Using environmental satellites to observe the Earth from space is one of the key tools in forecasting weather, analyzing climate, and monitoring hazards worldwide. This 24-hour global coverage provides us with a never-ending stream of information critical for making decisions affecting everything from what you are going to wear today to governments making decisions about how to deal with climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Air Force, manages and operates fleets of weather and environmental monitoring satellites. There are two main types of environmental satellites geostationary and polar-orbiting.
GOES
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites: When you watch your local newscaster present the weather forecast, and they show an image of weather over the whole United States, you are seeing imagery from NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, or GOES. GOES orbit 35,800 km (22,300 miles) above the Earth's equator at speeds equal to Earth's rotation, which maintain their positions relative to Earth. The GOES provide constant monitoring of various areas of the planet. To fully cover Alaska, Hawaii, the entire continental United States, and the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean (for tropical storms), NOAA operates two GOES satellites simultaneously – GOES-East and GOES-West. The satellites provide constant coverage of the western hemisphere by taking photographic images every 15 minutes. These “constant eyes” are critical for identifying severe weather, snow storms, tropical storms and hurricanes. GOES protect our lives and property every day – constantly watching for new storms and severe weather.
In addition to basic imagery, on-board sensors detect cloud, land, and ocean temperatures, as well as monitor activities of the sun. NOAA GOES are also used in identifying when satellite emergency locator beacons have been activated to help with Search and Rescue activities.
POES
Polar Operational Environmental Satellites: When you wonder on Wednesday what the weather will be like over the weekend you turn to weather forecasters, who rely on NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites, or POES, to help make their predictions. POES make regular 360º orbits around the Earth's poles from about 833 km (517 miles) above the Earth's surface. The Earth constantly rotates counterclockwise underneath the path of the satellite making for a different view with each orbit. It takes the satellite approximately 1.5 hours complete a full orbit. In a 24-hour period, the 14 orbits of each polar satellite provide two complete views of weather around the world. By having imagery of the whole globe, meteorologists are able to develop models to predict the weather out to five to ten days. NOAA partners with EUMETSAT to constantly operate two polar-orbiting satellites – one POES and a European polar-orbiting satellite called Metop. When polar-orbiting satellites fly over severe weather, they can also give us very detailed pictures of the storms given how much closer they are to storms than GOES. In addition to weather analysis and forecasting, data from the POES series support a broad range of environmental monitoring applications including climate research and prediction, global sea surface temperature measurements, measurements of temperature and humidity of the atmosphere, ocean dynamics research, volcanic eruption monitoring, forest fire detection, and global vegetation analysis. Instruments on POES are critical for providing long-term, sustained observations used for determining the long term changes in climate conditions around the world. Finally, POES assist in search and rescue by locating people, planes and ships, who have activated emergency locator beacons.
DMSP
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program: Since the mid-1960's, when the Department of Defense (DOD) initiated the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), low, earth-orbiting satellites have provided the military with important environmental information. NOAA operates these satellites on behalf of the U.S. Air Force. DMSP satellites "see" such environmental features as clouds, bodies of water, snow, fire, and pollution and record information, which can help determine cloud type and height, land and surface water temperatures, water currents, ocean surface features, ice, and snow. DMSP is ultimately used in planning and conducting U.S. military operations worldwide.
JASON-2
Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/JASON-2: One aspect of climate change is sea level rise, which affects much of the world's population that live in coastal areas. To measure the height of the ocean around the world, NOAA participates in a joint Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) program between NOAA, NASA, France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). This is a joint effort by the four organizations to measure sea surface height by using a radar altimeter mounted on a low-earth orbiting satellite called Jason-2. Satellite altimetry data provides sea surface heights for determining ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. These sea surface height measurements are necessary for ocean modeling, forecasting El Niño/La Niña events, and hurricane intensity prediction.
Under the OSTM program, NOAA provides day-to-day operation of the Jason-2 satellite distributing data to users around the world.
NPOESS
National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is the next generation of low earth orbiting environmental satellites and is a merger of two current polar orbiting satellite programs, NOAA's Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite (POES) program and the Department of Defense's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The NPOESS will circle the Earth approximately once every 100 minutes. During these revolutions, the NPOESS will provide global coverage, monitor environmental conditions, collect, disseminate and process data about the Earth's weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and near-space environment.
The NPOESS system will be able to monitor the entire planet and provide data for long-range weather and climate forecasts. The data gathered by the NPOESS will aid in reducing the potential loss of human life and property by allowing more efficient disaster planning and response to severe weather conditions such as tornadoes and floods.
The NPOESS Program is managed by the tri-agency Integrated Program Office (IPO), employing personnel from the Dept. of Commerce, Dept. of Defense, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Integrated Program Office has initiated planning and development programs of satellite transition, sensor and system development and user training.
GOES-R
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) program is a key element of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) operations. As such, the GOES-R series of satellites will be comprised of improved spacecraft and instrument technologies, which will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts, and improve support for the detection and observations of meteorological phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property, and ultimately, economic health and development. The first launch of the GOES-R series satellite is scheduled for 2015.
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