The ABI will have much better temporal resolution than the current GOES imager, meaning that it will be able to scan the atmosphere faster and acquire images more frequently. One mode is that every 15 minutes, ABI will scan the full disk (FD), plus continental United States (CONUS) 3 times, plus a selectable 1000 km × 1000 km area every 30 seconds. Alternatively, the ABI can be programmed to scan the FD iteratively every 5 minutes. Given that the current GOES imager takes approximately 25 min for a FD, this implies there will be a fivefold increase in the coverage rate! Why does temporal resolution matter? To answer this visually, compare the following two animations, the top has two images with 15 intervals and the bottom covers the same time period with several images one-minute apart.

15 Minute Sampling

1 minute sampling...