GOES 13 is an American (NOAA) geostationary weather satellite that was launched by a Delta 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral at 22:11 UT on 2006 May 24. The 1,800-kg (with fuel), 2.3-kW craft carries the usual set of GOES monitors: imager, sounder, SEM package, X-ray imager, energetic particle detector, and ground-data relaying equipment. It was placed in orbit originally as a spare.
Imager: This is a multi-channel instrument covering 0.52-13.7 micron band in five discrete channels. It carries a two-axis scanning mirror to scan east-west and north-south, covering the entire hemisphere below it. Clouds are imaged in four channels, water vapor in one channel, and surface temperature in one (or three) channels, fires and smoke in two (or four) channels.
Sounder: The so-called Sounder carries a 19-channel, discrete-filter, passive radiometer covering the wavelength range of 0.7-14.71 microns. It looks toward the horizon to monitor the radiation. The data can then be processed to provide vertical profiles of temperature, water vapor, and clouds.
SEM: The Space Environment Monitor is a standard package in all GOES missions. It carries an energetic particle sensor (EPS) to obtain the local fluxes of electrons, protons and alpha-particles. Its XRS monitors X-ray flux from the Sun in two wavelength bands: 0.05-0.3 nm and 0.1-0.8 nm. A magnetometer monitors the field vector of the disturbed by geomagnetic activity. A five-channel EUV telescope monitors the solar ultraviolet radiation in the 10-126 nm.
X-Ray Imager: The imager maps the X-ray emitting regions on the Sun in the bands 0.6-3.0 and 0.6-6.0 nm, once a minute. The resolution is about 3 arc-min, covering the field of view of 42 arc-min.
Facts in Brief
Launch Date: 2006-05-24
Launch Vehicle: Delta IV
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Nominal Power: 2300.0 W