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Mesoscale Convective System in Argentina

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images, with GLM Groups plotted in cyan/green [click to play MP4 animation]

In support of the RELAMPAGO-CACTI field experiment, GOES-16 (GOES-East) had a Mesoscale Domain Sector centered over northeastern Argentina on 13 November 2018 — and 1-minute “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images with plots of GLM Groups (above) showed a large and long-lived Mesoscale Convective System moving eastward across far northeastern Argentina and expanding into southern Paraguay and southeastern Brazil. Note the large amount of lightning in the anvil region far southeast of the core of the convection.

The corresponding GOES-16 Infrared animation without lightning data is shown below. Minimum cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures often reached -90ºC and colder (yellow pixels embedded within darker violet regions).

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

A comparison of NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images using RealEarth (below) provided a very detailed view of the MCS at 1703 UTC. On the Infrared image, storm-top signatures often associated with severe thunderstorms included a well-defined enhanced-V (with a pronounced cold/warm couplet) situated over the Paraguay/Argentina border, and a “warm trench” surrounding the cold overshooting top at the vertex of the enhanced-V over extreme southern Paraguay.

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1703 UTC [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 1703 UTC [click to enlarge]

The warm trench signature was also evident on 2-km resolution GOES-16 Infrared imagery at that same time (below), just west of Posadas, Argentina SARP. However, the warm trench surrounding the small overshooting top was only apparent from 1700 to 1705 UTC — so it was remarkable timing to have an overpass of the NOAA-20 satellite capture the brief signature in greater detail (at 375-meter resolution). A similar short-lived small overshooting top was seen at the vertex of the enhanced-V signature for the 6-minute period centered at 1652 UTC.

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.3 µm) image at 1703 UTC, with and without GLM Groups plotted in cyan/green [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) image at 1703 UTC, with and without GLM Groups plotted in cyan/green [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-16, Lightning, NOAA-20, RealEarth, Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images, Severe convection, VIIRS