MTSAT-1R 10.8 µm IR channel images

MTSAT-1R 10.8 µm IR channel images from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (above) showed Category 1 Tropical Storm Thane (06B) in the Bay of Bengal, moving toward the east coast of India on 28 December 2011.

Contours of 850-200 hPa satellite-derived deep layer wind shear overlaid on MTSAT-1R 6.75 µm water vapor channel images (below) indicated that Thane was in an environment of low wind shear, which favored some intensification prior to making landfall.

MTSAT-1R 6.75 µm water vapor channel images + Deep layer wind shear

It is interesting to note that the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below) showed the northern counterclockwise circulation of Tropical Storm Thane and the southern clockwise circulation of Tropical Storm Four (04S) — each drawing moisture from the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product

===== 30 December Update =====

Tropical Storm 04 S intensified in a similar low wind shear environment, becoming Tropical Cyclone Benilde in the South Indian Ocean. Benilde was forecast to intensify, with wind gusts up to 140 knots. Meteosat-7 visible/shortwave IR images with an overlay of ASCAT scatterometer surface winds (below) showed the structure of Benilde.

Meteosat-7 visble/shortwave IR imagery + ASCAT surface winds

GOES-15 0.63 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)

Strong northeasterly winds created large plumes of blowing dust across parts of the Baja California region of Mexico on 27 November 2011. GOES-15 0.63 µm visible channel images (above; click image to play animation) showed the development of one blowing dust plume originating near the west coast of mainland Mexico, with another more broad plume fanning out from the Baja California peninsula.

GOES-15 will be replacing GOES-11 as the operational GOES-West satellite on 06 December 2011 — and one of the benefits is improved Image Navigation and Registration (INR), which leads to less image-to-image “wobble” when viewing an animation. The improved GOES-15 INR is quite evident when compared to GOES-11 for this blowing dust case (below; click image to play animation).

GOES-11 0.65 µm and GOES-15 0.63 µm visible images (click image to play animation)

A 250-meter resolution MODIS true color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image from the SSEC MODIS Today site (below) revealed more complex details about the structure of the blowing dust features.

MODIS true color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image

AWIPS images of GOES-11 0.65 µm visible channel data with an overlay of MADIS 1-hour interval satellite winds (below) indicated that the airborne dust feature was moving southwestward at speeds of 15-20 knots.

GOES-11 0.65 µm visible images + MADIS satellite winds

A comparison of 1-km resolution MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel, 3.7 µm “shortwave IR” channel, and 11.0 µm “IR window” channel images (below) showed that (1) the thickest portions of the blowing dust plumes appeared several degrees warmer (darker black enhancement) on the shortwave IR channel image, due to reflection of incoming solar radiation off the small airborne dust particles, and (2) swaths of land which had significant amounts of blowing dust overhead exhibited a slightly cooler (lighter gray enhancement) signaure on the IR window channel image, since the dust was reducing the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface.

MODIS 0.65 µm visible, 3.7 µm "shortwave IR", and 11.0 µm "IR window" images

In fact, the corresponding 1-km resolution MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) product (below) displayed LST values in the 80s F in areas beneath the blowing dust plumes, in contrast to LST values in the 90s to around 100º F over adjacent areas.

MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel + MODIS Land Surface Temperature product

CIMSS participation in GOES-R Proving Ground activities includes making a variety of MODIS images and products available for National Weather Service offices to add to their local AWIPS workstations. Currently there are 49 NWS offices receiving MODIS imagery and products from CIMSS.

I noticed something interesting in this morning’s visible imagery off the Baja California coast.

Here’s a link: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2ktDMIN5qWfODI2OTYzYjgtZjJkMS00MTU5LTk2ODctYzdhNzY5M2Y2MWIx

I’m looking at the apparent wave pattern that’s going “upstream” towards the northeast whereas the low level flow is mostly towards the south. Is that a gravity wave? If so, what causes it? The vis can only go so far back so I looked at the IR and couldn’t find anything obvious.

Great question Ken — it certainly appears to be some sort of internal gravity wave, but what caused it and why was it propagating against the ambient flow shall remain a bit of a mystery until we can dig into this case a bit further. One more event for the “What the heck is this?” blog category.

GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor channel images + GOES-15 0.63 µm visible channel images

McIDAS images of GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor channel data (prior to daylight) and then GOES-15 0.63 µm visible channel data after sunrise (above) on 14 November 2011 tell us one thing: this gravity wave was apparently fairly deep in the vertical, since it exibited a signal on both the water vapor channel imagery (which generally senses radiation from the middle troposphere: San Diego 12:00 UTC rawinsonde water vapor chanel weighting function profile) as well as on the lower-tropospheric cloud features seen on the visible channel imagery.

