Videos: Mission

The following videos provide an overview of the GOES-R Series Program mission.

LATEST VIDEO: GOES-T Wildfire Detection and Monitoring

GOES-T Wildfire Detection and Monitoring

GOES-T will provide critical data for identifying and tracking environmental hazards of particular concern to the western U.S. GOES-T will locate wildfire hot spots, detect changes in fire behavior, predict the motion of fires, estimate a fire’s intensity, and monitor smoke output and air quality effects from smoke. GOES-T can identify the lightning strikes most likely to ignite fires and characterize pyrocumulonimbus clouds that threaten the safety of firefighters. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA

GOES-T Mission Overview

NOAA is about to launch a new satellite into orbit above Earth, which will be third in the fleet of the agency's latest generation of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). This is the most advanced weather observing and environmental monitoring system in the Western Hemisphere. GOES-T, which will be renamed GOES-18 once in orbit, is scheduled to launch on March 1, 2022. Following a successful on-orbit checkout of its instruments and systems, GOES-18 will go into operational service as GOES West. In this position, the satellite will provide critical data for the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA

NOAA's GOES-16 Played a Key Role in Hurricane Ida's Tricky Forecast

In Hurricane Ida, NOAA’s GOES-16 saw more than meets the eye—literally! Two NOAA experts discuss how the satellite’s advanced technology provided critical information about this devastating storm. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA

Eyes in the Sky

The powerful hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900, killing an estimated 8,000 people and destroying more than 3,600 buildings, took the coastal city by surprise. A new video looks at advances in hurricane forecasting in the 120 years since, with a focus on the contributions from weather satellites. A fleet of Earth-observing satellites, including those from the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series (GOES-R), provides remarkable advances in hurricane forecasting. This satellite technology has allowed us to track hurricanes – their location, movement and intensity. Download Video Credit: NASA/ Jefferson Beck

NOAA GOES-S (GOES-17): High Definition GOES West!

In 2018, NOAA launches the GOES-S satellite, which takes its place in orbit as GOES-17. Working together with GOES-16, the two new geostationary weather satellites will provide constant watch over the United States and the Western Hemisphere from the west coast of Africa all the way to New Zealand, helping monitor severe storms, wildfires, and daily weather patterns. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA

GOES East and GOES West Coverage of Western Hemisphere

This animation depicts the areas of the Earth viewed by GOES East and GOES West from their vantage point 22,236 miles above the equator. NOAA maintains a two-satellite Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) constellation to watch over the Western Hemisphere. The satellites circle the Earth in geosynchronous orbit, which means they orbit the Earth’s equatorial plane at a speed matching the Earth’s rotation. This allows them to stay in a fixed position in the sky, remaining stationary with respect to a point on the ground. GOES-16 serves at as NOAA’s GOES East satellite, located at 75.2 degrees west longitude. GOES-S, GOES-16’s sister satellite, scheduled for launch in March 2018, will be renamed GOES-17 upon reaching geostationary orbit. GOES-17 will take its place as NOAA’s operational GOES West satellite in late 2018. In the GOES West position, GOES-17 will be located at 137 degrees west longitude. Together, GOES-16 and GOES-17 will keep an eye on the Western Hemisphere’s atmosphere, weather patterns and environmental hazards from the west coast of Africa all the way to New Zealand. Download Video Credit: NOAA/NASA

Spotlight Space: A Weather Forecast Game-Changer

Lockheed Martin goes behind the scenes to spotlight the latest space technology in this edition of Spotlight Space. NOAA’s GOES-R satellite series will improve weather forecasting quality and timeliness generating significant economic benefits to the nation in the areas of climate monitoring, ecosystems management, commerce and transportation. In this episode, we go inside the clean room to learn how better weather forecasts start in space. Download Video | Transcript Credit: Lockheed Martin

GOES-16 Field Campaign:

