Abstract
GOES-16 and GOES-17 are the first of NOAA’s Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R series of satellites. Each GOES-R
satellite has a magnetometer mounted on the end (outboard) and one
part-way down a long boom (inboard). This paper demonstrates the
relative accuracy and stability of the measurements on a daily and
long-term basis. The GOES-16 and GOES-17 magnetic field observations
from 2017 to 2020 have been compared to simultaneous magnetic field
observations from each other and from the previous GOES-NOP series
satellites (GOES-13, GOES-14 and GOES-15). These comparisons provide
assessments of relative accuracy and stability. We use a field model to
facilitate the inter-satellite comparisons at different longitudes.
GOES-16 inboard and outboard magnetometers data suffer daily variations
which cannot be explained by natural phenomena. Long-term averaged
GOES-16 outboard (OB) data has daily variations of ± 3 nT which are
stable within ± 1.5 nT. Long-term averaged GOES-17OB magnetometer data
have minimal daily variations (less than ± 1 nT). Daily average of the
difference between the GOES-16 outboard or GOES-17 outboard measurements
and the measurements made by another GOES satellite are computed. The
long-term averaged results show the GOES-16OB and GOES-17OB measurements
have long-term stability (± 2 nT or less) and match measurements from
magnetometers on other GOES within limits stated herein. The GOES-17OB
operational offset (zero field value) was refined using the GOES-17
satellite rotated 180° about the Earth pointing axis (known as a yaw
flip).