You may get tired of hearing it, but knowledge is useful. It’s something we at The Optimist Daily try to empower you with every day, and it is something NASA understands the value of in plotting our climate-related future. That’s why the GOES-T Satellite’s launch last Tuesday is so monumental.
The newest satellite in space
At 4:48 pm at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) T was launched into space and is now orbiting above North America. The T is the latest in this series of GOES satellites, carrying an Advanced Baseline Imager that will take high-resolution photos of the Western Hemisphere every five minutes. The GOES T was also launched much higher into stationary orbit than the rest of its family, about 5530 miles to be precise.
A closer eye on our weather
With its new imaging technology, the GOES T will provide more detail on weather systems, giving more accurate weather modeling data for the National Weather Service. The GOES T will keep an eye on the western part of the Western Hemisphere, looking after the western continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, and parts of Central America.
“GOES-T will help improve NOAA’s numerical weather prediction models used by National Weather Service forecasters,” said Jim Yoe, chief administrator of the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation.
As climate and weather systems change, it is important for the National Weather Service and weather scientists to closely observe systems to alert cities and keep people safe. Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science, said after the launch “these observations are a key part of our research towards improving understanding and models of the climate, weather and space weather — models that, in turn, support NOAA’s crucial work as they lead the weather and space weather forecasts for the nation.”
More satellites of the GOES series will be launched in the next few years, further improving our observation of our world and the weather we live with every day.
