The Space Studies Department maintains a satellite receiving system for downloading and archiving weather data directly from NOAA spacecraft. This system consists of a roof mounted parabolic dish antenna controlled by a Quorum Communications SatTracker positioner, a downconverter, receiver/demodulator, and associated software. All of the images you see here are AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) scans of North America received by this system from polar orbiting satellites.

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Band	Wavelength (microns)	Remarks
1	0.58 - 0.68	Red - clouds and vegetation
2	0.72 - 1.10	Reflected Infra-red - shorelines & veg.
3	3.55 - 3.93	Thermal IR - hot targets, fires & volcanoes
4	10.50 - 11.50	Thermal IR - sea temp. & day & night clouds
5	11.50 - 12.50	Thermal IR - as above

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These false color images were made by projecting three of the bands in primary colors. We used bands 4 (red), 2 (green) and 1 (blue) here.

The top image shows the east coast of the United States. Long Island is visible at the upper right, and the Delaware and Chesapeake bays are also visible. Lake Erie is at the upper left. The Appalachian Mountains are visible in the large version, as are offshore ocean currents.

The image to the right is of the west coast of the U.S. It covers from just north of San Francisco to San Diego. The Sierra Nevada mountain range is visible. The land mass is eastern Canada. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are visible at the center and left.

The final image shows hurricane Emily retreating from the east coast of the United States in the fall of 1993. The Delaware and Chesapeake bays are visible left of center. Click on the images for a larger, higher resolution view.