GOES-18 is currently serving as GOES-West
GOES-18 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
Beginning at 1713 UTC on 01 August 2022, GOES-18 began serving as GOES-West during an operational interleave period — so GOES-18 imagery routinely became available in AWIPS. Examples of GOES-18 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images from a combination of the Alaska, Pacific-US (PACUS) and Hawai`i Sectors are shown above.
GOES-18 multi-panel images of the PACUS Sector (below) displayed all 16 spectral bands of the ABI instrument.
GOES-18 multi-panel images of the PACUS Sector [click to play animated GIF |MP4]
A closer view of GOES-18 multi-panel images centered on Tropical Storm Frank is shown below.
GOES-18 multi-panel images of Tropical Storm Frank [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
Farther to the north, GOES-18 Visible images centered over Alaska (below) revealed an impressive southwesterly surge of stratus across the Chukchi Sea, which was moving toward the Bering Strait and the coast of Siberia (where some sea ice could be seen along the coast and offshore).
GOES-18 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
GOES-18 ABI data also replaced GOES-17 as GOES-West for users receiving imagery via GRB download. Some examples created by Tim Schmit (NOAA/NESDIS/ASPB) — using GOES-18 imagery downloaded by SSEC Satellite Data Services — are shown below.
This transition to GOES-18 will mitigate the degraded GOES-17 infrared imagery caused by its Loop Heat Pipe cooling issues. The Loop Heat Pipe system was re-designed for the GOES-18 ABI instrument.
16-panel comparisons of GOES-17 and GOES-18 ABI imagery at 1230 UTC [click to enlarge]
Additional information and examples can be found on the Satellite Liaison Blog.