There are a number of instruments on the GOES-R series to monitor space weather, one of them is the Solar UV Imager (SUVI).

6-panel SUVI Imagery

The same loop as above, but as an animated gif. The SUVI monitors the Sun at 6 frequencies in the UV part of the electromagnetic spectrum. UW/SSEC has started to post daily 6-panel (Multi-Channel) SUVI images on their “Geo”-browser for both GOES-East and -West. The data are brought in via the GRB data stream.

Individual SUVI Bands

Another solar flare! X2.8 per @NWSSWPC. This animation features the powerful event in 3 wavelengths measured by the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (#SUVI) on #GOESEast from 0646 to 0736 UTC on May 27th. View the He 303 loop in full resolution at https://t.co/ijPTuInX4j ? pic.twitter.com/9KIXWo8AMp

— UW-Madison CIMSS (@UWCIMSS) May 27, 2024

A table of the SUVI band uses demonstrates which bands monitor filaments, coronal holes, active regions, coronal mass ejections, flares and quiet regions. Near realtime individual SUVI bands are available at the links to the UW Geobrowser above, but also available at the SWPC.

RGB 3-band Composite SUVI Imagery

As is done with ABI imagery, compositing a number of spectral bands can be done to create a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) image. The various combinations can bring out the various solar features.

You can generate your own daily SUVI RGB image: GOES-East or -West. Or access a few static cases: April 8, 2024 (Total Solar Eclipse in North America) or May 8, 2024 (Coronal Mass Ejection that led to Auroras on May 13) or May 14, 2024 (strongest flare of this solar cycle to date).

H/T

Thanks to all who make the satellite imagery possible, the ingest and software to display the imagery (including, but not limited to McIDAS-X and Here GOES Radio). Special thanks to the UW/SSEC Satellite Data Services for bringing in the SUVI data. T. Schmit works for NOAA/NESDIS/STAR and is stationed in Madison, WI. Kudos to M. Weinreb, who helped co-name the SUVI.

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 (GOES-West) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) displayed areas of convection that moved across the islands of American Samoa on 12 June 2024 (1-minute imagery was requested by NWS Pago Pago to monitor the approach of thunderstorms capable of producing heavy rainfall and potential flooding — and since they lack radar coverage, 1-minute satellite imagery can be very valuable in that type of scenario). Pago Pago (NSTU) did receive heavy rainfall (2.84 inches) from thunderstorms during the 1045-1155 UTC period (METARs | plot of surface report data); in-cloud lightning was also noted with those particular thunderstorms. Flood Advisories for American Samoa were issued at 0912 UTC and 1200 UTC.

The 1-minute GOES-18 Total Precipitable Water (TPW) derived product (in cloud-free regions) showed a N-to-S oriented corridor of TPW values in the 2.0 to 2.2 inch range (lighter shades of violet) across the islands of Western Samoa — however, the presence of extensive cloudiness across the islands of American Samoa prevented the retrieval of TPW there. The TPW value derived from NSTU rawinsonde data at 0000 UTC on 12 June was 2.48 inches (below).

A GOES-18 Infrared image showing a cold (-80.35ºC) thunderstorm overshooting top just southwest of the American Samoa island of Tutuila at 1112 UTC on 12 June (below) included a cursor sample of the associated GOES-18 Cloud Top Height (53191 ft) and Rain Rate (3.05 in/hr) derived products at that location. That rain rate was consistent with the ~1-hour rainfall amount (2.84 in) that was observed at NSTU.  Note that the cold overshooting top and high rain rate were displaced about 6-8 mi southwest of NSTU and the island of Tutuila — for a Cloud Top Height around 50 kft, this is consistent with the parallax adjustment of ~13 km with GOES-West imagery over American Samoa.

A curious aspect of this deep convection was the appearance of cloud-top standing waves south of the Manu`a Islands, during the 1100-1300 UTC period. These standing waves can be seen in a toggle between GOES-18 “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) and Mid-level Water Vapor (6.9 µm) images at 1152 UTC (below).

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5-minute CONUS Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) displayed areas of convection that moved inland along the west coast of Florida on 11 June 2024. Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport received very heavy rainfall (3.93 inches) during the 1-hour period ending at 2353 UTC or 7:53 PM local time (METARs | decoded surface reports | plot of surface report data) — which was a new record maximum 1-hour rainfall accumulation for that location (contributing to their record daily rainfall of 6.26 inches).

A GOES-16 Infrared image showing a cold thunderstorm overshooting top at 2311 UTC (below) included a cursor sample of the associated GOES-16 Rain Rate derived product — which was 3.17 in/hr, compared to the 3.93 in observed at Sarasota/Bradenton for the hour ending at 2353 UTC. Note that the cold overshooting top and high rain rate were displaced about 6 mi northwest of KSRQ — for a Cloud Top Height around 50 kft, this is consistent with the parallax adjustment of ~10 km with GOES-East imagery over Florida.

GOES-16 Infrared images with an overlay of GLM Flash Extent Density (below) showed the lightning activity associated with these thunderstorms, which included a few brief lightning jumps (most notably near Bradenton at 2316 UTC, 5 minutes after the peak GOES-16 Rain Rate).

5-minute GOES-16 Visible images (below) also depicted many of the thunderstorm overshooting tops — but also showed the offshore cyclonic circulation of low-level clouds associated with Tropical Invest 90L (what role 90L may have played in helping to force the development of the heavy-rainfall-producing thunderstorms is not known).

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm) images (above) showed thunderstorms that produced hail as large as 1.75 inch in South Dakota along with wind gusts as high as 75 mph in Wyoming and Nebraska, and 74 mph in South Dakota (SPC Storm Reports | KUNR Local Storm Reports) on 10 June 2024. The Infrared images revealed thunderstorm overshooting tops that exhibited infrared brightness temperatures as cold as -65ºC (darker shades of red) — according to a plot of rawinsonde data from Rapid City, South Dakota at 1900 UTC on 10 June (below) that temperature represented a slight overshoot of the Most Unstable (MU) air parcel Equilibrium Level (EL).

5-minute GOES-16 Visible images combined with the Total Precpitable Water (TPW) derived product (above) and the Lifted Index (LI) and CAPE derived stability indices (below) indicated that these thunderstorms developed along or just ahead of an advancing cold front — and a corridor of modest moisture (TPW values to 1.5 in) and minor instability (LI values to -4ºC and CAPE values to 850 J/kg) was in place ahead of this cold front.

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