Types of Satellite Data

• Satellites collect two primary types of meteorological imagery:

  • Visible

    • basically a picture of the clouds - much like taking a picture with your camera

  • Infrared - tells you the temperature of what the satellite is sensing, whether its the ground or the tops of clouds

    • very useful for determining the height of the cloud (low, middle, high)

Infrared imagery....

Here is a comparison of visible, IR, and water vapor imagery