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Satellite User Readiness Navigator (SATURN)

Preparing for the next generation of meteorological satellites

How can I get access to the data and products?

EPS-SG User Readiness Planning

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The EUMETSAT User Portal is now the one-stop-shop for all user information related to EPS-SG. The Metop-SG section includes an overview of the mission and data services (Global, Local, Regional); Metop-SG Data collection (post-launch, when closer to release); resources including user guides, related documents, software and code and service status updates, and Metop-SG data news and events.

In order for users to prepare for EPS-SG, format familiarisation test data packages are being released. A Product Format Specification document describing the content of each product is also released with each test data package. For more information on test data, see the Metop-SG test data user guide.

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GOES-17 Post-Launch Testing, Science Product Validation, and Data Release

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GOES-S reached geostationary orbit on March 12, 2018, and was renamed GOES-17. The satellite then underwent post-launch checkout and testing at 89.5 degrees west longitude. Post-launch testing includes instrument calibration and trending and image navigation and registration system testing and validation.

The GOES-R Program encountered a performance issue with the cooling system of the GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument. The loop heat pipe (LHP) subsystem, which transfers heat from the ABI electronics to the radiator, is not operating at its designed capacity. This is preventing adequate cooling for some of the infrared (IR) channels on the instrument. The effect is worse during warm portions of orbit, near midnight when sun enters the ABI aperture, and during warm seasons around vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Under worst case conditions, local emission and dark current noise cause the longer wavelength channels saturate and become unusable for some hours.

Optimization techniques have been successful in recovering more than 97% of planned ABI data. GOES-17 is currently observing with more channels, at a higher resolution, and with more rapid refresh than what is available from the current GOES West satellite. NOAA is confident the GOES constellation will continue to meet the operational needs of the National Weather Service and forecasters across the nation.

GOES-17 was handed over from the GOES-R Program to NOAA’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations on October 22, 2018. The satellite then drifted from its checkout location at 89.5 degrees west longitude to its operational location at 137.2 degrees west, arriving on November 13, 2018.

Following two days of calibration activity, all instruments resumed data distribution on November 15, 2018. After additional operational testing at the 137.2 degrees west position, GOES-17 began operations as NOAA’s GOES West satellite on February 12, 2019.

GOES-15 will continue to operate alongside GOES-17 until at least July 2019 allow for assessment of the performance of GOES-17 as the GOES West operational satellite. GOES-15 drifted from its operational location at 135 degrees west longitude to 128 west to eliminate radio frequency interference with GOES-17 at 137.2 west.

A summary of the cooling system issue, latest status, estimated channel availability, impact to data products, information on data flow to users, and frequently asked questions can be found on the GOES-17 ABI Performance webpage.

 

Product Validation

Each GOES-17 data product goes through three levels of validation: Beta, Provisional and Full.

Beta: The product is made available to users to gain familiarity with data formats and parameters. The product has been minimally validated and may still contain significant errors and is not optimized for operational use.

Provisional: Product is ready for operational use but has documented known issues. Product analyses are sufficient to communicate product performance to users relative to expectations (performance baseline).

Full: Product is operational. All known product anomalies are resolved and/or documented and shared with the user community.

A Peer Stakeholder – Product Validation Review (PS-PVR) happens for each product at each level of maturity. The PS-PVR appraises the the status of product quality with respect to program definitions.

A schedule of GOES-17 product validation is below. Click to enlarge.

The Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC) is the source for GOES-17 notifications. To subscribe, email ESPCOperations@noaa.gov. Between launch and operations handover (launch + 6 months), notifications will only occur for distribution turn-on milestones. After operations handover, nominal notifications commence.

The first public visible imagery from the GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager were released on May 31, 2018. See the GOES-17 Data and Imagery gallery for additional GOES-17 imagery and data from all six instruments. Note: The GOES-17 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing on-orbit testing.

GOES-17 science product validation schedule as of May 17, 2019.

GOES-17 science product validation schedule as of May 17, 2019.

 

GOES-17 ABI full disk view of Earth’s Western Hemisphere from its checkout position on May 20, 2018

GOES-17 ABI full disk view of Earth’s Western Hemisphere from its checkout position on May 20, 2018

See GOES-R Data Access Mechanisms for detailed information for GOES-R data distribution.

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Himawari 8 Data Access Mechanisms

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Overview of Himawari-8/9 data distribution/dissemination

Overview of Himawari-8/9 data distribution/dissemination

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ELECTRO-L N2 Data Access Mechanisms

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The data from Electro-L N2 satellite will be available to direct readout users in HRIT/LRIT formats after the commissioning phase completion. LRIT/HRIT Mission Specific Implementation document is published as SRC Planeta WEB-site, http://planet.iitp.ru/english/index_eng.htm. The data could also be provided in near real time by land channels to EUMETSAT for redistribution via EUMETCast.

