Prelaunch Summary Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-E) Launch.

摘要

GOES-E is the seventh satellite in the series dedicated to provide continuous cloud over observations from geosynchronous orbit. The program consists of two operational prototype spacecraft (SMS-1 and -2) developed by NASA, and follow-on spacecraft (GOES A-F) funded by NOAA. The NOAA-funded spacecraft are designated Geostationary OPerational Environmental Satellites (GOES). Since the launch of SMS-1 in May 1974, these satellites have provided continuous observations of weather patterns over the Western Hemisphere, and video displays of cloud cover, as viewed from geostationary orbit, have become a highlight of television's weather programs. The National Weather Service (NWS) finds this video information to be particularly useful for continuous tracking of hurricanes and tropical disturbances which form over the oceans and move towards land, after threatening heavily populated areas. The primary instrument for acquiring visible and infrared imagery on previous GOES/SMS satellites was the Visible/Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) which contained one visible and one infrared channel. GOES-E is the second of three satellites to include a modified VISSR called the VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS). GOES-D was the first and was successfully launched in September 1980. As indicated from the results of the initial VAS demonstration, the modification is providing a capability to receive the standard operational VISSR data or to sound the atmosphere in 12 infrared bands to acquire temperature and moisture profiles of the atmosphere. The GOES-E VAS experiment demonstration will continue to evaluate the usefulness of this instrument for prediction of severe local hurricanes, storms, and other short-term weather phenomena.