GOES-17 ABI Loop Heat Pipe Anomaly: Spring 2021 update

April 2, 2021

Overview

Over the first two weeks of April, users will notice a rapid deterioration of the GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) infrared (IR) imagery as a result of the Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) anomaly. The degradation will abate briefly around April 8, when the Mode 3 cooling timeline begins; then will increase again until around April 13. Imagery quality will then slowly improve through late May. (The GOES-15 satellite will not provide supplemental operations for this anomaly.)

Figure 1: GOES-17 Predicted Peak Longwave Infrared Focal Plane Temperature​​

GOES-17 Predicted Peak Longwave Focal Plane Temperature (2021)

What are the anticipated impacts?

Figure 1 above shows the daily maximum temperature of the GOES-17 ABI focal plane module. The higher the temperature, the more saturated the ABI imagery becomes. Where the temperature rises to approach a black line for each band, marginal saturation and/or striping may be observed in imagery. Where the temperature curve exceeds a black line for each band, the imagery may begin to saturate so much that it becomes unusable.

Furthermore, during "Mode3" operation (detailed next), the West CONUS / PACUS sector will be unavailable from the ABI sensor; it will scan only Full Disk and mesoscale sectors.
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GOES-17 Mode 3 Cooling Timeline

From April 8 through May 4, 2021, from 0600 UTC to 1200 UTC each day, NESDIS will operate the GOES-17 ABI according to a "Mode 3 cooling timeline" to reduce the number of saturated images resulting from the LHP anomaly. This coincides with predicted GOES-17 ABI focal plane temperatures of 100 K or greater. In Mode 3, the GOES-17 ABI generates a Full Disk image every 15 minutes and alternating Mesoscale Domain Sector images each minute; but the West CONUS / PACUS domain will not be scanned at all during those hours, in order to enhance ABI cooling. Read the full message on the upcoming GOES-17 Mode 3 cooling timeline from OSPO here.

As seen in Figure 1 above, the GOES-17 ABI will operate in Mode 3 twice more in 2021: Aug. 9-Sep. 2 and Oct. 14-Nov. 4.

We want to hear from you!

Have you experienced a case where degraded or missing imagery affected the forecast or warning process? If so, please send us your feedback, and feel free to include sample imagery. Contact John Evans (john.d.evans@noaa.gov) or Lee Byerle (lee.byerle@noaa.gov) on the TOWR-S team. You can also direct any satellite-related comments or questions to the TOWR-S team on NWSChat in the “towr-s” chatroom.