Space Science and Engineering Center University of Wisconsin-Madison

The first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-1) was launched from Cape Canaveral on October 16, 1975. Throughout the GOES program’s 50-year history, the Space Science and Engineering Center (celebrating 60 years), and later SSEC’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (celebrating 45 years), played a pivotal role in its achievements and in shaping its future.

“In the family tree of satellite meteorology, we’re direct descendants of the founder. Vern Suomi [SSEC founder] invented the field,” says Mat Gunshor, CIMSS researcher.

Originally designed as the third satellite in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Synchronous Meteorological Satellite series, GOES-1 owed its legacy not only to the SMS program, but also its predecessor, the Applications Technology Satellites, which carried the spinscan cloud camera designed by Verner Suomi and co-founder of SSEC Robert Parent. That ATS experiment confirmed the benefits of a weather satellite flying in geostationary orbit.

Since those early days of the GOES program, SSEC and CIMSS scientists have worked to ensure its success and benefits. Starting long before launch, they have helped to determine the types of observations the satellite instruments should make – conducting tradeoff studies to support their recommendations. They also develop the algorithms that will turn the observations into useful information. Once the satellite is in orbit (~36,000 km away), they test and validate the accuracy of the data during a post-launch checkout period.

It is this geostationary satellite and sounding expertise that led to the formation of CIMSS in 1980. NOAA had sent a small contingent of US federal employees to SSEC to collaborate on remote sensing research in 1976. Led by William Smith, the federal scientists worked together with their university colleagues on processing techniques for the Visible/Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer Atmospheric Sounder, the sounder first flown on GOES-4 in 1980. With each new generation of geostationary satellites, SSEC and CIMSS scientists developed and refined algorithms, creating new applications for the data. They tackled sounding retrievals, winds, fire detection, severe weather and tropical cyclone monitoring. Over time the National Weather Service and hurricane forecast centers began using these products derived from GOES, improving the timeliness and accuracy of their forecasts.

The GOES-R series is the latest of the GOES satellites. While GOES-R was launched in 2016, preparations began decades before. SSEC and CIMSS scientists helped to determine the bands that would feature on the Advanced Baseline Imager, the main instrument on this series. In addition to developing and refining science algorithms, SSEC and CIMSS created proxy datasets to help future ABI data users prepare for the significant increase in the number of bands available on the imager, which expanded from 5 to 16, and the associated increase in the amount of data. From this data, users could prepare their science algorithms to be ready the moment data would be available. Closer to launch SSEC and CIMSS produced real-time proxy data to simulate the data volume, allowing the NWS to adjust their systems to make full use of the new wealth in information; this phase included training forecasters. All these steps went towards preparing for a smooth transition to the new generation of geostationary satellite series.

“When GOES-R launched and data first started flowing to the Weather Service, it all worked. There were no days of outages. They were ready. And it’s in a large part due to all the work that we did to help them get ready. It’s a testament to all the work that people did here,” says Gunshor.

GOES-U, now known as GOES-19 and the last GOES satellite in the series, was launched by SpaceX in June 2024. SSEC and CIMSS participated in the formal checkout process, ensuring that the instrument was well calibrated and that the data were navigated properly and had the correct metadata. Data from the GOES-19 ABI were compared to data from other orbiting GOES ABIs, as well as from polar-orbiting satellites. These procedures allowed the data to transition from beta to provisional to operational.

Throughout the GOES-R series, SSEC and CIMSS increased their education and outreach efforts, including engaging K-12 teachers and students in new ways. Teachers were invited to attend workshops held in conjunction with satellite launches, learning more about the ABI instrument and weather concepts related to satellite meteorology before experiencing a launch from Cape Canaveral firsthand. Middle and high school students were encouraged to participate in GOES virtual science fairs, researching a science topic using GOES data and preparing a poster and short presentation. Researchers at SSEC and CIMSS also presented Short Courses to broadcast meteorologists and military forecasters at American Meteorological Society meetings to update them on what to expect with each new GOES satellite in the series and to share the latest research.

While the GOES era is coming to a close, the legacy built during this time continues. SSEC and CIMSS scientists are already preparing for the future of geostationary satellites with the upcoming Geostationary Extended Observations satellites, known as GeoXO. Today SSEC and CIMSS are helping to determine which bands will be available on the satellite imager, which then dictates the type of observations that will be possible. In addition, SSEC and CIMSS have advocated for improved spatial resolution to help with fire detection; smoke from Canadian fires impacts not only air quality, but may affect weather and the ability to reliably predict it. Within the U.S., fires, such as those in Los Angeles in January 2025, cause loss of life and billions of dollars in destruction to homes and businesses.

While not scheduled to launch until the 2030s, GeoXO is currently planned to include a hyperspectral sounder, which SSEC and CIMSS have long championed. The concept for a sounding instrument, and in particular a hyperspectral version, was “born here in Wisconsin,” as Gunshor explained it, embodying the “Wisconsin Idea” in how it will dramatically improve weather forecasting not just here in the state, but far beyond Wisconsin borders.

“I think satellite meteorology is a really wonderful example of the Wisconsin Idea. It was research done here. Does it benefit the state? Yes. Does it benefit the country? Yes. Does it benefit the whole world? Absolutely.”

This work is supported by NOAA and NASA