Topic: GOES-14/15/16/17 Fall 2020 Solar RFI predicted times are now available

Date/Time Issued: September 29, 2020 1522 UTC

Product(s) or Data Impacted: GOES-14/15/16/17 Imager Data plus Ancillary Services (GVAR, SAR, LRIT, EMWIN, DCS, GRB, etc.)

Date/Time of Initial Impact: October 3, 2020 1642 UTC

Date/Time of Expected End: October 17, 2020 2129 UTC

Length of Outage: See table in details.

Details/Specifics of Change: The potential for solar radio frequency interference (RFI) with a satellite downlink circuit will occur whenever the Sun passes into the beam of the ground station receiving antenna.

We received the following information from our Mission Operations Division concerning the potential for outages of the GOES data stream including GVAR (GOES Variable) Imager and Sounder, EMWIN (Emergency Managers Weather Information Network), SAR (Search and Rescue), Low Rate Information Transmission (LRIT), High Rate Information Transmission (HRIT), GOES Data Collection System (DCS), Sensor Data (SD), Telemetry and Command (T&C), Weather Facsimile (WEFAX), Data Collection Platform Report (DCPR), Multi-use data link (MDL), Raw Data Link (RDL), etc.

The Dongara Command and Data Acquisition Stations (CDAs) and Environmental Satellite Processing Center (ESPC) receiving antennas may experience periods of Solar RFI as predicted below. Solar RFI can cause loss of telemetry lock and command capability, as well as degradation or loss in the GVAR data.

Solar RFI predicted times for the Fall 2020:

SOLAR RFI PREDICTED TIMES FOR FALL 2020

SPACECRAFT DATE TIME STATION OPERATIONAL IMPACT

GOES-14 5 OCT – 12 OCT 1855 - 1906Z WALLOPS T&C

5 OCT – 12 OCT 1854 - 1905Z SUITLAND

5 OCT – 12 OCT 1852 - 1904Z FAIRMONT

GOES-15 3 OCT – 10 OCT 2042 - 2053Z WALLOPS T&C

3 OCT – 10 OCT 2041 - 2052Z SUITLAND

3 OCT – 10 OCT 2040 - 2051Z FAIRMONT

10 OCT – 17 OCT 2013 - 2024Z FAIRBANK

GOES-16 4 OCT – 11 OCT 1645 - 1656Z WALLOPS RDL, GRB, T&C, HRIT, DCPC,

4 OCT – 11 OCT 1644 - 1655Z SUITLAND SAR

4 OCT – 11 OCT 1642 - 1653Z FAIRMONT

GOES-17 3 OCT – 10 OCT 2118 - 2129Z WALLOPS RDL, GRB, T&C, HRIT, DCPC,

3 OCT – 10 OCT 2117 - 2128Z SUITLAND SAR

3 OCT – 10 OCT 2116 - 2127Z FAIRMONT

Contact Information for Further Information:

For information on the status of this work, please contact ESPC Operations at ESPCOperations@noaa.gov and 301-817-3880 and SPSD.Userservices@noaa.gov