The most advanced weather satellite in orbit now is Japan’s Himawari Satellite. Click for a MUCH larger version.

I have mentioned the new GOES R frequently, and we are now down to 6 months from the launch. I wrote a post last year about how it will revolutionize forecasting. I also did this on air report on WBOC TV in February, discussing how the launch will mark the beginning of a new era in forecasting and Earth observation.

From NASA today:
The GOES-R satellite is set to launch six months from today, on October 13, 2016. GOES-R, or GOES-16 as it will be known once operational, will scan the Earth five times faster, at four times image resolution, and triple the number of channels scientists can tap into to observe global weather and climate. The weather imaging capabilities of GOES-R are like going from a black and white television to HDTV!

The road from construction in a clean room to sitting atop an Atlas V 541 rocket in six months is a busy one, however. Learn about what is next for NOAA’s GOES-R at http://go.usa.gov/ct6xm ‪