Description of the four-panel GWCC home page display (H. Michael Mogil, CCM, CBM, NWA-DS*)

H. Michael Mogil April 7, 2017April 7, 2017

The GWCC home page contains a four-panel graphic containing satellite and radar observations and a severe weather outlook (all from NOAA). The following is a brief overview of these graphics (organized by column from left to right):

GOES Enhanced Infrared satellite image (upper left) – This image, obtained by a GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) measures the “heat” given off by clouds, large water bodies, land surfaces, and clouds. Using a special “enhancement” scale (see color bar at the bottom of the image, just below the NOAA logo), warmer colors appear as blues and greens and colder temperatures appear as yellows and reds. Note, that GOES satellite images on different web pages (or in different GWCC posts) may use different enhancement or “false color” image temperature scales. Colorized images, such as these, should always have their own color key.

GOES Water Vapor satellite image (lower left) – This geostationary satellite image also measures “heat,” but the satellite sensors used are more sensitive to the amount and distribution of atmospheric water vapor. When the atmosphere at the middle and high altitudes is dry, infrared energy from lower altitudes (where temperatures are normally warmer) is able to escape to space and be detected by the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) sensors. This image has been false-colored using a special “enhancement” scale: dry (black and orange), mid- and high-level moisture (white), and cloud-laden at mid- and high-levels (blue and green through red and purple).

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) convective outlook (upper right) – SPC issues a wide array of severe weather and other thunderstorm-related guidance and outlook products. They also issue tornado and severe thunderstorm watches and fire weather outlooks. This image, which is often updated several times a day, shows expected thunderstorm and severe thunderstorm activity for “Day 1.” “Day 1” extends from the forecast time until the next 1200 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time or 8:00 a.m. E.D.T / 7:00 a.m. E.S.T. Favored areas for thunderstorm / severe thunderstorm activity are depicted as, “to the right of a line,” as shown by an arrow at the end of any line.

National radar composite image (lower right) – This image brings together radar reflectivity data from some 100 plus radar sites throughout the contiguous 48 states. Radars measure how much energy atmospheric solids and liquids (hydrometeors such as snow, hail, and rain, as well as particles such as dense smoke and volcanic ash) reflect back to a radar site. The greater the reflectivity value (shown in dBz units), the greater the concentration of so-called “hydrometeors,” solids and other objects (e.g., birds, bats), the radar beam may intercept. The color scale ranges from blues and greens (the lowest reflectivities) to reds and purples (the highest reflectivities).

Originally posted 4/7/17

* The National Weather Association Digital Seal (NWA-DS) is awarded to individuals who pass stringent meteorological testing and evaluation of written weather content. H. Michael Mogil was awarded the second such seal and is a strong advocate for its use by weather bloggers.

