“We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology.
That’s a clear prescription for disaster.”
Carl Sagan
Online Satellite Imagery and Information
- RealEarth™ is a data discovery and visualization platform developed at SSEC/CIMSS at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to support the outreach and collaboration efforts of scientists.
- Beginner’s Guide to GOES-R Series Data How to acquire, analyze, and visualize GOES-R Series data.
- The Geostationary Weather Satellite Group on Facebook.
- Stuff in Space A Graphical Representation of the stuff in orbit.
- Celestrack Cesium A graphical tracking page.
- WxSatS A very cool view from a weather satellite perspective.
- SatNOGS Network
- POES Operational Status – POES Status – OSPO
- SOLARHAM.com | Solar Cycle 25 | Space Weather Website
- ForWarn II is a US Forest Service satellite-mapping tool if you’re interested in tracking vegetation changes caused by wildfires, flooding, tornados, severe weather, insects, diseases, and human-induced disturbances.
- GOES Imagery Viewer – NOAA / NESDIS / STAR
- ABI Meso-scale location search function from the SSEC Data center for GOES-East and -West over their operational lifetimes.
- GOES Data – A big list by SSEC/CIMSS. The GOTO for all things GOES by the University of Wisconsin – Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB) ~ The Birthplace of Satellite Meteorology ~This site has A LOT of information, data, imagery, etc. Including a section on free software for image manipulation, data analysis, phone apps, and more!
- GOES HRIT Schedules (this is what you can download off your dish.
- GOES-16 Band Reference Guide (PDF) So, what is Band 15, and why is it ‘Dirty’?
- ABI BANDS QUICK INFORMATION GUIDES These include two visible channels, four near-infrared channels, and ten infrared channels. Each fact sheet covers what the band measures and how this is operationally relevant. The fact sheets also include links for more information.
- GOES GRB Schedules (you’ll need a bigger dish!)
Tools for finding satellite positions.
Software
- Goestools Tools to work with signals and files from GOES satellites
- Sanchez A unique and awesome tool for working with satellite IR and
- XRIT Decoder
- Xplanet
- Grafana
Recommended Hardware Suppliers
Space Weather
- GOES-R Series Space Weather Data
- GOES-16 SUVI imagery from the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
- GOES-16 SUVI imagery from a DIY GRB receiving system by @wxstar3000 and @H_Neil and a RGB maker Art and Science together!
- GOES-16 SUVI First Light RGB-maker small and large.
GOES-R Model, built from Paper!

Over on AXM PAPER SPACE SCALE MODELS BLOG they have a downloadable, printable model of the ATLAS V GOES-R EELV ROCKET and GOES-R PAPER MODEL. The Model of GOES-R is 1:35 scale, designed by Zach from Zach’s PaperSat Designs. The two pdf’s need are below: