first Imager full-disk infrared image of the Earth

Operational Environmental Satellite – GOES-15 – took its first Imager full-disk infrared image of the Earth on April 26 starting at 1730 UTC (1:30 p.m. EDT). Each of the five Imager spectral bands are shown. There is one visible band and four infrared bands (shortwave window, water vapor, longwave window and a CO2 sensitive band)

The Sounder is another instrument on GOES-15 which also took Infrared images of the Earth. The Sounder is designed to provide data from which atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, surface and cloud-top temperatures, and ozone distribution can be deduced by mathematical analysis.

GOES-15 also provides visible images of Earth. On April 6, GOES-15 captured its first visible image of Earth.