1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) images from all 16 ABI spectral bands (above) displayed reflectance and/or thermal signatures of the SpaceX AX-1 Mission’s Falcon 9 rocket booster as it was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Center on the morning of 08 April 2022.GOES-16 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere... Read More
GOES-16 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
GOES-16 True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (below) showed the rocket booster condensation plume as it drifted eastward away from the launch site.
GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
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Thunderstorms were slowly but surely edging their way dangerously close to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, on April 2nd. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves had just completed a spring training game at the stadium, when two people were struck by lightning in one of the parking lots surrounding the stadium (they were... Read More
Thunderstorms were slowly but surely edging their way dangerously close to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, on April 2nd. The New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves had just completed a spring training game at the stadium, when two people were struck by lightning in one of the parking lots surrounding the stadium (they were hospitalized but reported to be in stable condition).
ProbSevere LightningCast is an experimental deep-learning model that is running in near-real time at CIMSS. It uses images of GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) visible, near-IR, and longwave-IR channels to predict the probability of lightning (as observed by the GOES-R Geostationary Lightning Mapper [GLM]) in the next 60 minutes.
Below is a time series of the LightningCast probability and GLM-observed lightning at and near Raymond James Stadium (left panel), along with an animation of LightningCast probability contours, GOES-16 0.64-µm reflectance (from a 1-minute mesoscale sector), and GLM flash-extent density (right panel) near the stadium (red circle). In this way, users can see how the model’s probabilities evolved over time at a specific location and within the vicinity.
Police officers responded to the two individuals struck by lightning at 3:45 PM local time (19:45 UTC). Based on the footprint of the GLM flash-extent density, they were struck at approximately 3:32 PM. The LightningCast probability of lightning was 75% 30 minutes before the lightning strike (remaining mostly above 50% between 3:00 and 3:32 PM). The probability of lightning first reached 50% about 1 hour before the lightning strike, and lightning started occurring within the vicinity (within 25 km) about 45 minutes before the strike.
Output from LightningCast, which leverages the high spatial, temporal, and spectral information found in GOES-R ABI, can help objectively quantify the short-term threat of convective hazards such as lightning. The model could perhaps be used by forecasters to advise outdoor venues such as stadiums to take mitigating actions sooner, or by individuals to help make safe decisions.
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The tropical disturbance (formerly 95W) in the western Pacific south of Guam (discussed here) has strengthened and become the second western Pacific named storm of the year: Malakas. The storm is about halfway between the islands of Guam and New Guinea. The side-by-side imagery above, showing Himawari Band 3 and... Read More
The tropical disturbance (formerly 95W) in the western Pacific south of Guam (discussed here) has strengthened and become the second western Pacific named storm of the year: Malakas. The storm is about halfway between the islands of Guam and New Guinea. The side-by-side imagery above, showing Himawari Band 3 and Band 8 imagery (courtesy JMA), shows deep convection near the center of the storm that was at fairly low latitudes: around 6o N at 0600 UTC on 8 April, the times of the imagery above. In addition, the storm is far from dry air. A 24-hour animation of the Band 3 (0.64 µm)/Band 13 (10.41 µm) sandwich product on 7 April 2022 below, taken from this site (see this blog post), shows the rotation of the system and the abundance of convection at the center.
The forecast at 1200 UTC on 8 April from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center take this strengthening storm northwest, between Guam and Yap.
Imagery from the SSEC/CIMSS Tropical Weather website, below, shows the storm in a region of low shear. An excellent ASCAT overpass at 1126 UTC on 8 April 2022 showed a closed-off center.
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Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) are rules and guidelines put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration that govern conditions in which “flight by outside visual reference is not safe”, whether by low clouds or fog. Cloud and reflectance data from geostationary satellites GOES-16 and GOES-17 provide a satellite IFR Probability... Read More
Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) are rules and guidelines put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration that govern conditions in which “flight by outside visual reference is not safe”, whether by low clouds or fog. Cloud and reflectance data from geostationary satellites GOES-16 and GOES-17 provide a satellite IFR Probability product, by detecting fog and low stratus. More information on this product can be found here.
An example of GOES-17 IFR Probability is shown below in Southern California on April 7, 2022 at 1546UTC, displaying GOES-17 IFR Probability, IFR advisories issued by the Aviation Weather Center, and GOES-17 red band reflectance.
The full domain of GOES-17 IFR Probability may be useful for ocean prediction. GOES-16/17 IFR products are available on RealEarth.
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