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Spring 2024 GOES-16 / GOES-18 Eclipse season Stray Light Zone anomalies

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-18 Mid-Level Water Vapor images at the beginning of the eclipse period, from 19 February to 07 April [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

For a period of about 45 days on either side of the Spring (Vernal) and Fall (Autumnal) Equinox (NOAA OSPO Bulletin), each GOES briefly passes through the Moon’s shadow (requiring it to operate on battery power). Near the times of the satellite “local midnight” — around 0900 UTC for GOES-18 and 0500 UTC for GOES-16 — stray light can enter the ABI instrument, potentially causing damage. Portions of the Earth likely affected by this stray light are not scanned, leading to areas of missing data (referred to as Stray Light Zones or Keep-Out Zones).

Daily GOES-18 (GOES-West) Water Vapor images during  the 19 February to 07 April 2024 period are shown near the beginning (above) and end (below) of the Eclipse period — displaying the maximum coverage of missing data on each of those days.

GOES-18 Mid-Level Water Vapor images at the end of the eclipse period, from 19 February to 07 April [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Daily GOES-16 (GOES-East) Water Vapor images for that same 19 February to 07 April period are shown below, near the end of that satellite’s Eclipse period.

GOES-16 Mid-Level Water Vapor images at the end of the eclipse period, from 19 February to 07 April [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

It should be noted that the size of the Stray Light Zone varies for each of the Infrared spectral bands, as shown below.

GOES-18 images from Infrared spectral bands 07-16, at 0840 UTC on 19 March [click to play animated GIF | MP4]

Categories: Calibration/Anomalies, GOES-16, GOES-18