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from the 3d-4k-curved-screen-with-built-in-tivo dept.
https://phys.org/news/2017-01-goes-satellite-images-earth.html
Since the GOES-16 satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral on November 19, scientists, meteorologists and ordinary weather enthusiasts have anxiously waited for the first photos from NOAA's newest weather satellite, GOES-16, formerly GOES-R.
The release of the first images today is the latest step in a new age of weather satellites. It will be like high-definition from the heavens.
The pictures from its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument, built by Harris Corporation, show a full-disc view of the Western Hemisphere in high detail—at four times the image resolution of existing GOES spacecraft. The higher resolution will allow forecasters to pinpoint the location of severe weather with greater accuracy. GOES-16 can provide a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the continental U.S. every five minutes, and scans the Earth at five times the speed of NOAA's current GOES imagers.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 25 2017, @03:26PM
I did some googling and the top tier nexrad radars (only over land, or nearby land anyway) resolve down to 250 meters pretty easily and the satellite claims best resolution right underneath the flightpath of 500 meters but more like 2000 toward the edge of the imaging disk.
So the resolution is awesome for hurricanes offshore and in no radar coverage areas. but in tornado alley we already have better 3d data from existing radar.
Not that more data has ever impaired scientific study, of course. I'm sure it'll provide some minimal benefit everywhere as an additional source of data. Just saying we have 60 or so radars that cover most of CONUS and they are higher res, but this covers most of a hemisphere at once so thats cool.
(Score: 1) by moondoctor on Wednesday January 25 2017, @04:10PM
Yep, you are correct this is not for local weather in the United States. Far from minimal, the detail, speed and number of channels are a game changer. This can image the whole damn planet in minutes in unprecedented detail. This is for the big picture and large scale weather patterns (think jet stream) as opposed to local storm cells where radar is the tool of choice. I think the GOES stuff is used a lot in shipping forecasts also, but could be making that up...
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 25 2017, @04:59PM
Coincidences in engineering are always interesting where you get the same resolution roughly if you launch a camera into space or if you bounce radio waves around the ground.
That would lead me to think both projects are spec driven defined by the meteorologists. "Yo EEs, we don't care how you do it but give us these resolution specs". That makes the article semi-disingenuous implying there's a scientific or engineering achievement here rather than "eh met unchallenging specs".
I "know" spy sats can get much higher res so the satellite camera is just meeting specs rather than cutting edge. Likewise higher freq military radar certainly can image a higher resolution but its not needed for meteorological work so it isn't done.
It might be cutting edge tech for other reasons, weight, price, bandwidth, but not "HD resolution".
(Score: 1) by zugedneb on Wednesday January 25 2017, @05:36PM
I "know" spy sats can get much higher res so the satellite camera is just meeting specs rather than cutting edge. Likewise higher freq military radar certainly can image a higher resolution but its not needed for meteorological work so it isn't done.
but can they?
optics and camera chips are made by manufacturers we mostly know.
i think the main difference is the zoom functions, or image reconstruction techniques when several satelites point to same location and the images are enhanced with previous models of the area, but i am not lead to believe that the hardware itself is several, if even one, generation ahead these days.
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday January 25 2017, @06:48PM
In the mid 80s SPOT was selling optical orbital images with 10M resolution, so yeah.
SPOT is an ongoing program and the 6 and 7 twins are selling 1.5 M resolution. That's about 18 inches not fifteen meters or whatever.
If you're ever bored google up the owners of SPOT 7. It got sold to who to do what? Huh? Really? Now I've seen it all.
(Score: 1) by zugedneb on Wednesday January 25 2017, @07:23PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPOT_%28satellite%29#SPOT_6_and_SPOT_7 [wikipedia.org]
In December 2014, SPOT 7 was sold to Azerbaijan's space agency Azercosmos, who renamed it Azersky.[5]
nothing suspicious then
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 1) by moondoctor on Wednesday January 25 2017, @09:10PM
It's not so much the tech that's cutting edge, it's more that the weather dudes got a serious upgrade. The ability to image the whole planet quickly and in much higher detail than before just the way meteorologists need is the cutting edge part.