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Aurora Borealis as seen by VIIRS Day/Night Band imagery

By Scott Bachmeier •

Aurora Forecast issued by the Space Weather Prediction Center

Aurora Forecast issued by the Space Weather Prediction Center

The Aurora Forecast shown above was issued on the night of 08 September 2015 by the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, with the accompanying text:

Following the G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storms from last night, observations of the solar wind at the ACE spacecraft near L1 indicate the potential again this evening for more activity. G1 (minor) conditions have already been observed by the global network of ground-based near real-time magnetometers. A forecast warning for G2 has been issue from 09/0500 – 09/1000 UTC (1am to 6am EST). These could be some prime hours to possibly see the Aurora in the northern most regions of the lower 48 states.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image composite [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image composite [click to enlarge]

A composite of Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images viewed using the SSEC RealEarth web map server (above) showed the bright and complex signature of the aurora borealis across southern Canada and the northern United States during the subsequent nighttime hours. Two of the individual Day/Night Band image swaths as viewed using AWIPS-2 are shown below.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image at 0756 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image at 0756 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image at 0939 UTC [click to enlarge]

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) image at 0939 UTC [click to enlarge]

Categories: RealEarth, Suomi NPP, VIIRS