GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) revealed the mesoscale cyclonic circulations of actinoform clouds (or “actinae“) within the marine boundary layer stratocumulus cloud field over the central Pacific Ocean on 30 May 2019.This type of cloud feature was originally identified in TIROS-V imagery over the Pacific Ocean in 1962 (below),... Read More

AVHRR false color imagery (above; viewed using Google Earth) and GOES-11 visible channel imagery (below) revealed a family of cyclonic vorticies  propagating westward across the eastern North Pacific Ocean on 29 March... Read More

GOES-11 (GOES-West) Visible (daytime) and 3.9 µm Shortwave Infrared (nighttime) imagery (above) revealed an interesting cyclonic vortex which was propagating westward across the eastern North Pacific Ocean on 13-14 March 2007. The radial banded cloud features that form such a cloud “swirl” are known as actinae or Read More

The GOES-14 (GOES-O) satellite was launched on 27 June 2009, and is undergoing its Post Launch Test. The first calibrated full disk visible image (above) was received by the SSEC Data Center beginning at 17:30 UTC on 27 July 2009.A close-up view centered over central California (below) showed marine fog and stratus hugging the Pacific coast, with cumulus clouds... Read More