It’s straightforward to differentiate between high clouds and the ground in infrared satellite imagery because of large temperature differences. As clouds get closer and closer to the surface, their temperature gets closer and closer to the surface temperature, and brightness temperature differences can become insignifcant. At night, when visible data... Read More
On the Terra MODIS true color image (above) an extensive cumulus field can be seen forming over the land surfaces surrounding Lake Michigan on 15 September — daytime heating along with the evaporation of abundant soil moisture (from significant precipitation on 12 September and... Read More
No shortage of satellite meteorology topics today over the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions! A look at the GOES-12 visible channel animation (below, left) reveals the following features: (1) fingers of morning fog in the river valleys of southwestern Wisconsin, (2) areas of smoke... Read More
Areas of radiation fog were forming during the overnight hours in the river valleys of southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, and northeastern Iowa. These narrow finger-like fog features were apparent on the MODIS 11-3.9 micrometer “fog/stratus product” (upper left panel) due the higher spatial resolution (1 km IR) and better spectral... Read More
