Resources to educate students, teachers, and the general public about meteorology, space science, earth-observing satellites, weather phenomena and benefits GOES-R will provide to society.
Information and resources to ensure that the user community is prepared for the new types of satellite imagery and data that will be available from the GOES-R satellite series.
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is an optical transient detector and imager operating in the near-IR that maps total lightning (in-cloud and cloud-to-ground) activity with near uniform spatial resolution of approximately 10 km continuously day and night over the Americas and adjacent ocean regions. The GLM will provide early indication of storm intensification and severe weather events, improved tornado warning lead time of up to 20 minutes or more, and data for long-term climate variability studies.
It is anticipated that GLM data will have immediate applications to aviation weather services, climatological studies, and severe thunderstorm forecasts and warnings. The GLM will provide information to identify growing, active, and potentially destructive thunderstorms over land as well as ocean areas.
Engineering Design Unit
GLM measurements
GLM measurements can provide vital information to help the operational weather, aviation, disaster preparedness, and fire communities in a number of areas:
1)
Improvement in tornado and severe thunderstorm lead times and false alarm reduction
2)
Early warning of lightning ground strike hazards
3)
Advancements in the initialization of numerical weather prediction models through better identification of deep convection
4)
Improved routing of commercial, military, and private aircraft over oceanic regions where observations of thunderstorm intensity are scarce
5)
Improved ability to monitor intensification or decay of storms during radar outages, or where radar coverage is poor or scarce, such as in mountainous areas and oceanic regions
6)
Better detection and short range forecasts of heavy rainfall and flash flooding
7)
Ability to monitor the intensity change of tropical cyclones, which is often accompanied by increased lightning activity
8)
Continuity and refinements of lightning climatology within the GOES field of view
GLM Sensor Unit
GLM Sensor Unit (see through)
GLM Characteristics
• Staring CCD imager (1372x1300 pixels)
• Near uniform spatial resolution 8 km nadir, 14 km edge fov
