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<i>Music Starts</i>

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Narrator: When NOAA’s GOES-U satellite is launched in 2024,

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it will be the final satellite in a heralded NOAA satellite program

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and a bridge to another future age of advanced satellite technology.

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For nearly 50 years, NOAA and NASA have partnered to develop and

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advance NOAA’s geostationary satellites as part of the most sophisticated

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weather-observing, environmental monitoring, and space weather

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monitoring satellite system in the world.

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When GOES-U reaches orbit, it will be the culmination of nearly five

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decades of state-of-the-art geostationary Earth-observing satellites.

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It all began back in October 1975...

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<i>--Retro Music from Aeronautics and Space Report begins--</i>

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Narrator: ...for the launch of NOAA’s GOES-1 satellite

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which monitored our weather and space weather.

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<i>-- Indecipherable radio chatter--</i>
<i>Aeronautics & Space Report Narrator: We’ve come a long way in weather</i>

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<i>forecasting, since the early balloon launching days</i>

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<i>thanks mainly to weather satellites.</i>

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<i>With each succeeding one, these weather sentinels have become more and </i>

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<i>more sophisticated.</i>

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<i>Here, the synchronous meteorological satellite. </i>

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<i>Two are already in orbit with a third scheduled for launch this Fall.</i>

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<i>The synchronous meteorological satellite pictures are made into film loops daily.</i>

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<i>Meteorologists are hopeful this kind of information will give them clues</i>

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<i>to the weather conditions that, for instance, cause tornadoes and</i>

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<i>other fast moving weather systems.</i>

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Narrator: As groundbreaking as it was, it had limited capabilities and only 

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viewed Earth about ten percent of the time.

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By 1980, a new series of GOES satellites went into orbit.

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These satellites had the capability to obtain vertical profiles of temperature

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and moisture throughout the various layers of the atmosphere.

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This added dimension gave forecasters a more accurate picture of the

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intensity and extent of storms, and allowed them to better monitor rapidly

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changing events and make more accurate predictions.

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 In 1994, GOES-I was launched and with it came significant improvements

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in the resolution, quantity, and continuity of GOES imagery and data,

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thanks to a new three-axis method of stabilization.

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Once it reached orbit, it was renamed GOES-8, and gave forecasters more

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accurate information to pinpoint locations of storms, wildfires, and other hazards.

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<i>--Hip early-aught music plays and fades away--</i>

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 Narrator: By the mid-2000s, GOES-N, GOES-O, and GOES-P further improved the

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imager and sounder resolution to better pinpoint the locations of intense storms

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This satellites series also had improved optics, better batteries, and more

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power, allowing for more continuous imaging.

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<i>--Countdown: Three...two...one... (roar of rocket ignition)--</i>

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Narrator: Then in 2016, (Countdown: And liftoff...)   

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Narrator: the current generation of geostationary satellites was launched.

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The GOES-R Series. With this series came new advancements that

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included state-of-the-art instruments like the Geostationary Lightning Mapper

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and the Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI.

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Ken Graham: I’ll tell you what, when we got the GOES-R, I remember

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sitting at the forecast desk and seeing some of the earliest data and it was,

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it was a game changer. Absolute critical part of our forecast process. 

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To see that ABI and actually track cloud movements and track how much

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moisture is in clouds. It was amazing.

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And it enables us to look at phenomena like atmospheric rivers and being

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able to help us with the, the  forecast for the flooding, the amount of rainfall.

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And on the front lines of the National Weather Service, we provide decision support and so to have that

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information from GOES-R, it really enabled us to communicate

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information to decision makers for them to make really tough decisions.

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Pam Sullivan: Well, we knew the technology was going to be game

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changing. We knew the ABI with its capabilities and then, the

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geostationary lightning mapper, which was a brand new instrument.

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You know, we knew that it was going to be revolutionary.

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We even thought it’s so new that there’s probably going to be new

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applications, but the range of new applications that people have found

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have really surprised me.

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We found over time that ABI can detect turbulence, so it can really look at

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a patch of sky and see when there’s going to be turbulence for aircraft

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flying through it. We’ve recently found that ABI can actually detect

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large methane leaks. So it can tell when, you know, something is going

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wrong in a plant or a refinery, and be able to track that feature.

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Narrator: Space weather monitoring has also been part of the GOES

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mission since its inception, and continues on today’s GOES-R satellites.

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So, after Goes-U, what’s next for NOAA’s geostationary satellites?

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Its planned successor will be a state-of-the-art satellite series called

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Geostationary Extended Observations, or GeoXO.

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The first GeoXO satellite is expected to launch in the early 2030s

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as the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational lifetime.

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Like GOES-R, GeoXO will continue NOAA’s five decades of critical

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Earth-observing data. However, GeoXO will have new technology onboard.

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One of the new instruments will be an infrared sounder, which will allow

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weather forecasters to see the atmosphere in extremely fine detail.

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Pam Sullivan: It really looks at very fine slices of the atmosphere across a

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wide area, so that it builds up sort of a 3D view of what the atmosphere

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looks like. And forecasters can use that information to very precise

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about their forecasts.

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Where a storm is going to be, how severe a storm is going to be.

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They can even do predictions of, uh, how much water. You know, what the

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precipitation levels are going to be. So that’s one new capability that our

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forecasters are really looking forward to.

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Narrator: The sounder will also help detect quickly changing wind speeds

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and direction, which will assist in everything from hurricane prediction

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to aviation forecasts.

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Ken Graham: It’s a big part of the National Weather Service mission is to

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forecast for aviation. For safety, and and also looking at that fuel economy,

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looking at detecting the direction of the wind. So that capability

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is just going to be absolutely amazing for aviation and earlier detection

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and quicker detection of tropical systems when
 it comes to rapid intensification.

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Narrator: There will be two other new instruments on GeoXO as well.

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One will be an air quality instrument that will monitor and track harmful

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air pollutants, including wildfire smoke and volcanic gasses.

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It will provide continuous observations and measurements of atmospheric composition which will help improve

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air quality forecasts and alerts across the U.S.

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Another instrument will measure ocean color, which helps detect and track

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threats to our lakes and ocean, such as harmful algal blooms and oil spills.

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Perhaps, most critically, NOAA’s GeoXO will also meet new needs for the

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data-user community, including forecasters, researchers and others, who

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depend on receiving crucial environmental information across the

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Western Hemisphere. Data from GeoXO will contribute to weather

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prediction models and drive short-term weather 
forecasts and severe weather warnings.

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Pam Sullivan: These users are looking for advanced capabilities.

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And they’ve told us what they want to see in this next generation, which is

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going to start observing in the 2030s, but continue into the 2050s.

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And with the changes on our planet and with the society’s increased

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reliance on environmental information, it’s really important to be able

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to serve this wider variety of needs.

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Narrator: GeoXO observations will allow scientists to better monitor

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environmental conditions and will complement observations from other

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satellites from NOAA, NASA, and our international partners.

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This will help them to address emerging environmental challenges,

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respond to the effects of Earth’s changing climate, and improve forecasting

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and warnings of severe weather and environmental hazards.

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GOES-U Mission Logo
GeoXO Mission Logo

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NOAA Logo
NASA Meatball