As the March 2017 East Coast snow storm developed into Monday evening (March 13), numerous gravity wave patterns appeared within the cloud shield. In particular, Eastern Tennessee saw quite a bit of gravity wave activity between 00 UTC and 02 UTC. These features are indicators of potential turbulence, a hazard to aircraft pilots. Below left is a 10.4 um IR loop from GOES-16 depicting the gravity wave patterns quite well in the higher 2 km spatial resolution. In comparison, the gravity waves are not as easily detected and followed in the corresponding 10.7 um IR imagery from GOES-13 (4 km; right). Additionally, The CONUS GOES-16 imagery was available every 5-min, while GOES-13 imagery, in rapid scan mode, was available every 5 – 30 minutes. The higher temporal resolution further improves the tracking of gravity waves in time.
-Bill Line, NWS
“The GOES-16 data posted on this page are preliminary, non-operational data and are undergoing testing. Users bear all responsibility for inspecting the data prior to use and for the manner in which the data are utilized.”
Satellite Liaison Blog 