A Comprehensive Study and Summary of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite -16 and -17 Mesoscale Domain Sector Requests

The GOES-R Series of weather satellites has provided the weather enterprise with unprecedented observing capabilities in spatial resolution and temporal image frequency for numerous events. Part of the transition to the new series of GOES satellites was an evolution in the request process for Mesoscale Domain Sectors (MDS). This presentation will summarize all requested MDSs since GOES-16 became capable of sending such data and the important concept of operations considerations in the request approval process. As is often true with weather and seasons, many high-impact and MDS-worthy events often occur contemporaneously. It has been especially helpful to have NOAA/NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction Senior Duty Meteorologists involved in the request process to facilitate initial, modified, and ongoing requests for MDS imagery. With two GOES-R series satellites currently in orbit and operational, four MDSs are available in real-time for 1-minute image observations. This study will highlight the longest, shortest, most-requested, most-requested-by, daytime, nighttime, priorities, reasons/justifications, etc. Whenever possible, actual image loops and blog post references will provide deeper references to the events, natural and man-made, to illustrate the game-changing capabilities for Forecast, Warning, and other NWS Operations.