This website works best with a newer web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer is not supported by this website.

CIMSS Satellite Blog

MENU

Cold air advection in the Bering Sea

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-17

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images (above) displayed cloud streets across the Bering Sea — cloud features that frequently occur in areas with a strong flow of cold air over warmer water. This northerly flow of cold air across the Bering Sea was due to a strong pressure gradient between high pressure over Siberia and broad low pressure centered over the Gulf of Alaska (surface analyses).

In a GOES-17 Visible image with plots of ASCAT scatterometer surface winds from Metop-A (below), ASCAT sampled winds with speeds as high as 33 knots (although the instrument did not adequately sample the western portion of the Bering Sea, where the strongest winds likely existed).

GOES-17 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm) image, with plots of Metop-A ASCAT winds [click to enlarge]

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) image, with plots of ASCAT winds from Metop-A [click to enlarge]

A sequence of Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images (below) provided higher-resolution views of the cold air advection cloud streets.

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

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

A toggle between Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (DNB) and GOES-17 Visible images around 2320 UTC (below) highlighted the advantage of  VIIRS DNB imagery at high latitudes, particularly during low-light periods of the winter season.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and GOES-17

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to enlarge]

Categories: GOES-17, Metop, Satellite winds, Suomi NPP, VIIRS