GOES Sounder
The GOES Sounder is an instrument aboard NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. Each card on this page represents a product derived using data from the GOES Sounder instrument. Products on blue cards, marked as "Research," are still in development, or exist mainly for academic purposes. For more details on any product, click the link at the bottom of each eard. To see actual real-time data, click the link at the bottom right of the card.
For more information, see the GOES Sounder Overview at the bottom of this page.
RESEARCH
20-Day Clear Sky Composite
Intermediate product of minimum surface reflectivity used for surface albedo and insolation products.
RESEARCH
SPoRT Spectral Difference
Difference between 11µm and 3.9µm IR channels; used to determine fog depth.
RESEARCH
Effective Cloud Fraction
The product of physical cloud fraction and cloud emissivity to measure opacity using CO2 slicing.
RESEARCH
Cloud Top Pressure - CO2 Slicing
Atmospheric pressure level corresponding to the height of cloud tops using CO2 slicing.
RESEARCH
Cloud Top Pressure - Combined
Estimate of pressure level at cloud top using channel differences.
GOES Sounder Overview
The Earth Science Office obtains GOES East (GOES-13) real-time satellite data from a roof-top antenna atop the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC). Data from the Sounder on-board the GOES satellite are ingested and are used to monitor developing weather conditions through the development of a number of useful products. The Sounder provides 10-km resolution data of the Continental US (CONUS) once an hour for 19 spectral channels. The Sounder is used to derive several products, namely skin temperature, total precipitable water, and cloud top pressure products. For more information on the GOES Sounder, visit the CIMSS/SSEC GOES Page.
Currently, these products are made from the Sounder once an hour (at 45 minutes past) 24 hours a day, or during daylight hours (11-23 UTC), depending on the product. All products are generated operationally at single-pixel resolution.