NOAA/NESDIS operates the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-10, which is routinely scanning the southern hemisphere with both the Imager and Sounder instruments. The satellite is located at 60 degrees West longitude. This effort is part of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) project, which is a collaborative effort between NOAA and international partners. GOES-10 provides the first operational geostationary Sounder to routinely gather data over South America. The Imager scans a full disk image every three hours and scans an “extended Southern Hemisphere” sector every 15 minutes, while the Sounder (with 19 spectral bands) scans South America and its surrounding regions in four sectors over four hours.

The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at University of Wisconsin-Madison is producing experimental Sounder products and posting them on a near-real time Web page (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/rt/goes10.php). The Sounder products include Derived Product Images (DPI) of Cloud Top Pressure (CTP), Total Precipitable Water (TPW), and Lifted Index (LI). Animations of these DPIs, as well as select Sounder and Imager spectral bands, are also available.

Regarding other uses of the GOES-10 data stream, imagery from the GOES-10 Imager is improving satellite composite imagery used for aviation concerns over Antarctica by the Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC). The GOES-10 data are also being provided to the Washington DC VAAC (Volcanic Ash Advisory Center), by the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), so that volcanic ash plumes can be monitored. GOES-10 Sounder cloud information is being used to initialize a regional NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) model. The above mentioned activities are in addition to uses of the GOES-10 Imager and Sounder data in Central and South America.