About Band 13

10.3 µm - "Clean" Longwave IR Window Band - 2 km resolution - Band 13 at 10.3 µm is an infrared window, meaning it is not strongly affected by atmospheric water vapor. This channel is useful for detecting clouds all times of day and night and is particularly useful in retrievals of cloud top height.

GOES-16 Band 13 corresponds approximately to the old GOES-13 IR cloud channel.

• For more details, see the Band 13 - ABI Quick Information Guide, (PDF, 615 KB)

*GOES-17 Infrared Image Quality

During post-launch testing of the GOES-17 ABI instrument, an issue with the instrument's cooling system was discovered. The loop heat pipe (LHP) subsystem, which transfers heat from the ABI electronics to the radiator, is not operating at its designed capacity. The consequence of this is that the ABI detectors cannot be maintained at their intended temperatures under certain orbital conditions. This is preventing adequate cooling for some of the infrared (IR) channels on the instrument during parts of the night, leading to partial loss of ABI imagery. Learn more.