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GOES-16 Post-Launch Testing, Science Product Validation, and Data Release

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GOES-R reached geostationary orbit on November 29, 2016, and became known as GOES-16. GOES-16 underwent a six-month checkout period in the central 89.5 degrees west checkout orbit and then an additional six months of extended validation. Post-launch testing includes instrument calibration and trending and image navigation and registration system testing and validation.

GOES-16 moved to 75.2 degrees west longitude and became NOAA’s operational GOES East satellite on December 18, 2017, replacing GOES-13. From its operational location, GOES-16 is keeping watch over most of North America, including the continental United States and Mexico, as well as Central and South America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west coast of Africa. View details of GOES-16’s transition to operations.

Each GOES-16 data product goes through three levels of validation: Beta, Provisional and Full.

Beta: The product is made available to users to gain familiarity with data formats and parameters. The product has been minimally validated and may still contain significant errors and is not optimized for operational use.

Provisional: Product is ready for operational use but has documented known issues. Product analyses are sufficient to communicate product performance to users relative to expectations (performance baseline).

Full: Product is operational. All known product anomalies are resolved and/or documented and shared with the user community.

A Peer Stakeholder – Product Validation Review (PS-PVR) happens for each product at each level of maturity. The PS-PVR appraises the the status of product quality with respect to program definitions.

A schedule of GOES-16 product validation is below. Click to enlarge.

GOES-16 Science Product Validation Schedule as of April 3, 2019

GOES-16 Science Product Validation Schedule as of April 3, 2019

The Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC) is the source for GOES-16 notifications. To subscribe, email ESPCOperations@noaa.gov. Between launch and operations handover (launch + 6 months), notifications will only occur for distribution turn-on milestones. After operations handover, nominal notifications commence.

The first public images and from the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager were released on January 23, 2017. See the GOES-16 Data and Imagery gallery for additional GOES-16 imagery and data from all six instruments. Note: The GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing on-orbit testing.

This composite color full-disk visible image is from 1:07 p.m. EDT on January 15, 2017 and was created using several of the 16 spectral channels available on the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument. The image shows North and South America and the surrounding oceans.

This composite color full-disk visible image is from 1:07 p.m. EDT on January 15, 2017 and was created using several of the 16 spectral channels available on the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument. The image shows North and South America and the surrounding oceans.

 

This area of Mexico and Central America is seen from GOES-16 with a largely cloud-free view. A fire and its associated smoke are evident over southern Mexico near the coast.

GOES-16 instrument data are now publicly available via direct readout (GOES Rebroadcast, HRIT/EMWIN and GeoNetcast America) and terrestrial access [Product Distribution and Access (PDA) and the Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS)].

See GOES-R Data Access Mechanisms for detailed information for GOES-R data distribution.

One comment on “GOES-16 Post-Launch Testing, Science Product Validation, and Data Release”

  1. Many Thanks for posting this valuable information on GOES-16!
    We look forward to release of first public images from GOES-16 on January 23!

    Reply

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GOES-R Data, Products and Applications

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GOES-R will make available 34 meteorological, solar and space weather products. An additional 31 products may be made available as future capabilities for the GOES-R Series.

Products

The baseline set of operational GOES-16 products can be found at http://www.goes-r.gov/products/baseline.html. For each product, the detailed Algorithm Theoretical Baseline Document is provided, as well as short descriptions of the applications of the product. A list of future capability products for the  GOES-R series is provided at http://www.goes-r.gov/products/option2.html.

A collection of product fact sheets is available at http://www.goes-r.gov/products/factsheets.html.

Additional information about the development of GOES-R series products is provided by the Algorithm Working Group.

The Product Definition and Users’ Guide (PUG) document provides a product description and format users’ guide for all data and products produced and made available to users by GOES-R Core Ground Segment.

GOES-R series sample data can be found at http://www.goes-r.gov/products/samples.html. These sample datasets represent initial products generated from the GOES-R ground segment during integration and test of product algorithms. These datasets are intended to give GOES-R users a first look at sample data. This data is provided for reference only and should not be considered final.  All datasets are available in NetCDF format.

Example of ABI L1b data for each of the 16 bands as simulated from high resolution numerical weather prediction model output and state-of-the-art radiative transfer models.

Example of ABI L1b data for each of the 16 bands as simulated from high resolution numerical weather prediction model output and state-of-the-art radiative transfer models.

