The first images from the recently deployed GOES-18 weather satellite have been shared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The satellite's Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument was able to obtain the stunning captures.
The Earth is observed via sixteen different channels. Each one is able to gather data on Earth's atmosphere, land, and oceans by detecting energy at different wavelength. The data from the channels can be combined to create imagery that looks similar to what the human eye sees from space. The data can be analyzed in different ways to highlight features of interest.
The ABI provides high-resolution imagery and atmospheric measurements for short-term forecasts and severe weather warnings.
Our planet is being tracked by GOES-18 as it moves at the speed of light above the equator. The same area of Earth can be tracked by the new weather satellite.
The third satellite in the next-generation GOES-R series, GOES-18, was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on March 1st.
A huge area that includes the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean is being observed by a new satellite.
As it continues to calibrate its systems as part of post-launch testing procedures, GOES-18 has already observed storms across east Texas that produced large hail, strong wind gusts, and tornadoes, as well as wildfires and strong winds that blew up dust in New Mexico. There was thick fog in Chile and storms in Florida.
The launch of the new GOES satellites forever changed the world of environmental monitoring and hazard detection in the Western Hemisphere.
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