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VIIRS views volcanic activity at Nishinoshima in the western Pacific

By Scott Lindstrom •

Nishinoshima is a small volcanic island (at 27.2471° N, 140.8779° E) about 150 km west of Chichijima.)  Nishinoshima has grown in size over the past decades because of volcanic activity, including activity (apparently accompanied by occasional earthquakes) that started in March 2020.   Day Night Band imagery from NOAA-20, above, (toggled with an annotated image) shows the light from... Read More

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day Night Band Visible (0.70 µm) imagery,  1603 UTC 19 April 2020, Click to enlarge)

Nishinoshima is a small volcanic island (at 27.2471° N, 140.8779° E) about 150 km west of Chichijima.)  Nishinoshima has grown in size over the past decades because of volcanic activity, including activity (apparently accompanied by occasional earthquakes) that started in March 2020.   Day Night Band imagery from NOAA-20, above, (toggled with an annotated image) shows the light from the ongoing volcanic activity on 19 April 2020 (Clean Window Infrared imagery also showed a heat source).  (Day Night Band imagery is also available here, from NASA Worldview)

Many thanks to Brandon Aydlett, WFO Guam, for the imagery.

The toggle below (imagery courtesy William Straka, CIMSS), shows more NOAA-20 VIIRS data from the same NOAA-20 pass:  Day Night Band Imagery, 3.75 µm Shortwave Infrared imagery (Band I04), 1.61 µm near-infrared imagery (Band M10) and 2.26 µm (Band M11),  4.05 µm Shortwave Imagery (Band M13), and the VIIRS Active Fire Product.  All show evidence of the hot spot over the volcano.

NOAA-20 VIIRS Imagery at 1607 UTC on 19 April 2020: Day Night Band (0.7 µm) Visible Imagery, I04 Band (3.75 µm Shortwave Infrared), M10 Band (1.61 µm Near Infrared), M11 Band (2.25 µm Near-Infrared), M13 Band (4.05 µm Shortwave Infrared) and the VIIRS Active Fire Product (Click to enlarge)

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Prolific lightning-producing MCS in eastern Mexico

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 (GOES- East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without plots of GLM Groups (above) showed a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) that was propagating southward across eastern Mexico (in advance of an approaching cold front) from 2001 UTC on 25 April to 1501 UTC on 26 April 2020. The coldest... Read More

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without GLM Groups plotted in cyan [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 (GOES- East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without plots of GLM Groups (above) showed a Mesoscale Convective System (MCS) that was propagating southward across eastern Mexico (in advance of an approaching cold front) from 2001 UTC on 25 April to 1501 UTC on 26 April 2020. The coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were -90ºC (yellow pixels embedded within dark purple regions). This MCS was prolific lightning-producer — which included numerous anvil streamers that extended well east and northeast of the main convective core (below).

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without GLM Groups plotted in cyan, at 0421 UTC on 26 April [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images, with and without GLM Groups plotted in cyan, at 0421 UTC on 26 April [click to enlarge]

A toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images at 0841 UTC (below) also revealed isolated pixels in the overshooting top region with brightness temperatures of -90ºC (yellow enhancement) — along with numerous bright lightning streaks in the Day/Night Band image, located well east of the convective core (consistent with the GOES–16 GLM imagery). At that time, the core of the MCS was located just off the coast of Mexico, between Poza Rica (MMPA) and Veracruz (MMVR).

NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images at 0841 UTC [click to enlarge]

NOAA-20 VIIRS Infrared Window (11.45 µm) and Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) images at 0841 UTC [click to enlarge]

Plots of rawinsonde data from Veracruz, Mexico (below) showed that the coldest tropopause temperatures were -78.1ºC at a pressure level of 103 hPa — so the coldest GOES-16 and NOAA-20 infrared brightness temperatures of -90ºC indicated overshooting tops extending well about the tropopause.

Plots of rawinsonde data from Veracruz, Mexico [click to enlarge]

Plots of rawinsonde data from Veracruz, Mexico [click to enlarge]

On 25 April, GOES-16 True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid (below) portrayed a well-defined rope cloud with an undular bore along the cold frontal boundary. Also evident was widespread dense smoke across much of the Gulf of Mexico, a result of prolonged fire activity in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and parts of Central America.

GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 True Color RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]


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Oil refinery fire in Venezuela

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 (GOES-East) True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid (above) revealed the large, dark smoke plume resulting from a fire — likely at the Muelle Bachaquero Oil & Natural Gas Company (Google maps) — along the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo in far northwestern Venezuela on 25 April 2020. Other... Read More

GOES-16 True Color RGB images (credit: Tim Schmit, ASPB/CIMSS) [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 True Color RGB images (credit: Tim Schmit, ASPB/CIMSS) [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 (GOES-East) True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid (above) revealed the large, dark smoke plume resulting from a fire — likely at the Muelle Bachaquero Oil & Natural Gas Company (Google maps) — along the eastern shore of Lake Maracaibo in far northwestern Venezuela on 25 April 2020. Other features apparent in the imagery were persistent pyrocumulus clouds over the fire source, and the bright appearance of solar reflection off surface oil slicks caught within a counterclockwise gyre in the middle of the lake (similar solar reflection was seen off the Deepwater Horizon oil slick, as documented here and here).

VIIRS True Color RGB images from Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 as viewed using RealEarth (below) indicated that the leading edge of the dark smoke plume had drifted westward across the Venezuela/Colombia border after 18 UTC.

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

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

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (below) showed the thermal anomaly or fire “hot spot” (small cluster of dark black pixels), which first appeared at 1100 UTC.

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (credit: Tim Schmit, ASPB/CIMSS) [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm) images (credit: Tim Schmit, ASPB/CIMSS) [click to play animation | MP4]


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Tropical Depression One-E forms in the East Pacific Ocean

By Scott Bachmeier •

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the circulation of Tropical Invest 90E in the East Pacific Ocean on 24 April 2020. The low-level circulation center appeared to be located about 100 miles southwest of the 18 UTC surface analysis position.GOES-17 Visible... Read More

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the circulation of Tropical Invest 90E in the East Pacific Ocean on 24 April 2020. The low-level circulation center appeared to be located about 100 miles southwest of the 18 UTC surface analysis position.

GOES-17 Visible images with a plot of Deep-Layer Wind Shear from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below) indicated that Invest 90E was embedded within an environment of low shear — the National Hurricane Center gave the feature an 80% chance of further developing into a tropical depression within 48 hours.

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) with a plot of Deep-Layer Wind Shear at 23 UTC images [click to enlarge]

GOES-17 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) images, with a plot of Deep-Layer Wind Shear at 23 UTC [click to enlarge]

VIIRS True Color RGB and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP as viewed using RealEarth (below) revealed tendrils of transverse banding along the western and northern periphery if the disturbance.

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

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

===== 25 April Update =====

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

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

GOES-17 Infrared images (above) showed the period when the disturbance became classified as Tropical Depression One-E at 15 UTC — making this the earliest tropical cyclone on record in the East Pacific basin during the satellite era.

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

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

GOES-17 Infrared images with plots of tropical surface analyses (above) indicated that TD One-E was situated just north of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The MIMIC-TPW product (below) showed that the tropical depression was tapping moisture from the ITCZ and drawing it northward.

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to enlarge]

MIMIC Total Precipitable Water product [click to enlarge]

GOES-17 Visible images (below) revealed an exposed low-level circulation that was displaced north-northwest of the primary cluster of deep convection.

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]

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