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GOES-R Series Data Formats and Volumes

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There are three levels of GOES-R series data:

Level 0: Unprocessed instrument data at full resolution

Level 1b: Level 0 data with radiometric and geometric correction applied to produce parameters in physical units

Level 2+: Derived environmental variables comparable to Level 1 spatial and temporal resolution

The GOES-R Product Definition and Users’ Guide (PUG) document provides a product description and format users’ guide for all data and products produced and made available to users by the GOES-R series core ground system. This includes the GOES Rebroadcast (GRB), Level 0 data, Level 1b products, and all Level 2+ end products as well as ISO series metadata, instrument calibration data and semi-static source data and algorithm packages. The PUG is divided into five volumes:

Volume 1 (Main) contains reference material, product and data overview information and cross-reference tables to specific product and data paragraphs in the other volumes.

 

Volume 2 (L0 Products) contains Level 0 product descriptions and format information. Note that there is an Appendix X document containing detailed descriptions of ISO series metadata associated with Level 0 products and data.

 

Volume 3 (L1b Products) contains Level 1b product and data descriptions and content and format information. Note that there is an Appendix X document containing detailed descriptions of ISO series metadata associated with Level 1b products and data.

 

Volume 4 (GRB) contains product and data descriptions and content and format information for data made available via GOES Rebroadcast (GRB). This volume also contains description, content and format information for the communications and application level protocols used in GRB. Note that there is an Appendix X document containing detailed descriptions of ISO series metadata associated with Level 1b and Level 2+ products available via GRB.

 

Volume 5 (Level 2+ Products) contains Level 2+ product and data descriptions and content and format information. Note that there is an Appendix X document containing detailed descriptions of ISO series metadata associated with Level 2+ products.

 

Appendix X (ISO Series Metadata) is an appendix to the Product Definition and Users’ Guide (PUG) containing a detailed description of the ISO series metadata.

 

The GOES-R Series Program has made sample datasets available that represent initial products generated from the GOES-R ground segment during integration and test of product algorithms. These datasets are intended to give GOES-R users a first look at sample data. This data is provided for reference only and should not be considered final. As the ground system is built, more sample products and updates to the data will be posted as they become available. All datasets are available in NetCDF format.

Additional test data is available through the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Space Science Engineering Center’s Community Satellite Processing Package (CSPP) for Geostationary Data. In March 2015, SSEC announced the release of the CSPP Geo GRB Prototype software package. This is the initial release of software that will allow direct broadcast users to process GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) data received on their antennas from the GOES-R satellite, after it is launched in 2016. The software is publicly available and free to use. The main functionality included in this release is to ingest a simulated GRB data stream, recover Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Level 1 and Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) Level 2 data payloads, reconstruct the datasets, and write output to mission-standard NetCDF files.

The minimum system requirements for the CSPP Geo GRB software are:
• 12 core, 2.4 GHz CPU with 64-bit instruction support,
• 32GB RAM,
• CentOS 6 64-bit Linux (or other compatible 64-bit Linux distribution),
• 100 GB disk space

Root access may be needed on the target machine to configure network buffer settings to the recommended sizes.

A simulated ABI / GLM test case is provided, along with a test script that simulates the GRB data stream by sending UDP packets on a socket. In our internal testing, the software was able to keep up with the expected GRB data rate without packet loss when running on the recommended hardware.

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GOES-R Series Data Access Mechanisms

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The diversity of the GOES-R user community is reflected in the wide variety and applications of GOES-R series data and products. Larger institutional users can exploit the increases in spectral, temporal, and spatial resolution and assimilate radiances for use in prediction models, increasing the timeliness and accuracy of forecast products. GOES-R data will be used in real time for critical life and property forecasting and warning applications primarily by the National Weather Service, where these users will be able to monitor the rapid development and interaction of severe storms. Other smaller public and private sector users will be able to obtain GOES-R data through their own Earth stations, or through terrestrial network distribution. Learn more about user systems.

GOES-R Series data distribution

GOES-R Series data distribution

GOES-R data products are available using new product distribution and access technologies:

GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) enables direct broadcast users with their own receivers to receive full resolution, calibrated, near real-time direct broadcast data. These data are available to all users with GRB receivers in view of a GOES-R Series satellite at the East or West operational longitudes. GRB is the new data format for GOES-R that replaces the GOES VARiable (GVAR) service. GOES users must upgrade or acquire new antenna and receiver hardware, and acquire processing systems in order to receive the higher volume of GOES-R data via GRB.

GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) distribution

GOES Rebroadcast (GRB) distribution

The data available via GRB is ABI L1b, Space Weather L1b, GLM L2. NOAA Satellite Operations Facility receives the GRB data and generates the rest of the Level 2 baseline products.

