What kinds of information about clouds could you hope to determine using infrared and visible satellite photographs?
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: ?Visible and infrared images are used to deduce information on cloud thickness and height. Visible images show the sunlight reflected from a cloud's upper surface. Because thick clouds have a higher albedo (reflectivity) than thin clouds, they appear brighter on a visible satellite image. However, middle and low clouds have just about the same albedo, so it is difficult to distinguish among them simply by viewing them in visible light. To make this distinction, infrared cloud images are used. Such pictures produce a better image of the actual radiating surface because they do not show the strong visible reflected light. Since warm objects radiate more energy than cold objects, high temperature regions can be artificially made to appear darker on an infrared image. Because the tops of low clouds are warmer than those of high clouds, cloud observations made in the infrared can distinguish between warm low clouds (dark) and cold high clouds (light). Moreover, cloud temperatures can be converted by a computer into a three-dimensional image of the cloud.
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