GOES-15 1-minute interval (SRSO) 0.63 µm visible channel images

21 September 2010 was the final day of the GOES-15 Post Launch Science Test — and the satellite was placed into Super Rapid Scan Operations (SRSO) mode to provide images as frequently as every 1 minute over the Upper Midwest region. A set of SRSO 0.63 µm visible images  (above) showed the evolution of clusters of severe thunderstorms with overshooting tops that were producing large hail and damaging winds across parts of Iowa, northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin during the 20-22 UTC time frame (SPC Storm Reports).

The full set of 1-minute interval SRSO 0.63 µm visible, 10.7 µm IR, and 6.5 µm water vapor images (from 12:45 UTC to 23:45 UTC on 21 September) are available as either QuickTime movies or as Animated GIF files (below).

GOES-15 1-minute interval (SRSO) 0.63 µm visible images

GOES-15 1-minute interval (SRSO) 10.7 µm IR images

GOES-15 1-minute interval (SRSO) 6.5 µm water vapor images

In addition to the severe convection, there were a number of small agricultural fires burning  across parts of northern Arkansas into the Boothill of Missouri region and extreme southern Illinois. A comparison of GOES-15 3.9 µm shortwave IR images at 1-minute intervals (below; top panels) vs the “normal” operational 15-minute interval (below; bottom panels) demonstrates the improved ability to monitor the temporal variability of such small and often short-lived fires (which were denoted by the hotter yellow to red pixels).

GOES-15 3.9 µm shortwave IR images: 1-minute interval (top) vs 15-minute interval (bottom)

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GOES-15 SRSO 0.63 µm visible channel images

As part of the GOES-15 Post Launch Science Test, the satellite was placed into Super Rapid Scan Operations (SRSO) mode on 20 September 2010, providing images as frequently as every 1 minute during certain intervals of the day. McIDAS images of GOES-15 0.63 µm visible channel data (above) showed the evolution of stratus clouds along and just offshore of the southern California coast.

Satellite imagery at such a temporal scale gives a preview of what will be available in the GOES-R era, when 30-second interval SRSO image sectors will be available on a routine basis.

The location of the marine status clouds had an important impact on the daily high temperature at any given site. For example, on the GOES-15 visible image (below) you can see why Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) had a daily high  temperature of only 69º F (21 º C), while just a few miles further inland, downtotown Los Angels had a high temperature that day of 80º F (27º C).

GOES-15 visible image, with locations of Airport (A) and Downtown (D)

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GOES-11 0.65 µm visible channel images

A persistent ridge of high pressure aloft was keeping the interior of Alaska unusually cloud-free, as was evident on McIDAS images of GOES-11 0.65 µm visible channel data on 19 September 2010 (above). Temperatures at many stations across the region had been averaging about 10 degrees F above normal during the previous week, with many daily high temperatures in the 60s and 70s F. On this particular day, the high temperatures ranged from 70º F (21º C) at Holy Cross (in the clear skies of the interior of southwestern Alaska) to only 37º F (+3º C) at Barter Island (beneath the stratus clouds along the northeast Arctic Coast).

The visible images showed that low stratus clouds and fog were attempting to work their way inland (southward) across the Arctic Slope region of northern Alaska. Widespread stratus clouds also covered much of the Gulf of Alaska, and was affecting some of the coastal regions in the far southern portions of the state. In addition, a smoke plume from a wildfire could also be seen drifting southwestward across the interior of Alaska later in the day.

AVHRR visible image + Cloud Type, Cloud Top Temperature, and Cloud Top Height products

AWIPS images of the 1-km resolution POES AVHRR visible channel data along with the corresponding Cloud Type, Cloud Top Temperature, and Cloud Top Height products (above) demonstrated how the various cloud features could be further characterized according to their type (for example, fog vs. supercooled clouds vs. cirrus clouds) along with the temperature and height of their tops.

AVHRR visible image + Cloud Type, Cloud Top Temperature, and Cloud Top Height products

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GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images

Severe thunderstorms that developed along an advancing cold frontal boundary during the pre-dawn hours of 18 September 2010, producing hail up to 1.75 inch in diameter in south-central Wisconsin (NWS Milwaukee/Sullivan news story). AWIPS images of 4-km resolution GOES-13 10.7 µm IR channel data (above) showed the development of increasingly colder IR cloud top brightness temperatures as the storms moved over the Madison, Wisconsin area (station identifier KMSN).

A series of 1-km resolution MODIS 11.0 µm IR and POES AVHRR 10.8 µm IR images between 03:32 UTC and 10:23 UTC  (below) displayed greater detail in the cloud top brightness temperature structure as the thunderstorms moved southeastward across the region.

MODIS 11.0 µm IR + POES AVHRR 10.8 µm IR images

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