Mary Beth, Zach, Landris

The Geostationary Satellite system (GOES) supports weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorology research. The National Weather Service (NWS) uses the GOES system for its United States weather monitoring and forecasting operations, and scientific researchers use the data to better understand land, atmosphere, ocean, and climate interactions. BRIEF INTRODUCTION

There are four satellites in operation today: GOES-12 is designated GOES-South, currently located at 60°W GOES 13 is designated GOES-East, currently located at 75°W. GOES 14 is currently in storage at 90°W. It was temporarily designated GOES-East due to technical difficulties with GOES-13. GOES 15 is designated GOES-West, currently located at 135°W over the Pacific Ocean. SATELLITES

Designed to operate to geostationary orbit, 35,790 km above the earth, thereby remaining stationary with respect to a point on the ground, the advanced GOES I–M spacecraft continuously view the continental United States, neighboring environs of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and Central, South America and southern Canada. The three-axis, body-stabilized spacecraft design enables the sensors to "stare" at the earth and thus more frequently image clouds, monitor earth's surface temperature and water vapor fields, and sound the atmosphere for its vertical thermal and vapor structures. CONTINUED………..

GOES RECENT DATA RESULTS Part 2:

Solar X-Ray Flux: This plot shows 3-days of 5-minute solar x-ray flux values measured on the SWPC primary GOES satellite. One low value may appear prior to eclipse periods.

The GOES 12 through 15 spacecraft each carry a sophisticated Solar X-ray Imager to monitor the Sun’s X-rays for the early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other phenomena that impact the geospace environment. CONTINUED……