Moonlit Overshooting Tops in NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band

A strong cluster of thunderstorms developed over Central Michigan overnight on 3 July 2012.  These thunderstorms were captured by the Suomi NPP satellite overpass at 07:42 UTC by the Direct Broadcast antenna located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).  The data was processed and sent in real-time to the NWS office at Sullivan (MKX) where it was displayed in AWIPS.  The VIIRS Day/Night band provides forecasters with visible imagery at night at high spatial resolution (1km) from lunar illumination.  The first image below shows the features of the cloud tops, including overshooting tops as well as gravity waves.  Also visible are the lights emanating from the underlying cities including Detroit (large bright lights in the Southeast Corner).  The infrared 11 micron window brightness temperature image (second image) provides a thermal view of the same scene.  The coldest tops are -70C.      

Suomi NPP VIIRS Day/Night Band image of a strong thunderstorm over Central Michigan illuminated by moonlight with overshooting tops and gravity waves evident.  The Day/Night band supplies forecasters with a visible band capability at night when the moon is out.  The VIIRS data is acquired from the direct broadcast antenna at the University of Wisconsin-Madison CIMSS, processed via CSPP software and supplied to the NWS MKE office in real-time for display in AWIPS.  The image is from 3 July 2012, 07:42 UTC.

Suomi NPP VIIRS Window Channel Infrared image (11 micron) of a strong thunderstorm over Central Michigan.  The coldest cloud tops are -70 C, and the spatial resolution is about 1 km.  The VIIRS data is acquired from the direct broadcast antenna at the University of Wisconsin-Madison CIMSS, processed via CSPP software and supplied to the NWS MKE office in real-time for display in AWIPS.  The image is from 3 July 2012, 07:42 UTC.

Kathleen Strabala CIMSS, Steve Hentz MKX