Introduction to Clouds
Accessing NASA Satellite Imaging Data
In the previous section, illustrations of satellite images explain
the process of converting observations into a digital format. This
section allows you to use a data analysis utility to access and read
digitized data. The demonstration program will give you a chance to
identify the types of clouds that appear in the data while getting
accustomed to the interface. The steps listed below will lead you
through this activity.
Sampling the Data
View properties of a snapshot of a midlatitude storm
- You should see two images below that display the cloud optical
thickness and the cloud top pressure data for a storm that occured on
April 2, 1988. Click on a point on the optical thickness image that
indicates clouds with the greatest optical thickness.
- Notice the corresponding point also being highlighted in the cloud
top pressure image on the right. The values of your selected data point
should appear in the windows on the right side of each image. Select two
more points of high optical thickness.
- You should now see a set of three data values (for each point you
selected) in the columns to the right of each of the images. The next step
is to determine what kind of optically thick clouds you have selected.
- To identify storm clouds in satellite data images, numerical data for
cloud optical thickness and cloud top pressure should be inspected and
compared with the cloud type classification
table. Determine the cloud types for each of your three data points,
and select your results in the table below:
Discuss your choices with your instructor. Then continue with
data analysis and graphing by analyzing cloud types in a midlatitude
storm.
