HOW THE WEATHERWORKS -- weather satellite image types.....

Interpretation of GOES Visible Imagery

The GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) visible image is a black and white depiction of what the human eye would see. Darker areas are generally land and sea, where the reflection of sunlight is relatively low. Lighter areas are usually clouds, which better reflect sunlight.

Interpretation of GOES Infrared Imagery

Infrared involves "heat" and so these images tell more about temperature than reflected light. Darker shades of gray indicate warmer surfaces, such as land and sea, and light gray to white shades correspond to colder cloud tops, snow, and ice. Light gray clouds generally are at a lower height (warmer) than bright white (cold) clouds. These images may be false color enhanced to highlight certain features (based on temperature contrasts).

Interpretation of GOES Water Vapor Imagery

This imagery (a type of infrared imagery) depicts atmospheric moisture and clouds at high levels in the atmosphere (generally above 15,000 feet). Darker shades of gray indicate dry regions, lighter shades are representative of moisture, and the whitest shades typically indicate clouds. Moisture features will usually be characterized by smooth, gradually changing patterns, while clouds will have more distinct shapes and edges. Thunderstorms and dense cirrostratus clouds usually have the whitest and brightest characteristics on this type of imagery.

Here are the latest Infrared and Water Vapor images courtesy of Plymouth State University's Weather Center. Both are given in Z time (also known as GMT or UTC, the time in Greenwich England). To convert to EST (subtract 5 hours); to convert to EDT (subtract 4 hours). These and other conversions can be found at the National Science Foundation's Time Zone Page.

To learn more about satellite image interpretation, go to the How the Weatherworks^TM satellite page.

Getting in contact with How The Weatherworks^TM...

Please send comments to webmaster@weatherworks.com.

This page was updated on August 8, 2007

Links to this page are encouraged.
However, all material at this web site, unless otherwise noted, is copyrighted by
How The WEATHERWORKS^TM.
Any other reproduction or use of material in full or in part is prohibited without permission.