CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies) anniversary is July 14, as it was established in 1980. From “about CIMSS: “… is a Cooperative Institute formed through a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1980. CIMSS operates as an institute within the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC)”.The... Read More

Due to the total solar eclipse over parts of the contiguous U.S. on April 8, 2024, there are many wondering what the cloud cover may be then. Q: Will it be cloudy over the path of the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024? A: We don’t know what the cloud cover will... Read More

With the help of NASA, private industry and others, NOAA’s GOES-2 (as GOES-B) was launched on June 16, 1977. Similar to SMS-1/2 and GOES-1/3, there were 2 spectral bands: one visible and one longwave infrared. A still image with a map overlay is also available to provide geo-referencing for the images... Read More

  The main modern Mount St. Helens eruption was May 18, 1980 — yet there were also later paroxysmal eruptions, such as on June 12/13, 1980. Geostationary satellite imagery from NASA’s SMS-2 (Synchronous Meteorological Satellite) monitored two more Mount St. Helens eruptions on July 22th (local time), 1980, as shown above. Note that in... Read More