This module presents an overview of how satellite data are turned into the satellite products used by operational forecasters and the research and educational communities, etc. The module begins by describing the process of creating simple image products that use relatively simple image manipulation techniques to highlight properties such as wind-blown dust, vegetation, and cloud phase. The module then describes some of the more complex processes involved in generating quantitative products, such as cloud identification, atmospheric instability, wildfire characterization, and sea surface temperature. Finally, the module introduces advanced products that use the thousands of channels on hyperspectral instruments to derive a variety of geophysical parameters related to the characterization of aerosols, trace gases, cloud microphysics, and atmospheric profiling, etc. The discussion of quantitative products uses the example of the Meteosat cloud mask, which indicates whether a pixel in a satellite image is clear or cloudy. Cloud mask products are important to all environmental satellites in that they form the basis for many other derived products.
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After completing this Webcast, learners will be able to:
- List the benefits of using satellite products.
- For the three levels of products (simple, quantitative, and “cutting edge”), define the type of product, describe its advantages and, on a very basic level, some of the production techniques and strategies, and identify several products generated by it.
- Describe the purpose and function of cloud mask products.
- Describe some of the sources of error in the product generation process.
satellite meteorology, meteorological product, simple image product, channel differencing, RGB compositing, RGB composite, quantitative product, derived product, advanced product, hyperspectral instrument, Meteosat cloud mask, cloud mask, thresholding technique, radiative transfer model, hyperspectral product
October 2019 - The lesson was updated to current internet standards (mp4/html5), with no changes to content.
