Each GOES satellite has 5 channels: GOES 8-11 have channels 1-5, GOES 12 has channels 1-4 and 6. (GOES 10 and 12 are currently operational.) This was done to avoid some confusion between channel and wavelength. We generally refer to the channels by their central wavelength even though it represents a broader wavelength band. The characteristics of the channels will be reviewed in the GOES channel selection module.