GOES-16 (GOES-East) True Color RGB images from the CSPP GeoSphere site (above) showed dense smoke from Canadian wildfires as it moved across much of the North Central US on 15 July 2023.

GOES-16 Visible images with/without an overlay of the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) derived product is shown below — hourly Ceiling/Visibility observations indicted that the smoke reduced surface visibility to 1-3 miles at several sites. AOD values were quite high, reaching the 2.0-3.0 range in the most dense portions of the smoke pall.

A plot of lidar backscatter (source) at Madison, Wisconsin (below) showed that dense smoke extended to altitudes around 4.0-4.5 km (13,000-15,000 feet) during much of the day.

A few notable Pilot Reports regarding the smoke are shown below:

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GOES-18 (GOES-West) SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images (above) showed the southward drift of a pair of volcanic clouds produced by an eruption of Mount Shishaldin that began at 0908 UTC on 14 July 2023. The initial higher-altitude volcanic cloud likely contained moderate concentrations of SO2 (denoted by brighter shades of yellow in the SO2 RGB images) — while the second lower-altitude volcanic cloud likely contained small concentrations of ash (shades of pink in the Ash RGB images).

The difference between the 2 volcanic clouds was evident in a toggle between SO2 RGB and Ash RGB images at 1200 UTC (below).

In a toggle between Suomi-NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band (0.7 µm) and Infrared Window (11.45 µm) images valid at 1245 UTC (below), the bright glow of hot lava at the volcano summit could be seen in the Day/Night Band image — while the initial volcanic cloud had largely dissipated, and was no longer exhibiting cold infrared brightness temperatures.

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Pacific Hurricane Calvin was sampled by Radar Constellation Mission #3 (RCM-3) shortly after 0200 UTC on 14 July 2023. The SAR winds (click here to access a JAOTech article on this subject!) show strong winds surrounding a not-quite-circular closed eye, with a region of strong winds extending in a curved band to the east and south of the eye (an analysis of the SAR winds by quadrant is available here). Note in the slider above how that curved band also has a signal in the GOES-18 Band 13 infrared (10.3 µm) brightness temperatures. GOES-18 Visible imagery (Band 2, 0.64 µm), below, just before the SAR pass and up through sunset, so strong convection bubbling around the eye — and strong convection in the region southeast of the eye where SAR data shows strong winds. Band 13 imagery shows a similar pattern.

1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-18 Infrared and Visible images during the 4-hour period from 2200 UTC on 13 July to 0200 UTC on 14 July (above) showed the evolution of deep convection within the eyewall of Calvin. 

Other microwave products (beyond SAR) also showed the structure of this storm. For example, 0230 UTC HY2B scatterometry data, below (ASCAT observations from MetopB and MetopC did not sample Calvin’s eye on 13-14 July 2023), taken from this website, show a closed circulation — and also that same extension of strong winds in a curved band east and south of the storm center.

AMSU-B Imagery (89 GHz) at 0521 UTC on 14 July 2023, shown below (from this website), also shows the band of strong convection curving east and south of the eye. The AMSU-A cross-section through the eye (here) shows warm temperature anomalies above the eye.

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Imagery from the SSEC Tropical website, shown below, shows the storm moving over progressively cooler water in the next several days. Shear values at present are low. Long-range models continue to show a weakened system (and its moisture) moving over the Hawai’ian islands in the middle of next week. Therefore, interests in Hawai’i should closely monitor the progress of this storm.

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RCM-3 overflew Calvin just after 1400 UTC on 14 July as well, as shown in the slider below (click here to see the same domain/enhancement as shown above at 0200 UTC) that overlays SAR winds on top of the GOES-18 Band 13 Clean Window infrared (10.3 µm) brightness temperatures. Peak winds per the SAR analysis increased from just under 50 m/s at 0200 to nearly 60 m/s at 1400 UTC. The SAR wind structure at 1402 UTC shows two wind maxima over the western half of the storm. That double structure is also suggested at the end of the MIMIC-TC animation (from this website) shown below.

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Using the methods discussed in this blog post, and after I created a domain centered on Calvin, NOAA-21 and Suomi-NPP imagery (in a very low-light condition) Day Night Band visible (0.7 µm) imagery were created with Polar2Grid (in this case, Polar2Grid’s hncc enhancement looked best), and a toggle of the two images, 30 minutes apart, is below. No lightning is detected in these images. The toggle of JPSS Day Night band imagery again testifies to the value of multiple JPSS satellites in orbit!

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For the latest information on Calvin, refer to the National Hurricane Center, and also the NWS Forecast Office in Honolulu. There is also information at the CIMSS Tropical Website.

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CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies) anniversary is July 14, as it was established in 1980. From “about CIMSS: “… is a Cooperative Institute formed through a Memorandum of Understanding between the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1980. CIMSS operates as an institute within the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC)”.

The CIMSS mission includes three goals:

• Foster collaborative research among NOAA, NASA, and the University in those aspects of atmospheric and earth system sciences that exploit the use of satellite technology;
• Serve as a center at which scientists and engineers working on problems of mutual interest can focus on satellite-related research in atmospheric and earth system science;
• Stimulate the training of scientists and engineers in the disciplines involved in atmospheric and earth science.

The same image, but full resolution (11 MB).

Then and 2020

The above image pair compare a NASA SMS from 1980 to an GOES-16 ABI true color composite from 2020. Both images are from July 14th. The GOES-16 data was generated using Geo2Grid software.

The data are via SSEC Data Services.

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