GOES-16: A New Tool to Improve Situational Awareness for Operational Forecasters (149)

Dan Lindsey, NOAA/NESDIS/GOES-R, Fort Collins, CO

Scott Rudlosky, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR

 

Abstract:

GOES-16 was launched into geostationary orbit in November 2016, and after undergoing a year of checkout, was declared NOAA's operational GOES-East satellite in December 2017. Instrumentation aboard the new satellite includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), a state-of-the-art upgrade over the legacy imager that provides significantly improved spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution. Additionally, the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is the first instrument capable of detecting lightning from geostationary orbit, allowing a constant view of convection over a majority of the western hemisphere.

This presentation will highlight several operational forecasting applications for which the ABI and GLM provide the most benefit to situational awareness. Examples include monitoring for convective initiation, detecting hot spots and smoke from wildfires, and tracking lightning throughout the convective lifecycle.