GOES Imager
The GOES Imager is an instrument aboard NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. Each card on this page represents a product derived using data from the GOES Imager instrument. Products on green cards, marked as "Transitioned Product," are being used by at least one National Weather Service Forecast Office. Products on blue cards, marked as "Research," are still in development, or exist mainly for academic purposes. For more details on any product, click the link at the bottom of each eard. To see actual real-time data, click the link at the bottom right of the card.
For more information, see the GOES Imager Overview at the bottom of this page.
TRANSITIONED PRODUCT
Fog Depth
Enhanced NOAA NESDIS product for locating fog and low clouds and approximating their depth.
TRANSITIONED PRODUCT
Icing Product
NOAA NESDIS product that detects regions of super-cooled clouds that can result in aircraft icing.
RESEARCH
Cloud Top Pressure
Atmospheric pressure level corresponding to the height of cloud tops using CO2 slicing.
TRANSITIONED PRODUCT
Low Cloud Base
NOAA NESDIS product that detects locations of IFR and non-IFR ceilings.
TRANSITIONED PRODUCT
Icing & Cloud Top Height
NOAA NESDIS product that detects regions of super-cooled clouds that can result in aircraft icing and their heights.
GOES Imager Overview
The Earth Science Office obtains GOES East (GOES-12) real-time satellite data from a roof-top antenna atop the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC). Data from the Imager on-board the GOES satellite are ingested and are used to monitor developing weather conditions through the development of a number of useful products. The Imager provides high spatial resolution images (1 km visible and 4 km infrared) of the Continental US (CONUS) up to 4 times an hour for 5 spectral channels. The Imager data provides the necessary measurements to derive surface insolation, surface albedo, and a cloud product, all at 4 km resolution. For more information on the GOES Imager, visit the CIMSS/SSEC GOES Page.
Additionally, NOAA/NESDIS uses SPoRT to distribute some of its aviation products to the National Weather Service. Specifically, a fog depth product, a low cloud base product, and two icing products are made available to Southern Region Headquarters through SPoRT via its LDM.
Currently, these products are made from the Imager once an hour (at 45 minutes past) 24 hours a day, or during daylight hours (11-23 UTC), depending on the product. All products are generated operationally at single pixel resolution.