With NOAA’s revolutionary GOES-16 weather satellite in space and data flowing, the GOES-R team, a joint NOAA and NASA effort, set out to fine-tune and validate the satellite’s earth viewing instruments during what was known as the GOES-16 Field Campaign. During the two-month long campaign, teams of instrument scientists, meteorologists, and specialized pilots used a NASA high-altitude plane, ground-based sensors, and satellites to collect and compare measurements from across the United States. With life-saving warnings and revolutionary weather data on the line, NOAA’s newest and most advanced weather satellite must be as accurate as possible. The data sets from the instruments and sensors will be analyzed and compared to validate and calibrate the GOES-16 satellite's Advanced Baseline Imager and Geostationary Lightning Mapper. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

GOES-R Launch:

The first spacecraft in a new series of NOAA advanced geostationary weather satellites launched into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket November 19, 2016 at 6:42 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Once in geostationary orbit, GOES-R will be known as GOES-16 and will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms as regularly as every five minutes or as frequently as every 30 seconds. These images can be used to aid in weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches and warnings, lightning conditions, maritime forecasts and aviation forecasts. Download Video Credit: NOAA

NESDIS Accomplishments 2016:

From the launch of Jason-3 and the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season, to SARSAT rescues and the launch of GOES-16, 2016 was an exciting year for NESDIS! To relive it, watch this video that highlights our major accomplishments of the year, as well as the on-going and varied role that NOAA satellites play in monitoring Earth's climate, environment, weather and space weather. Credit: NASA

GOES-R Spacecraft Separation:

NOAA's GOES-R spacecraft separates from the Centaur upper stage at the conclusion of a successful launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on November 19, 2016 at 6:42 p.m. EST. Download Video Credit: Credit: NASA

GOES-R Rollout and Launch:

This time-lapse video shows the rollout of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and its GOES-R payload to the launch pad on November 18, 2016 and the successful launch of GOES-R on November 19m 2016 at 6:42 p.m. EST. Download Video Credit: ULA

Aerial Footage of GOES-R on the Launch Pad:

Drone footage taken as a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket is prepared to launch the GOES-R satellite Credit: ULA

GOES-R Launch Sequence and Deployments:

What happens once the GOES-R satellite is launched? This video from Lockheed Martin explains the process, from launch vehicle separation to solar array and antenna deployment to orbit raising maneuvers, transition to storage orbit and finally GOES-R normal operations. Download Video Credit: Lockheed Martin

GOES-R B-Roll Package:

A collection of b-roll for GOES-R, including the spacecraft shipment from Colorado to Florida, landing in Florida, unveiling of the spacecraft at Astrotech, and GOES-R satellite animations. Download GOES-R B-roll in a variety of formats from NASA Goddard Media Studios. Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

What is GOES-R?:

The GOES-R series, NOAA's next-generation geostationary weather satellites, is a game changer. These satellites will provide continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s Western Hemisphere, total lightning data, and space weather monitoring to provide critical atmospheric, hydrologic, oceanic, climatic, solar and space data. These measurements will lead to significant improvements in the detection and observations of meteorological phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and our GOES fleet in the GOES-R era nation’s economic health and prosperity. What is GOES-R (Spanish Version) | Download Video | Transcript | Download Video (Spanish) | Transcript (Spanish) Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

GOES-R Short: Overview:

Weather changes every day. To predict what's coming tomorrow, NOAA relies on satellites called GOES, and the latest in the series, GOES-R, promises to enable better predictions than ever before. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

GOES-R Short: Lightning:

Where there's lightning, there's a strong chance of severe weather. The revolutionary Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM ) instrument on the new GOES-R satellite will give forecasters powerful new data for when to recommend that people in a storm's path take shelter. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

GOES-R Short: Orbit:

2,300 miles is a long way, but locked in orbit above the equator, it's home sweet home for a weather satellite, the nation's newest, called GOES-R, will watch the Western Hemisphere, providing vital data for state-of-the-art weather forecasts. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

GOES-R Short: Space Weather:

Weather generally blows in from over the horizon, and the GOES-R satellite will keep an eye on what's coming. But GOES-R will also monitor space weather, so when the sun acts up, managers of critical infrastructure can be prepared. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

ABI Scan Mode Demonstration

The GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) is the first geostationary weather imagery that can collect multiple scenes of different sizes and locations at different repetition intervals. This animation demonstrates one way the ABI can collect images of the full disk every 15 minutes, Continental United States every 5 minutes, and a major storm event every 30 seconds, in addition to space look, blackbody and star observations for radiometric and geometric calibration.
Download Video | Credit: Harris

