Latest news with #GOES-16
New York Times
03-05-2025
- Climate
- New York Times
One of the Weather World's Biggest Buzzwords Expands Its Reach
For people on the West Coast, atmospheric rivers, a weather phenomenon that can bring heavy rain or snow from San Diego to Vancouver, are as common a feature of winter as Nor'easters are in Boston. Like those East Coast storms, 'atmospheric river' can feel like a buzzword — more attention grabbing than just 'heavy rain,' even if that is how most people walking down the streets of San Francisco will experience it. But it is also a specific meteorological phenomenon that describes the moisture-rich storms that develop over the Pacific Ocean and dump precipitation when they collide with the mountain ranges of Washington, Oregon and California. These plumes of exceptionally wet air transported through the atmosphere by strong winds are not unique to the West Coast, though. They occur around the world, and a growing number of meteorologists and scientists are beginning to apply the term to storms east of the Rocky Mountains. When days of heavy rain caused deadly flooding in the central and southern United States this spring, AccuWeather pinned the unusual weather on an 'atmospheric river.' So did CNN. While some researchers hope to see the term become more widely adopted, not all meteorologists are doing this, including those at the National Weather Service. At the center of the debate is a struggle over how forecasters describe the day's weather. Eastern atmospheric river Western atmospheric river April 5 March 30 Atmospheric rivers in the Pacific flow toward the West Coast, where they encounter mountain ranges. Warm moist air comes up from Central America, the Caribbean and the Gulf. Western atmospheric river March 30 Atmospheric rivers in the Pacific flow toward the West Coast, where they encounter mountain ranges. Eastern atmospheric river April 5 Warm moist air comes up from Central America, the Caribbean and the Gulf. Western atmospheric river March 30 Atmospheric rivers in the Pacific flow toward the West Coast, where they encounter mountain ranges. Eastern atmospheric river April 5 Warm moist air comes up from Central America, the Caribbean and the Gulf. Note: The animation shows data from the GOES-16/18 satellites, which uses an infrared wavelength that detects water vapor in the upper troposphere. All times are UTC. Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration By William B. Davis Atmospheric rivers can stretch up to 2,000 miles. They form over oceans generally in the tropics and subtropics, where water evaporates and collects into giant airborne rivers of vapor that move through the lower atmosphere toward the North and South Poles. They're distinctly narrow, on average measuring 500 miles wide and stretching 1,000 miles. Many weaker atmospheric rivers bring beneficial rain and snow, but stronger ones can deliver heavy rainfall that causes flooding, mudslides and catastrophic damage. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The newest GOES weather satellite in NOAA's fleet is now fully operational (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The final satellite in NOAA's GOES-R weather satellite series has a new place in orbit … and a new name. The GOES-19 weather satellite, which launched into orbit in June 2024, has officially taken the place of its predecessor GOES-16 to watch over the Western Hemisphere from its perch 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above us. To mark the milestone, the satellite has the new name of GOES East to serve as the dominant geostationary satellite in the fleet, NOAA officials said in a statement. "With GOES-19 now in operation, NOAA has delivered the full fleet of GOES-R satellites to orbit, providing the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to help forecast weather on Earth," said Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, in the statement. "GOES-19 supports NOAA's mission to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information to promote and protect the nation's security, environment, economy and quality of life." As GOES East, the satellite will be responsible for keeping a watchful eye on tropical development in the Atlantic Ocean, and monitor weather such as severe storms, wildfires, and atmospheric rivers. Just like its siblings, GOES-19 is equipped with technology to produce high-resolution imagery, take measurements of the atmosphere, and track the location and intensity of lightning in real-time. If that's not exciting enough for scientists, this satellite also hosts NOAA's first compact coronagraph instrument (CCOR-1), monitoring the sun's activity. "CCOR-1 is a game-changer for ensuring our nation is resilient to solar storms, monitoring massive eruptions of energy from the sun in real time," Clinton Wallace, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, said in the statement. "With dramatically improved resolution and faster detection, it helps us better predict dangerous space weather that can impact satellites, GPS, astronaut safety, aviation and power grids, ensuring we can protect critical technology and infrastructure like never before."
