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GOES-14 Captures Detailed Imagery of the December East Coast Blizzard

December 21, 2009 - An intense winter storm impacted a large portion of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions of the US on 18 December - 19 December 2009, creating blizzard conditions and setting a number of snowfall records. As a part of its ongoing NOAA Science Test, the GOES-14 satellite was placed into Super Rapid Scan Operations (SRSO) mode, supplying imagery at 1-minute intervals during much of the storm life cycle. McIDAS images of the GOES-14 10.7 µm IR channel data showed the formation of a large, cold cloud shield early in the period, followed by the development of a number of convective bands after about 03:00 UTC on 19 December which then helped to further enhance snowfall rates.

According to STAR's Tim Schmit, the GOES-14 Science test allows the unique opportunity for a longer running collect of information in the super rapid scan mode. With the operational satellites, such a scan is usually run for just a few hours.

More Info

• GOES-14 Science Test
• Listing of the December 18 & 19 storm's snowfall totals
• Large version of the GOES-14 infrared storm track animation (61 MB Quicktime)
• GOES-14 Science Test Animated Loop of Visible Imagery - December 19, 2009
• CIMSS Satellite Blog - A weblog of meteorological satellite imagery relevant to current weather events

Special thanks Scott Bachmeier of CIMSS for creating the GOES-14 IR imagery animation from the storm and Dan Lindsey for the visible loop. The GOES-14 Science Test is co-lead by Tim Schmit and Don Hillger, both of STAR.

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NOAA-led GOES-14 Science Test Underway

December 9, 2009 - The GOES-14 science test has begun, lead by scientists from STAR. It runs until January 4th. This period allows for special scanning scenarios for both the GOES-14 Imager and the Sounder.

For all GOES check-outs, the goals of the Science Test include the following:

1. To assess the quality of the GOES radiance data. This is accomplished by comparison to other satellite measurements or by calculating the signal-to-noise ratio compared to specifications, as well as assess the striping in the imagery due to multiple detectors.
2. To generate products from the GOES data stream and compare to those produced from other satellites. These included several Imager and Sounder products currently used in operations.
3. Rapid-scan imagery of interesting weather cases are collected with temporal resolutions as fine as every 30 seconds, a capability of rapid-scan imagery from GOES-R that is not implemented operationally on current GOES.

More details on the GOES-14 Science Test can be found at: http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/projects/goes-o/.

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GOES-14 First IR Images On-Line

August 17, 2009 - The first full-disk infrared (IR) image from GOES-14, captured on 17 August 2009 at 1730 UTC, are shown. This will be followed by the first IR images from the Sounder. Testing of the spacecraft and its instruments will continue through the entire Post Launch Test (PLT) period.

Click each of the images below to view a larger version.

STAR is leading the GOES-14 Science Test. Participants include scientists both inside and outside of NOAA, and from STAR, Tim Schmit and Don Hillger, among others. The results of the Science Test will be available on the GOES-14 Science Test page, and when finished, a NOAA Technical Report with Science Test findings will be published. Images of the IR bands have been posted at: http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/media/spotlight/goes14/ir.html.

The GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) series of U.S. satellites are developed by a joint NASA-NOAA-Industry partnership, launched by NASA (with industry partners), and operated by NOAA.

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Comparison: GOES-14 Sounder vs. GOES-12 Sounder

Click each of the images below to view a larger version.

August 18, 2009 - Note the much cleaner signal to noise ratio on the GOES-14 Sounder (compared to the GOES-12 sounder). This is especially evident in sounder bands 1, 2, 12 and 15. A 'Sounder' is used to estimate temperature and moisture profiles in the atmosphere. It can also derived information on clouds and certain trace gases.

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STAR News - GOES-14 First Image &
STAR's Lead Role in the NOAA Science Test

First GOES-14 Full Disk Image, July 27, 2009 1730-1800 UTC
Click image above to view full size image (2300 x 1900 pixels, 2.8MB)

July 27, 2009 - GOES-O was launched on 28 June 2009 and has successfully reached geostationary orbit to become GOES-14, the latest in the long line of GOES which started with the SMS/GOES program in the mid-1970s. GOES-14 is the second in the current GOES series, after which there will be one more launch, GOES-P, to be followed by the next generation GOES-R in 2015.

The first full-disk visible image from GOES-14, captured on 27 July 2009 at 1730 UTC, is shown. This will be followed by the first IR images and then Sounder data. Testing of the spacecraft and its instruments will continue through the entire Post Launch Test (PLT) period. The last part of that PLT period will be the NOAA Science Test, during which the satellite instrumentation will be controlled to provide special data. The Science Test is currently scheduled for December 2009. Operational scenarios and special imagery will be collected, to test both Imager and Sounder characteristics and the generation of products from the GOES-14 data stream.

STAR is leading the GOES-14 Science Test. Participants include scientists both inside and outside of NOAA. The results of the Science Test will be available on the GOES-14 Science Test page, and when finished, a NOAA Technical Report with Science Test findings will be published. Any scientists not already participating but interested in the Science Test data should contact either Don Hillger (STAR/RAMMB) or Tim Schmit (STAR/ASPB).

The GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) series of U.S. satellites are developed by a joint NASA-NOAA-Industry partnership, launched by NASA (with industry partners), and operated by NOAA.