Note that there was a second packet of shorter-wavelength gravity waves that could be seen in the far southwestern portion of the GOES-15 visible image satellite scene toward the end of the animation. This second packet of gravity waves was very evident on a 500-meter resolution Aqua MODIS Red/Green/Blue (RGB) true color image at 21:21 UTC (below).

Aqua MODIS true color image

Gravity waves are usually ducted within a well-defined temperature inversion. A look at the 12:00 UTC rawinsonde profile from San Diego, California (below) did indicate the presence of a few inversions that might have been capable of ducting such a gravity wave — but the inversions existed at multiple levels.

San Deigo, California 12:00 UTC rawinsonde profile

An AWIPS image of 18:00 UTC MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel data with overlays of 1-hour interval MADIS satellite winds (below) did not reveal any atmospheric motion vectors with a southwesterly component – but these would likely have been rejected by the winds quality control algorithms, since such a motion would have differed too greatly from the model first guess wind fields at 850 hPa, 500 hPa, 300 hPa, and 250 hPa.

MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel image + MADIS 1-hour interval satellite winds

Regarding the effect of the gravity wave seen on the lower-tropospheric clouds bands, a MODIS 11.0 µm IR image detected cloud top IR brightness temperatures around +4ºC, which on a RUC model sounding at that location apparently corresponded to a cloud top height around 12,550 feet (below) — however, this value seemed to be a bit high judging from the appearance of the cloud band features on the GOES and MODIS visible and IR imagery.

MODIS 11.0 µm IR image + RUC model sounding

On the other hand, POES AVHRR Cloud Type and Cloud Top Height products indicated that these low-level cloud bands were water droplet clouds, with cloud top heights of around 1 km (below) — much more typical for marine boundary layer cloud features over this region.

POES AVHRR Cloud Type product

POES AVHRR Cloud Top Height product

GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel images (click image to play animation)

A historic early season October winter storm produced snowfall amounts of 12 inches or more across 9 Northeastern US states during the 29 October – 30 October 2011 period, with a storm total snowfall as high as 32.0 inches reported at Peru, Massachusetts (HPC storm summary). McIDAS images of 4-km resolution GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel data (above; click image to play animation) showed the evolution of the storm system during the period, which included rapid intensification following the approach of a jet streak and associated dry slot.

1-km resolution GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images (below; click image to play animation) showed a good portion of the resulting swath of snow cover on the morning of 30 October — areas of inland fog and stratus could be seen burning off across the southwestern portion of the satellite scene, and the center of the storm circulation was very evident over the adjacent offshore waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)

An AWIPS image of 1-km resolution MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel data with overlays of ocean buoy data and ASCAT scatterometer surface winds (below) showed that buoy winds were still gusting as high as 56 knots at that time, with a number of 50-knot ASCAT winds to the west and southwest of the center of the circulation.

MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel image + buoy reports + ASCAT surface winds

A comparison of the 0.65 µm MODIS visible channel image with the corresponding false color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image creted using the MODIS visible channel and the MODIS 2.1 µm “snow/ice” channel (below) was helpful for discriminating between liquid and supercooled water droplet cloud features (which appeared as lighter shades of white) and the swath of snow cover on the ground (or clouds composed of ice crystals, which appeared as shades of red).

MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel + MODIS false color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image

The MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below; click image to play animation) indicated that the storm was able to tap into a long plume of tropical moisture (originating in the Caribbean Sea) that was feeding northeastward across the western Atlantic Ocean.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (click image to play animation)

GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images + ASCAT scatterometer surface winds

Tropical Storm Rina rapidly intensified (CIMSS ADT plot) to hurricane intensity off the coast of Honduras on 24 October 2011 — GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images with an overlay of ASCAT scatterometer surface winds from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (above) showed that Hurricane Rina exhibited a central dense overcast early in the day, with convective bursts near the center of the circulation.

A longer animation of GOES-15 10.7 µm IR channel images (below; click image to play animation) revealed a number of convective bursts, with large areas of the central dense overcast exhibiting cloud top IR brightness temperatures of -80ºC or colder (violet color enhancement).

GOES-15 10.7 µm IR channel images (click image to play animation)

AWIPS images of the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product (below; click image to play animation) suggested that Hurricane Rina may have been tapping moisture from the Eastern Pacific Ocean Intertropical Convergence Zone / Monsoon Trough.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product + tropical surface analysis (click image to play animation)

It is interesting to note that an increasing pressure gradient between high pressure located over the Gulf of Mexico and the deepening circulation of Hurricane Rina was beginning to enhance the intensity of dry Tehuano gap winds flowing southward into the Gulf of Tehuantepec (below).

