The GOES-13 satellite (launched in May 2006) has been brought out of on-orbit storage for a few weeks of testing and evaluation. A comparison of 1-kilometer resolution visible channel imagery (centered on Sioux Falls, South Dakota) from GOES-13 (above) and GOES-12 (below) demonstrates the fact that over time there is... Read More

Increasing wildfire activity was noted across parts of the Great Basin region of the western US on 20 July 2007 — according to the National Fire Interagency Center, there were 43 large fires burning in the states of Idaho and Nevada on that day (NOAA HMS fire and smoke product). AWIPS images of the GOES and MODIS 3.9µm/3.7µm... Read More

The worst airline disaster in Brazil’s history occurred on the evening of 17 July 2007 as a TAM Airlines Airbus A320 was attempting to land at the Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Early media reports (CNN) indicated that the plane was landing during a “driving rainstorm”, which led us... Read More

The 2007 tropical cyclone season has been rather boring quiet in both the Atlantic and East Pacific basins so far…but on 16 July 2007, Cosme became the first East Pacific hurricane of the season (about 1600 miles east-southeast of Hawaii). It is interesting to note that only 4 previous East Pacific tropical cyclone seasons have... Read More