1. Satellite Imagery Another type of “remote sensing” observation

2. Two Types of Satellites Geostationary Polar-orbiting

3. Geostationary Parked over the equator Stays directly over the same spot 36,000 km up

4. Polar-orbiting Fly around the earth from north pole to south pole Very low orbit—300 km Rarely used for operational meteorology

5. True View of GOES-East

6. True View of GOES-West

7. OtherAngles… …are “faked” by computer programs

8. Real Satellite Images… …are always in black and white

9. Another “fake” image

10. Two types of images: Visible Infrared

11. Visible Images— Shows reflected shortwave radiation—sunlight!

12. Visible Images-- Just what an astronaut would see.

13. Visible Characteristics Terminator Shadows Clouds are white/ground is dark Sun glint

14. Terminator

15. Shadows

16. Higher Resolution

17. Infrared Pictures Really are measuring LONGWAVE radiation EMITTED by the clouds What determines the amount of radiation the satellite sees? The TEMPERATURE of the cloud. TEMPERATURE depends on how HIGH the clouds are.

18. On an IR image… …higher clouds are colder—whiter …lower clouds are warmer—darker

19. Sample IR image:

20. IR Works Day or Night

21. Compare these two images

22. Air Mass Modification

23. An even better image…