First Images of Earth from NOAA’s GOES-16 Satellite

Composite color full-disk visible image of the Western Hemisphere was captured from NOAA GOES-16 satellite at 1:07 pm EST on Jan. 15, 2017. Credit: NOAA 

The GOES-16 satellite, which belongs to the next-generation of geostationary satellites of the NOAA, has sent the first images of the Earth. These are high-resolution images from its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument. Included among them are a composite colour full-disk visible image of the Western Hemisphere captured on January 15, 2017. This was done using several of the ABI’s 16 spectral channels, the full-disk image offers an example the satellite’s advanced technology.

ABI Prototype Model. Wikipedia

The ABI can provide a full disk image of the Earth every 15 minutes, one of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and has the ability to target regional areas where severe weather, hurricanes, wildfires, volcanic eruptions or other high-impact environmental phenomena are occurring as often as every 30 seconds. 

The ABI covers the Earth five-times faster than the current generation GOES imagers and has four times greater spatial resolution, allowing meteorologists to see smaller features of the Earth’s atmosphere and weather systems. "The image is much more than a pretty picture, it is the future of weather observations and forecasting," said Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D., director, NOAA’s National Weather Service, Silver Spring. Meaning that forecasters can issue more accurate predictions aiding in emergency situations much better than previously possible.

GOES-16 captured this view of the moon as it looked above the surface of the Earth on January 15. Like earlier GOES satellites, GOES-16 will use the moon for calibration. Credits: NOAA/NASA

For more information, or to see a gallery of GOES-16’s first images, visit NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service website: www.nesdis.noaa.gov/content/goes-16-image-gallery

Source: NASA, Wikipedia