ABI Cloud Products from the GOES-R Series

Abstract The GOES-R Series 16-channel Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) offers real advances over past series of GOES imagers for observing clouds. For the past two decades, the premier imager for cloud observations has been the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors. ABI brings observations with MODIS-like spectral and spatial properties coupled with a high temporal resolution. The primary cloud products from ABI are the cloud mask, cloud phase, cloud height, cloud pressure, cloud temperature, and cloud optical properties. Beyond their fundamental value, these products are being used in aviation, numerical weather prediction (NWP), atmospheric motion vectors, and solar energy applications to name a few.