About the Lesson

This lesson introduces you to the two visible imaging bands and one of the near-infrared bands on the GOES R-U ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager), focusing on their spectral characteristics and how they affect what each band observes. The near-infrared band at 0.86 micrometers is included because of it's close spectral proximity to the visible bands and complementary observing capabilities. Also included is a brief discussion of the customization of visible enhancements as an important consideration for improving the depiction of various features of interest.

On completing the lesson, you should be able to:

• Identify the ABI's two visible spectral bands, the "blue" and "red" bands, and various phenomena that can be detected in the spectral regions they cover
• Identify one of the ABI's four near-IR spectral bands, also known as the "veggie" band, and describe how it contrasts to the two visible spectral bands
• Identify sun glint in visible and near-IR imagery
• Identify favored times for viewing haze, dust and smoke, and which of the visible and near-IR bands is generally more sensitive to atmospheric aerosol detection
• Briefly state the advantage of adjusting enhancement tables in visible imagery for feature identification

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 (Advanced Himawari Imager), has bands nearly identical to the ABI on board the GOES R-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.