AMS Study Guide - Satellites

At a low sun angle, VIS SAT, what clouds have the most texture?

Cumulonimbus

Satellite Surveillance takes place at what wavelength?

10 cm

What channel can see upper-level lows best, when there is little cloud cover?

Water Vapor Channel

The fog product and solar reflectance attributes of the 3.9 micron infrared satellite allows for:
Detecting Fog at Night

Detecting Dust/Haze and Smoke

Detecting Snow Cover

Difference between ice crystals or water vapor

All of the Above

All of the Above

What Satellite is closest to the Earth?

Polar Orbiting Satellites (POES)W

What Satellite is further from the Earth, what is its altitude?

Geostationary Satellites (GOES) at 22,000 meters

What Satellite is only useful during the day?

Visible

What Satellite type is helpful for storm intensity?

Infrared Satellites

What is an Active Sensor? Give an Example

Something that sends our a pulse and waits for a return

Example: Radar

What is a Passive Sensor? Give an Example

Something that just observes

Example: Satellite

The visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum includes what colors?

Red, green, yellow and Blue

What clouds give off more energy: Warmer or Colder?

Warmer

How can you identify the warmest region on IR image?

They are the darkest areas in the image

Brighter areas are cold cloud tops, like a Hurricane Eye wall

How can you tell the difference between snow and clouds in a Satellite image?

Clouds will animate/move with the graphic; the snow remains still on the ground

List the Wavelength Spectrum from Longwave to Shortwave: Microwaves, Radio Waves, Visible, Ultra-Violet, and Infrared

Radio Waves

Microwaves

Infrared

Visible

Ultra-Violet

What part of the spectrum are Visible and Infrared?

Visible is apart of the shortwave spectrum (0.4 to 0.7 micrometers)

Infrared (IR) is long-wave (3.9 and 10.7 micrometers)

If a paper is lit up with white light and you see red, what is happening?

The paper is reflecting the red part of the light spectrum and absorbing all other colors

Why does the sky appear blue?

Rayleigh Scattering

The scattering of light by particles in a medium, without a change in wavelength. In this case the sky is blue, because blue is scattered more efficiently than red.

What is the 3.9 micron and what is it used for? Detecting Dust, Haze or Fog?

All of the Above

What is the Enhanced V or “Flying V”?

Refers to a thunderstorm anvil cloud, the V shaped region of the colder cloud tops on IR imagery

What instrument is best for detecting waves at night?

Rawinsondes, Pilot Reports, and Waver Vapor Imagery