NOAA GOES and POES Overview & Status

Kathleen A. Kelly Director Office of Satellite Operations NOAA/NESDIS 2004 Satellite Direct Readout Conference December 6, 2004 Constellation Overview

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages a constellation of four geostationary and eleven polar orbiting meteorological spacecraft. The spacecraft supported range in age from 1 to 17 years.

These are distributed among three operational programs: the Geostationary Operational environmental Satellite Program (GOES), Polar Operational Environmental Satellite Program (POES) and the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). DMSP satellites have been operated by NOAA in support of the U.S. Air Force since 1997. Managing the Nation’s Operational Environmental Satellite Systems

Polar Orbiting Satellites Geostationary Satellites

Fairbanks, POES Program Overview

• Provides a continuous flow of global environmental information in support of national operational environmental requirements

• Requires two satellites on-orbit (one in an afternoon orbit and one in a morning orbit) to ensure continuous coverage.

2:00 P.M. Sun-Synchronous Orbit Period 101 min. Altitude 870 Km 7:30 A.M. Scan width 2700 km Circle Earth 14 times per day POES Satellites

POES Satellites provide continuous global environmental observations in support of operation requirements for:

– Weather Forecasting and Space Environment – Detection of significant environmental events (e.g., fires, oil spills, volcanic eruptions) – Measurement of climate variables (e.g., atmospheric ozone) – Ocean observations (e.g., sea surface temperature) – Collection of data from surface platforms (e.g., buoys) – Search and rescue Solar Shield SAR Receive Antenna Polar-orbiting Operational IMU AVHRR Environmental Satellite Direction of Orbit (POES)

Batteries

ESA HIRS

AMSU A1 Solar Array UDA SBUV AMSU B AMSU A2

LEGEND AMSU Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer ESA Earth Sensor Assembly HIRS High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder IMU Inertial Measurement Unit SAR Search and Rescue SBUV Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Sounding Spectral Radiometer UDA Ultra High Frequency Data Collection System Antenna POES System

Fairbanks CDAS

Wallops CDAS Suitland SOCC Telemetry and Commands Global Area Coverage and Local Area Coverage High Resolution Picture Transmission Search and Rescue Automated Picture Transmission Data Collection System GE Americom Beacon TIROS Information Processor Data POES Status

Spacecraft Subsystems NOAA 17 NOAA 16 NOAA 15 NOAA 14 NOAA 12 Ascending Node +/- 5 mins 2224 1430 1817 2019 1648 Mission Data Category PRI PRI Back Up SEC SEC Instruments Adv. High resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Y Y R High Resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS) Y R Adv. Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A1) R Y Y N/A N/A Adv. Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A2) N/A N/A Adv. Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-B) Y N/A N/A Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) N/A N/A N/A Y R Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU) N/A N/A N/A N/A Data Collection Subsystem (DCS) Search and Rescue Repeater (SARR) Y Y Y N/A Search and Rescue Processor (SARP) R N/A Space Environment Monitor (SEM) Y Solar Backscatter UV Radiometer (SBUV) Y N/A Y N/A Spacecraft Subsystems Command and Control Y Electrical Power Y Attitude Determination and Control Communications Y Y Thermal Control Y Data Handling (Recorders) Y Y Y GOES Program Overview

• GOES satisfies national operational environmental requirements for 24-hour observation of weather and Earth’s environment to support storm-scale weather forecasting by forecasters and numerical models

• To meet requirements, GOES continuously maintains operational satellites at two locations (75 degrees West and 135 degrees West), with an on-orbit spare ready in case of failure

GOES-10GOES-10 GOES-12GOES-12 135135oo WestWest 7575oo WestWest

GOES-11GOES-11 On-orbitOn-orbit SpareSpare

GOES Geographic Coverage Geostationary Satellites

• Warnings to U.S. Public -- Detect, track and characterize – Hurricanes – Severe or possibly tornadic storms – Flash flood producing weather systems • Imagery for weather forecasting • Sea Surface Temperature monitoring • Winds for aviation and NWS numerical models • Environmental data collection – platforms including buoys, rain gauges… • Search and Rescue Current GOES Satellites: Pacific Region

GOES-10 GOES-10 Operational: 135 W

GOES-9 JMA Operational: 205 W

GOES-7 Peacesat: 175W

GOES-9 Sounder Imager Solar Sail S-Band Transmit Antenna

S-Band Receive Digital Antenna Sun Sensor

Earth Sensor UHF Transmit/ Receive Antenna

Dual Magnetometers Telemetry & Commanding Antenna

X-Ray Sensor

Solar Array

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Trim Tab (GOES I - M) GOES System Telemetry and Commands Raw Imager and Sounder Data GOES Variable Format Weather Facsimile Space Environment Data Search and Rescue Data Collection System

Wallops Suitland CDAS SOCC GOES Status

Spacecraft Subsystems GOES-9 GOES-10 GOES-11 GOES-12 Operational Status Pacific West Storage East Inclination Control R Y Image Motion Compensation Y Instruments Imager Y Sounder Space Environment Monitor Y Y SXI N/A N/A N/A O Spacecraft Subsystems Attitude and Orbit Control O Thermal Control Electrical Power Telemetry and Command Communications Y Propulsion Mechanisms Y Direct Readout Services

• GOES • POES

– GVAR – HRPT

– WEFAX/LRIT – APT

– EMWIN – DCS

– DCS – ARGOS

– SARSAT – SARSAT NOAA’s Operational Environmental Satellite Constellation Geostationary Operational Dual Magnetometers Environmental Satellite (GOES N - P)

Imager

Sounder

Star Trackers (3)

S-Band Antenna S/L--Band Antennas

Solar X-Ray Imager UHF Antenna

Solar Array GOES-N Features Summary

• Imaging/Sounding Through Eclipse – Larger Batteries

• Star Trackers as Primary Attitude Reference – Improved Navigation Performance – 2 km Pointing Accuracy vs. 4/6 km Current Performance – Faster Recovery Following Maneuvers

• Elimination of Solar Sail Yields Colder IR Detectors – Lower Noise Performance for IR Channels GOES-N Operations Differences

• Improved Solar Baffles on Imager/Sounder Telescopes – Can image closer to Sun – No keepout zone for Imager

• Time-Tagged Onboard Commands – Fewer Lost Images

• Yaw Flip Twice per year, near equinoxes Launch Schedules

• POES

– NOAA-N: March 10, 2005

– NOAA-N’: December 2007

• GOES

– GOES-N: NET March 31, 2005

– GOES-O: April 2007

– GOES-P: October 2008 NOAA-N Launch Activation

• Launch March 10, 2005 • Launch Vehicle: Delta II Vandenberg AFB • LTAN: 1400 PM Orbit • Instrument Changes: – Microwave Humidity Sounder (MHS) replaces AMSU-B – Upgrade to HIRS/4 • Communication Changes: – APT: VTX1 137.1 MHz VTX2 137.9125 • Activation: – Spacecraft Activation: Launch +5 days – Instrument Activation: Launch +21 days – NASA Handover to NOAA: Launch +21 day – On-orbit Verification: Launch +45 days GOES-N Post Launch Test Timeline

• Launch March 31, 2005 – 18 Days Orbit Raising, Deployments – 6 Days Spacecraft Subsystem Startups

• Normal On-Orbit Mode, Handover to NASA, Launch +24 days – Start of 6-month Post Launch Test Period – Comm, Instrument Startup and Calibration

• Cooler Cover Deployment, Launch +45 days – Start of INR PLT Sequence

• End of PLT, Transition to Storage Mode, Launch +6 months – Handover to NOAA for operations