Back to data catalog
ClimateExternal downloadCandidate for sample file
GOES-R ABI & GLM
Geostationary satellite imagery and lightning mapper products for the Western Hemisphere.
Dataset summary
- Provider
- NOAA / AWS Open Data
- Spatial coverage
- Western Hemisphere (GOES-16/18)
- Temporal coverage
- 2017 → present
- Spatial resolution
- 0.5 km (vis), 1–2 km IR; GLM ~8–10 km
- Temporal resolution
- 5 min full-disk; 1 min mesoscale; GLM ~20 s flashes
- Formats
- NetCDF
- Climate variable tags
- Heat, Air Quality
- Observatory relevance
- North Carolina, Amazon Basin, East Africa, Southeast Asia
Use guidance
- Best for
- Cloud, fire, radiation, storm, and lightning contexts where geostationary satellite data are appropriate.
- Not best for
- Quick climate-health table construction without remote-sensing processing.
- Common pitfalls
- Downloading full-resolution imagery when a small subset or derived product is enough.
- Ignoring satellite projection and scan-time details.
Variables and notes
- 16-band radiances, cloud cover, land-surface temp, wildfire hotspots, smoke, lightning flashes
Related learning resources
Use these guides to interpret the variable, scale, format, and workflow choices before using this dataset in a climate-health analysis.