Summary

The EUMETSAT Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite provides many channels of data. In this lesson, we explored the most commonly used channels and products: Visible, Infrared (IR), Water Vapour, Severe Convection RGB, Dust RGB, Night Microphysics RGB, and Natural Colour RGB.

Each product is best-suited to specific forecasting applications:

  • Visible imagery has the highest resolution and can help you identify cloud types at all levels and surface features. Visible satellite imagery is not useful at night, however.
  • Infrared imagery shows not only cloud types, but also gives quantitative information about the height of cloud tops. Infrared imagery does not provide as much horizontal detail as visible imagery due to its lower resolution.
  • Water Vapour imagery provides considerable information on moisture in the mid-levels of the troposphere. It cannot detect features at or very near the surface, however.
  • The Severe Convection RGB detects rapidly growing thunderstorms that could be considered severe at the surface. At night the product can lose some ability to differentiated severe from general convection.
  • Dust RGB detects dust clouds at any level during the day or night, including information about dust cloud heights and thicknesses.
  • Night Microphysics RGB enhances the ability to detect low clouds and fog at night, when it is especially hard to track. It cannot be used in the same manner during the day.
  • Natural Colour RGB is a good companion or substitute for visible imagery, as its colouring adds more detail tosome features. It colours ice clouds and snow cyan which helps define some of the microphysical character of clouds. Since this is highly dependent on visible channels, this product cannot be used at night.

There are many comparisons to be made between the products that enhance monitoring and forecasting skills. The satellite product comparisons section walked you through some of these simple comparisons to improve your skills in atmospheric and surface feature identification.

You have practiced using different product information to assess cloud height and thickness, including dust clouds.

Lastly, you have identified product type when given the images without their titles. This practice allowed you to quickly assess different features and find the appropriate products for use in many different situations.

You should now assess your knowledge of the learning objectives for this lesson by completing the quiz. After the quiz, to receive your certificate of completion, you should complete the survey. We hope you have enjoyed learning about using satellite products over Africa using the MSG satellite.