Next generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite: GOES-R, the United States' advanced weather sentinel

Abstract

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-series (GOES-R) is the follow-on to the existing GOES system, completing a transition from 1980's technology to state-of-the-art. The product of a collaborative development effort between NOAA, NASA, DOC and industry, the first GOES-R satellite is planned to be launched in April 2015 with readiness to fully replace the heritage GOES constellation in 2017. This next-generation system will continue as the United States' weather sentinel for forecasting hurricanes, severe storms, and flash floods while providing information about air quality, winds, sea surface temperature, and space weather. It will provide advanced capabilities by providing five times more spectral information, temporal coverage six times faster than the current system, and 50% higher spatial resolution. The heart of the GOES-R system is the ABI instrument, a sixteen-channel imager with six visible channels and 10 infrared channels. The GLM instrument will be the first geostationary sensor to detect and monitor lightning strikes. GOES-R also includes several space environment sensors that will increase the capability to monitor and predict solar flare activity. Additionally, GOES-R will continue to provide heritage search and rescue capabilities, a data collection system, and other direct readout capabilities.