Shortwave IR Window Channel (3.9 micron)

Emissivity Differences: Thick Cirrus Clouds at Night in the 3.9 and 10.7 Channels (Page 2 of 7)

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A GOES-8 3.9 micron shortwave infrared channel image of a cold thunderstorm cirrus cloud highlighting high levels of radiometric noise at cold temperatures A GOES-8 10.7 micron longwave infrared channel image of a cold thunderstorm cirrus cloud highlighting low levels of radiometric noise at cold temperatures

Notice in the 3.9 micron channel image that the top of the thunderstorm anvil appears very noisy because of its temperature uncertainty in low radiance measurements. In these nighttime 3.9 and 10.7 micron images, thick cirrus cloud top emissivities are near 1.0 and the brightness temperatures at cloud top are very nearly the same.

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