Home / Weather News /

Weather satellite lightning tool secondary use

10:00 PM
January 28, 2022

Bolide detections
Satellite lightning tool’s secondary use

Shooting starsThis is the view of a meteor shower from the service. A bolide are generally larger than the small meteors that light up the sky as "shooting stars."

Astronomers are now using a weather satellite to detect fast moving meteors, called bolides, moving through the atmosphere.

The nearly identical GOES-16 and GOES-17 weather satellites, used by meteorologists to monitor most of the western hemisphere’s weather from 22,236 miles above equator, has become a valuable tool for astronomers too.

The satellites’ Geostationary Lightning Mapping (GLM) system is designed to detect lightning, looking for characteristic flashes 500 times a second. This rapid detection method also detects the rapid flashes produced by meteors called bolide.

What is a bolide you ask?

Simply, it is a large meteor that explodes as it enters the atmosphere. It produces a fireball high in the sky and on occasion, a sonic boom or explosion can be heard. Most of these meteors completely disintegrate high in the Earth’s atmosphere.

On New Year’s Day in the Pittsburgh area, the ground shook and a loud boom was heard. Using GOES satellite data, it was quickly determined that a yard-wide half-ton meteor burning up in the atmosphere caused people to call 911 to report the unusual noise and shaking. The GOES system can detect meteors ranging in width from about 4 inches to 9 feet.

Settings for external content

Privacy policy
Bolide detection

Between July 2017 and January 2022, the weather satellites detected more than 3,000 bolides. Astronomers are using this information to create models about meteor frequency, size, and the trajectory they take when they enter the atmosphere.

The newest GOES satellite is scheduled to launched in March. This story offers the weather satellite's updated instrumentations.

James West
More on the topic
Saturday, April 26, 2025

Off the coast of Sardinia

Waterspout seen from cruise ship
Derecho iowa
Sunday, June 22, 2025

Stay severe weather-aware

What are derechos?
Summer brings the heat and the water activities with it!
Monday, June 2, 2025

Bye, spring!

Meteorological summer is here!
All weather news
This might also interest you
Monday, July 14, 2025

Daily briefing

Heavy Northeast rains, stormy Texas thru Ozarks
Friday, July 18, 2025

Daily briefing

Moisture, instability meet & impacts eastern half
Hurricane Irma covers the entiret of Florida with Hurricane Maria coming up behind it.
Sunday, July 13, 2025

Do you live there?

6 riskiest places to live: hurricane edition
All articles
Weather & Radar

www.weatherandradar.com

instagramfacebookthreadsContact uslinkList
Privacy policy | Legal info | Accessibility statement