![](\"https:\/\/cimss.ssec.wisc.edu\/satellite-blog\/images\/2022\/04\/220401_goes16_shortwaveInfrared_upperLevelWaterVapor_splitWaterVaporBTD_dayConvectionRGB_SpaceX_launch_anim.gif\")
<\/a>GOES-16 Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m), Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 \u00b5m), Split Water Vapor BTD (6.2 – 7.3 \u00b5m) and Day Convection RGB images [click to play animated GIF | MP4<\/strong><\/a>] \u00a0<\/p><\/div>1-minute Mesoscale Domain Sector GOES-16 (GOES-East)<\/em> Shortwave Infrared (3.9 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>), Upper-level Water Vapor (6.2 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>), Split Water Vapor BTD (6.2 – 7.3 \u00b5m<\/strong><\/a>) and Day Convection RGB<\/strong><\/a> images (above)<\/strong><\/em> showed that the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket (for the Transporter-4 Mission) on 01 April 2022<\/strong><\/a> created a short-lived shock wave that propagated northward through the clouds just off the Florida coast.<\/p>\n A sequence of GOES-16 images from ABI<\/strong><\/a> Infrared spectral bands 07-16 at 16:25:55 UTC (below)<\/strong><\/em> displayed the Falcon 9 rocket booster’s thermal signature at that time (when the rocket was well above the clouds, at an altitude around 30 km).<\/p>\n GOES-16 images from ABI Bands 07-16 at 1626 UTC [click to enlarge]<\/p><\/div>A plot of rawinsonde data (source<\/strong><\/a>) from Cocoa Beach, Florida (below)<\/strong><\/em> indicated that the entire tropospheric column was nearly saturated, supporting the presence of dense layered cloudiness. There was an isothermal 600-650 hPa layer, which could have enhanced horizontal ducting of these shock waves (although it’s curious as to why the direction of wave propagation was primarily northward in the GOES-16 imagery).<\/p>\n<\/a>