The NOAA Aviation Weather Center's first GOES-R series of satellites has officially gone online, and the agency has replaced its legacy area forecast, the weather system that was used for more than 50 years, it said at the Women in Aviation conference late last week.
The first GOES-R series of geostationary weather satellites, GOES-16, was launched in November 2016. It spent a year in space undergoing testing to make sure it was collecting accurate and reliable data before it was moved to GOES-East position (75 degrees west longitude). According to the Aviation Weather Center, this new series of satellites offers three times more spectral channels five times faster than before and four times greater resolution. It can collect high-resolution images of storms, water vapor, mountain wave activity, wildfire, and more.
More recently, GOES-17 was launched on March 1 and will spend the next year being tested in space. This satellite is then expected to be moved to GOES-West (137 degrees west longitude). The last of the GOES-R satellites are slated to be launched by 2025.
Previously, the Aviation Weather Center’s legacy area forecast was issued three times a day and took two to three hours to complete. When the FAA called for an end to this system, it was replaced with Graphical Forecasts for Aviation (GFA). GFA is based on partner feedback and that offers multiple weather displays of observational data, forecasts, and warnings.
Other recent website changes include the addition of Sig Wx and prog charts with timestamps, a new integrated AIREP/PIREP layer, larger surface prog charts, and new radar static images.
