GOES-16 Visible and Cirrus Channels

By Scott Lindstrom • 21 March 2017

GOES-16 Visible (0.64 µm) images, 1202-1732 UTC on 21 March [click to play animated gif]

GOES-16 Visible imagery captured the erosion of near-surface clouds over Ohio on 21 March 2017. A benefit of the routine 5-minute imagery is that it allows better estimates of exactly when the low clouds will clear out. There is ample suggestion in the animation above of the presence of cirrus clouds. The GOES-16 ABI has a channel at 1.38 µm that is specifically designed to detect cirrus clouds because that is a region in the electromagnetic spectrum where strong water vapor absorption occurs. The animation of ‘cirrus channel’ imagery, below, confirms the presence of widespread cirrus clouds.

GOES-16 Cirrus Channel (1.38 µm) images, 1202-1732 UTC on 21 March [click to play animated gif]

Terra MODIS Visible (0.65 µm) and Cirrus (1.375 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-16, MODIS, Terra