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goes-r

A new conditions satellite is on its manner into space, merely it'southward unlike any of the weather satellites we have correct at present. Launched over the weekend by NASA and NOAA, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) is the start of a new fleet of atmospheric condition-tracking satellites that could help scientists predict weather condition patterns farther in advance and save lives. That'southward only the beginning of what GOES-R can practice.

The satellite is currently on its way to a geostationary orbit at 22,300 miles above the Earth. That means it has the aforementioned orbital menstruum of the Earth, and thus remains in place over the continental Usa where it can monitor weather patterns. GOES-R will be a breakthrough leap for weather forecasting thanks to its advanced hardware. The satellite is capable of scanning the Earth five times faster, at four times the resolution, and in three times more spectrum bands than current satellites.

All the weather satellites NOAA relies upon currently were built with systems adult in the 1990s. With brand new applied science in the GOES-R satellite called the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) could quite literally salve lives by giving forecasters more timely data with which to predict the course of storms. Even a few minutes can brand all the difference in alarm people to accept cover.

GOES-R could also fundamentally modify the style atmospheric condition forecasting is done thanks to alive streaming of data from space. For example, lightning activity will be tracked in real fourth dimension with an musical instrument called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) and sent back to Earth where meteorologists tin can monitor it. This won't only see ground strikes, but besides the much more than common cloud-to-deject lightning. That's crucially important when simulating the path of severe conditions like tornadoes and supercell thunderstorms.

noaa

While the ABI is GOES-R's master instrument, information technology has a few other keen gadgets on-board every bit well. It carries a sensor parcel capable of detecting ten-ray and ultraviolet radiations from the sun. This allows scientists to track things like solar flares and the solar wind. The lord's day occasionally erupts with activeness that tin can endanger our electrical grid, and then scientists are understandably interested in learning all they can about the lord's day's emissions. GOES-R also has the necessary hardware to participate in the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system. Individuals with special emergency transponders tin can ship out distress signals that are relayed to rescuers via satellites. GOES-R makes these SARSAT beacons more reliable.

GOES-R was sent into infinite on an Atlas V rocket, 1 of the few launch vehicles with the power to get a big payload to geostationary orbit. Information technology's expected to be in position in nearly ii weeks.