NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric Processing System vertical profiles of moisture and temperature are derived from retrievals that consider both infrared sounder data (from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder, CrIS) and microwave sounder data (from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, ATMS). In AWIPS, the profiles are from NOAA-20 but they are also produced with data from Suomi-NPP. NUCAPS profiles from NOAA-20 and Suomi-NPP are available here (the site also includes NUCAPS profiles from MetOp satellites; those NUCAPS profiles use IASI infrared and MHS microwave data).

Polar2Grid software can be used to create horizontal fields of thermodynamic information from the vertical profiles (as discussed here). For the National Weather Service forecast offices, an extra step is taken that interpolates (in the vertical) the NUCAPS data from the pressure levels in the Radiative Transfer Model that is used in the retrievals to standard pressure levels. The toggle above compares the vertical profile points at 1648 UTC on 9 January 2020 to the  925-hPa temperature field. Note that derived field does extend outwards from the outermost NUCAPS profile: the sphere of influence for an individual NUCAPS point can be adjusted.  Note that the bounds of the temperature field have been adjusted from AWIPS defaults, and the color table has been modified so that 0º C occurs between the green and cyan values.  (A more intuitive color table for rain-snow discernment would include more color gradations in the -5º C to +5º C range).  Where the low-level thermal gradient occurs should help a forecaster determine where rain is more likely and where snow is more likely.

Moisture fields are available as well at thermal fields.  Thus, the effects of evaporation might be considered.  The image above shows the dewpoint depression at 925 hPa.  Lapse rates derived from NUCAPS are also available (the one below shows the temperature change from 850 to 500 hPa). If strong vertical motion is forecast, the lapse rate and/or the dewpoint depressions fields can help you anticipate how much cooling might occur.

Note that horizontal fields as presented in NUCAPS include data from all NUCAPS profiles, thereby including points that may be ‘green’ (the infrared and microwave retrievals both converge to solutions), ‘yellow’ (the infrared retrieval failed, but the microwave retrieval converged) and ‘red’ (neither retrieval converged). It’s incumbent on the analyst to consider the impact of those profiles where convergence to a solution did not occur when using these fields.

(Thanks to Christopher Stumpf, WFO MKX, for assistance in getting these images)

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Popocatépetl erupted at 1226 UTC on 09 January 2019 — GOES-16 (GOES-East) images of Low-level (7.3 µm), Mid-level (6.9 µm) and Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 µm) and Split Window Difference (10.3-12.3 µm) (above) showed a higher-altitude ash plume moving rapidly south-southeastward, while ash at a lower altitude moved slowly north-northeastward.

The difference in speed and direction of ash transport was explained by plots of rawinsonde data from Mexico City and Acapulco at 12 UTC (below), which revealed stronger northwesterly winds within the 200-250 hPa pressure layer, with lighter southerly to southwesterly winds existing between 400 and 600 hPa.

At 1402 UTC a Mesoscale Domain Sector was positioned over Mexico — and 1-minute GOES-16 Ash RGB images created using Geo2Grid (below) tracked the distinct signature of the northern lower-altitude ash (brighter shades of pink to red) while the southern higher-altitude ash signature faded as it was more quickly dispersed by the stronger winds.

A GOES-16 Ash Height product from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site (below) indicated that the southern ash plume exhibited heights in the 6-8 km range, with similar heights seen for the slow-moving northern ash feature.

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Following a multi-day outbreak in late December 2019, Australian bushfires flared up again across far eastern Victoria and far southeastern New South Wales (along and ahead of a cold frontal passage) on 04 January 2020. A JMA Himawari-8 Target Sector was positioned over that region, providing images at 2.5-minute intervals — “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images displayed the large smoke plumes with embedded pyro-convection, while Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images revealed the widespread fire thermal anomalies or “hot spots” (clusters of red pixels).

Himawari-8 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.4 µm) images (below) showed the development of 2 pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) clouds — the first over southern New South Wales west of Cooma (station identifier YCOM), and the second to the southwest of YCOM (near the border between Victoria and New South Wales). The second pyroCb eventually exhibited cloud-top infrared brightness temperature (IRBT) values of -70ºC and colder (purple pixels). To be classified as a pyroCb, a deep convective cloud must be generated by a large/hot fire, and eventually exhibit cloud-top 10.4 µm IRBTs of -40ºC and colder (thus assuring the heterogeneous nucleation of all supercooled water droplets to ice crystals within the thunderstorm anvil).

An aircraft flying very near or through one of these pyroCb clouds experienced severe turbulence:

On 4th Jan a @Qantas flight between Melbourne – Canberra flew through a PyroCB: A large, energetic, thunderstorm triggered by the #AustralianFires, causing severe turbulence: https://t.co/VvrsStWXK9

Here’s how it looked from space. Storm encounter was at approx. 07:47 UTC. pic.twitter.com/shuDaCk1ti

— SatWx Aviation (@SatWx_Aviation) January 6, 2020

Farther to the north, another pyroCb developed near Nowra, New South Wales (YSNW) — which briefly exhibited a -40ºC cloud-top IRBT at 0319 UTC, but then re-intensified around 08 UTC (below).

In a sequence of VIIRS True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) and Infrared Window (11.45 um) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP as viewed using RealEarth (below), the Nowra pyroCb was less ambiguous during the 03-04 UTC time period — and the aforementioned pair of pyroCbs straddling the border between Victoria and New South Wales were also evident.

===== 06 January Update =====

On 06 January, GOES-16 (GOES-East) Natural Color RGB images (above) displayed the hazy signature of high-altitude smoke (originating from previous episodes of Australian fires) over parts of Chile and Argentina — and the corresponding GOES-16 Smoke Detection derived product flagged much of this feature as “High Confidence” smoke (red).

In addition, GOES-17 (GOES-West) True Color RGB images created using Geo2Grid (below) showed a dense pall of smoke over the South Pacific Ocean (northeast of New Zealand). This was smoke from the 04 January outbreak of fires.

===== 08 January Update =====

Full Disk GOES-17 True Color RGB images from the AOS site (above) showed the slow eastward transport of a dense pall of smoke (hazy shades of tan to light brown) across the South Pacific Ocean during the 05-08 January period.

Late in the day, GOES-17 True Color images also showed a small area of smoke drifting southward across the coast of Antarctica (below).

This was confirmed by the OMPS Aerosol Index product (below), which displayed a small lobe becoming detached from one of the larger smoke features crossing the South Pacific Ocean.

 

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GOES-17 (GOES-West) True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images (above) showed dense smoke — from Australian bushfires — over the South Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand on 02 January 2020. The imagery was created using Geo2Grid.

Some of this smoke had become entrained into the circulation of an anomalously-deep low pressure system (below).

 

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