CHAART Logo

Sensor Specifications: GOES


The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) series provide weather images for the East and West Coasts of the United States. Both are positioned at the equator, with GOES-12 monitoring the East Coast while GOES-10 is positioned to gather data over the West Coast and the Pacific Ocean. Both satellites have a 35,800-km orbit and their instruments' swath width covers nearly the earth's hemisphere. GOES-10 was launched on 25 April 1997 and GOES-12 was launched on 23 July 2001.

These sensors collect imagery and data for vertical moisture and temperature profile data, cloud height, total precipitable water, as well as surface and cloud top temperatures and ozone profiles.

GOES-derived products are used for weather forecasting and montioring. Some GOES-derived products are available at different intervals, depending on the amount of processing required. Image products are available hourly, while cloud-drift and water vapor wind vectors are produced every six hours. More information about the GOES can be found on the Goddard site.

Specifications

GOES-10 and -12 Imager

Band Wavelength Region (µm) Resolution (km)
1 0.65 (green-red) 1
2 3.9 (TIR) 4
3 6.7 (TIR) 8
4 11 (TIR) 4
5 12 (TIR) 4

GOES-10 and -12 Sounder

Band Wavelength Region (µm) Resolution (km)
1 14.57-14.85 10
2 14.23-14.50 10
3 13.94-14.19 10
4 13.50-13.79 10
5 13.23-13.51 10
6 12.42-12.90 10
7 11.67-12.39 10
8 10.73-11.34 10
9 9.59-9.83 10
10 7.29-7.59 10
11 6.83-7.22 10
12 6.39-6.64 10
13 4.55-4.59 10
14 4.50-4.55 10
15 4.43-4.48 10
16 4.10-4.17 10
17 3.95-4.01 10
18 3.68-3.82 10
19 0.67-0.72 (red) 10

Data Sources

GOES data can be found at the following sites:

Back to the CHAART Sensor Evaluation page
Last updated: July 2004