The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) new GOES-18 satellite will witness storms, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, clouds, and more, helping us better predict and understand weather, climate issues and natural disasters. . NASA launched the satellite, originally known as GOES-T, on March 1, and it’s now returning stunning images of Earth.
NOAA shared the first images sent by the satellite last week, which you can watch in the video right below. A video tour introducing the satellite shows spectacular footage of Earth and intense footage of storms, dust and wildfires.
GOES-18 is an orbitally fixed satellite continuously imaging the Western Hemisphere at a fixed point 35,800 kilometers above the Equator and always at the same location as Earth. watching part. “We get 30 times as much data on this satellite as on previous satellites,” says Alreen Knaub, GOES-T’s deputy program manager. “We track space weather, solar weather, and Earth weather.”
New images show that the satellite is working as expected. “GOES-18 is currently undergoing post-launch testing, verification and calibration of its devices and systems to prepare them for operations,” NOAA said in a statement. If nothing goes wrong, it will replace the incumbent GOES-17 satellite, which faces technical difficulties, and will be renamed GOES West in early 2023.
GOES-18 will be a very important tool for weather forecasting and tracking of storms and disasters on the ground surface.
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