AWIPS images of GOES-15 6.5 µm water vapor channel data (above; click image to play animation) displayed a signal of strong subsidence around the eastern periphery of a middle-tropospheric ridge of high pressure located over the eastern North Pacific Ocean on 22 February 2012. Note the rapid warming of water vapor brightness... Read More

GOES water vapor imagery tells you how moist or how dry the middle to upper troposphere is, right? Well, in general, yes — but it’s important to remember that the water vapor imagery actually displays the temperature of a layer of moisture that is emitting radiation. This layer of moisture... Read More

AWIPS images of the 4-km resolution GOES-13 10.7 µm – 3.9 µm “fog/stratus product” (above; click image to play animation) showed a large area of fog and/or stratus (yellow to orange color enhancement) that was increasing in areal coverage during the pre-dawn hours on 06 February 2012. Although the fog/stratus... Read More

An animation of McIDAS images of GOES-15 (GOES-West) 6.5 µm water vapor channel data from 27 January to 31 January 2012 (above; click image to play animation) revealed the presence of an unusually large and persistent warm/dry region over the central Pacific Ocean (centered southwest of Hawaii). Water vapor brightness... Read More