Recommendations on the GOES-R series from the GOES users' conferences

Abstract

The first GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) Users' Conference, focusing on the GOES-R Series was held from May 22 through 24, 2001 in Boulder Colorado, with approximately 200 participants from government, the private sector, academia and the international community. GOES-R is planned to be launched in 2012. The conference was organized by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with cooperation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the National Weather Association, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goals of the conference were: (1) to inform GOES users of plans for the next generation capabilities; (2) to provide information on the potential applications; (3) to determine user needs for new products, data distribution, and data archiving; (4) to assess potential user and societal benefits of GOES capabilities; and (5) to develop methods to improve communication between the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and the GOES user community. Sessions included: (1) planned and potential sensors for U.S. geostationary satellites; (2) user requirements, applications, and potential benefits from future GOES; (3) future international geostationary satellites; and (4) communications, ancillary services and training issues. The third day of the conference consisted of facilitated breakout sessions in which the user community provided input to ten questions on their future needs for products, services, data distribution, archiving, training and potential benefits of the next generation GOES to their operations and to society. A second GOES Users' Conference will be held in Boulder, Colorado from October 1 to 3, 2002. This paper will provide a summary of the recommendations provided by the first GOES Users' Conference and some expectations of topics to be covered at the second conference. A brief summary of a new requirements generation process that incorporates input from both conferences will also be provided.