Ship tracks in the East Pacific Ocean, and valley fog in British Columbia
Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.7 µm Day/Night Band and 11.45 µm IR channel images
A comparison of AWIPS images of Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.7 µm Day/Night Band and 11.45 µm IR channel data at 11:32 UTC (4:32 AM local time) on 06 October 2012 (above) demonstrated the value of using the Day/Night Band as “visible imagery at night” to aid in the detection of features such as ship tracks that were difficult to identify in the IR image. Snow cover in the higher terrain of western British Columbia cuould also be seen, appearing as brighter white areas on the Day/Night Band image.
Additional ship tracks could be identified within the marine boundary layer stratus clouds by examining the coresponding Suomi NPP VIIRS IR brightness temperature difference “Fog/stratus product” image (below) — as well as numerous fingers of valley fog across interior British Columbia.
Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.7 µm Day/Night Band and Fog/stratus product images