![\"GOES-16](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/02\/180205_goes16_water_vapor_surface_winds_Plains_lee_side_gravity_wave_anim.gif\")
<\/a>GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 \u00b5m, left),<\/em> Mid-level (6.9 \u00b5m, middle)<\/em> and Upper-level (6.2 \u00b5m, right)<\/em> Water Vapor images, with hourly surface wind barbs plotted in cyan [click to play animation]<\/p><\/div>As a cold front moved rapidly southward across the Great Plains (surface analyses<\/strong><\/a>) on 05 February 2018<\/strong><\/a>, the signature of a deep-tropospheric lee-side cold frontal gravity wave (reference<\/strong><\/a>) could be seen on GOES-16 Low-level (7.3 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>), Mid-level (6.9 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) and Upper-level (6.2 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) Water Vapor images (above; <\/strong>also available as an MP4 animation<\/a>)<\/strong><\/em>. In addition, the initial gravity wave was soon followed by a secondary lee-side gravity wave, which could be seen moving southward over the northern Texas Panhandle by the end of the animation.<\/p>\n Plots of the weighting function<\/strong><\/a> (or “contribution function”) for each of the three GOES-16 Water Vapor bands (below)<\/strong><\/em> are calculated using 05 February\/12 UTC rawinsonde data from Dodge City, Kansas — which was south of the cold front at that time. The peak pressure level for all three weighting function plots was in the 442-497 hPa range, giving some indication of the depth of these vertically-propagating gravity waves.<\/p>\n Weighting function plots for each of the three GOES-16 Water Vapor bands, calculated using 05 February\/12 UTC rawinsonde data from Dodge City, Kansas [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>GOES-16 Water Vapor weighting functions using 06 February\/00 UTC rawinsonde data from Amarillo, Texas — where the surface cold front had passed about 3 hours earlier — are shown below. Note that in the drier<\/em> post-frontal air mass, the peak pressures for the 3 water vapor bands had increased, descending to the 477 to 684 hPa pressure levels. This comparison<\/strong><\/a> helps to underscore the dependence of water vapor weighting function height on the temperature and\/or moisture profile of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/a>