Happening Now: NOAA operations in real time

TIROS-1 recognized second orbit vs. Day-Night band image from the NPP VIIRS
The first image was captured by TIROS I satellite on its second orbit and is of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River. The gray areas in Gulf were interpreted to be ice. This was the first interpretation of sea ice, which is a major function of satellite imaging today. The second image is from the Suomi NPP satellite's Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument taken on Sunday, February 10, 2013. The image shows portions of the St. Lawrence River after a snow storm departed the US Atlantic coastline. The VIIRS combines the radiometric accuracy of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer currently flown on today's NOAA polar orbiters. VIIRS provides imagery of clouds under sunlit conditions in about a dozen bands and provides coverage in several infrared bands for night and day cloud imaging applications.
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GOES 7 vs. GOES-R
In the 1970s GOES were spin-stabilized, viewing Earth only about ten percent of the time and provided data in only two dimensions (three if you consider time). There was no indication of cloud thickness, moisture content, temperature variation with altitude, or any other information in the vertical dimension. The next generation of geostationary environmental satellites, GOES-R will provide significant advances in observing capabilities with a new 16-channel imager that will provide 3 times more spectral information, 4 times the spatial coverage, and 5 times the temporal resolution compared to the current GOES imagers. For the first time GOES will provide lightning detection, with continuous coverage of total lighting flash rate over land and water. The satellites will also advance space weather forecasting, including improved solar flare warnings for communications and navigation disruptions, more accurate monitoring of hazardous energetic particles, and better monitoring of coronal mass ejections.
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POES/GOES history of satellite operations and improvements
NOAA's fleet of polar orbiting and geostationary satellites are the sentential of the Earth's environment. Environmental monitoring has evolved from basic satellite observations focused on cloud cover and storm ice images to improved visuals, analysis sensors, and advanced climate observations. Geostationary satellites constantly monitor the Western Hemisphere from around 22,240 miles above the Earth; polar-orbiting satellites circle the Earth and provide global information from 540 miles above the Earth. The data from these satellites are also used to measure the temperature of the ocean that is a key indicator of climate change. Moreover, satellite information is used to monitor coral reefs, harmful algal blooms, fires, and volcanic ash. Today's satellites similarly monitor conditions in space and solar flares. Both satellites fleets relay position information from emergency beacons to help save those distressed on boats, airplanes, or in remote areas. Scientists also use a data collection system on the satellites to relay data from transmitters on the ground to researchers in the field.
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History of the NOAA line and center offices
Today, NOAA operates three world-class data centers: National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) originally an interagency facility administered by the U.S. Naval Hydrographic until 1970; National Climatic Data Center (NCDC), Asheville, North Carolina formally the National Weather Records Center until 1982; and the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), Boulder, Colorado, originally various scientific agencies throughout Boulder, Colorado also transferred to NOAA in 1970.

NODC archives and distributes oceanographic data including physical, biological, and chemical measurements from in situ oceanographic observations, satellite remote sensing, and industrial oceanographic activities in coastal and deep ocean areas.

NCDC is the world's largest active archive of weather and climate data, which are the cornerstone for the prediction of future events that affect the world's environment and economy. NCDC responds to data requests from all over the world.

NGDC provides scientific stewardship, products, and services for geophysical data from the sun to the Earth and the Earth's sea floor and solid Earth environment, including Earth observations from space.