SRSOR 1-minute imagery and turbulence detection

A cold front moving eastward towards the Great Lakes this afternoon spawned a plethora of turbulence reports across the region after 1700 UTC. While not severe enough to warrant any SIGMETs, it did result in the issuance of several Center Weather Advisories. GOES-13 RSO imagery (below) did show some high, thin clouds moving fairly rapidly through the area. Movement of clouds at lower layers indicated some vertical shear, but determining any specific turbulence features over the clearer area of Illinois, and Indiana that may have been causing the widespread chop was much more difficult.

20160223 1707 - 2000 UTC GOES-13 RSO visible imagery with PIREPs overlaid

However, the 1-minute SRSOR was much more revealing. Check out this loop:

20160223 1804 - 2037 UTC GOES-14 SRSOR 1-minute imagery overlaid with PIREPs and issued CWAs (purple boxes)

Many of the PIREPs were actually reporting clear air turbulence. However, if you examine the loop very closely, you can make out wave patterns in the very, very thin clouds, particularly over northern Illinois and Iowa! While some of the thin cloud movement was noticeable over northern Indiana in the RSO at first, it was extremely difficult to make out the features in areas of clearer air. With standard 15-minute imagery, it would be even harder.

This was a rather neat case in which high temporal resolution imagery can be very useful in aviation forecasting. The SRSOR 1-minute imagery revealed additional details that provided valuable situational awareness, and actually showed a wider expanse of turbulence than covered by the CWAs. It is in situations like this that GOES-R ABI data will improve decision support for aviation.

For more 1-minute imagery examples, see http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/srsor2016/GOES-14_SRSOR.html#schedules