Welcome back GOES-13!
GOES-12 and GOES-13 sounder channel data
The GOES-13 satellite was brought out of on-orbit storage on 27 January 2010 — and a comparison of the 19 channels of the sounder instrument on GOES-12 and GOES-13 (above) shows an improvement in the noise characteristics that were beginning to plague the GOES-12 sounder in late 2009.
GOES-12 imager channel data
The imager instruments on GOES-12 (above) and GOES-13 (below) share the same 5 channels (1 visible and 4 InfraRed). However, the GOES-13 satellite has improved Image Navigation and Registration (INR), which eliminates a great deal of the image-to-image wobble that is often seen with GOES-12. In addition, larger batteries aboard the spacecraft allow GOES-13 to continue to operate through the Spring and Fall season “eclipse periods” (when the satellite is in the Earth’s shadow and the solar panels cannot generate the power needed to operate the various instrument packages).
GOES-13 imager channel data
GOES-13 (launched in May 2006, with a Post Launch Test conducted in December 2006) will replace GOES-12 (launched in July 2001) as the operational GOES-East satellite on 14 April 2010. At that point, GOES-12 will then be moved to a new position at 60º West Longitude to support South American operations. More information on the transition of GOES-13 into operations is available from the NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Services Division.