GOES 18 weather satellite launched

Whether it’s wildfires that sweep across the West Coast, storms rolling in from the Pacific Ocean or dense fog that blankets the Pacific Northwest, a new weather satellite will be able to track them all.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched GOES-T, the third in its series of advanced geostationary weather satellites, at 4:38 p.m. ET Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Once the satellite is in orbit, it will be renamed GOES-18 and monitor weather that impacts the western United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America and the Pacific Ocean.

The satellite will provide our most sophisticated and sharpest look yet at what Earth’s Western Hemisphere looks like from 22,236 miles above the planet.

GOES-T is equipped with a suite of instruments that can provide measurements of the atmosphere, map lightning in real time and send back stunning ultra high-definition images. Its continuous collection of data will improve weather forecasting on Earth.

Together with the GOES-16 satellite, which launched in 2016, the two will actively monitor more than half the globe, spanning from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand.

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Source: The Times and Democrat