GOES-14 SRSO-R images of convection in the Southeast US
Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible and 11.45 µm IR images (with surface fronts and MSAS surface wind streamlines)
A comparison of AWIPS images of 1-km resolution Suomi NPP VIIRS 0.64 µm visible channel and 11.45 µm IR channel data at 18:35 UTC on 15 August 2013 (above) showed a number of organized clusters of deep convection which where generally located along a quasi-stationary frontal boundary that was draped across the Southeast US. Streamlines of MSAS surface winds also indicated an area of strong convergence over southeastern Georgia, where new convection was just beginning to develop.
GOES-14 0.63 µm visible channel images (click image to play animation)
McIDAS images of 1-km resolution GOES-14 0.63 µm visible channel data (above; click image to play animation) showed the evolution of the developing convection across southeastern Georgia in great detail at 1-minute intervals (since the GOES-14 satellite was in SRSO-R mode). At such a fine temporal resolution, short-lived features such as convective overshooting tops could easily be identified and followed — especially as the convection appeared to intensify as it interacted with the sea breeze boundary along the Georgia and Florida coasts. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument on the next-generation GOES-R satellite will be able to provide images as frequently as every 30 seconds over special mesoscale sectors.
The corresponding 4-km resolution GOES-14 10.7 µm IR channel images (below; click image to play animation) also revealed the evolution of the coldest overshooting tops associated with the most vigorous thunderstorm updrafts. The coldest GOES-14 storm top IR brightness temperature was -74º C at 21:10 UTC. During the time period of the animation, there were reports of damaging winds at a few locations across far southeastern Georgia and far northeastern Florida (SPC storm reports). On the GOES-R ABI, the spatial resolution of the IR imagery will be improved to 2 km, which should make the identification of important storm-top signatures easier.
GOES-14 10.7 µm IR channel images (click image to play animation)