http://www.meted.ucar.edu/satmet/goeschan/#

• The visible radiation observed by the satellite must have originated from the sun since no object on earth has a temperature of 6000 K.  99% of solar radiation is emitted at wavelengths less than 4 micrometers.
• What happens to incoming solar radiation?
  • Absorption by molecules
  • Absorption in clouds
  • reflection by earth's surface and clouds
  • scattering by molecules
• Note that forward reflection and scattering gives better visible imagery than backward scattering (e.g., sun should be west of GOES-8)