Hurricane Gilbert (1988) is one of the most intense Atlantic-basin hurricane on record. NOAA’s GOES-7 offer both visible and infrared views of the storm. These images are from the VISSR mode. What is unique about the view from the geostationary orbit, is that it allows both large / synoptic scale views as well as finer (mesoscale) views. 

Visible band

A week-long visible loop of the Hurricane Gilbert as it moves across the Caribbean and through the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Florence can also be seen near Louisiana, early in the animation. 

A GOES-7 visible loop over the time period of maximum intensity. 

The highest spatial resolution visible GOES-17 imagery of Hurricane Gilbert. Note the horizontal striping due to the photo-multipler tube technology that was then used. 

Infrared window band

Above is a “large-scale” view of the GOES-7 infrared longwave window band covering September 10-18, 1988. Tropical Storm Florence can also be seen near Louisiana, early in the animation. 

A more “zoomed in” view:

All the IR images have been color-enhanced to highlight the coldest temperatures. 

Visible and Infrared window bands

A much larger file (18 MB) of the same day/time as above. This is a combined image, with the visible band, along with the cold pixels from the infrared band (color). 

Swipe between GOES-7 Visible and Infrared bands.

Fade between GOES-7 Visible and Infrared bands. (Using this software.)

NOAA GOES-7 data are via the University of Wisconsin-Madison SSEC Satellite Data Services.

 

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), Fire Temperature Red-Green-Blue (RGB) + GLM Flash Extent Density (FED) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the formation of a pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud over the Bear Fire (part of the North Complex) in Northern California on 09 September 2020. The coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperatures were -61.4ºC; no GLM-detected lightning activity was seen with this pyroCb. 

A comparison of Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.74 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images (below) displayed the initial 2 pyroCb cloud pulses shortly after their formation. Side-illumination from the Moon (which was in the Waning Gibbous phase, at 59% of Full) allowed for a distinct shadow to be cast northwest of the colder/taller pyroCb pulse — and the pyroCb clouds exhibited a darker appearance than the layer of low-altitude smoke to the west, likely due to very high amounts of fresh smoke contained within the rapidly-rising cloud turrets.

A toggle between time-matched Infrared Window images of the Bear Fire pyrocumulonimbus cloud from Suomi NPP (SNPP) and GOES-17 (below) highlighted the differences in spatial resolution — 375-m with SNPP VIIRS, vs 2-km (at satellite sub-point) with GOES-17 ABI — and the parallax displacement inherent with GOES-17 imagery at that location (17 km for a 15.2-km tall cloud top). The coldest cloud-top infrared brightness temperature was -76.2ºC with SNPP, vs -59.9ºC with GOES-17 (identical color enhancements were applied to both images).

GOES-17 True Color Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images created using Geo2Grid (below) showed the southward drift of the high-altitude pyroCb cloud material during the day, along with widespread dense smoke that covered much of California at lower altitudes.

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), GOES-17 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), Fire Temperature Red-Green-Blue (RGB) + GLM Flash Extent Density (FED) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the formation of a pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb) cloud over the Hopkins Fire in Northern California on 08 September 2020.

The vertical extent of the pyroCb cloud tower was even more apparent when viewed in Visible imagery from GOES-16 (GOES-East), displayed in the top left panel of the animation below.

Later in the day and farther to the east, 1-minute GOES-17 imagery (below) showed the development of another pyroCb cloud over the North  Complex. Unfortunately, there was a ~1-hour gap in images (from 2034 to 2130 UTC) when a yaw flip maneuver was performed on the satellite.

However, during this yaw flip maneuver the pyroCb formation and propagation could be followed using 5-minute imagery from GOES-16 (below). As the lower-latitude portion of the smoke plume associated with this fire flare-up drifted south-southwestward, it restricted the surface visibility to 2.5 miles at Beale Air Force Base (KBAB).

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1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-17 (GOES-West) “Red” Visible (0.64 µm), Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm), Fire Temperature Red-Green-Blue (RGB) + GLM Flash Extent Density (FED) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.35 µm) images (above) showed the smoke plume and thermal signature of the Pearl Hill Fire — which made a rapid ~50-mile run south-southwestward across northern Washington State on 07 September 2020. During this time, northwesterly winds gusted to 40 knots (46 mph) at Omak (KOMK) near the source of the fire. Downwind of the fire, smoke reduced the visibility to 1.5 miles at times in Wenatchee (KEAT).

Later in the day, smaller fires which started burning farther to the east exhibited similar (albeit much shorter-distance) southwestward runs.

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