MIMIC TPW + Tropical surface analysis + ASCAT scatterometer surface winds

===== 25 October Update =====

NOAA-16 false color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image

On 25 October 2011, widespread high altitude cirrus “transverse banding” was seen along the western periphery of Hurricane Rina on a 1-km resolution NOAA-16 false color Red/Green/Blue (RGB) image (above), created using AVHRR visible channels 1 (0.63 µm) and 2 (0.86 µm) along with IR channel 4 (10.8 µm).

4-km resolution GOES-13 6.5 µm “water vapor channel” images (below; click image to play animation) showed that Hurricane Rina was a prolific producer of transverse banding during much of the day. The GOES-13 satellite had been placed into Rapid Scan Operations (RSO) mode, providing images as often as every 5-10 minutes.

GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel images (click image to play animation)

1-km resolution GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel RSO images (below; click image to play animation) revealed the formation of a well-defined eyewall during the afternoon hours.

GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)

GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor channel images (click image to play 3-day animation)

McIDAS images of 4-km resolution GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor channel data (above; click image to play 3-day animation) showed a plume of tropical moisture being drawn into the circulation of a large cut-off low that was part of a “Rex block” that had formed over the far East Pacific Ocean during the 11 October – 13 October 2011 period.

An AWIPS image of 1-km resolution MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor channel data with an overlay of 1-hour MADIS atmospheric motion vectors or “satellite winds” (below) showed better detail of the moisture plume structure, and indicated that this moisture was being drawn into the circulation of the cut-off low at speeds as great as 50-60 knots.

MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor image + MADIS atmospheric motion vector winds

AWIPS images of the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (below; click image to play animation) revealed that the plume of tropical moisture was likely composed of contributions from the remnants of Hurricane Jova (which had moved inland across western Mexico on 12 October) and Tropical Storm Irwin (which had been meandering across the Eastern Pacific Ocean for 8 days, reaching Category 1 hurricane intensity on 07 October).

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product (click image to play animation)

GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor images (click image to play animation)

McIDAS images of GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor channel data (above; click image to play animation) showed the changing signature of a persistent upper level cut-off low lingering over the north-central US during the 23 September – 27 September 2011 period. As the system lingered over the region, it produced widespread wind gusts in the 30-40 mph range (with a peak wind gust of 46 mph at Green Bay, Wisconsin), and rainfall totals of 4-5 inches at some locations in northern Illinois.

AWIPS images of the hourly GOES sounder Total Column Ozone product on 25 September - 26 September (below; click image to play animation) revealed a distinct elevated ozone signature (300-400 Dobson Units, green to red color enhancement), which indicated that the height of the tropopause was lower in the vicinity of the cut-off low.

GOES sounder Total Column Ozone product (click image to play animation)

One notable impact associated with this cut-off low included thunderstorms along the Lake Michigan shoreline that produced a number of waterspouts that were seen from Milwaukee to Chicago. A comparison of MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel and 11.0 µm IR window channel image at 17:28 UTC (12:28 pm local time) on 24 September (below) showed one of the storms that exhibited cloud top IR brightness temperatures colder than -40ºC (blue color enhancement), along with a number of cloud to ground lightning strikes as it moved inland.

MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel and 11.0 µm IR window channel images

Another impact of this cut-off low included a number of pilot reports of light to moderate turbulence over the central and southern Great Plains region. A well-defined bloom of cirrus clouds developed within a zone of high 400-200 hPa layer wind shear, as seen on 4-km resolution GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel images with overlays of CRAS model fields (below; click image to play animation).

GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor images + turbulence reports + CRAS layer winds and shear (click image to play animation)

Better detail of the banded structure of the cirrus cloud features within the high-shear deformation zone can be seen on a 1-km resolution MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor image (below). Note the pilot report of light to moderate turbulence during the entire flight from Denver (DEN) to Kansas City (MCI).

MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor image + pilot reports of turbulence

A sequence of 1-km resolution MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor channel images on 26 September (below) showed some very intricate dry air and moisture structures within the cut-off low during that particular day.

MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor channel images

In a comparison of MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel and MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor channel images (below), note how much more structure is seen in the water vapor image — even in areas that are cloud-free in the visible image. This allows a number of water vapor features and gradients to be tracked using 3 consecutive GOES water vapor images, to produce MADIS high-altitude atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) that can provide important wind direction and wind speed data. An AMV with a wind speed of 130 knots (at 300 hPa) was seen in the dry slot over southern Missouri.

MODIS 0.65 µm visible image + MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor image + MADIS satellite winds

GOES-13 0.65 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)

McIDAS images of GOES-13 0.63 µm visible channel data (above; click image to play animation) showed the cyclonic circulation of clouds and the convective bursts associated with the development of Tropical Storm Bret in the western Atlantic Ocean north of the Bahamas on 17 July 2011.

