Early Insights into GOES-16 ABI Image Quality Using GRATDAT

The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), the primary earth imager onboard GOES-16, the first in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series (GOES-R), has been producing data for close to a year. During this time the various product science teams have scrutinized not only the Level-1b (L1b) products but also the various intermediate products, processing parameters, and raw data. These types of analyses give further insight into the status of the product science and allows for better troubleshooting of anomalous behaviors.

The GOES-R ABI Trending and Data Analysis Toolkit (GRATDAT) is a tool developed by the GOES-R Program that enables users to analyze non-product data in ways that would otherwise not be possible. GRATDAT provides the ability to extract raw Level-0 (L0) data and process it to various intermediate steps in the L0 to L1b algorithm chain. Because the tool runs offline from the operational Ground System, it is adaptable to non-nominal data collections such as the North-South Scans (NSS) acquired during the Field Campaign. GRATDAT also trends radiometric and instrument parameters in near-real-time to identify detector-level anomalies and provide early warning of potential product impacts.

This presentation will highlight examples where GRATDAT was able to provide insight into instrument performance or provide intermediate products. These examples show how trending parameters and working with non-nominal data has provided critical data insights and allowed for rapid analysis of NSS during the Field Campaign.