXIS will provide important early warnings of impending solar storms and give scientists a more accurate measure of the power of solar energy radiating toward earth, which can severely disrupt telecommunications, air travel and the performance of power grids.
NOAA manages the GOES-R Series program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, staffed with personnel from both agencies and located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Twitter, Facebook and our other social media channels. Visit our news release archive.
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This advanced satellite, its rapid 5 minute whole Earth imaging, and its high resolution, pretty much does everything Al Gore’s old satellite idea, Triana, promised, but better, while providing a platform for many more useful instruments.
Wikipedia says of Triana:
The satellite’s original purpose was to provide a near-continuous view of the entire Earth and make that live image available via the Internet. Gore hoped not only to advance science with these images, but also to raise awareness of the Earth itself, updating the influential The Blue Marble photograph taken by Apollo 17.
Translation: an expensive live screen saver.
Triana’s parts are being recycled into DSCOVR, now set to launch in 2015.
This video shows what the ABI instrument can do:
The key words here are: “a full disk image”.
The ‘image of the entire planet’ part is PR-speak to the public who would not grasp the significance of “a full disk image”.
GOES “Full Disk Images”: http://www.goes.noaa.gov/goesfull.html
.
http://www.goes-r.gov/products/baseline-aerosol-opt-depth.html
It seems a bit confusing. If at L-1, it will see US when US in daylight. And constantly see the entire world while rotates into daylight.
If at GEO, it can be over one spot, and will see night and day. So at GEO it can always look at US [and North and South America].
So which is it?
Video clip seems to indicate it will be in GEO.
“DSCOVR will orbit at the L1 libration point — where the sun’s and Earth’s gravitational pull cancels – approximately one million miles away from Earth towards the sun. At that location, the satellite will measure solar storms before they reach the planet.”
Indicates L-1.
As does wiki.
Forgot link:
http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/dscovr-mission-moves-forward-to-2015-launch/#.UnNr51PU3zZ
for:
“DSCOVR will orbit at the L1 libration point — where the sun’s and Earth’s gravitational pull cancels – approximately one million miles away from Earth towards the sun. At that location, the satellite will measure solar storms before they reach the planet.”
Oh, and there is large difference in distance between GEO and L-point 1.
“35,786 km”- wiki
Earth/Sun L-1 is about about 4 times further than the Moon [about 1.5 million km- but L-1 is huge region]
Earth/Moon L-1 is about 70,000 km near to us than Moon- less than moon distance. But stays with the Moon- you would see night and day Earth, globally. But this isn’t what they mean.
Dear Tony
Pointing out that the hardware on TRIANA (now called DSCVR) is about 12 years old and it would be nice to have better hardware after 12 years is snarky? Puzzled in DC inquires.
Pointing out that DSCVR will sit out at L1 where it has a full view of the Earth’s orb while GOES-R will be geostationary where it does not quite is snarky? Puzzled in DC inquires.
Pointing out that the AMSU-2 uses microwaves and that GOES-R will be primarily visible and Near iR is snarky? Puzzled in DC inquires.
[REPLY: it has to to with your behavior elsewhere that I observed about the same time. I simply don’t want to engage with you anymore. Your contempt, snark, and serial denigration of me, as I said, has reached a tipping point – Anthony]
So will they still fix the data from the satellite that does not agree with their world view?
To gbaikie:
The original discussed, Triana, was intended to be in a “halo orbit” around the L1 point.
Thus, it would have viewed the entire sunlit hemisphere. Triana’s primary mission was
to have been Earth observation. However, the L1 point is about 280 Earth radii out
toward the Sun–thus, attitude control might very well have limited imaging data. Within
NASA–well, remember a deputy project scientist commenting with deep disgust on the
“Announcement of Opportunity (AO)” for Triana, that “…there is no launch budget.
The AO says that the expectation is that a public-spirited corporation will fund the
launch.” The implication this deputy project sicentist left me with was that there had
never been such a weak AO.
The missions where L1 halo orbits are really great are solar observatory
satellites and interplanetary magnetic field observatory satellites, such as SOHO, ACE,
and the like. DSCOVR was the re-purposing of Triana as a primarily Sun-observing
spacecraft.
Hmmm … the foregoing does not appear to be entirely correct regarding GOES-R and “IR”.
Please note and update your knowledge base as you may see fit; in particular note the capability of GOES-R for IR spectra down into the LWIR region to around 13.6 um:
http://www.goes-r.gov/spacesegment/ABI-tech-summary.html
.
Hmmm … the foregoing does not appear to be entirely correct regarding GOES-R and “IR”.
Please note and update your knowledge base as you may see fit; in particular note the capability of GOES-R for IR spectra down into the LWIR region to around 13.6 um:
http://www.goes-r.gov/spacesegment/ABI-tech-summary.html
Yes, but still not enough to see through the clouds to the sea ice. Regards