New NASA Satellite Could Transform Weather Forecasting

On November 19, 2016, NASA launched a new satellite into orbit which many weather watchers are predicting could prove to be a step change in terms of the speed, accuracy and detail of weather forecasting around the globe. The new satellite, dubbed GOES-R, is equipped to monitor a wide range of weather phenomena including volcanic ash clouds, dangerous fog, changing hurricane intensity and lightning, and will provide higher resolution imagery at a much faster speed than anything in NASA’s current arsenal.

 

NASA described the benefits of the new GOES-R satellite in its press release:

 

“The primary instrument on the new GOES-R satellite, the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), will collect three times more data and provide four times better resolution and more than five times faster coverage than current satellites. This means the satellite will scan Earth’s Western Hemisphere every five minutes and as often as every 30 seconds in areas where severe weather forms, as compared to approximately every 30 minutes with the current GOES satellites.”

 

These faster updates will not just help keep people safe, but will also empower industries like commercial shipping and aviation to make more informed decisions on routing based off real-time information about extreme weather.

 

GOES-R will not just be keeping an eye on events on Earth. It is also designed to monitor space weather — electromagnetic radiation, which can penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere and wreak havoc with navigation systems, computers, power grids and other electronics. Given President Obama’s recent efforts to ensure better coordination between federal agencies and civil society on preparing for space weather, the addition of GOES-R to NASA’s monitoring arsenal could not come at a better time.

 

Of course, it should be noted that GOES-R was launched right around the time that President-Elect Trump’s advisors had made noise about cutting funding to NASA’s earth-monitoring science, citing what they referred to as the “politicized” science of climate change. Whether or not such sentiments will impact GOES-R and programs like it remains to be seen. However, it would be extremely hard for any administration to separate climate change-specific research and monitoring from the broader effort of simply better understanding of and preparation for our weather and climate systems.

 

Given the reliance of human activities such as farming, transportation or military operations on accurate, up-to-date weather forecasting, advocates for NASA’s Earth Science initiatives will be hoping that the economic case for programs like GOES-R will be justification enough to keep them moving forward, even in an administration that has been notoriously hostile toward mainstream climate science.