SOURCEFORGE » RALF » 2015 Weather images of NOAA satellites

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h1. *NOAA and POES*

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellites are American meteorological polar orbit satellites which observe the Earth from about 850 km heigh. They are part of the Global Meteorological Organisation. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) [www.noaa.gov/] is a federal agency that focuses on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere. It is an American scientific agency in the the United States within the Department of Commerce. NOAA objectives are a holistic understanding of the Earth system through research, accurate and reliable data from sustained and integrated earth observing systems and an integrated environmental modelling system. [5]

Their main missions are to observe the meteorological phenomenon, to map the thermical structure of the oceans and to study the coastal environment evolution.

The first one has been put into orbit in 1970. 18 more NOAA satellites have been sent since this year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) [https://www.nasa.gov/] have jointly developed a number of series of Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). The system consists of a pair of satellites, which ensures that every part of the Earth is observed at least twice every 12 hours. The satellites provide global coverage of numerous atmospheric and surface parameters, providing quantitative measurements for atmospheric and model forecast models. Thus, enabled consistent and accurate prediction and allowed avoidance of catastrophic environmental events. Last but not least, many countries and over much of the oceans satellite data is the only source of weather information.

This serie of satellites started flying in 1978 and was named Advanced TIROS-N (ATN), after the prototype satellite TIROS-N (Television Infrared Observation Satellites). It has been credited for saving over 24,500 lives since 1982 by detecting and locating emergency beacons from ships, aircraft and people in distress.