From Photons to Pixels: Processing Data from the Advanced Baseline Imager

TLDR

The Advanced Baseline Imager on GOES‑R provides significant spectral, spatial, and temporal enhancements over legacy GOES satellites, offers onboard calibration for all sixteen bands, and enables high‑fidelity image navigation and registration through improved calibration and geolocation capabilities. This paper explains how ABI sensor data are processed into calibrated and geolocated radiances that generate imagery and higher‑level products for meteorological and non‑meteorological Earth science applications. Calibration is performed via periodic views of internal reflective and blackbody targets, space, and the moon, while image navigation and registration are improved by onboard GPS and routine star measurements processed through a Kalman filter. The paper presents example images and calibration results that demonstrate the sensor’s capabilities and applications.

Abstract

The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) is the primary Earth observing sensor on the new generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-R) series, and provides significant spectral, spatial and temporal observational enhancements compared to the legacy GOES satellites. ABI also provides enhanced capabilities for operational sensor calibration and image navigation and registration (INR) to enable observations of the Earth with high spectral fidelity as well as creating images that are accurately mapped and co-registered over time. Unlike earlier GOES Imagers, ABI has onboard calibration capability for all sixteen bands in the reflective and emissive bands. The calibration process includes periodic and routine views of the internal reflective and blackbody targets as well as views of space and the moon. Improvements in INR are made possible by having a Global Positioning System (GPS) on board the spacecraft and routine measurements of stars through the sensor’s boresight for orbit and attitude determination through a Kalman filter. This paper describes how the sensor data are processed into calibrated and geolocated radiances that enable the generation of imagery and higher level products for both meteorological and non-meteorological Earth science applications. Some examples of ABI images and calibration are presented to demonstrate the capabilities and applications of the sensor.