About the Lesson

This lesson introduces you to seven of the ten infrared imager bands on the GOES R-U ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager). By exploring the spectral characteristics of each band, you will gain a better understanding of band selection and what each band observes, and begin to appreciate some of the many potential applications.

Please note that information on the three water vapor bands not included here can be found in the IR Water Vapor Bands lesson.

On completing the lesson, you should be able to:

• Identify the various phenomena that can be detected in the seven ABI infrared bands covered in this lesson
• Identify sun glint in shortwave infrared imagery
• Identify which band is sensitive to hot spots and daytime aerosols
• Describe what is meant by "clean" vs. "dirty" infrared window bands
• Identify which band is most sensitive to stratospheric ozone
• Identify which bands are sensitive to emissions of volcanic sulfur dioxide
• Identify the bands useful for determining cloud properties

Please note that this lesson was originally published prior to the launch of GOES-16 and used imagery from the Himawari-8 geostationary satellite to illustrate GOES-R ABI capabilities. The Himawari-8 imager, the AHI (or Advanced Himawari Imager), has bands nearly identical to the ABI on board the GOES R to U series. In the interest of time, some of the original Himawari-8 imagery is still included where geographical context is not critical for understanding the concept.