These products are derived from RGB (red/green/blue) images, a satellite processing technique that uses a combination of satellite sensor bands (also called channels) and applies a red/green/blue (RGB) filter to each of them. The result is a false-color image, i.e. an image that does not correspond to what the human eye would see, but offers high contrast between different cloud types and surface features. The on-board sensor of a weather satellite obtains two basic types of information: visible light data (reflected light) reflecting off clouds and different surface types, also known as "reflectance", and infrared data (emitted radiation) which are long-wave radiations emitted by clouds and surface features. RGBs are specially designed to combine this type of satellite data, resulting in an information-rich final product. Four types of products are currently generated from the GOES-West and GOES-East satellites: "NightIR" and "NightMicrophysics", at 2km resolution, are generated 24 hours a day with infrared channels, so are visible both night and day, and "NaturalColour" and "DayCloudConvection", at 1km resolution, which combine visible light channels with infrared channels; their higher resolution makes the latter two products more popular, but they are not available during most of the night (between 02UTC and 07UTC for GOES-Est, and between 06UTC and 11UTC for GOES-Ouest) given the absence of reflected sunlight. Other RGB products should be added gradually in the future to meet different needs.
- Publisher - Current Organization Name: Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Licence: Open Government Licence - Canada
Data and Resources
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MSC DatamartGeoTIFEnglish dataset GeoTIF
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MSC DatamartGeoTIFFrench dataset GeoTIF
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MSC Datamart AMQPGeoTIFEnglish dataset GeoTIF
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MSC Datamart AMQPGeoTIFFrench dataset GeoTIF
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GOES-West Natural Color [1 km]WMSEnglish web_service WMS
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GOES-West Natural Color [1 km]WMSFrench web_service WMS
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MSC Open Data documentationHTMLEnglish guide HTML
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MSC Open Data documentationHTMLFrench guide HTML
Contact Information
Delivery Point: 77 Westmorland Street, suite 260
City: Fredericton
Administrative Area: New Brunswick
Postal Code: E3B 6Z4
Country: Canada
Electronic Mail Address: ECWeather-Meteo@ec.gc.ca