NOAA/NESDIS placed GOES-15 in Rapid Scan Operations (RSO) mode for several hours on 7 October 2014 (link) to test RSO capabilities over different sectors of the Pacific Ocean. RSO Capabilities over the Pacific were possible in the 1990s; the testing yesterday showed they could be done again. Three sectors were scanned. The Sitka... Read More
The Japanese Satellite Himawari-8 was successfully launched from southern Tanegashima Island today at 05:16 UTC. (NASA News Source). Is the plume from that launch visible in MTSAT imagery? The visible imagery with a nominal time of 0514 UTC was actually scanning Tanegashima Island at 0519 UTC, and a plume, denoted by the yellow arrow above,... Read More
The Suomi NPP VIIRS image toggle, above, from the pre-dawn hours (3:42 am local time) on 6 October 2014 shows a 0.7 µm Day/Night Band image and an 11.45 µm Infrared image, along with observations of postive and negative lightning strikes. With ample illumination by moonlight, the “visible image at night” Day/Night Band image highlighted areas of convective overshooting tops, but also included... Read More
The visible imagery animation above shows stratocumulus over Wisconsin behind a strong early-season cold front. Careful examination of the animation will reveal the presence of at least three exhaust plumes from power plants over Wisconsin. Imagery from 1715 UTC, below, shows visible (0.63... Read More
