Beginning shortly before 00 UTC on 07 October 2014, Typhoon Vongfong began a period of rapid intensification, as shown on a plot of the Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) intensity estimate (above). The peak ADT intensity late in the day was 146 knots. On the other... Read More

NOAA/NESDIS placed GOES-15 in Rapid Scan Operations (RSO) mode for several hours on 7 October 2014 (link) to test RSO capabilities over different sectors of the Pacific Ocean. RSO Capabilities over the Pacific were possible in the 1990s; the testing yesterday showed they could be done again. Three sectors were scanned. The Sitka... Read More

The Japanese Satellite Himawari-8 was successfully launched from southern Tanegashima Island today at 05:16 UTC. (NASA News Source). Is the plume from that launch visible in MTSAT imagery? The visible imagery with a nominal time of 0514 UTC was actually scanning Tanegashima Island at 0519 UTC, and a plume, denoted by the yellow arrow above,... Read More