GOES-16 imagery in AWIPS-II transitioned to Fixed Grid today at 1527. See below for information and examples.
- What
- GOES imagery in NWS AWIPS is now be on native geostationary grid (fixed grid)
- Up until now, fixed grid data has been remapped to a different projection
- Result is oversampling of native fixed grid data
- Smaller pixels, appearance of more detail, smoothed data, different reflectance/BT
- Result of using Fixed Grid Data
- Increase accuracy and clarity of imagery
- Reduce latency, bandwidth, disk storage
- Decrease AWIPS load time
- Daytime Convection RGB Composite
The example below (Figure 1) over eastern Kansas uses 1-min VIS and IR imagery at 1526 UTC (old) and 1527 UTC (new fixed grid) to exemplify the transition. When using the CONUS projection in AWIPS, the pixels now appear diagonal (away from position of the satellite sub point) and larger (with distance away from satellite sub point). Considering the data are no longer smoothed across pixels, the imagery and features within (cu, anvil edges, overshooting tops) appear crisper.
Figure 1: 19 June 2018 GOES-16 VIS and IR transition to Fixed Grid over eastern Kansas. Full res
A longer 1-min animation centered over the time of transition (Figure 2).
Figure 2: 19 June 2018 GOES-16 1-min VIS and IR imagery over eastern Kansas. Transition to fixed grid occurs at 1527 UTC, roughly midway through the animation. Full res
Here is a video from the OPG on the transition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg8VacIUl38&feature=youtu.be
– Bill Line, NWS
Satellite Liaison Blog 
