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Example Dataset: GOES ABI

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annajungbluth edited this page Oct 20, 2024 · 20 revisions

Below are some notes on NOAA's GOES satellites, specifically focussing on the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI).

GOES Satellites

GOES-16

  • Launched on 19 November 2016, operational since 18 December 2017
  • Longitude central point: -75.2

GOES-17 [no longer operational]

  • Launched on 1 March 2018, operational from 12 February 2019 to 4 January 2023 at longitude -136.9
  • Replaced by GOES-18 due to issues with its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument
  • Moved to longitude -104.7 (between GOES-16 and GOES-18) and serves as backup for the operational satellites

GOES-18

  • Launched on 1 March 2022, operational since 4 January 2023 (replaced GOES-17)
  • Longitude central point: -136.9

GOES Instruments

Earth-facing:

  • Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI)
  • Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM)]

Sun-facing:

  • Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS)
  • Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI)

Space environment:

  • Magnetometer (MAG)
  • Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS)

ABI Data

Processing Levels

  • Level-0: Raw instrument measurements
  • Level-1B: Calibrated and geolocated radiances
  • Level-2: Derived geophysical variables
  • Level-3: Geophysical variables mapped on uniform space-time grid

Level-1B: Spectral Bands & Resolution

GOES-ABI-bands

Level-1B: Data Quality Flag

The Data Quality Flag (DQF) is provided with each radiance file, and shows the following values:

  • 0 --> Good pixel quality
  • 1 --> Conditionally usable pixel quality
  • 2 --> Out of range pixel quality
  • 3 --> No value pixel quality
  • 4 --> Focal Plane Temperature Threshold Exceeded

Level 2: Clear Sky Mask (ACM)

The clear sky mask product uses the GOES ABI visible, near-infrared and infrared bands to create a binary cloud mask where each pixel is either cloudy or clear.

ACM data is provided at the native 2km resolution on the ABI fixed grid for full disk, CONUS, and mesoscale coverage regions, at the same temporal resolution as ABI L1b data.

Naming Conventions

GOES ABI Level 1b and 2 data are named according to the following naming conventions:

<SE>_<DSN>_<PID>_<Obs Start Date & Time>_<Obs End Date & Time>_<Creation Date & Time>.<FE>

where:

  • SE = System Environment
  • DSN = Data Short Name
  • PID = Platform Identifier
  • Obs Start Date & Time = Observation Period Start Date & Time
  • Obs End Date & Time = Observation Period End Date & Time
  • Creation Date & Time = File Creation Date & Time
  • FE = File Extension

Working with Level-1B Data

GOES/ABI radiances are provided in $mW/m^2/sr/cm^{-1}$, i.e. the data is normalised to wavenumbers. In order to convert the data to $W/m^2/sr/um$, the data needs to be multiplied by $10^{-7}$; $mW = 10^{-3} W$, $cm^{-1} = 10^4 {um}$.

Data Format & Access

GOES Data can be explored in the following buckets:

AWS:

Google Cloud:

Software Tools

GOES2GO - Software download

  • allows downloading of GOES data from AWS

Q/A

This research is funded through a NASA 22-MDRAIT22-0018 award (No 80NSSC23K1045) and managed by Trillium Technologies Inc (trillium.tech).

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