Ice storm across the Southern Plains and Mid-South
![](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2023/02/ice_rgb-20230203_163617.png)
GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and Day Snow-Fog RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4]
The Day Snow-Fog RGB imagery is more useful here, because it leverages the 1.61 µm “Snow/Ice” spectral band. As seen in a plot of ABI Spectral Response Functions (below), snow and ice are efficient absorbers of radiation (and therefore exhibit a low reflectance) at the 1.61 µm wavelength — making those features appear as shades of red in the RGB images (and since ice absorbs even more strongly than snow, ice appears as the darkest shades of red).
![](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/01/ABI_Bands1-5_SRF.jpg)
Plots of Spectral Response Function for ABI Bands 1-5 (credit: Mat Gunshor, CIMSS) [click to enlarge]
![](https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/images/2023/02/230203_1831utc_noaa20_viirs_visible_nearInfrared_anim.gif)
NOAA-20 VIIRS Visible (0.64 µm) and Near-Infrared “Snow/Ice” (1.61 µm) images vaid at at 1831 UTC [click to enlarge]