Tags: 3.14, 99L, AC, AccuWeather, ACE, ACT, advisory, Africa, agriculture, Air Force, air mass, air quality, aircraft, airline, airport, Alabama, Alaska, algal bloom, altitude, altocumulus, answer, Antarctica, anti-crepuscular rays, app, Apple, application, arctic, Arizona, Arkansas, ASD, ashcloud, Atlanta, Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean, autism, autumn, average, aviation, awareness, Bachmann, Bahamas, balloon, Barra, beach, beacherosion, Bermuda, BF, Big Bend, bing, biology, biomes, birds, Black Friday, blizzard, blocking, bomb, Bonita Springs, Boston, Bow, bow echo, brain, Broward, Buffalo, Business, California, calorie, Canada, Candy Crush, canyon, Cape Cod, Cape Verde, CapitalOne, car, Caribbean, Carolinas, Carson, cash back, CAT 1, CAT 5, CategoryFive, CategoryOne, Central Plains, Central U.S., Charlotte, check, checking, Chicago, chill, chilly, Christmas, Christmas Star, circles, cirrus, climate, climate change, climate zones, climatology, cloud, clouds, Coast, coastal flooding, COCORAHS, cold, cold front, college testing, Collier, Collier County, color-blindness, Colorado, Common Core, communication, computer, conjunction, contractor, convection, converge, convergence, cool, cooling degree days, Coronavirus, coverage, covid-19, covid19, credit, creditcards, crepuscular, crepuscular rays, crime, Cristobal, critic, CS/HB 7069, cumulonimbus, cumulus, current, Customer, customer service, cyclone, Dakotas, Darby, data, date, debate, deep south, degree days, Denver, deposition, Des Moines, desert, dew, Dew point, dewpoint, diameter, donut, Doppler radar, Dorian, Dothan, downburst, downdraft, downslope, drought, Dry, dry line, Drying, Dunkin’ Donuts, dust, e-mail, Earth, east, east coast, Eastern Pacific, Eastern Pacific Ocean, eastern US, eddy, Education, Emily, England, enhanced imagery, entrepreneur, equation, erosion, Eta, Europe, evacuation, evaporate, evaporative, eye, eye wall, fall streaks, family, fat, Federal, filters, fire, fire weather, fires, first responders, fish, FL, flash flood, flash flooding, flood, flooding, Florida, FLWX, focal point, fog, folder, folklore, forest fires, Fort Myers, freeze, freezing rain, frequent flyer, front, Frost, Ft. Myers, funnel, funnel cloud, gale, gale warnings, gales, game, garden, garden hose, Gaston, gauge, George Clooney, Georgia, geostationary, GLM, global warming, GM, gmail, GOES, GOES-16, GOES-R, GOESR, google, Gore, government, gradient, Great Lakes, Great Salt Lake, Greenhouse gas, ground fog, Groundhog, grushfire, Guadalupe Mountains, Guadalupe Peak, Gulf Coast, Gulf of Mexico, gust, gusts, hail, hair, Haiti, Harvey, Hawaii, Hawking, health, heat, heating degree days, heavy rain, heavy rainfall, heavy snow, hemisphere, Hendry, Hermine, High, High Plains, high surf, high temperature, high wind warnings, high-pressure, home, homework, Honolulu, hose, Houston, humid, humidity, hurricane, hurricane hunter aircraft, Hurricane Matthew, hurricanes, I75, Ian, ice, ice cap, ice storm, Illinois, image, images, inch, India, Indiana, Indianapolis, infrared, instability, Insurance, Intermountain, IOS, IOS 7, Iowa, iphone, IR, Ireland, Irma, IRS, isothermal layer, Jamaica, Japan, jet stream, Jupiter, Kansas, Karen, kitchen, koppen, Krispy Kreme, lake, lake effect, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Tahoe, lake-effect snow, latitude, law, LD, learn, learning, Lee, Lee County, life, lift, Lightning, lightning detection, logic, Long Island, longshore current, Louisiana, low, low temperature, low-pressure, low-pressure system, low-pressure systems, lows, luggage, Macy's, mail, Maine, mall, Marco Island, Mars, Maryland, Massachusetts, math, Mathworks, Matthew, Maui, MCC, MCS, media, Memorial Day, mentor, mentoring, meso-cyclone, mesocyclone, mesoscale, Mesoscale Convective System, meteorological bomb, meteorologist, meteorology, Mexico, Miami, Michigan, microns, mid-atlantic, Midwest, military, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi River valley, Mississippi Valley, misture, mixing, models, moisture, monsoon, Montague, Montana, moods, moon, mountain, mountains, movie, Naples, NASA, Nate, National Climatic Data Center, National Hurricane Center, natural world, nature, Nebraska, Nevada, New England, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, news, Newton, NHC, NOAA, nor’easter, North Carolina, Northeast, northern, northern hemisphere, Northern Plains, number, numbers, NWS, Oahu, Obamacare, observation, observations, observe, observer, Ohio, Ohio Valley, Okeechobee, Oklahoma, omega, omega block, omega high, online, Ophelia, order, organize, organizing, OS, outbreak, outflow, outflow boundaries, outflow boundary, outlook, Pacific Northwest, Palm Beach, Panhandle, paper, parade, parent, pattern, patterns, Pavlof, pedometer, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, photographs, photography, Pi, PiDay, Plains, polar, polar vortex, political, ponding, precipitable water, precipitation, preparedness, pressure, pressure gradient, primary, problem, Puerto Rico, Punxsutawney Phil, question, radar, radiosonde, radius, rain, Rain shadow, rainbow, rainbows, raindrop, raindrops, rainfall, rainshadow, rainy, record, records, Red Flag Warnings, red tide, responsibility, review, reward, rewards, Rhode Island, ridge, ridges, rip current, ripple, risk, Rockies, Rocky Mountains, RSW Airport, Russia, safety, Saffir-Simpson, San Diego, San Francisco, Sandy, Santa Ana, SAT, satellite, Saturn, scandal, school, science, Scotland, SDO, sea breeze, sea surface temperature, seabreeze, seas, Season, seasonal, seasons, service, severe, severe thunderstorms, severe weather, shadow, Shinseki, shower, showers, shutdown, Sidewalk, Sierra Nevada, Sky, sky awareness, sky awareness week, sky optics, sky watching, sleet, small craft advisory, smoke, snow, snow removal, snowfall, Snowstorm, social, sounding, south, South Carolina, South Dakota, Southeast, Southeast U.S., southern Plains, southwest, southwest Florida, space, space weather, Spaghetti plot, SPC, spiders, spiral bands, spirals, spotters, spring, St. Cloud, Starbucks, statistics, Steps, StevenHawking, stock, storm, storm damage, storm surge, storm warnings, storms, Stormsurge, STRIIV, structural current, student, students, study, sub-freezing, sublimation, subsidence, summer, summer camp, summer camps, sun, sun dog, sunset, sunspot, Super Tuesday, supercells, supercomputer, surge, SW Florida, Swells, Tampa, technology, teen, temperature, Tennessee, Tennessee River Valley, Tennessee Valley, test, test-taking, tests, Texas, thanksgiving, The Perfect Storm, The Weather Channel, think, thinking, thundersnow, thunderstorm, thunderstorms, tides, time, tornado, tornado warnings, tornado watches, tornadoes, train, training, transportation, travel, tropic, tropical, tropical cyclone, tropical storm, tropical storms, tropical wave, tropical weather, tropicalstorm, tropics, troughs, Tug Hill Plateau, tutoring, twas, TWC, twilight, typhoon, U.K., U.S., UK, unenhanced imagery, updraft, Upper level, upper low, Upper winds, upper-level winds, US, Utah, vacation, vegetation, Venus, veteran, virga, Virginia, virtual, virus, visibility, visible, vocabulary, volcano, vortex, voting, Waikiki, walk, warm, warmth, warning, warnings, warranty, Washington DC, watch, watches, water, water cycle, water vapor, waterspout, Watertown, wave, waves, weather, weather camp, WeatherNation, west, West Coast, West Virginia, Wet-bulb effect, wildfire, wind, wind chill, wind shear, winds, windy, winter, winter storm, Wipha, Wisconsin, word, work, WRN, WV, Wyoming, Yucatan Peninsula,

You May Also Like:

Tropical Depression 19 expected to pass close to Naples today (Sept. 12, 2020) (H. Michael Mogil, CCM, CBM, NWA-DS*)

On Being An Observationalist

From Drought To Flood (H. Michael Mogil, CCM, CBM, NWA-DS*)

Several Virtual Summer 2020 Weather Camps On Tap