The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced the launch on November 19 of a weather forecasting satellite that will revolutionize U.S. hurricane and storm forecasting. The GOES-R (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) will observe hurricanes and blizzards with four times better resolution and take images that can be transmitted five times faster than any other U.S. satellite currently in orbit. In addition to improving weather forecasts, the complete images of the hemisphere taken every five minutes by the satellite will help increase advanced flood warnings and better track wildfires and ash clouds from volcanoes.
GOES-R also includes improved space weather sensors that will monitor the sun and provide other critical information to forecasters to improve space weather alerts and warnings. (Last month, President Obama signed an Executive Order to coordinate the federal government’s efforts to prepare for space weather events.) All totaled, the data collected by the satellite will result in 34 new or improved meteorological, solar and space weather products.
GOES-R was developed by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and will join the international network of weather satellites from seven countries that share data worldwide. The satellite is the first of four satellites launched into orbit to provide the nation’s next generation of geostationary weather satellites.
“The launch of GOES-R represents a major step forward in terms of our ability to provide more timely and accurate information that is critical for life-saving weather forecasts and warnings,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “It also continues a decades-long partnership between NASA and NOAA to successfully build and launch geostationary environmental satellites.”