This November NOAA will launch their most advanced weather satellite yet, the first GOES-R series.  If the launch is successful, this satellite will allow us unparalleled opportunities to improve our knowledge of weather and also to improve our ability to forecast the weather, since the majority of data that goes into weather forecasting models is from satellites.

In the Southeast we especially benefit from these satellites in tropical season, since they allow us to see tropical systems developing long before we could sense them by other means.  They also help identify potential severe weather and areas of flooding potential.  But funding the building of these satellites depends on Congress so meteorologists are always watching the operating satellites carefully since it takes years to replace one even if money is available.

You can read more about it in this essay by Dr. Steve Ackerman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I went to graduate school (and did my MS on satellite meteorology).

The first image obtained from the GOES-1 satellite on October 25, 1975.  Source: NOAA
The first image obtained from the GOES-1 satellite on October 25, 1975. Source: NOAA