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GOES-17 ABI Temperature Data Quality Flags (TDQF) thresholds updated

By Tim Schmit •

As of 19:45 UTC on August 8, 2019, the new Look-Up-Table (LUT) went into operations for use in the GOES-17 ABI Temperature Data Quality Flags (TDQF). These hotter thresholds are possible due to the recent implementation of the Predictive Calibration algorithm.  Note that the image also includes the percent good (and conditionally usable) values (flagged... Read More

Top: Thumbnails of GOES-17 and GOES-16 ABI Band 12 (9.6 µm) on August 1, 2019. Bottom: Time series of GOES-17 minus GOES-16 brightness temperature for a region located between the two satellites. Also plotted is the GOES-17 Focal Plane Temperature. The reduced duration of the GOES-17 data to be flagged is highlighted. [click to enlarge]

As of 19:45 UTC on August 8, 2019, the new Look-Up-Table (LUT) went into operations for use in the GOES-17 ABI Temperature Data Quality Flags (TDQF). These hotter thresholds are possible due to the recent implementation of the Predictive Calibration algorithm.  Note that the image also includes the percent good (and conditionally usable) values (flagged 0 or 1) for both GOES-16 and GOES-17 ABI. Recall there are 5 Data Quality Flags for ABI data:

  • DQF:percent_good_pixel_qf = 1.f ;
  • DQF:percent_conditionally_usable_pixel_qf = 0.f ;
  • DQF:percent_out_of_range_pixel_qf = 0.f ;
  • DQF:percent_no_value_pixel_qf = 0.f ;
  • DQF:percent_focal_plane_temperature_threshold_exceeded_qf = 0.f

The last one, DQF:percent_focal_plane_temperature_threshold_exceeded_qf, reports what percentage of the images pixels are warmer than the threshold value. Note that the thresholds on both the increasing and decreasing temperatures are also reported in the meta-data.

Near realtime brightness temperature comparisons between GOES-16 and GOES-17, as well as historical comparisons for a region centered on the equator and half way between the two satellites.

From the NOAA Notification:

Product(s) or Data Impacted: GOES-17 ABI auxiliary field change

Date/Time of Initial Impact: August 8, 2019 1945 UTC

Details/Specifics of Change:

The GOES-17 ABI Temperature Data Quality Flags (TDQF) thresholds for the thermal bands have been updated to the values in the table below.  This update will make utilizing the TDQF more effective for flagging saturated data caused by the GOES-17 ABI cooling system anomaly. There will be no impacts to distribution caused by this update.

Table of updated Temperature Quality Data Flag thresholds [click to enlarge]

Table of updated Temperature Quality Data Flag thresholds [click to enlarge]

Update (10/02/2019)

On October 2, 2019, at 17:04 UTC, updates for a number of the ABI GOES-17 DQF thresholds were implemented in the operational system. NOAA Notification: https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/messages/2019/MSG2751954.html

Table of updated Temperature Quality Data Flag thresholds

Table of updated Temperature Quality Data Flag thresholds [click to enlarge]. The bold numbers are those values that were updated on October 2nd. 

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Eruption of Popocatépetl in Mexico

By Scott Bachmeier •

A sequence of GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Split Window (10.3 – 12.3 µm), Ash RGB, Dust RGB and SO2 RGB images (above) revealed signatures of volcanic plumes from an eruption of Popocatépetl on 02 October 2019. According to the Volcanic Ash Advisory issued at 1323 UTC (below), the longer plume moving westward — which was... Read More

GOES-16

GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Split Window (10.3 – 12.3 µm), Ash RGB, Dust RGB and SO2 RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

A sequence of GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Split Window (10.3 – 12.3 µm), Ash RGB, Dust RGB and SO2 RGB images (above) revealed signatures of volcanic plumes from an eruption of Popocatépetl on 02 October 2019. According to the Volcanic Ash Advisory issued at 1323 UTC (below), the longer plume moving westward — which was clearly seen in the Visible imagery — extended to an altitude of 21,000 feet. The second volcanic plume moving northwestward — which exhibited subtle signatures in the Split Window and RGB images — extended to an altitude of 24,000 feet. Although neither the Split Window nor the RGB images showed strong volcanic cloud signatures, taken together they helped to confirm the presence and transport of the 2 separate plumes.

GOES-16 Split Window image with the text of the 1323 UTC Volcanic Ash Advisory [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 Split Window (10.3 – 12.3 µm) image showing the text of the 1323 UTC Volcanic Ash Advisory [click to enlarge]

The radiometrically-retrieved Volcanic Ash Height product from the NOAA/CIMSS Volcanic Cloud Monitoring site indicated a maximum height in the 5-7 km range for the westward-moving plume (below).

