![\"GOES-16](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2020\/03\/200315_goes16_snowVsCloudRGB_IL_anim.gif\")
<\/a>GOES-16 Snow\/Cloud Discrimination RGB images, with hourly plots of surface wind barbs (knots)<\/em> [click to play animation]<\/p><\/div>GOES-16 (GOES-East)<\/em> “Snow\/Cloud Discrimination” Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images (above)<\/strong><\/em> revealed a west-to-east oriented band of fresh snow cover (1-4 inches<\/strong><\/a>, shades of red) across central Illinois on 15 March 2020<\/strong><\/a>. With a low-level northeasterly flow of cold air across the region, boundary layer cumulus clouds began to develop as solar heating warmed the surface — but this cloud development was suppressed over deeper portions of the snow cover. These RGB images use “Red” Visible (0.64 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) data as the Red component, and Near-Infrared “Snow\/Ice” (1.61 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) data as the Green and Blue components; bare ground appears as shades of cyan, with supercooled water droplet clouds appearing as brighter shades of white.<\/p>\n A sequence of VIIRS Snow\/Cloud Discrimination RGB images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP (below)<\/strong><\/em> showed a closer look at the band of snow cover and its effect on modulating the afternoon development of cumulus clouds.<\/p>\n VIIRS Snow\/Cloud Discrimination RGB images from NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>A 30-meter resolution Landsat-8 False Color RGB image viewed using RealEarth<\/strong><\/a> (below)<\/strong><\/em> provided a detailed view of the band of snow cover (shades of cyan)<\/em> at 1622 UTC.<\/p>\n<\/a>