GOES-17 ABI Loop Heat Pipe Anomaly: Spring 2022

April 5, 2022

Overview

Over the next week, 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 it will increase again until around April 13. Imagery quality will gradually improve through late April and May.

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

What are the anticipated impacts?

Figure 1 above shows the daily maximum temperature of the GOES-17 ABI focal plane module (FPM). 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. NESDIS will be adjusting GOES-17’s ABI FPM set point (operating temperature of the instrument) to maximize the availability of frequently-used ABI channels, though at some expense to less frequently used channels.

GOES-17 Mode 3 Cooling Timeline and GOES-15 Supplemental Operations

From April 8 through May 11, 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. The West CONUS / PACUS domain will not be scanned during these periods. This pattern enhances ABI cooling and thus reduces imagery degradation.

In addition, from April 12 through April 18, NESDIS will operate GOES-15 to supplement GOES-17 with five bands of imagery, including water vapor imagery.

Looking Ahead

GOES-18 is scheduled to replace GOES-17 as GOES-West on or about January 3, 2023, and at that time, GOES-18 data will become continuously available to all NWS users that normally receive GOES-West data. In the interim, between April and early summer, the first GOES-18 ABI test data will become available to NWS, initially for evaluations on non-operational systems only. For the summer and fall GOES-17 ABI LHP degradation periods, GOES-18 ABI will be providing GOES-West operational imagery to the National Centers and field offices.

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.