Advanced Baseline Imager

When GOES-R launches in 2016, it will deliver highly advanced data and will continue an important legacy of Earth observations. The Advanced Baseline Imager, or ABI, is GOES-R’s primary instrument for scanning Earth’s weather, oceans, and environment and is a significant improvement over instruments on NOAA’s current geostationary satellites. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Multimedia

GOES-R: Sharper Eyes for Better Forecasts:

The GOES-R weather satellite will work faster, see more clearly and more often than current weather satellites. It will help weather forecasters determine how bad the storms will be and who will have to get out of the way – sooner, safer and with more certainty. Download Video | Transcript Credit: Lockheed Martin

GOES-R: A Weather Superhero with Lightning Vision:

The GOES-R satellite has a new instrument called the Geostationary Lightning Mapper that can take hundreds of images every second of all types of lightning. When it sees an increase of lightning flashes, it can help weather forecasters predict a severe storm or tornado, and give us more warning to go to a safe place. Download Video | Transcript Credit: Lockheed Martin

Preparing for GOES-R at NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed:

NOAA satellite experts and weather forecasters worked together at the Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT). This video highlights the work done from May 4 to June 12, 2015. NOAA invited National Weather Service forecasters and paired them with TV broadcast meteorologists to evaluate the new science, technology and products that will be available from the GOES-R satellite once launched. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Media Studio

Ocean Today Highlights How NOAA Environmental Satellites Monitor the Earth:

NOAA’s geostationary and polar-orbiting environmental satellites provide data from space to monitor the Earth, analyze coastal waters, relay life-saving emergency beacons, as well as predict and track tropical storms and hurricanes. Learn about the many aspects of Earth’s environmental observers and the data they provide. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA National Ocean Service

So You Want To Build a Weather Satellite:

What exactly goes into building a new weather satellite? This animated video explains how GOES-R was developed and how new science and technology on the GOES-R series satellites will provide significant advancements in the observation of severe weather. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Multimedia

GOES-R Trailer:

Coming…in an orbit 22,000 miles from you…a weather satellite like never before…GOES-R! The future of weather forecasting is arriving. This video is a one-minute trailer highlighting the most important capabilities of the satellites. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Multimedia

Watchful Eyes: The Role of Geostationary Weather Satellites

"Watchful Eyes" chronicles the advent of NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system and its value to forecasters, emergency management officials, and the public, as well as the critical capabilities the GOES-R series satellites will provide. Download Video | Transcript Credit: Lockheed Martin

Tornadoes with Tim Samaras:

Severe storm researcher and engineer Tim Samaras talks about his view on tornadoes, the importance of satellite imagery to his research, and the future of forecasting and warning with GOES-R. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NASA Goddard Multimedia

The Evolution of GOES:

Tim Schmit, a research scientist with the NOAA Center for Satellite Applications and Research, discusses the evolution of Geostationary Environmental Operational Satellites (GOES) from a simple camera in space to its future in GOES-R. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

Satellite Research and Aviation Hazards:

Steve Ackerman, Director of the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discusses using geostationary satellites to identify aviation hazards. The next-generation geostationary environmental satellite, GOES-R, will improve forecasts to reduce aviation hazards. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

NOAA Satellite Operations:

NOAA's satellites provide the bulk of the information for generating weather models, advisories, and warnings to the nation and world. Maintaining the operations and data acquisition from these satellites is a 24/7 process at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. Download Video | Transcript Credit: NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

GOES-R Mission Overview Video:

Learn how GOES-R can improve environmental monitoring, storm tracking, climate analysis, and ecosystem management to protect life, property, and resources. Download Video | Transcript Credit: Lockheed Martin

GOES-R Maps Lightning from Space

GOES-R Maps Lightning from Space An artist’s rendering of the GOES-R spacecraft in geostationary orbit mapping lightning from space. One of the newest features of GOES-R is the critical ability to measure and see in-cloud lightning, increasing tornado warning lead time. Download Video Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, NOAA, Lockheed Martin