A morning AWIPS image of MODIS 11.0 µm IR channel data with an overlay of MetOp Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) surface winds (below) indicated a broad cyclonic flow with maximum velocities around 22 knots at 14:23 UTC.

MODIS 11.0 µm IR image + ASCAT surface scatterometer winds

Later in the day, a DMSP-18 SSMIS 85 GHz microwave image from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) showed that the deep convection was limited to the eastern semicircle of the tropical cyclone at that time, due to the presence of some westerly wind shear.

DMSP-18 SSMIS 85 GHz microwave image + deep layer wind shear

GOES-12 0.63 µm visible channel images

Hurricane Adrian developed into a Category 3 hurricane early in the day on 09 June 2011. McIDAS images of GOES-12 0.63 µm visible channel data (above) initially showed a well-defined eye before it began to get partially obscured by the high clouds of a central dense overcast (CDO).

DMSP SSMIS 85 GHz microwave images from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) revealed a distinct eye at 12:09 UTC and 14:56 UTC.

DMSP SSMIS 85 GHz microwave images

GOES 10.7 µm IR images (below) also briefly showed a well-defined eye early in the day, which later filled in a bit beneath the CDO as a curved band of cold high clouds began to wrap around the eastern and northern quadrants of the hurricane.

GOES 10.7 µm IR images

The circulation of Hurricane Adrian could be clearly seen on an AWIPS image of ASCAT scatterometer winds overlaid on a GOES IR image (below).

ASCAT scatterometer winds (overlaid on GOES IR image)

AWIPS images of the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product (below) showed that Adrian was tapping moisture from the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) / “Monsoon Trough”, which was located at approximately 10º North latitude over the eastern Pacific Ocean.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product

===== 10 June Update =====

Hurricane Adrian intensified to a Category 4 storm on 10 June 2011. 4-km resolution GOES 10.7 µm IR channel images (below; click image to play animation) continued to show a well-defined eye structure.

GOES 10.7 µm IR images (click image to play animation)

A closer view of the eye could be seen using 1-km resolution GOES visible channel images (below; click image to play animation).

GOES visible channel images (click image to play animation)

The intensity of Hurricane Adrian was expected to decrease as the storm began to move over colder waters, as seen on an image of the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) analysis (below).

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) analysis

GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor images (click to play animation)

An area of organized convection was seen moving rapidly southwestward across the western Atlantic Ocean on 31 May 2011, not far off the East Coast of the US. AWIPS images of GOES-13 6.5 µm “water vapor channel” data (above; click image to play animation) suggested that this area of convection over the Atlantic (which was designated Atlantic Tropical Invest 93L on the morning of 01 June) may have been due to a residual Mesoscale Convective Vortex (MCV) that was created by a large Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) over the Upper Midwest region of the US 2 days earlier (for additional information, see the WeatherMatrix Blog and the Weather Underground WunderBlog). A comparison of a POES AVHRR 0.63 µm visible image at 12:37 UTC with ASCAT scatterometer surface winds about 2 hours later at 14:40 UTC (below) revealed a well-defined cyclonic circulation within the convective cluster on 31 May.

POES AVHRR 0.63 µm visible channel image + ASCAT scatterometer surface winds

MODIS Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product images (below) indicated that the SST values within the Gulf Stream were in the upper 70s to low 80s F (darker red color enhancement) — and these warm waters may have helped the MCV convection to organize and intensify as it eventually moved southwestward over the Gulf Stream.

MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product images

The feature could also be followed on the MIMIC Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product (below; click image to play animation) — TPW values remained above 40-45 mm during the entire journey across the western Atlantic Ocean, and peaked at 58 mm at 18:00 UTC on 31 May as the disturbance began to move over the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water (TPW) product (click to play animation)

A sequence of MODIS 11.0 µm IR and POES AVHRR 10.8 µm IR images (below) showed minimum cloud top IR brightness temperature values in the -71º C to -83º C range during the 31 May to 01 June period.

MODIS 11.0 µm IR + POES AVHRR 10.8 µm IR images

A somewhat similar case was noted back in July 1999, when MCV-related convection moved inland produving large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina.

CIMSS participation in GOES-R Proving Ground activities includes making a variety of POES AVHRR, MODIS, and MIMIC TPW images and products available for National Weather Service offices to add to their local AWIPS workstations. The VISIT training lessons “POES and AVHRR Satellite Products in AWIPS”, “MODIS Products in AWIPS“, and “Morphed TPW Detection (MIMIC)” are available to help users understand these products and their applications to weather analysis and forecasting.

[Added, 7 June 2011: An enhanced infrared loop using data from GOES-13 that shows the entire life of the MCV is available here. Note: 34 megabyte file size]