Science Education Professor Michael Jabot has been appointed to the NASA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-R) Proving Ground, a collaborative of federal agencies that will test products before they are placed into an actual GOES-R satellite designed to obtain information that leads to improved weather forecasting.
Dr. Jabot, who’s already working with NASA on other Earth Science missions, will join 28 university faculty members and other educators in communicating the program’s mission and objectives, while also looking at ways that ideas generated during Proving Ground activities can be applied in classroom learning situations. Additionally, Jabot plans to incorporate this work into courses he teaches at Fredonia and his interaction with teachers elsewhere.
The Proving Ground is comprised of representatives from the GOES-R Program Office, NOAA Cooperative Institutes, NASA, NWS weather forecast offices, NCEP National Centers and NOAA Test Beds. It will evaluate simulated GOES-R products before an actual GOES-R satellite is launched into space.
Simulated GOES-R products are generated by using combinations of currently available GOES data, along with higher resolution data provided by instrument on polar-orbiting satellites such as MODIS on NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites as well as model synthetic satellite data.
GOES-R will mark the first major technological advances in geostationary observations since 1994. These advances include better use of existing data such as increased spatial, temporal and spectral resolutions for Earth monitoring, improved space weather observations and initiation of new operational observations such as lightning mapping.
Advanced spacecraft and instrument technology employed by the GOES-R series will result in significant improvements in the detection and observations of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety and protection of property, as well as the economic health of the nation.
Jabot is scheduled to attend the launch of the GOES-R satellite in October.
