[ti:Weather Predictions Expected to Improve with New U.S. Satellite] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:00.12]A new American weather satellite could save more lives [00:05.16]by better predicting extreme weather conditions. [00:10.52]The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, [00:14.80]in the state of Florida, on November 19. [00:20.00]It will be in orbit some 36,000 kilometers above Earth's surface. [00:26.96]The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, [00:33.64]also known as NOAA, has been working [00:37.56]with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the project. [00:43.84]NOAA officials are calling the new satellite GOES-R. [00:50.60]That is short for a much longer name [00:54.40]-- the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite ¨C R Series. [01:03.16]NOAA said GOES-R could improve the nation's ability [01:08.92]to observe weather conditions and make weather predictions. [01:15.08]It said the satellite's deployment would lead to more exact [01:19.40]and timely weather forecasts, watches and warnings. [01:27.04]The government agency said the satellite will require testing [01:31.44]of its six instruments and will be ready to work "within a year." [01:38.08]"The next generation of weather satellites is finally here," [01:44.12]said NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan. [01:48.00]She described GOES-R as one of the most [01:51.84]sophisticated Earth-observing machines ever created. [01:56.84]Sullivan said its instruments will be able to study Earth [02:03.04]five times faster and with four times more detail [02:09.88]than any other NOAA satellite currently in operation. [02:16.00]She believes this will make the United States an even stronger, [02:23.08]more "Weather-Ready" nation. [02:27.04]A NOAA statement said the greater detail will [02:31.25]help improve the agency's study of ocean storms, [02:35.88]as well as "the prediction and warnings of severe weather." [02:43.32]In addition, GOES-R will be able to provide improved rainfall estimates, [02:50.80]which will lead to more timely and detailed flood warnings. [02:56.84]The statement also said that GOES-R will give better estimates of wind strength, [03:04.56]as well as better measurement of fog, ice or lightning strikes. [03:11.92]One of the six instruments on the satellite [03:16.00]is designed to help scientists study lightning strikes and map them. [03:22.20]This, NOAA says, will help the agency follow the movement [03:28.00]of severe storms and provide more detailed warnings. [03:34.32]Craig Fugate serves as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. [03:42.04]He says that the GOES-R satellite will improve the ability [03:48.44]of people and organizations across America [03:52.28]to prepare for, and react to, weather-related disasters. [03:58.72]Fugate feels that better understanding of the world around us will lead to better results. [04:06.68]These include knowing where to best position supplies before a storm hits [04:14.00]and providing more targeted information to local officials. [04:20.16]That information could help the officials decide [04:25.32]when to order civilians to leave an area because of bad weather. [04:32.16]In addition to weather forecasting, [04:35.92]GOES-R will be part of an international search and rescue network. [04:41.76]It will have a "special transponder" [04:46.06]that will be able to find signals from emergency beacons. [04:51.24]I'm Phil Dierking.