GOES-16 Volcanic Ash Height product [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Volcanic Ash Height product [click to play animation | MP4]

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Fresh snow cover in Montana and Alberta

By Scott Bachmeier •

Through breaks in the cloud cover, GOES-16 (GOES-East) Day Cloud Phase Distinction Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images on 30 September 2019 (above) showed the bright green signature of fresh snow cover across northern Montana and southern Alberta in the wake of a record-setting snowfall event that occurred during the previous 2-3 days (NWS Great Falls summary). Note that the surface air temperatures... Read More

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

Through breaks in the cloud cover, GOES-16 (GOES-East) Day Cloud Phase Distinction Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images on 30 September 2019 (above) showed the bright green signature of fresh snow cover across northern Montana and southern Alberta in the wake of a record-setting snowfall event that occurred during the previous 2-3 days (NWS Great Falls summary). Note that the surface air temperatures over the areas of fresh snow cover only rose into the upper 20s and low 30s F, in contrast to 40s F in adjacent areas with minimal or no snow cover — in fact, many locations set daily record low maximum temperatures.


GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images from 0001 UTC on 28 September to 0901 UTC on 30 September (below) covered the duration of the winter storm — the circulation of an anomalously-deep mid-tropospheric low over the Pacific Northwest was evident, in addition to a long fetch of middle/high-level moisture from the southwestern US toward Montana. Another notable feature included widespread mountain waves over Colorado beginning on 29 September, which eventually extended downwind over western Nebraska/Kansas; Colorado had a peak wind gust of 81 mph during this event (WPC storm summary).

GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor images, with hourly plots of precipitation type [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images, with hourly plots of precipitation type [click to play animation | MP4]

===== 01 October Update =====

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction and Day Snow-Fog RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction and Day Snow-Fog RGB images [click to play animation | MP4]

With less cloud cover on 01 October, a comparison of GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction and Day Snow-Fog RGB images (above) provided a better view of the areal coverage of snow cover. Note that while the Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB (snow=green) produces “sharper” imagery — since it uses the higher spatial resolution of the 0.64 µm Visible data — the Day Snow-Fog RGB (snow=red) does a better job at highlighting thin supercooled cloud features (shades of white) over snow cover.  The combination of fresh snow cover, light winds and minimal cloudiness allowed Cut Bank to record the coldest official temperature in the US at +1ºF (although a couple of sites unofficially dropped below 0ºF).

In a toggle between GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB and Topography images (below), note the darker blue gaps in snow cover in Montana and Alberta – with easterly/northeasterly winds during the snow event (Cut Bank | Havre | Great Falls), those areas experienced downslope flow which warmed the boundary layer air and minimized snow accumulation.

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB and Topography images [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB and Topography images [click to enlarge]

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Hurricane Lorenzo reaches Category 5 intensity

By Scott Bachmeier •

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed Hurricane Lorenzo during the time it intensified to a Category 5 storm around 0130 UTC on 29 September 2019. A plot of the CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (below) indicated a peak intensity estimate of 143 knots from 0220-0820 UTC. #Lorenzo has strengthened into a... Read More

GOES-16 "Clean" Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images [click to play animation | MP4]

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

GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed Hurricane Lorenzo during the time it intensified to a Category 5 storm around 0130 UTC on 29 September 2019. A plot of the CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (below) indicated a peak intensity estimate of 143 knots from 0220-0820 UTC.

Plot of the CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) for Hurricane Lorenzo [click to enlarge]

Plot of the CIMSS Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT) for Hurricane Lorenzo [click to enlarge]

 


A toggle between NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images at 0425 UTC is shown below.

NOAA-20 VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images (courtesy of William Straka, CIMSS) [click to enlarge]

GOES-16 Water Vapor images, with contours and streamlines of deep-layer wind shear [click to play animation]

GOES-16 Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images, with contours and streamlines of deep-layer wind shear [click to play animation]

Lorenzo was moving through an environment characterized by low values of deep-layer vertical wind shear (above). In addition, Lorenzo was moving over water having warm Sea Surface Temperatures but only modest Ocean Heat Content (below).

Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Heat Content on 29 September, with a plot of the track/intensity of Lorenzo [click to enlarge]

Sea Surface Temperature and Ocean Heat Content on 29 September, with a plot of the track/intensity of Lorenzo [click to enlarge]

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