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Weather satellite operational, completes fleet to forecast severe storms on Earth
April 8 (UPI) -- The final piece of an advanced series of weather satellites officially began operating Tuesday to help provide better forecasts on Earth and in space, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. GOES-19 satellite replaces GOES-16 to cover the GOES East orbit 22,236 miles above Earth's equator. It also completes NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, or R-series, to provide the Western Hemisphere's "most sophisticated weather-observing and environmental-monitoring system." "With GOES-19 now in operation, NOAA has delivered the full fleet of GOES-R satellites to orbit, providing the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to help forecast weather on Earth," said Stephen Volz, assistant administrator for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service. "GOES-19 supports NOAA's mission to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information to promote and protect the nation's security, environment, economy and quality of life," Volz continued. GOES-19, which launched on June 25, 2024, will track hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean. It will also monitor severe weather, atmospheric rivers, wildfires, volcanic eruptions and other environmental events. The satellite is also equipped with space weather instruments to monitor the sun. NOAA's first compact coronagraph instrument, called CCOR-1, will provide "critical information about impending geomagnetic storm conditions." "CCOR-1 is a game-changer for ensuring our nation is resilient to solar storms, allowing us to monitor massive eruptions of energy from the sun in real time," said Clinton Wallace, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. "With dramatically improved resolution and faster detection, it helps us better predict dangerous space weather that can impact satellites, GPS, astronaut safety, aviation and power grids, ensuring we can protect critical technology and infrastructure like never before," according to Wallace. GOES-18 launched in March 2022 and was the "third in this new advanced series." The GOES-R Series Program includes four satellites, built and launched by NASA and operated by NOAA. GOES-19 joins GOES-18, or GOES West, to watch over more than half of Earth from Africa to New Zealand and from the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle. The fleet of satellites is expected to provide valuable information about this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which is forecast to rival 2024, one of the most devastating and costliest hurricane seasons on record for the Southeast and Florida, due to damage caused by Beryl, Helene and Milton.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch as the moon's shadow races across the US on the first anniversary of last year's total solar eclipse — Earth from space
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. QUICK FACTS Where is it? North America What's in the video? The moon's shadow, or umbra, passing over the continent Which satellite took the video? GOES-16 When was it taken? April 8, 2024 This striking satellite footage shows the moon's shadow racing across North America at more than 1,500 mph (2,400 km/h) during 2024's historic total solar eclipse, when several unique phenomena were observed as day briefly turned to night. On April 8 last year, tens of millions of people in the U.S., Canada and Mexico looked up to the skies to see the moon temporarily block out our home star. During the event, totality — the period in which the sun is completely obscured — lasted up to 4 minutes and 28 seconds, depending on the viewer's location. This was the first total solar eclipse visible from the continent since 2017, but the longest totality there for 54 years. From space, the darkest part of the moon's shadow, or umbra, slowly swept across the continent from western Mexico to eastern Canada over roughly 4 hours, allowing satellites and astronauts to snap some stunning shots of the event. NOAA's 16th Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-16) was one of these orbital observers. This spacecraft is geostationary, meaning that it orbits Earth at the same speed as the planet spins, allowing it to watch one part of Earth from a fixed position. From its vantage point around 22,300 miles (36,000 kilometers) above North America, the satellite captured thousands of photos that were later digitally stitched together into the time-lapse video above. Related: See all the best images of Earth from space Photos from other spacecraft also provided alternative perspectives of the sweeping shadow. NASA's Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) captured video of the shadow moving across the globe from its position, roughly 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) from Earth. And astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) also snapped up-close photos of the shadow from around 260 miles (418 kilometers) above our planet's surface. Several strange phenomena can occur during a total solar eclipse, and 2024 was no exception. Many observers spotted pink or red spots around the sun's obscured disc. Some people wrongly assumed that these were solar flares exploding from the sun. Experts later revealed that these were solar prominences — plasma plumes that tower above the sun but do not explode outward. On the same day as the eclipse, astronomers also discovered a tiny sungrazer comet dive-bombing toward the sun. The newly spotted object was then photographed during totality, before it was destroyed by our home star just a few hours later. One of the most bizarre effects observed was a subtle shift in global time signals sent and received by communication centers across North America as the sun's shadow cooled the upper atmosphere, slightly altering how radio signals bounced off this part of our planet. However, the changes were too small to impact any time-keeping devices. MORE EARTH FROM SPACE —1st glacier declared dead from climate change seen in before and after images —A mysterious 'black hole' in Pacific Ocean that sparked wild rumors online —Erupting 'sharkcano' spits out a giant underwater plume in Oceania Several other unusual things were seen during totality, including disappearing clouds, daytime-visible planets, changes to color perception and optical effects around the sun as seen from Earth, such as "Baily's beads" and "diamond rings." Some wild and captive animals also appeared to be confused as the skies turned dark. The world's next total solar eclipse will occur on Aug. 12, 2026 and will be most visible from parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain.
CBS News
06-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
NOAA's most advanced weather monitoring system will be operational soon
Has anyone noticed some weird/missing data from satellite imagery over the past few weeks? There's a reason for that! The old satellite that has been used for years is moving, with the most state-of-the-art satellite set to replace it. Basically, all of the images that are taken from space come from satellites, machines that are launched into space and orbit Earth, or another object and send back information. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA collaborated on the sophisticated Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, also known as GOES-R Series. Now, for those wondering, what in the world is a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite? It's a satellite that sits above the equator at a speed matching the Earth's rotation, which allows it to constantly view the same area of the Earth at all times. There are four satellites in the GOES-R series, with its coverage spanning from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand and from near the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle — the last of which (GOES-19) will become operational April 7, 2025. The GOES-R Series imager scans the Earth five times faster with four times the resolution and three times the number of channels than previous satellites for more accurate and reliable forecasts/severe weather warnings. The imager provides images of weather patterns, hurricanes and severe storms as frequently as every 30 seconds. And there are various other benefits from the GOES-R. GOES-16 was launched in 2016 and has been operational ever since for the eastern half of the US. GOES-17 was launched in 2018 as an on-orbit backup. GOES-18 was launched in 2022 and now serves as the operational satellite for the western half of the US. GOES-19 was launched in 2024 and is slated to take over GOES-16 as the main operational satellite for the eastern half of the United States, while GOES-16 becomes the on-orbit backup. During the few weeks it took for GOES-16 and GOES-19 to drift into their new positions, some of the normally flawless satellite images coming from GOES-16 were degraded, which is the reason it looked all wonky/weird earlier. The satellite images will likely no longer be degraded as of Monday when the new GOES-19 satellite officially replaces the old one. But why does this matter? Satellites are the main source of critical atmospheric, hydrologic, oceanic, climatic, solar and space data. GOES-19 is the culmination of nearly five decades of research, with its primary instrument being the ABI. It's the most advanced weather-observing and environmental monitoring system, providing enhanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and space weather observations. The ABI is a tool that can view Earth with sixteen different channels, each measuring energy at different wavelengths along the electromagnetic spectrum to obtain information about Earth's atmosphere, land, and ocean. There's also a brand new instrument, the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR), which will support NOAA's Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) mission. It will be the nation's first operational coronagraph and will serve as the primary source for information about impending geomagnetic storm conditions, allowing the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue warnings one to four days in advance. Tools like these significantly improve detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property, and our nation's economic health and prosperity.
