Direct Broadcast User Contributions to NOAA's GOES-R Series Satellite Data Operations

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) is responsible for operating the GOES-16 satellite and is preparing to assume responsibility for GOES-17. GOES-16 assumed the GOES East position on December 18, 2017 and GOES-S launched on March 1, 2018, and entered its Post Launch Test (PLT) phase as GOES-17 in late March 2018. The GOES-R Series Direct Broadcast (DB) capabilities consist of the GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) and High Rate Information Transmission Emergency Managers Weather Information Service (HRIT/EMWIN). GOES-R series data are available through both the GRB and HRIT/EMWIN DB streams unencrypted and free of charge, and can be received by any U.S. and international user who is in the broadcast footprint. The GRB User Group has grown from 70 to 140 members in the last year. Through the GRB User Group, OSPO has accounted for 78 GRB receive stations. The HRIT/EMWIN broadcast is operational on GOES-16 with a data relay capacity of 400 Kbps. There are 102 sites receiving HRIT/EMWIN and another 64 sites planning to install a HRIT/EMWIN receive capability. Like the GRB User Group, the HRIT/EMWIN User Group meets every three months. Members of the user groups share lessons learned and information, participate in GOES-R Series Post Launch Testing, and routinely report anomalies to OSPO. Feedback from users have resulted in changes to the GOES-R Series Ground System. This presentation includes examples of how the members of OSPO’s DB user groups have contributed to the successful operations of GOES-16 and post launch testing of both GOES-16 and GOES-17. More information on GRB and HRIT/EMWIN is available on the GOES-R Website: https://www.goes-r.gov/mission/ups.html