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Isaias re-intensifies to a Hurricane

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the 10-hour period leading up to the time when Tropical Storm Isaias re-intensified to Category 1 hurricane intensity on 03 August 2020. The center of Isaias passed near Buoy 41004 (below) — ahead of the storm, there was a wind gust to 62 knots (71 mph)... Read More

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the 10-hour period leading up to the time when Tropical Storm Isaias re-intensified to Category 1 hurricane intensity on 03 August 2020. The center of Isaias passed near Buoy 41004 (below) — ahead of the storm, there was a wind gust to 62 knots (71 mph) at 21 UTC, and after the storm  center had passed there was a wind gust to 68 knots (78 mph).

Plot of wind speed (blue), wind gust (red) and air pressure (green) at Buoy 41004 [click to enlarge]

Plot of wind speed (blue), wind gust (red) and air pressure (green) at Buoy 41004

GOES-16 Infrared images with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density (below) showed that there was some lightning activity associated with areas of deep convection around the center of Isaias.

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density [click to play animation | MP4]

Hurricane Isaias made landfall  in North Carolina at 0315 UTC on 04 August (11:15 PM EDT); a few hours later, VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images from the VIIRS Today site (below) showed the hurricane as it was moving further inland.

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 [click to enlarge]

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Heavy rainfall across Interior Alaska

By Scott Bachmeier •

An animation of Topography + GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed a southward-moving band of clouds responsible for producing heavy rainfall across portions of Interior Alaska on 02 August 2020. Cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were as cold as -58ºC (brighter shades of yellow).GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images... Read More

Topography + GOES-17 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

Topography + GOES-17 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

An animation of Topography + GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed a southward-moving band of clouds responsible for producing heavy rainfall across portions of Interior Alaska on 02 August 2020. Cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were as cold as -58ºC (brighter shades of yellow).

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images are shown below.

GOES-17 "Red" Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

Blended Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and Percent of Normal TPW images during the 01-02 August time period (below) portrayed TPW values as high as 1.5 inches just north of Lake Minchumina — which was >190% of the normal value for this location and time of year.

Blended TPW and Percent of Normal TPW images [click to play animation | MP4]

Blended TPW and Percent of Normal TPW images [click to play animation | MP4]

A sequence of VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP as viewed using RealEarth (below) revealed cloud-top infrared brightness in the -60 to -65ºC range (darker shades of red) within this cloud band.

VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 ) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]

VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]


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1 week of volcanic cloud emission from Nishioshima

By Scott Bachmeier •

JMA Himawari-8 Ash Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid (above) displayed the nearly continuous volcanic cloud emanating from Nishinoshima during the 1-week 25 July to 01 August period (faster animations are also available: gif | mp4). Brighter shades of pink in the Ash RGB images suggest a higher concentration of... Read More

Himawari-8 Ash RGB images, from 25 July to 01 August 2020 [click to play animation | MP4]

Himawari-8 Ash RGB images, from 25 July to 01 August 2020 [click to play animation | MP4]

JMA Himawari-8 Ash Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid (above) displayed the nearly continuous volcanic cloud emanating from Nishinoshima during the 1-week 25 July to 01 August period (faster animations are also available: gif | mp4). Brighter shades of pink in the Ash RGB images suggest a higher concentration of ash within the volcanic cloud. The direction of plume transport switched from northwesterly/westerly to southerly/southeasterly during this time, which is explained by the transition in wind direction within much of the troposphere as revealed by rawinsonde data from nearby Chichijima (below).

Plots of rawinsonde data from Chichijima [click to enlarge]

Plots of rawinsonde data from Chichijima [click to enlarge]

VIIRS True Color RGB images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]

VIIRS True Color RGB images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]

After the transition to southerly transport, VIIRS True Color RGB images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP as visualized using RealEarth (above), the surface visibility at Iwo Jima RJAW dropped to 4 miles on 01 August (below) as the hazy volcanic plume drifted across the area.

Time series plot of surface observation data from Iwo Jima [click to enlarge]

Time series plot of surface observation data from Iwo Jima [click to enlarge]


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Satellite signatures of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) images from all 16 of the ABI spectral bands (above) revealed a variety of signatures of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the morning of 30 July 2020. Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images provided the best thermal signature the trail... Read More

GOES-16 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 images from all 16 ABI spectral bands [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) images from all 16 of the ABI spectral bands (above) revealed a variety of signatures of the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the morning of 30 July 2020. Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level (6.2 µm) Water Vapor images provided the best thermal signature the trail of hot combustion byproducts (water vapor and carbon dioxide) in the wake of the ULA Atlas V rocket booster engines. Closer to the launch site, thermal and reflective signatures of the lower-altitude rocket condensation cloud were seen drifting slowly westward in imagery from all 16 spectral  bands.

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