NOAA and NASA recently released the first ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager) imagery from GOES-18. GOES-T was launched on March 1, 2022. (see the GOES-T launch as GOES-16 and GOES-17 monitored the rocket signature). GOES-18 is the third (of four) in the GOES-R series and is currently located above the equator at approximately 90W. GOES-18 is slated to become NOAA’s operational GOES-West in early 2023 after going through extensive post-launch testing. Also, see this CIMSS Satellite Blog post or this Satellite Liaison Blog post.

GOES-18 Compared to other GOES

While it is still very early in the post-launch test period, good qualitative agreement has been shown to other GOES imagers, except when comparing to GOES-17 during times it is affected by the Loop Heat Pipe issue. Of course, due to parallax and other reasons, there are expected to be differences, especially at larger view angles. The above loop as a mp4 and animated gif. Or versions that toggle between GOES-18 and GOES-16 only (mp4 and animated gif).

GOES-18 images of the western United States collected by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on May 6, 2022. The GOES-18 ABI band 10 (7.3 micrometers) image is on the left, while the GOES-16 image is on the right. Note that the data are in the same projection. Warmer brightness temperatures are mapped to warmer colors. Time animations (from 12 to 22 UTC) of these 2 panels are available for each band: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 (mp4).

GOES-18 image of the United States collected by the ABI on May 6, 2022. The GOES-18 ABI band 10 (7.3 micrometers) image is on the right, while the GOES-17 image is on the left. This 2-panel “water vapor” image shows overall agreement, with less noise shown on GOES-18 compared with GOES-17. These GOES-18 ABI are early images, calibration improvements are possible. Time animations (from 12 to 22 UTC) of these 2 panels are available for each band: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 (mp4).

3-panel Comparisons (GOES-17, -18, -16)

These 3.9 mircometer band comparisons are thanks to Scott Bachmeier. Direct links for the CA and NM cases of a CIMSS Satellite Blog.

Comparison of @NOAASatellites 1-minute #GOES17 (#GOESwest) with 5-minute #GOES18 (preliminary, non-operational) and #GOES16 (#GOESeast) Shortwave Infrared images showed the thermal signature of the #CoastalFire in Southern California: https://t.co/wGsujUVpnT @NWSSanDiego
#CAwx pic.twitter.com/1482cyQhfl

— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) May 13, 2022

Comparison of 1-minute Mesoscale Sector @NOAASatellites #GOES17 (#GOESwest), #GOES18 (preliminary, non-operational) and #GOES16 (#GOESeast) Shortwave Infrared images showed the thermal signature of the #CalfCanyonFire in #NMwx on 11 May: https://t.co/97oiyZMw1N @NWSAlbuquerque pic.twitter.com/KeFZl7G6uO

— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) May 12, 2022

ABI Instrument Response Functions

The ABI has 16 spectral bands, 2 in the visible, 4 in the near-infrared (or “near-visible”) and 10 in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The instrument response functions can be found both on CIMSS and Calibration Working Group sites.

H/T

Thanks to the many (thousands) who made the GOES-18 ABI possible. These are GOES-18 ABI are early images (preliminary and non-operational, future calibration improvements are possible. geo2grid and McIDAS-X software was used in generating these images. More about GOES-16 and GOES-17.

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Storm Reports from SPC for 12 May 2022, (also shown below), show an extraordinary number of severe wind reports over eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. Visible imagery from the CSPP Geosphere site, above, shows the convective system responsible for the widespread winds lifting northeastward out of Nebraska and moving over the Missouri River Valley.

The animation below shows Clean Window infrared imagery (10.3 µm) overlain on top of Clear-sky only GOES-16 Derived Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE). CAPE values increase into the mid-2000s (J/Kg) as the convection lifts toward the South Dakota/Minnesota border: abundant instability is present.

NOAA-20 overflew this area just after 1800 UTC, and the NUCAPS profiles derived from CrIS and ATMS on board that satellite tell a similar story of instability. Gridded fields of the 850-500 mb Lapse Rate, of Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and of the Total Totals Index, below, show a corridor of instability and moisture over extreme southeast South Dakota. Lapse rates are between 8 and 9^o C/km, TPW values are near 1.5″, and Total Total Index values exceed 55! Convection moving towards this region and along this axis of instability would not be inhibited by the environment. NUCAPS Sounding Availability points shown in the image below are mostly green: the infrared retrievals converged to a solution.

What do the individual NUCAPS Profiles look like? Two lines of profiles over eastern Nebraska are shown below. Sounding readout values from NSharp in AWIPS show large MUCAPS values, and a very well-mixed atmosphere.

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AWIPS imagery in this post was created using the NOAA/TOWR-S AWIPS Cloud Instance.

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images with time-matched plots of SPC Storm Reports (above) showed the northeastward propagation of the derecho — along with a second Mesoscale Convective System in its wake — as it produced wind gusts as high as 107 mph in South Dakota (at 2125 UTC), hail as large as 2.50 inches in diameter in Nebraska (at 0007 UTC) and several tornadoes. Note that this early GOES-18 imagery is preliminary and non-operational.

The corresponding 1-minute GOES-18 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (below) extend a bit past sunset — and revealed pulsing overshooting tops as cold as -70 to -75ºC (white pixels embedded within areas of black).

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GOES-16 provided a view of a haboob over Nebraska on 05-12-2022. A haboob is an intense dust storm or “wall of dust” that occurs in dry conditions in high winds, which were recorded in Nebraska up to 80 mph. Haboobs can bring low visibility and even no-visibility blackouts that cause road closures. These dust storms are typically rare in the midwest. However, moderate drought conditions have made dust available in the Plains region. Similar dust storms were reported in areas of South Dakota and Iowa as the same system moved eastward.

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Wednesday, 05-11-2022, brought storm damage and copious amounts of lightning over Minnesota and parts of South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The GOES-16 Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) detected the flash extent density over these areas. A NEXRAD radar composite shows a large bow echo signature around 05-12-2022 01:25Z that spanned the entire lower half of Minnesota. Storms are still currently pushing through eastern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin and forecast to bring severe thunderstorms throughout the afternoon. There are also continuing threats of flooding in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas.

The GOES-16 GLM Flash Extent Density product is available on RealEarth here. Near-real-time GLM visualizations are available as well as archived visualizations of GLM going back 3-4 days.

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