GOES-12 0.65 µm visible images (click image to play animation)

Subtropical Storm “Ariani” developed off the southeast coast of Brazil on 15 March 2011. GOES-12 0.65 µm visible channel images (above; click image to play animation) displayed a number of overshooting tops within the large cloud shield of the disturbance. Some hints of a cyclonic (clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere) circulation could be seen both within the southern flank of the cloud shield, and also just to the southwest of the cloud shield over the open water.

GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images from the CIMSS Tropical Cyclones site (below; click image to play animation) showed a broad area of old cloud tops associated with this feature.

GOES-13 10.7 µm IR images (click image to play animation)

A GOES-13  IR/Water Vapor difference product (below; click image to play animation) did indicate that there was a large area of overshooting tops (red to violet color enhanced areas). For more information on this product and its application to tropical cyclone intensity analysis, see Olander and Velden, 2009.

GOES-13 IR/Water Vapor difference product (click image to play animation)

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MODIS Sea Surface Temperature product

An AWIPS image of the MODIS Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product from 12 March 2011 (above) showed 2 prominent warm water features which exhibited SST values in the middle to upper 70s F (darker orange to red color enhancement): the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current, and the axis of the Gulf Stream moving northward off the East Coast of the US.

Closer views of the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current (above) and the axis of the Gulf Stream (below) displayed the great SST detail that is associated with these warm water features.

MODIS Sea Surface temperature product (Gulf Stream)

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POES AVHRR 0.63 µm visible image + POES AVHRR 3.7 µm shortwave IR image

AWIPS images of 1-km resolution POES AVHRR 0.63 µm visible and POES AVHRR 3.7 µm shortwave IR data (above) showed a large number of IR “hot spots” (black to red to yellow color enhancement) due to widespread fire activity across southeastern Oklahoma on 10 March 2011. One well-defined smoke plume could be sen streaming southeastward ffrom one of the larger fires.

On the following day (11 March 2011), the POES AVHRR 3.7 µm shortwave IR image again displayed a large number of fire hot spots over that same region.

POES AVHRR 3.7 µm shortwave IR image

CIMSS participation in GOES-R Proving Ground activities includes making a variety of POES AVHRR images and products available for National Weather Service offices to add to their local AWIPS workstations.

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GOES-11 3.9 µm shortwave IR images (click image to play animation)

A fissure eruption on the Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii began on 05 March 2011 — and 3 days later, McIDAS images of GOES-11 3.9 µm shortwave IR data (above; click image to play animation) displayed a prominent “hot spot” (yellow to red enhanced pixels) during the day on 08 March 2011.

GOES-11 0.65 µm visible images (below; click image to play animation) showed the hazy summit plume spreading southwestward during the day. This volcanic plume contained high levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2), as seen on an image of OMI total column SO2 (courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS).

GOES-11 0.65 µm visible images (click image to play animation)

About 3000 miles (4800 km ) to the north, GOES-11 0.65 µm visible images (below; click image to play animation) showed the movement of ice in the Bering Sea west of Alaska. Note that the motion of the ice was toward the northeast early in the animation, but then changed to motion toward the southwest later in the day. Surface winds along with tidal currents in the Bering Sea have an influence on the overall motion of the ice.

GOES-11 0.65 µm visible images (click image to play animation)

The motion of the ice in the Bering Sea could also be seen on a sequence of AWIPS images of POES AVHRR 0.86 µm visible channel data (below).

POES AVHRR 0.86 µm visible images

The POES AVHRR Sea Surface Temperature (SST) product (below) indicated that SST values were in the low to middle 30f F (darker blue color enhancement) in the ice-free water south and west of the ice edge.

POES AVHRR Sea Surface Temperature product

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