Just launched:
Watch the launch of the GOES-R satellite that will revolutionize weather forecasting
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/19/1...nch-livestream
Quote:
An Atlas V rocket is all set to launch this afternoon from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending a NASA-built weather satellite into orbit. It’s the GOES-R probe, and it’s being touted as a game changer for weather forecasting. The spacecraft, which will also be operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is supposed to provide incredible real-time images of developing storm systems, better than any satellite that has preceded it.
"GOES-R even has a lightning mapper on board"
To do this, GOES-R — which stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R — will scan Earth’s skies five times faster than the other GOES satellites currently in orbit, with four times the spatial resolution. “This means we’ll have better quality data at high resolution far more often than we do today,” Joe Pica, director of the Office of Observations at NOAA, said at a NASA press conference. Such information will allow NOAA scientists to see developing weather systems in unprecedented detail, which will improve our tracking of tornadoes, hurricanes, and wildfires. GOES-R even has a lightning mapper on board, meant to help forecasters know which storms are more severe than others. The information the satellite receives will help refine seasonal and weather predictions, improve warning times before storms, as well as help plan the best flight routes for airplanes.
|
More detail on the equipment on board...
Atlas V preparing to launch GOES-R advanced weather satellite
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016...her-satellite/