GOES-16 ABI Successful Stray Light Blocker

The operation of the GOES-16 as GOES-East begins a new era in U.S. geostationary weather and environmental observations, led by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). ABI benefits from the lessons learned by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) Himawari-8 satellite, which flew the first of the ABI-class imagers. One of those lessons was the discovery of a stray light sneak path whereby for a few hours at night for a few months of the year scattered sunlight could illuminate the Band 7 (3.9 μm) focal plane array.

This presentation will discuss the characteristics of this stray light in the Himawari-8 imagery and the 5-bounce sneak path that causes it. Next, the solution to block this stray light path will be shown. The stray light blocker was designed to be retrofitted onto GOES-16 ABI while it was integrated to the spacecraft, ensuring no impact to the GOES-16 launch schedule. Finally, the on-orbit imagery of GOES-16 ABI will be shown, demonstrating the effectiveness of the stray light blocker.