The CIMSS Realtime GOES Page

The CIMSS Realtime GOES Page has moved to a new URL:
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/rt/

(Animate this!)


Processing status:    18Feb2008, 1743Z: NORMAL PRODUCTION (JPN).

Credits. Unless otherwise noted, all satellite data are provided by the Data Center at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) of the University of Wisconsin - Madison and are displayed using McIDAS, the Man computer Interactive Data Access System. [For those using McIDAS to gain ADDE access to the satellite data used in these displays, use the "CIMSSP" server, set with: DATALOC ADD CIMSSP VERN.SSEC.WISC.EDU .]

Disclaimer. The products from GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) shown here are experimental. These are generated and maintained within a research environment (here at CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies)) and are not intended to be considered operational. Timeliness, availability, and accuracy are sought but not guaranteed.


GOES Sounder Derived Products: Precipitable Water | Lifted Index/CAPE | Cloud Top Pressure | Ozone

GOES Imager Derived Products: Clear Sky Brightness Temperature | GOES-12 Cloud Information

Higher resolution displays of GOES Sounder DPI for the Wisconsin region

Interactive selection for time series plots of DPI values

Difference of GOES PW and other parameters from their first-guess values

Latest Derived Product GIF Images | Derived Product GIF Archive

Individual GOES Sounder Bands: Multi-Panel Display (East or West)

| Composites of Selected Bands | Toggle between Bands

List current number of GOES Sounder retrievals generated hourly

Recent Changes (31-Mar-2006)

For the latest status of the operational GOES satellites, please check the NOAA Satellite Information System web page (NOAASIS). Outages may be predictable, as scheduled during eclipse situations and for maneuvers; or, they may be impromptu, as during periods of hardware or software abnormalities. Also, please be aware that hourly GOES Sounder coverage is typically rather limited in geographical coverage (emphasizing the regional US view versus the more hemispheric view routinely made with the GOES Imager). False color enhancement schemes for satellite derived product images have remained reasonably consistent since the mid 1980s, with modification and evolution as needed.

Latest GOES Derived Product Images:

Large view Sounder Precipitable Water Large view Cloud Top Pressure
Entire U.S. Precipitable Water (PW) Ozone
Entire U.S. PW & 00 UTC RAOBs Entire U.S. PW & 12 UTC RAOBs
Entire U.S. Lifted Index (LI) Entire U.S. CAPE
Entire U.S. LI & 00 UTC RAOBs Entire U.S. LI & severe weather

Total Precipitable Water Vapor Derived from the GOES-East and GOES-West Sounders

These images of derived products have been generated from the GOES-East and GOES-West sounder data using the physical retrieval method. The product displayed is the total atmospheric precipitable water vapor value. (Precipitable water is the amount of liquid water, in millimeters, if all the atmospheric water vapor in the column is condensed.) The value is color-coded with browns being the driest and reds being the most moist. Clouds are represented as a gray color (see the color bar at the bottom of the image). A time sequence of the images is the best way to monitor drying and moistening trends.

The images are displayed in a Mercator projection at an effective resolution of 14 km (at the sub-satellite point, over the equator, a field-of-view is sampled every 10 km). The product is generated every hour. The images are calculated using radiance measurements from most of the longwave channels (2-8), the water vapor channels (10-12) and most of the shortwave channels (13-14, 16). More detailed information on the sounder is available. The algorithm for Derived Product Imagery (DPI) was originally developed at the CIMSS by the NESDIS/STAR Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB), formerly the NESDIS/ORA Systems Design and Applications Branch (SDAB).

24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder PW DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder SFOV PW DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation

Lifted Index Derived from the GOES Sounders

A closer look at the lifted index (LI) as derived from the GOES-East and GOES-West Sounders is provided each hour. This DPI display is purposely shown at full resolution for viewing of smaller scale features. The nominal GOES Sounder field-of-view (fov) is 10 km at the satellite sub-point.

This image is derived from the full physical retrieval algorithm. The LI product displayed is an atmospheric stability parameter which estimates the tendency of a low-level parcel of air (lowest 100 hPa) to continue to rise if it was 'lifted' to the middle of the atmosphere (500 hPa). The units are in degrees C. A negative value indicates an unstable air mass, while a positive value implies a stable air mass. The value is color-coded with reds and yellows being the most unstable and blues and beiges more stable; clouds are represented as a gray color. (See the color bar at the bottom of the image. The right-hand edge of each number matches the color directly beneath it. For example, the brightest yellow corresponds to an LI of -7C; while the brightest red, to -8C.) A time sequence of the images is the best way to monitor stability trends.

