SEE: New NOAA Satellite Beams Stunning First Photos Of Earth

SEATTLE, WA — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's newest weather satellite, launched in November to better monitor weather patterns across the Earth, has sent back its first photos of our home planet.

The images, released Monday at the American Meteorological Society's annual meeting in Seattle, show stunning views of Earth in four times the picture quality that was previously available.

The satellite, built and launched by NASA, is whizzing around our home planet 22,300 miles above the Earth's surface. Above, you can see a gorgeous photo of the moon, its features in crystal- clear focus, peering over the Pacific Northwest.

Below is a full view of Earth, looking over North and South America:

The satellite, named GOES-16, was launched from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 19. It can give scientists a full image of Earth every 15 minutes and one of the United States every five minutes. The satellite scans the Earth five times faster than previous probes.

The images can help scientists track major storms and other severe weather with precision accuracy.

“These images come from the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to predict severe weather on Earth," Stephen Volz, director of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, said in a post on the administration's website. "The fantastically rich images provide us with our first glimpse of the impact GOES-16 will have on developing life-saving forecasts.”

For example, in this photo, NOAA says, you can see Africa's "Saharan Dust Layer" on the right edge of the frame. The dry air "can have impacts on tropical cyclone intensity and formation," NOAA says, which will help scientists study similar storm formations closer to North America.

The photos released Monday were taken on Jan. 15. The satellite will be fully operational in November 2017, a full year after its launch.

"It will be like high-definition from the heavens," the NOAA release says.

Here's a shot of the continental U.S. showing clouds swirling over America in remarkable detail.

See complete high-resolution images, released Monday, here.

Lead image via NASA

Update: An earlier version of this article characterized the probe as a NASA satellite. It was built and launched by NASA but is an NOAA satellite.