*Update #2: * **Effective immediately; all the GOES-13 (GOES-East)
sounding products are ceased to produce and stop distribution as we are
experiencing an anomaly with the sounder instrument. Engineers are
investigating the problem. We will inform you when we resume our normal
*Update #1: * GOES-13 (GOES-East) Sounder IR Data Outage
*Topic:* GOES-13 (GOES-East) Sounder IR Data Products Outage
*Date/Time**Issued:*November 20, 2015 1955Z*
*Product(s) or Data Impacted:*
GOES-13 (GOES-East) Sounder data
Blended Hydrometorological Products – Blended TPW
Microwave AWIPS Products – Blended TPW
Microwave McIDAS Products – Blended TPW
GOES Gridded Cloud Product
GOES VARiable data
AFEP/Ingestor – GOES
Single Field of View BUFR
Single Field of View SDPI for AWIPS
Single Field of View TPW
Sounding ASOS SCSP
*Date/Time of Initial Impact:*November 20, 2015 0922Z **
*Date/Time of Expected End:* TBD
*Length of Outage:* TBD
*Details/Specifics of Change:*GOES-13 (GOES-East) Sounder instrumentis experiencing an anomaly. Engineers are investigating the problem. GOES-13 Sounder IR data is not available. **Effective immediately all the GOES-13 (GOES-East) sounding products are ceased to produce and stop distribution as we are experiencing an anomaly with the sounder instrument. Engineers are investigating the problem. We will inform you when we will resume our normal operations.
Update 19 January 2016
GOES-14 is scheduled to broadcast 1-minute SRSO-R data starting 1 February. GOES-14 will be activated on 25 January, with a maneuver shortly thereafter. It is likely that GOES-14 Sounder data will be broadcast from 1-25 February (GOES-14 Sounder Timing will be adjusted to match GOES-13 Sounder Timing) when the GOES-14 Imager is broadcasting SRSO-R data.
A GOES-15 (GOES-West) Star Tracker failed on 23 April 2015 at 2032 UTC. This leaves just one working Star Tracker; consequently image navigation has degraded. The image above shows three successive visible images centered near Crater Lake, OR, on 3 May 2015. The navigation shifts over time. An animation of 3.9 µm imagery, below, also from May 3rd (available here as an mp4), shows image navigation shifts throughout the day. A two-day animation of visible imagery centered on the Washington coast near Hoquiam (bottom, available here as an mp4) also shows the navigation anomalies that can be as much as 8 km in the infrared. Users who require precise animation in their GOES-15 imagery should be alert to this issue. NOAA/NESDIS, NASA and factory engineers are investigating possible fixes; GOES-15 status updates will appear here.
The longwave infrared (10.7 µm) and shortwave infrared (3.9 µm) channels on GOES-13 have been shown in the past to have poor co-registration, meaning that the sensors are not viewing the same pixel at the same time. This error can lead to false signals in (for example) the IR Brightness Temperature Difference product that has historically been used to detect fog and low stratus. The error can propagate to other products as well, such as GOES-R IFR Probabilities (a data fusion product used to detect fog). The error is most obvious along north-south shorelines.
The figure below (Courtesy Tony Schreiner, SSEC/CIMSS) shows differences averaged over 6 pixels near the eastern shore of northern Lake Superior. The orange line (labeled ‘Original’) represents differences arising from the operational algorithm used before November 2014. Note that at 0700 UTC for this date and (clear) location (0600 UTC Surface Map) the brightness temperature difference nevertheless showed a negative value because the 10.7 µm pixel was over the cold lake and the 3.9 µm pixel was over warmer land. Shoreline on the western side of the lake would have a positive value: there, the 10.7 µm pixel would be over warm land and the 3.9 µm pixel (co-registered too far to the east) would be over cold water. This positive signal is consistent with fog detection.
The red line in the figure above also shows a shift at 1700 UTC, and that shift is apparent in data as well, as shown in the brightness temperature difference product, below, north of Lake Superior. The apparent shift occurs in the 1700 UTC image.
Between the 1515 and 1545 UTC imagery on 9 February 2015, a software change was implemented by NESDIS (link), and that now operational software is represented by the green line (labeled ‘Resample’) in the figure above. Rather than a step function change, a smoothly varying change is applied to the co-registration over the course of the day. This has reduced the obvious changes in brightness temperature difference fields that occurred between 0645 and 0700 and between 1645 and 1700 UTC. Consider the two animations below (Courtesy Jim Nelson, SSEC/CIMSS). In both, the former operational technique (the red line in the figure above) is on the left and the current operational technique (the green line in the figure above) is on the right. The operational change has certainly eliminated the jump that was occurring at 0700 and 1700 UTC.
Note that even the green line in the figure up top shows errors approaching 1 C at times during the day (and that may change over the course of the year). It is therefore still possible to find cases in which the brightness temperature difference field from GOES erroneously indicates fog or low stratus. The toggle below shows data from 10 February, after the operational change. A fog/stratus signal is indicated by the GOES Brightness Temperature Difference product along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan; however, there is no signature of fog/stratus on the VIIRS Day Night Band and brightness temperature difference (11.35µm – 3.74µm) imagery from Suomi NPP. As always, a positive indication of a phenomena in data should always be verified with other data types.
[Added, Friday the 13th]: The co-registration error between the longwave and shortwave infrared bands on the GOES-13 Imager is larger than on any of the other Imagers from GOES-8 through GOES-15. For more information, see here and here.