GOES Sounder Products - New Observations for Weather Forecasting

The new Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) are providing meteorologists with many new space-based observations of earth's atmosphere and surface. The new Sounder instrument, which independently measures profiles of atmospheric temperature and moisture, is responsible for the majority of new observations. For the first time, meteorologists have access to continuous (hourly) information on the vertical distribution of temperature and moisture, at high spatial resolution (30km) in cloud-free areas. Applications of these new sounding products to weather forecasting include use in numerical forecast models as well as by meteorologists in NWS forecast offices and the private sector. The poster illustrates these as related to moisture analysis and forecasting in numerical models, and the identification of regions and axes of instability which is critical for the analysis and forecasting of severe weather prior to the development of convection. In addition, information is provided on the spectral characteristics of the sounder instrument, including central wavelengths and weighting functions.