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A carbon dioxide channel was added to the GOES imagers with the launch of GOES-12 in 2001. While the 13.3 micron channel will replace the 12 micron channel on GOES-12/N/O/P imagers, a reintroduction of the 12 micron channel will begin with the GOES-R series in 2012 (at the earliest).
The new 13.3 micron channel is located within a region of the earth's emitted spectrum where a considerable amount of both cloud- and surface-emitted radiation is attenuated by carbon dioxide molecules. Thus, this channel senses radiation from throughout the troposphere, from both the surface and clouds. Because the carbon dioxide only partially masks both clouds and surface at 13.3 microns, it allows for significant improvement in the detection of cloud properties when used in conjunction with 10.7 micron channel imagery.