Flood wave along the Nueces River in Texas

By Scott Bachmeier • 27 October 2018

As pointed out by NWS Corpus Christi (above), GOES-16 (GOES-East) Near-Infrared “Vegetation” (0.86 µm) images revealed an interesting flood wave moving along the Nueces River on 27 October 2018 (following a recent period of heavy rainfall).

A toggle between before (10 October) and after (27 October) Aqua MODIS False Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images from the MODIS Today site (below) showed dramatic differences between the amount of water (darker shades of blue) flowing along portions of the Nueces River on those 2 days.

Before (10 October) and after (27 October) Aqua MODIS False Color RGB images [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm), Near-Infrared Vegetation (0.86 µm) and Near-Infrared Snow/Ice (1.61 µm) images [click to enlarge]

===== 28 October Update =====

GOES-16 Near-Infrared “Vegetation” (0.86 µm) images at 1552 UTC on 27 and 28 October [click to enlarge]

A comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Near-Infrared “Vegetation (0.86 µm) and “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm) images from the early afternoon hours on 27 and 28 October (below) displayed these 24-hour changes at a higher spatial resolution (375 meters, vs 1 km at satellite subpoint with GOES-16). The rear edge of the flood wave (located about 25 miles southeast of Cotulla) appeared to show up a bit better in the 0.86 µm images than the 1.61 µm.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Near-Infrared “Vegetation (0.86 µm) and “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm) images from 27 and 28 October [click to enlarge]

Aqua MODIS False Color RGB images from 27 and 28 October [click to enlarge]

===== 29 October Update =====

GOES-16 Near-Infrared “Vegetation” (0.86 µm) images from 1552 UTC on 27, 28 and 29 October [click to enlarge]

Categories: Aqua, GOES-16, Heavy rain / flooding, Hydrology, MODIS, Suomi NPP, VIIRS