TTMS begins installation of GOES-16 satellite ground station in Trinidad

The new project, which was officially launched by the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS), is the establishment of a new ground station for the GOES-16 satellite at the Synoptic Branch located in Piarco, Trinidad.

The development of this programme is prepared by engineers from Enterprise Electronic Corporation (EEC), which is a company in the United States of America that focuses on meteorological technology.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 16, or GOES-East, was built by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in cooperation with NASA.

This satellite boasts of new generation sensors that enable it to capture images with far much better resolution and shutters that supply real-time data crucial for climate tracking and prognosis.

This ground station is an impressive achievement for the TTMS as this will provide the company with an opportunity to receive the data from the GOES-16 satellite in real-time mode. In the past, the TTMS was positioned to obtain this vital data primarily from third party service providers.

This new capability will help the TTMS to be independent in obtaining the data needed, thus improving the near and long-term weather predictions and climatic assessment.

GOES-16 is among those that are essential in observing and analyzing the Earth’s atmosphere. It can engage multiple and advanced sensors for series observation on calamities including hurricanes, thunderstorms and other disastrous atmospheric phenomena.

This information plays an important role not only in short-term weather prognosis but also in climatology and making solutions for preventing natural disasters.

With such data reception from the GOES-16 satellite, the TTMS will be improving its ability to predict and respond to severe weather events, which is essential for an area frequently affected by hurricanes and tropical storms.

It has also noted that the incoming real-time data from the satellite will benefit a score of scientific investigations such as climate change, investigations of the environment, and improved mapping and prediction of severe and other adverse weather conditions.

With this new development, a ground station for GOES-16, the TTMS’s capacity will significantly improve in delivering timely and accurate forecasts to the public and everyone interested.

This development goes along with Trinidad and Tobago’s aim to further its meteorological installation and the aim to save lives and properties through better forecasting of the weather and warnings for disasters.

Moving further with the project implementation, TTMS is all set to provide more tangible support to the regional meteorological processes, with a lot of beneficial data and, above that, will be beneficial not only for Trinidad and Tobago but the whole of the Caribbean region as well.