What does the water Vapour imagery indicate?

WATER VAPOR IMAGERY: Water vapor satellite pictures indicate how much moisture is present in the upper atmosphere (approximately from 15,000 ft to 30,000 ft). The highest humidities will be the whitest areas while dry regions will be dark. Water vapor imagery is useful for indicating where heavy rain is possible.

Is NOAA 15 an operational?

NOAA-15, also known as NOAA-K before launch, is an operational, polar-orbiting of the NASA-provided Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) series of weather forecasting satellite operated by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA-15 was the latest in the Advanced TIROS-N (ATN) series.

How is water vapor imagery valuable?

Water vapor images are valuable because they display the flow patterns in this upper layer of the atmosphere. This is of interest to meteorologists because this is a region where storms tend to develop and grow.

Why is water vapour important?

Water vapor is also the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Heat radiated from Earth’s surface is absorbed by water vapor molecules in the lower atmosphere. The water vapor molecules, in turn, radiate heat in all directions. Some of the heat returns to the Earth’s surface.

What is used to detect water vapour?

It is still a dry solid, because the individual water molecules are trapped within the ionic lattice surrounding the copper(II) ions. Solutions of copper(II) sulfate are also blue. This colour change can be used to detect the presence of water (or water vapour).

How do weather satellite systems create water vapor images?

uses infrared radiation; except unlike traditional infrared imagery, it uses wavelengths at which water vapor strongly emits and absorbs infrared radiation.

What is visible imagery?

Visible imagery is based on the same light that the human eye sees. The visible light is reflected from the Earth’s surface and atmosphere (especially clouds) and detected by the satellite sensors. The amount of reflected light is converted into a digital number and sent back to antennas around the globe.

Is NOAA 19 still active?

GAC/L1B/LAC/HRPT data services from NOAA-19 will remain at existing levels….NOAA-19 Spacecraft Status Summary.

Can you find water vapor everywhere?

Unlike clouds, water vapor is everywhere. Therefore, you will very rarely see the surface of the earth in a water vapor image (except perhaps during a very dry, very cold Arctic outbreak). Secondly, water vapor doesn’t often have a hard upper boundary (like cloud tops).

Can invisible water vapour be detected by infra red satellite imagery?

Thus, even though water vapor is an invisible gas at visible wavelengths (our eyes can’t see it) and at longer infrared wavelengths, the fact that it emits so readily between roughly 6 and 7 microns means the radiometer aboard the satellite can “see” it.

What does the color of the water vapor in the image?

This image is taken using a wavelength sensitive to the content of water vapor in the atmosphere. Bright and colored areas indicate high water vapor (moisture) content (colored and white areas indicate the presence of both high moisture content and/or ice crystals).

What does the color of the WV imagery indicate?

Bright and colored areas indicate high water vapor (moisture) content (colored and white areas indicate the presence of both high moisture content and/or ice crystals). Black and brown areas indicate little or no moisture present. WV imagery is useful for both determining locations of moisture and atmospheric circulations.

What is the lowest level of water vapor we can sense?

The 7.3 µm “Lower-level water vapor” band typically senses farthest down into the mid-troposphere in cloud-free regions.

Do you provide weather forecasts on this site?

In addition, we do not provide weather forecasts on this site — that is the mission of the National Weather Service . Please contact them for any forecast questions or issues.