Occluded cyclone off the New England coast
MODIS 6.5 µm water vapor channel image + surface pressure and surface fronts
An AWIPS image of the MODIS 6.7 µm “water vapor channel” with an overlay of surface pressure and surface fronts (above) showed a large occluded cyclone off the New England coast on 09 May 2011.
McIDAS images of GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel data (below; click image to play animation) displayed the evolution of the classic signature that indicates a cyclone has reached the occluded stage: the formation of a well-defined “dry swirl” that wraps around the center of the circulation.
GOES-13 6.5 µm water vapor channel images (click image to play animation)
A comparison of AWIPS images of the 1-km resolution MODIS water vapor channel image with the corresponding 4-km resolution GOES-13 water vapor channel image (below) demonstrates the advantage of improved spatial resolution for analyzing the complex water vapor gradients as the system was becoming occluded.
MODIS 6.7 µm water vapor image + GOES-13 6.7 µm water vapor image