NOAA debuts new GOES-19 satellite images, helps improve weather forecasts

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Meteorologists and other atmospheric scientists in the western hemisphere are getting a new and advanced look at the earth after Wednesday’s GOES-19 preliminary images.

NOAA’s new GOES-19 satellite is the final satellite in the heralder GOES-R Series . The series includes the already operational GOES-17 and GOES-18 satellite that KOIN 6 meteorologists frequently share and use to forecast Portland’s weather. This nearly 10-year-long GOES-R Series process will complete and improve the weather forecasting for the western hemisphere.

The new satellite “is currently undergoing post-launch testing, which includes validation and calibration of its instruments, systems and data to prepare it for operations. NOAA plans for GOES-19 to replace GOES-16 as GOES-East in April 2025 ,” said NOAA.

As calibrations and more testing continue, the new satellite will orbit the earth at the same speed as the earth’s rotation. That makes this satellite, like the GOES-17 and GOES-18, a geostationary satellite. That’s where the images taken are from the same place.

The GOES-19 satellite began its journey on the Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, according to NOAA. The launch took place on June 25, 2024.

In the first image sent back to earth, sights of wildfire smoke can be seen over the Midwest and over the Amazon over South America. The new satellite even picked up on the cloud coverage seen just west of the Oregon and Washington Coast early Wednesday, September 18, 2024.

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