The current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series was inaugurated in 1994 with the launch of GOES-8 and will continue with three more satellites (GOES-N, O, P) past the most recent GOES-13 launched in 2006. The next generation GOES (beginning with GOES-R) will be launched in the 2015 time frame. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) on this new series of satellites will include improved spatial, temporal, spectral, and radiometric resolution. The last two characteristics are manifest by an increased number of spectral bands and increased precision for measurements from those bands. Towards utilizing the extra/improved capabilities of GOES-R ABI, new products are being developed using proxy data from other satellites with some of the spectral bands that will be available on GOES-R.

The focus of new product development in this effort had been in the area of hazard detection, encompassing phenomena such as low clouds, blowing dust, fires and smoke, and volcanic ash. Image products already being tested are variations of products for fog-stratus-low cloud detection, and variations of products for the detection of blowing dust. Other image products are being developed for the monitoring of volcanic ash plumes. While most of the products are qualitative, in that the user sees the phenomena of interest, especially using image enhancements and three-color analysis. There is also an effort to quantify the desired phenomena for the users. That is the focus of the more-recent developments towards detection of natural hazards.