CIMSS Satellite Blog

GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm) images [click to play MP4 animation]

1-minute interval GOES-14 Super Rapid Scan Operations for GOES-R (SRSO-R) Visible (0.63 µm) images (above; also available as a large 71 Mbyte animated GIF) revealed the formation of clusters of aircraft “hole punch clouds” over central North and South Carolina on the morning of 09 February 2016. These types of cloud features form when aircraft fly through a layer of clouds composed of supercooled water droplets; particles from the jet engine exhaust act as ice condensation nuclei, causing the water droplets to turn into ice crystals. Similar features have been discussed in previous blog posts.

A comparison of GOES-14 Visible (0.63 µm, 1-km resolution) and Shortwave Infrared (3.9 µm, 4-km resolution) images (below; also available as a large 71 Mbyte animated GIF) offered evidence that the cloud material within each “hole punch” was composed of ice crystals, which exhibited colder (lighter gray) IR brightness temperatures than the surrounding supercooled water droplet clouds. It is likely that many of the hole punch features were caused by aircraft ascending from or descending to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina (KCLT).

GOES-14 Visible 0.63 µm (left) and Shortwave Infrared 3.9 µm (right) images [click to play MP4 animation]

In a comparison 1-km resolution POES AVHRR Visible (0.86 µm) and Infrared (12.0 µm) images (below), the cloud-top IR brightness temperatures in the vicinity of the hole punch features were as cold as -20 to -24º C (cyan color enhancement), which again is supportive of the cloud layer being composed of supercooled water droplets.

POES AVHRR Visible 0.86 µm) and Infrared (12.0 µm) images [click to enlarge]

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