The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland (which had last erupted in the 1820s) experienced a minor eruption on 21 March 2010. An AVHRR 3.7 µm shortwave IR image from the polar-orbiting NOAA-19 satellite (above) showed evidence of a “hot spot” (black to yellow pixels) due to the resulting lava flows.According to... Read More

McIDAS images comparing 1-km resolution GOES-12 and GOES-13 0.65 µm visible channel data (above) revealed several smoke plumes over parts of eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas, while the corresponding 4-km resolution GOES-12 and GOES-13 3.9 µm shortwave IR images (below) showed numerous “hot spots” (black to yellow to red pixels)... Read More

AWIPS images of the 1-km resolution MODIS 0.65 µm visible channel data (above) showed a hint of a few aircraft contrails over the Southwestern US at 18:03 and 21:22 UTC on 16 March 2010. However, note that many more contrails were apparent on the corresponding MODIS 1.4 µm near-IR “cirrus detection channel”... Read More

AWIPS images of the 1-km resolution MODIS Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product (above) showed some intricate details in the SST structure of the warm Loop Current in the eastern Gulf of Mexico on 13 March 2010. Note the “swirl” of slightly cooler SST values (lighter orange colors) in the northern portion of the... Read More