SEVIRI Night Microphysics RGB
Quick Guide
Primary aim: Detection of fog/low clouds at night
Secondary aims: Full cloud analyses at night and
fire monitoring
Time period and area of its main application: Low-
and mid- and high-latitudes, at night. In cold
winter situations, the 24-hour Microphysics RGB
is more useful.
Guidelines: It provides the best colour contrast
between fog/low cloud and cloud-free area at
night. However, in the case of solar radiation
(during the day, twilight, solar equinox around
midnight) this RGB is not usable.
Over cloud-free areas moisture boundaries might
be seen. SEVIRI Night Microphysics RGB, 23 January 2017, 01:25 UTC
Background
The table shows which channels (or channel differences) are used in this RGB type, and lists some of the land and cloud
features which typically make a low or high contribution to the colour beams in this RGB. IR10.8–IR3.9 is the key channel
difference for fog/low cloud detection. The IR12.0–IR10.8 channel difference helps to separate thin from thick clouds.
IR10.8 channel helps to separate thick clouds according their cloud top temperature. The colour of the cloud-free surface
depends not only on the surface temperature, but also on the atmospheric low-level moisture content.
Smaller contribution Larger contribution to
Colour Channel (difference) Physically relates to
to the signal of the signal of
Red IR12.0–IR10.8 Cloud optical thickness Thin clouds Thick clouds
Thick fog/water
Green IR10.8–IR3.9 Cloud phase Thin ice clouds
clouds
Cloud top temperature Warm surface
Blue IR10.8 Cold clouds
Land sea temperature Warm clouds
Notation: IR: infrared, number: central wavelength of the channel in micrometer.
Benefits Limitations
At low and mid-latitudes the It is not designed to be used during the day. During the day the HRV Fog, the Day
Night Microphysics RGB Microphysics or the 24-hour Microphysics RGBs are recommended for fog or low
provides the best colour cloud detection.
contrast between water clouds The colours change in cases where solar radiation is present: all clouds appear
and cloud-free surface at night. magenta, except the fog/low clouds which may even ‘disappear’ during twilight.
It provides full cloud analysis at Around the solar equinox the IR3.9 channel may contain some solar radiation around
night. midnight, spoiling this RGB at some areas.
In some special conditions it Fog and low clouds cannot be separated from each other based only on their colours.
provides nighttime snow Fog/low cloud can be covered by higher level clouds. If there are thin cirrus clouds
detection only if the above fog/low clouds, the Night Microphysics RGB might not detect the fog/low
temperature is very low and the clouds.
snow is deep enough to The thinner the low clouds/fog the more the colour looks like the colour of the
completely cover the ground (pinkish). The detection of very thin fog/low cloud is problematic.
vegetation. The IR3.9 brightness temperature values of the high, very cold clouds are often noisy
It detects dust clouds. resulting in green dots in the reddish-brownish ice clouds. Therefore, this RGB is not
It detects fires, even if they are recommended for night-time convection analysis. The IR10.8 single channel is more
much smaller than the pixel appropriate for this purpose.
size. There is no snow detection at night – except some special cases (see benefits).
SEVIRI Night Microphysics RGB
Quick Guide
SEVIRI Night Microphysics RGB for 26 October 2014, 17:55 UTC
Interpretation
Colours may depend on viewing angles.
1 Cloud free sea and land
(Shades of blue or pink depending on
temperature and water vapour content)
2
Warm, thick fog/low cloud,
3 with small droplets (Shades of aqua)
Cold, thick fog/low cloud
4 (Greenish in case of small droplets; pinkish
grey in case of large droplets or thin cloud)
Thick mid-level cloud
5 (Shades of tan)
Thick ice cloud
6 (Reddish brown)
Very cold thick ice cloud
7 (Reddish brown with green dots)
3 September 2014, 20:40 UTC 15 January 2006, 08:55 UTC
Thin cirrus
8 (Shades of dark blue)
dry
moist
10
Very thin cirrus
(Shades of magenta depending on the
9 transparency and the type of underlying
surface)
Clouds during daytime
10 (Shades of magenta, red or blue) dry
moist
Over cloud-free areas moisture boundaries might be seen. The colour of the cloud-free The Night Microphysics RGB is created following
the EUMETSAT recommended recipe. Using
area depends on the surface temperature and (low-level) moisture: moist areas have less different ranges and/or gamma corrections will
red (look more bluish) and dry areas have more red (look more pinkish). modify the colours.
More about RGBs on [Link]
Comparison to other products Contact: info@[Link];
In the Night Microphysics RGB At low and mid-latitudes the Night Microphysics RGB
one can clearly see the fog in the provides better colour contrast between fog/water clouds
Po Valley, much better than on and the surface than the 24-hour Microphysics RGB does.
the IR10.8 image. Fog/low cloud
is usually not, or hardly,
recognisable in the IR10.8
image, as its top temperature is
close to the temperature of the
surrounding cloud-free area.
Although the example shows a
so-called “black fog” with warm
top, it is not as eye-catching in
the IR10.8 image.
Night Microphysics RGB (up) and IR10.8 Night Microphysics (left) and 24-hour Microphysics (right)
image (bottom), 20 March 2014, 03:55 UTC RGBs, 31 October 2014, 06:10 UTC