24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder SFOV LI DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation

Cloud Products Derived from the GOES Sounders

24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder CTP DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder CTP DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder ECA DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation

Total Column Ozone Derived from the GOES Sounders

Total column ozone is estimated every hour using GOES Sounder data. The ozone retrieval is generated by application of a regression guess as described in Li et al. 2001. Estimates are currently limited to cloud-free and partly cloudy regions of the GOES-8 & 10 Sounder sectors. Each image is a "pseudo" DPI (Derived Product Image) that is generated outside of the retrieval program by centering a colored square (3x3 field of view box) at the estimate location. Band-8 (11.0um) is used for the image background. Total column ozone is measured in Dobson Units (100 DU = 1 mm of thickness at STP). Features such as upper level low pressure systems and frontal boundaries can often be identified in the total column ozone imagery. Note to users: old retrievals are used when the current hour's retrievals do not run. This problem will be solved shortly.

Li, J., C. C. Schmidt, J. P. Nelson, T. J. Schmit, and W. P. Menzel, 2001: Estimation of total atmospheric ozone from GOES sounder radiances with high temporal resolution, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 18, 157-168

24-hour java animation of GOES Sounder Ozone DPI
Shorter 4-hour animation

Composite Images of Individual Bands from the GOES-East/West Sounders

All available sectors from the GOES-East and GOES-West Sounders are spatially combined each hour for a few select representative infrared spectral bands. The four pieces (two in the east; two in the west) typically cover the western Atlantic, eastern US, western US, and eastern Pacific; however, schedule variations do occur, as do omissions during eclipse situations. For display, these images from GOES-East and GOES-West have been re-mapped to a common projection (mercator) at an effective resolution of 14 km; the nominal resolution of a field-of-view at the sub-satellite point for a GOES Sounder is 10 km. The color scheme, from warm reds to cool blues, is maintained for each band, but the range enhanced does vary with band (to emphasize gradients in each). Note the equivalent blackbody temperature scale at the bottom of each image. The current band selection follows:
Band
Number		 Wavelength
(um)		 Principal
Gas		 Sounding
Purpose
3 14.1 CO2 upper-level temperature
5 13.4 CO2 lower-level temperature
8 11.0 window surface/cloud top temperature
10 7.5 H2O lower-level moisture
11 7.0 H2O midlevel moisture
12 6.5 H2O upper-level moisture
15 4.45 CO2 upper-level temperature
17 4.0 window surface temperature

Note the following characteristics while comparing the different bands. Window bands 8 and 17 have the same color enhancement applied; band 17 is more transparent, but is also sensitive to reflected solar radiation (contributing energy during the daytime). Windows range widely from warm surface values to cold cloud tops. Bands 3 and 12 both sense upper portions of the troposphere; note the smaller range of temperatures. Band 3 is sensitive to the thermal energy of that region, while band 12 is sensitive to the moisture content as well. Thus, in band 3, look for the large scale thermal pattern (cool troughs and warm ridges); in band 12, look for moist ("cool") plumes and dry ("warm") slots, often clearly indicative of dynamic features ranging from jet streams to mesoscale vorticity circulations. Note that band 11 provides a look at moisture at levels lower in the atmosphere than that from band 12 (temperature values are warmer in band 11, in agreeement with the general lapse of temperature with height in the troposphere). Also notice how "clean" the radiometric signal is from band 11 (versus the noisier bands 3 or 12). Of all the water vapor channels, band 10 is influenced the most by radiation emitted from the surface. Band 15 has been included for monitoring purposes, with respect to the appropriateness of radiometric coefficients applied to the specific GOES Sounder instruments (especially historically with GOES-8); otherwise, band 15 is similar to band 3, but is within the shortwave rather than longwave CO2 absorption region.

