INTERPRETATION
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NOAA NESDIS Regional and Mesoscale Meteorology Team Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado |
January 15, 1999
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Figure 1 (Loops from 1400 to 1700 UTC) Click on image to start loop
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The reflectivity product is a daytime difference
product using channel 2 (3.9 micrometer) and channel 4 (10.7 micrometer)
data, in which the reflected component of the channel 2 signal is isolated.
Because liquid water clouds are more highly reflective than ice water clouds
at 3.9 micrometers, this product can be used to qualitatively evaluate
cloud phase. The enhancement used in this example colors liquid water clouds
and fog light while thicker ice water clouds are colored dark.
On the morning of December 10, 1998, fog formed in north central Colorado. The fog can be detected in the loop (Figure 1) of the reflectivity product. In Figure 2, the fog is verified with surface observations during this time period. The fog reduced visibilities and caused a pileup of vehicles on Interstate 25 that resulted in 2 deaths. The yellow * on the image shows the location of the fog related traffic accident. |
Figure 3 Click on image for full display |
Figure 4 Click on image for toggle |