GOES Rebroadcast Product Users’ Guide 

GOES Rebroadcast Downlink Specifications

Satellite Receiving Equipment Manufacturers:

 

Real-time data is available to authorized users via Product Distribution and Access (PDA) which receives and stores real-time environmental satellite data and products. The Environmental Satellite Processing and Distribution System (ESPDS) is responsible for receiving and storing real-time environmental satellite data and products and making them available to authorized users.

Product Distribution and Access (PDA)

Product Distribution and Access (PDA)

PDA users include approved users with real-time data requirements. PDA distributes all baseline products (ABI L1b, ABI L2+, Space Weather L1b, GLM L2). What you receive depends on your subscription.

PDA replaces the current Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC) systems [Data Distribution Service (DDS), NDE, GOES satepsdist, etc.] It provides a 7-day data catalog for GOES-R and supports FTPS and SFTP protocols.

Users are asked to review the policy on data access and complete a Data Access Request form. The completed Data Access Request form must be submitted to nesdis.data.access@noaa.gov. This does not guarantee access will be granted, but it is the first step in the process.

Requests from international users will be coordinated with the NOAA office of International and Interagency Affairs. Only users who demonstrate a real-time need for data will be granted access.

GOES-R Series data is also available via CLASS, the Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System, a web-based data archive and distribution system for NOAA’s environmental data. CLASS will provide retrospective data access and distribution services of GOES-R data to all users.

GEONETCast Americas is a commercial satellite-based, C-band broadcast of GOES-R series level 2 imagery and other products. These data are available to all users with GNC-A receivers in view of the Intelsat IS-21 satellite located at 58 degrees West Longitude.

GEONETCast-Americas serves most of North, Central, and South America including the Caribbean Basin, utilizing relatively inexpensive satellite receiver stations based on Digital Video Broadcast (DVB-S or S2) standards.

  • Separate broadcast channels by data provider
  • Users can choose channels they wish to receive
  • Training Channel and Alert Channel Included
  • No restriction on the format of products
GEONETCast

GEONETCast

The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) is an interactive computer system that integrates meteorological and hydrological data, enabling forecasters to prepare forecasts and issue warnings. The NWS is the primary operational user of GOES-R Series data and will receive key data directly from the GOES-R/AWIPS interface.

The Data Collection System (DCS) is a relay system used to collect information from a large number of Earth-based platforms that transmit in-situ environment sensor data on predefined frequencies and schedules, in response to thresholds in sensed conditions, or in response to interrogation signals.

The GOES-R satellite series frequency plan is different from the plan used by the GOES 13, 14 and 15 satellites. GOES Direct Readout Ground Systems (DRGS) currently support the GOES East (GOES-13) DCS downlink in the frequency range of 1694.30 to 1694.70 MHz. The GOES-R series satellites use 1679.70 to 1680.10 MHz to support the DCS downlink. GOES Data Collection System (DCS) users need to modify their Direct Readout Ground Systems (DRGS) to accommodate this change in downlink frequency, to be able to support GOES-16. Note that the GOES-16 frequency plan changes do NOT affect the Data Collection Platform (DCP) UHF-Band uplink transmissions, only the L-Band downlink to NOAA and the DRGSs. There will also be NO frequency changes in the DCS DOMSAT Ku-Band service.

The Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) is a direct service that provides users with weather forecasts, warnings, graphics, and other information directly from the National Weather Service (NWS) in near real time. The GOES EMWIN relay service is one of a suite of methods to obtain these data and display the products on the user’s personal computer. The HRIT (High Rate Information Transmission) service provides broadcast of low-resolution GOES satellite imagery data and selected products to remotely located user HRIT Terminals.

HRIT / EMWIN Prototype Receiver Links and Specifications


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Roadmap for regional satellite data distribution in Region III and IV

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The user community in South and Central America have established a Roadmap for regional satellite data distribution in Region III and IV. This purpose of the roadmap to better coordinate satellite data access and (re-)distribution across the Region, to share resource load and responsibility, and to guide WMO Members in the identification and realization of country-specific solutions. A Region-based approach to this problem will also make it easier for NOAA and vendors to respond to the Region and country needs.

 

The current draft roadmap presents the background situation and the new components of the satellite system in the region. It also shows the actual status and the timetable for the next satellite generation (GOES-R series) and their characteristics. In addition, the document presents the different ways to have access to the data, and potential solution pathways for Members (e.g., using a GOES-R ReBroadcast Station (GRB), using GEONETCast-Americas, etc). The roadmap is a very important document for the region and will guide the users towards the different possibilities to access the next satellite generation. The roadmap is a living document and you will find the latest version here.

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