Selectable comparison between any available GOES Sounder bands at the last hour


24-hour java animation of Band 3 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 5 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 8 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 10 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 11 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 12 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 15 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation
24-hour java animation of Band 17 from the GOES Sounder
Shorter 4-hour animation

Clear Sky Brightness Temperature Derived from the GOES Imagers

Since November 2001, CIMSS has been determining Clear Sky Brightness Temperature (CSBT) information from the GOES Eastern and Western Imagers. These observed data are provided to the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in Washington D.C. and the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in England for assimilation into global weather prediction models. Processing is hourly and hemispheric with respect to temporal and spatial coverage, respectively. Coverage for the CSBT extends from roughly 67S to 67N and 30W to 165E. The resolution is averaged over boxes of approximately 50 km. Each box consists of 187 (11 rows by 17 columns) fields-of-view (fovs). For a given box, a cloud detection algorithm (Schreiner et al, 2001) is used. This clear/cloudy determination is based on brightness temperature comparisons with neighbors as well as surface information provided by hourly observations where available and numerical forecasts and remotely sensed sea surface temperatures over the oceans. For each 50 km box, the average brightness temperature for each infrared (IR) band and the albedo for the visible band are calculated along with the average clear and cloudy brightness temperatures. Additional parameters are the number of clear and cloudy fovs, center latitude and longitude of the box, central local zenith and solar zenith angles of the box, land/sea flag, standard deviation of the average clear and cloudy brightness temperatures, and two quality indicator flags. The processing is performed using the McIDAS system and the output information is then transferred from a McIDAS Meteorological Data (MD) file into a Binary Universal FoRm (BUFR) file. Full hemispheric images are produced every 3 hours for the 24 hour loops below. Notes: The displayed CSBT product below is of the GOES Imager water vapor channel brightness temperature. The infrared and visible overlay images have been enhanced.

Menzel, W.P., Schmit, T.J., and Schreiner, A.J., 2001: Observations and Trends of Clouds Based on GOES Sounder Data, Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres, 106 , 20,349-20,363

Article from 2003 AMS Conf.

24-hour java animation of GOES-11 Imager Clear Sky Brightness Temperature DPI

9-hour java animation of GOES-11 Experimental Imager high res CSBT DPI

24-hour java animation of GOES-12 Imager Clear Sky Brightness Temperature DPI

Cloud Products Derived from the GOES-12 Imager


** N.B. GOES-13 has indefinitely replaced GOES-12, as GOES-East - valid 15 Dec 2008 **

By adding a 13.3 um ("CO2 absorption") band to the Imager suite of radiances, cloud products can be derived by using the CO2 Absorption Technique (CAT) for determining cloud information for semi-transparent high clouds. Now, full resolution estimates of Cloud Top Pressure and Effective Cloud Amount can be calculated for hourly, half hourly, or even 15 minute intervals. Currently, data are being processed only every three hours. Note: The infrared and visible overlay images have been enhanced.

Schreiner, A.J., and T.J. Schmit, 2002: Derived Cloud Products from the GOES-M Imager. Preprints, 11th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, Madison, WI, American Meteorological Society, 420-423.

24-hour java animation of GOES-12 Imager Cloud Information

Cloud Products Derived from the GOES-13 Imager

By adding a 13.3 um ("CO2 absorption") band to the Imager suite of radiances, cloud products can be derived by using the CO2 Absorption Technique (CAT) for determining cloud information for semi-transparent high clouds. Now, full resolution estimates of Cloud Top Pressure and Effective Cloud Amount can be calculated for hourly, half hourly, or even 15 minute intervals. Currently, data are being processed only every three hours. Note: The infrared and visible overlay images have been enhanced.

Schreiner, A.J., and T.J. Schmit, 2002: Derived Cloud Products from the GOES-M Imager. Preprints, 11th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, Madison, WI, American Meteorological Society, 420-423.

24-hour java animation of GOES-12 Imager Cloud Information

Cloud Products Derived from the GOES-12 Imager and GOES-E-W Sounders

By adding a 13.3 um ("CO2 absorption") band to the Imager suite of radiances, cloud products can be derived by using the CO2 Absorption Technique (CAT) for determining cloud information for semi-transparent high clouds. Now, full resolution estimates of Cloud Top Pressure and Effective Cloud Amount can be calculated for hourly, half hourly, or even 15 minute intervals. Currently, data are being processed every hour.

Schreiner, A.J., and T.J. Schmit, 2002: Derived Cloud Products from the GOES-M Imager. Preprints, 11th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography, Madison, WI, American Meteorological Society, 420-423.

9-hour java animation of GOES-12 Imager or Sounder Cloud CTP

The majority of routine GOES products derived at CIMSS, and the displays thereof, (including vertical atmospheric profiles and cloud information from the GOES Sounder data) are generated on unix server workstations named "rets2, rets3...", which are Dell PowerEdge 2850 computers.

Other GOES Sites

Please refer questions to the GOES Webmasters
Return to: CIMSS (University of Wisconsin) or ASPB (NOAA/NESDIS/STAR/CoRP).
Last update was 19 May 2011.