Npoess and Goes-r—building a “system of Systems”

1. INTRODUCTION Late this decade, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Integrated Program Office (IPO) will initiate a new generation of passive electro-optical multispectral imagers and hyperspectral sounders to operate in three complementary orbit planes. NPOESS will replace the now-venerable civil Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) systems operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service (NESDIS) and the Department of Defense (DoD), respectively. NPOESS will also provide data continuity for global environmental research initiated in 1999 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra, Aqua, and Aura polar-orbiting research satellites. NOAA NESDIS also plans to launch a next-generation Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) imager/sounder capability in 2012 to complement NPOESS, with a continuing focus on continental United States civilian severe weather monitoring and prediction to improve substantially on the current GOES contributions to national economic well-being and safety. This paper reviews the most relevant lessons learned from EOS and NOAA's currently operating Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) and GOES systems, and suggests that