Important Bands and Implications for Future GOES Imagers

In Part I of this paper, the infrared bands of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are analyzed for volcanic ash signals using principal component image analysis. Target volcanoes included Popocatepetl volcano near Mexico City and Cleveland volcano in the Aleutian Islands. The analyses were performed to determine the MODIS bands that contribute the most to detecting volcanic ash. Even though the explained variance and signal-to-noise ratio of most of these new images are generally small, several of them provide views of volcanic ash with good contrast to the image background and other image features. Both day and night examples indicate that volcanic ash can be readily detected by combinations of MODIS bands to determine not only the ash extent but also qualitative variations in the concentration and height of the ash. The 36 bands on MODIS give much more flexibility for ash detection than the 4 bands on the current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Imager. In particular, MODIS bands 28–32, in the water vapor and longwave infrared portions of the spectrum, contributed most frequently to the detection of airborne volcanic ash. These include bands 28–30 in the 7.3–9.7-mm portion of the spectrum known for volcanic signals. Several of the MODIS bands that proved useful are bands projected for inclusion in the next major upgrade to the GOES Imager (scheduled for 2012). However, band 30 (9.7 mm) is neither available on the current GOES series nor planned for future GOES Imagers. In Part II of this paper, MODIS data for the same volcanic cases examined in Part I are used for specific simulations of current and near-term GOES imagery. The purpose of the simulations is to assess the impact of changes that will occur in the spectral bands of the GOES-M Imager (launched in 2001 and renamed GOES-12) when it becomes operational. 1