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The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) is the primary instrument aboard the GOES-R satellite series designed to image Earth’s weather, oceans, and environment. ABI views Earth with 16 different spectral bands (compared to 5 on the previous generation of GOES), including 2 visible channels, 4 near-infrared channels, and 10 infrared channels. These different channels (wavelengths) are used by models and tools to indicate various elements on Earth’s surface or in the atmosphere, such as trees, water, clouds, moisture, or smoke.

Animation of the EUMETSAT OSI SAF GHRSST L3C sub-skin Sea Surface Temperature v1.0 data derived from ABI aboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) covering the period of Dec. 14, 2017, to present.

Learn more about GOES-R

Instrument Type

Spectrometers/Radiometers

Instrument Subtype

Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers

Specifications

Resolution

Spatial

0.5 km (0.64 µm Visible), 1.0 km (Other visible/near-IR), 2 km (Bands (>2 µm))

Spectral

16 bands (includes 2 visible channels, 4 near-infrared channels, and 10 infrared channels.)

Temporal

Default scan mode: full disk every 10 minutes, contiguous U.S. every 5 minutes, and two smaller, more detailed images of areas where storm activity is present, every 60 seconds (or one every 30 seconds).

Platforms

Frequently Asked Questions

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