GOES-R: A Paradigm Shift in Severe Weather Forecasting and Research

The GOES-R series satellites represent a leap forward in capabilities for the entire portfolio of GOES science products. GOES-R satellites provide enhanced spectral, temporal, and spatial information, and with the deployment of a new system with new capabilities such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), user readiness becomes an increasingly important activity. The severe weather community will have an unprecedented amount of better, faster data with which to make more accurate forecasts. The GOES-R Product Readiness and Operations (PRO) team is tasked to work with partners at the National Weather Service (NWS) and within the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to ensure satellite products are ready for operations and the user community is ready to receive and disseminate products to serve their needs and requirements.

One new operational capability is revolutionizing forecasting: the Flex Mode scanning strategy of the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). ABI Flex Mode will produce mesoscale scans every 30 or 60 seconds. The PRO team worked with many partners in the NWS, NESDIS, and the GOES-R Ground Segment to develop a comprehensive process for determining how these Mesoscale Domain Sectors (MDS) will be placed in an efficient manner for operations while also supporting research and international user requests. A second new operational capability with vast research potential is the GLM with total lightning data (in-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground). GLM data are captured and delivered with 20 second latency. Satellite technology now matches the timeframe of severe weather evolution.

This presentation will explain how this new geostationary series is revolutionizing forecasting through its scanning strategies and instruments and will detail how a research MDS request can be made. In addition, examples of the high-temporal satellite imagery that highlight mesoscale processes such as convection and complimentary GLM products will demonstrate the importance of the GOES-R imagery and lightning data to severe weather research and forecasting moving forward.