2nd GOES Goes Up, Should Come Down to Better Weather Forecasts

NASA launched the second in a series of advanced weather satellites Tuesday to try to improve the forecasting of hurricanes, tornadoes and flash floods.

An Atlas rocket hoisted the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite into orbit. Forecasters hope to get storm images from the newest GOES during this year’s hurricane season. NASA will spend four to five months testing the spacecraft before handing over control to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The first advanced GOES satellite, GOES 8, was launched in April, 1994. It will become fully operational by June 1, the first day of the six-month Atlantic hurricane season.

Thanks to that satellite, the National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City, Mo., is already issuing tornado and other storm watches sooner than before, said center director Frederick Ostby. Forecasters also can better define which areas should be included in these watches, he said.

The newest satellite will be called GOES 9. Like its predecessor, the $220-million spacecraft will operate from a 22,300-mile-high orbit. Two satellites are needed in this orbit to watch the whole United States and adjacent oceans.

Besides stalking storms, these bigger and better GOES satellites can track icebergs, detect fog at night and distinguish 1,024 shades of gray. The old satellites could discern only 64 shades.